Becoming a Christ!

I am to become a Christ to my neighbor and be for him what Christ is for me.[1]

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.[2]

What does it mean to be Christ to someone else? Our answer must be with the full knowledge of what Christ has done for us. Only as we know who Christ is and what Christ has done for us can we truly become Christ for our neighbor. We find our "job description" as we experience Christ within our own being.

The Holy Spirit has prepared us in exactly the way we need to minister to those people drawn across our path. You are equipped! You are able!

Have you been alone and without friends in a strange place and had to rely on the relationship with Christ alone? If the answer is yes, then your command is to be Christ to the lonely and those without friends.

Have you been afraid and wanted comfort more than lecture about your fear? Then your presence is the Christ you bring to those in fear.

Remember when you made such a mess of some decision in your life? What you wanted was someone to listen as you expressed your frustration rather than remind you of what their advice had been and how it had been the opposite of what you decided. Knowing that, are you able to be present as a pastor/caregiver before you put on the role of professor, teacher, or corrector. 

How did you want Christ to be present for you in your time of need? More than likely, that is how you may need to be present for the person standing before you in their moment of need.

Yes, Christ does come to us at times as the corrective person when we have gone against his command for us. Yes, there are times when we are called to pull a sibling in Christ aside and, with the same compassion Christ would have used with you, issue that corrective word to another member of the family of God. Yet, it is always with the full compassion of Christ that we come to this moment. We begin and end with compassion. We always seek to restore the brother or sister to their place in the family. We show forth Christ in our life in such a way to draw others to Christ, always prepared for the person and the time when we are called to demonstrate how present Chris is within us.

 Pastor Craig

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[1] Martin Luther

[2] 1Peter 3:15

God, who foresaw your tribulation, has especially armed you to go through it, not without pain, but without stain.[1]

You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord, who has worked wonders for you. (Joel 2:26)

We all know there are troubles in life. Probably each one of you reading this has had at least your fair share of crises, troubles, and trials. Some of us have had quite a bit more than our share.

 What I decide is fair in life may be something all, or  most all of us could agree with. However, just because you and I, or even every single one of us, agree that something is fair doesn’t guarantee it will be what happens in our life.

Even our Creator does not promise us a trial free life. He does promise us blessing, but we live in a fallen world, an existence that is not perfect by any possible definition. The one thing Christ does promise us is that he will be with us through any trial we may encounter. He will prepare us for the journey. That doesn’t mean an advance warning of death or disease, of financial crisis or vocational disaster, of family bliss and leak free roofs at home.

Advance warning only means we have time to prepare OURSELVES. That isn’t what God promises. He promises HE will prepare you. It may be that the events of yesterday are the fallow ground for God’s work and preparation to be taking root in today.

There are so many events flying at us that we don’t have time to know every aspect of the what and why for each one of them. It is generally best to leave that in God’s hands. Why do we have cancer? I don’t know. Why did our loved one have to die? I don’t know. In fact, it is very likely that, in this life, we won’t be able to come to an answer we can easily accept.  

The memory of the hurt or trial will be a part of our life going forward, but it does not have to define our life from that moment until our life’s end. It does not have to leave a stain. Some of the wonders God works in our life come when we are finally able to see the bigger picture, when we are allowed the behind the scene view and gasp at the wonder and infinite compassion of God’s plan. It is a blessing when we can see it in this life. It is closure when we stand before the throne and worship the one who led us through all things to that very spot.

Craig C. Krueger

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[1] C. S. Lewis

Baptism

Q. 94. What is baptism?

 A. Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.

                   The Westminster Shorter Catechism

Probably, the majority of people who read this will have been baptized. It would be interesting to ask all of them what actually happened when they were baptized! Some would say that they became a Christian at that moment. Others would comment about it as an entrance ritual for church membership.

In the few lines that follow let me see if I can describe the event. First, Baptism is a sacrament. That means that something takes place during the ceremony besides an individual getting wet. An earlier question of the catechism says by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.

Represented: The visible events show us what takes place “behind the scenes.” We use water as a symbol of cleansing. Some denominations use immersion (the person being baptized is put under the water rather than a pouring or sprinkling of water over the individual’s head) to represent a burial and resurrection. The use of water represents a new and righteous life being given to the believer.

Sealed: Something becomes ours that cannot be taken away. In Biblical culture a seal was the consummation of an agreement. In this sense, we give ourselves, or our child to God, and God seals that child as His very own.

Applied: This new life and its benefits mentioned above are applied to us. In a rather irreverent way, compare this to updating your computer. The updates are there. They have been downloaded and installed, but you get little benefit from their presence until they have been applied, until they have been put into practice in the individual’s life.

Most of us understand the part that is represented; we get it. We are assured in our faith when we hear about being sealed. It is a tremendous comfort against our doubtful selves. However, it may be the greatest blessing when these benefits are applied, when we start living as children of our Heavenly Father, knowing that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God.

Pastor Craig