Pastor’s corner

It’s about knowing Beyond doubt

‘In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens:

“You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” (Mark 1:9-11)

Baptism is a personal story so here is mine. I was three years old, and when Pastor Ray at St. John’s UCC in San Francisco asked my parents “What do you name this child,” I answered, “Jeannette!” I knew my name, and I wasn’t going to let anyone answer for me, not even my parents. I haven’t changed much since then.

I accepted Jesus as my personal savior when I was 14 and going to the Church of the Nazarene in Davis, Calif. I experienced glimpses of the holy in many places around the world. I was called to ordained ministry in my 30s while walking the streets of San Francisco.

But it wasn’t until my ordination ceremony, back in the same church in which I had been originally baptized that I felt the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In the moment of the laying on of hands, I felt God saying this is my daughter with whom I am well pleased.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit is something Pentecostals and Fundamentalists more often talk about, than mainline denominations like mine, but I think we miss something by doing so. I know some Pentecostals talk about baptizing with the Holy Spirit, but I don’t think that it is something anyone can do for us.

John baptized Jesus in the Jordan, after John had explained that he baptizes with water, but the Messiah would baptize with the fire of the Holy Spirit. After John baptized Jesus, Jesus had a vision, seeing the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. He knows in that moment what his mission is and what God is calling him to do and who he is. For Mark, this is the defining moment for Jesus, the moment when he knows who he is, the Son of God.

We all have defining moments in our lives, in fact we usually have several of them because our calls change over time as we learn and grow. We aren’t ready to accept all of who we are in a single moment, the way Jesus was. We are afraid of the heavens ripping open and God declaring his pleasure in us. That much awareness of the divine can be frightening, which may be why some of us don’t like talking about “baptism of the Holy Spirit.

But it shouldn’t be frightening because it’s about knowing beyond doubt that you are a son or daughter of God, that you have intrinsic value because God loves you. This is baptism in the Holy Spirit. Hearing the voice of God, saying you are my beloved child, in you I am well-pleased.

Rev. Jeannette Solimine

United Church of Christ

Colfax, WA