I am currently on a tour in the Holy Land with a group of people which includes a fellow UMC pastor. During our devotional time this morning, she told us about baptizing an elderly, non-responsive man in the last days of his life. When he encountered the baptismal waters, this man, who had not said anything in several weeks, uttered one small word. That word was “Wow!” I don’t t think there is a more appropriate word for that moment when one experiences the profound mystery of God’s grace at the moment of baptism. There really is nothing else that we can say when the divine enters into the human world.
That goes for touring the areas where Jesus walked as well. I have read about these places especially in the Bible several times over the years. I have preached sermons on some of them. Yet there is nothing like being here to make the places and God’s Word come alive. Wow! That word has been in my vocabulary a lot over the last couple of days as we sailed on the Sea of Galilee, toured Jesus “second” home of Capernaum, and explored the ruins of Peter’s Mother-in-law’s home and Magdala (the home of Mary Magdalene). But nowhere (so far) has Wow! been the word of the moment as it was today.
The first time I thought Wow! today was as we experienced the cool, rushing water on the way to Tel Dan and Abraham’s Gate where it is accepted that Abraham pursued and rescued his kidnapped nephew, Lot (see 1 Kings). There is something about a mountain stream that brings peace to my soul. As I stood there and listened to the water, all I could think was Wow! We left Dan and traveled to Caesarea Philippi. There in the midst of the place known as The Gate of Hell and the Temple of Pan, where once existed temples dedicated to many Roman gods, we read the words in Matthew 16:13-18. “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Bell will not overcome it.'” Wow! Those words – put in the setting and the context where they happened thousands of years ago – came alive like never before.
Wow! was once again the word as my clergy friend and I immersed the other members of the group and were then immersed ourselves as we reaffirmed and remembered our baptisms in the waters of the Jordan River – the same river our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was baptised in at the commencement of his ministry. I have done a reaffirmation of baptism several places and in several contexts and each one was special and meaningful. Each one gave me the Wow! feeling. But there was something incredibly special today as we walked in the footsteps of the Savior and we’re touched by His baptismal waters.
If you ever get a chance to visit the Holy Land, do it! There is nothing like it. This will definitely be one trip I remember the rest of my life. But we don’t have to be here to have the Wow! moments. They can happen on our death beds just as easily as they happen on the Jordan River. They can happen in our Iiving rooms and our home churches just like they happen in Magdala and Caesarea Philippi. They can happen anywhere where the divine meets our humanity, and that happens when ever we seek Jesus and invite Him into where we are (or perhaps it is more like inviting ourselves into Jesus’s presence).
So, if you haven’t encountered your own Wow! moment lately, try again! Turn your eye upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. And all you will be able to say at that time is, “Wow!”
Other than that this pastor has nothing to say tonight.
Good night. Rest well. Be blessed!
Pastor Koreen