When has this happened to me?

    “When has this ever happened to me?” is a key question in reading scripture as a dialogue between God and ourselves.  For example, at Christmas, when was the Christ child born in my life?  Was it when my parents taught me to pray, brought me to Sunday School for the first time, when I was Mary, Joseph, a shepherd, or the inn keeper in the Sunday Shool Christmas Pageant, or was it when I was an adult sharing with a Christian friend that I needed something more in my life?
    The same question, “When has this happened to me?” is asked for all of the other major festivals of the Church year.  When was it that I realized that Jesus was not just for those already in the church but for the whole world (Epiphany)?  When was it that I realized that Jesus died and rose from the dead so that my sins are really forgiven (Easter)?  When was it that I realized that Jesus rules over my life from heaven (Ascension)?  When was it that God gave me the Holy Spirit to strengthen me to do God’s will (Pentecost)?  And, when was it that I was willing to accept the teaching of the Trinity even though that teaching cannot be explained adequately (Trinity)?
    The point is this, when I ask, “When did this happen to me?” I am creating a dialogue with God.  I am not merely learning facts about a biblical person or event for a trivial pursuit game.  I am not detached from the text as if it was written for then but I am living in the now.  “When did this happen to me?” makes me look for the places that God has touched my life in very meaningful ways.  The fact is the more I can identify the places that God has touched my life, the deeper my faith will be!
    On Sunday, I will probably be preaching about the baptism of Cornelius (Acts 10).  For me, this story is one of the pivotal stories of the scriptures and the Christian faith.  In my world, it is the seventh major church festival in the liturgical calendar.  In this story, Peter (and later the whole church in chapter 11) radically changes his understanding of who should be welcome into the church, receive its sacraments, and enjoy its fellowship.  On one level the answer is simple; everyone is to be invited into the church and treated as a child of God.  But the question, “When has this happened to me?” makes me also look for the times when I changed my understanding about God, about Jesus, about the church, about my purpose in life from this time forward.  Was it something said in a sermon?  Was it a particular Sunday School class discussion?  Was it an author’s description of a main character in the Bible or a novel?  Was it an ah-ah gained from a comment made by a little child?  Was it a time of free association when something just clicked even though it had nothing to do with the current conversation?
    Let me close with this comment.  If you want to get more out of your Bible reading or if you want to deepen your faith, read your Bible regularly with the question in mind, “When has this happened to me?”  When this question is asked and answered, Bible reading no longer is a monologue but a dialogue between you and the father in heaven who loves you and sent a son to die for you.  Bible reading becomes one way to identify the places God has touched your life and in that recognition as way to deepen faith.
Pastor Pete