This window referrs more to Baptism than Pentecost. Lutherans believe the Holy Spirit comes upon a person at Baptism, thus the window shows the Holy Spirit, symbolized as a descending dove, coming down above a baptismal font. Lutherans use I Peter 3:21 to uphold their position of baptismal regeneration.
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Our church service on Sunday is at 8:30 a.m., and I'll weary you again by saying that time does not work well for dairy farmers........its too early. Husband for sure could not make church this morning, and I was exhausted from spending all day yesterday outdoors at the district track meet. I couldn't find the energy or will to exhort my son------- who was also worn out from yesterday-------to get up in time to accomplish both milking chores and attending church. (We are hoping the service time will move to its former later hour, once our new pastor gets here.) Thus, it appeared none of us would be in church on this Mothers' Day.
At about 8:10 a.m., I was half-dozing, while waiting in the milkhouse to begin washing milkers, when a light-bulb suddenly blinked on in my brain.......CHURCH CHOIR IS SINGING THIS MORNING, and CHOIR MEMBERS ARE TO BE THERE AT 8:15 TO PREPARE, because we sing right at the beginning of the service!!! I was horrified......how could I have forgotten that??!! Our choir has a whopping six members, so everyone needs to be there, and that includes ME!
Strangely and suddenly very much awake, I dashed to the house and changed into semi-good clothes and a leather car coat to hide a mulitude of sins (if only it could have covered my topsy-turvy hair, too!) and speeded down the road to church, fortunately only a few miles away. Its on a gravel road, though, and that road is a rutty mess right now, so my Envoy is now completely mud-splattered!
At exactly 8:29, I arrived, out-0f-breath, in the church balcony, and took my place in the choir line-up. There was no chance of sneaking in unseen as I'd have preferred; on the way through the narthex, it was necessary to breeze by well-coiffed, well-dressed ladies, and several severe-suited men (thats the style at our church......very dressy), and a couple solemn-faced deacons who oversee the morning's proceedings. I longed to say......"Lighten up, guys"!!!
Our choir singing went...........well, it went. Not too bad, not too good. We had to sing two stanzas of a Pentecost hymn, to a very unfamiliar tune.......an old-time chanting style of some sort (I didn't care for it at all), and we had trouble matching the words with the correct notes, even after practicing several times. When you have to sing one syllable on three notes, and then one syllable on one note, then two on two, etc., in a seemingly random way, it gets very confusing. Our eyes were absolutely glued to the page of music, trying to correctly sing words with notes, meaning there was little hope of anyone watching the director. So it goes, and so it went. I surely felt stupid, though, that I had nearly forgotten we were singing. Evidently, age-related forgetfulness is creeping in.
I hope you all had a very pleasant Mother's Day and Pentecost! It was chilly and windy here in Iowa, but that's nothing compared to the bad storms in Missouri and Oklahoma last night. I pray you and yours were safely out of harm's way.
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8 comments:
Your choir story of this past Sunday is hilarious! (I mean that in a good way.) Seven or eight years ago, our choir peaked out at 57. Now it runs around 25. And we thought that was small. I will be praying that the Lord blesses your little group with a few more singers and that all of you will be encouraged as you sing for His glory.
The stained glass window is truly beautiful. But you are right; it is more about baptism than Pentecost. Having been sprinkled by Methodists and immersed by Baptists and now a thorough-going Pentecostal, let me tell you what I believe: At conversion (that is, if any one believes in his heart and confesses with his moouth Jesus as Lord, he shall be saved), the Holy Spirit baptizes the new believer into Christ's body, the church. The church, Christ's body, then baptizes the new believer into Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection through the element of water as a witness to the watching world. And Jesus Christ, either at that moment or at a subsequent time, baptizes the believer into the Holy Spirit, with signs following if He so chooses, and with spiritual gifts of His own choosing as well.
But there is still only one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. Maybe it is a triune baptism? (without meaning to be sacrilegious).
I Peter 3:21 is good, but don't overlook the parenthesized portion "(not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God". Sounds like "the outward sign of an inward cleansing" to me....
But we can agree to disagree.
25 choir members! That's wonderful, and makes me green with envy! Not, really, but it would be nice.
Oh, and here's what else......the little thing that sets the Lutherans apart.....even though the Bible says "Believe".....Luther believed that no person can believe......that belief comes through faith which is given by God at Baptism. I'm not saying I agree with that, but its what they teach. It follows that no person can make a "decision" for Christ, as is so crucial in other denominations.
If Luther says one thing and the Bible plainly says another, I fervently hope that I would always go with the Bible...
Here's the Bible (St. Paul) on faith: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
NOT Faith comes by baptism...
...not meaning to denigrate Lutheranism, but maybe we CAN'T agree to disagree after all...
rhymeswithplague,
I understand clearly what you're saying, because I believe like you do. I was a ignorant little Baptist girl who married a Lutheran and I have to attend his church because this is the rural community we live in. I would have to drive many miles to find a church I really agreed with.....and that just doesn't work with my situation.
So, please, say we can still be friends! I enjoy posting these colorful stained-glass windows, that's all.....I don't really mean to get into theology, although it is interesting. And I always enjoy your comments!
The stained glass window takes me back to my childhood and all the stained glass in our church. I used to spend the majority of my time staring at those windows....
I can picture you running late to church and jumping in the choir all tousled...sounds like something I would do. If there was a Mrs. Olson (from Little House on the Prairie) she would be scowling disgustedly at you. Funny!
egghead,
Fun to think of "Little House" stories.....
Actually, lately I've spent much of my time in church staring at the windows, too.....finally taking full notice of them after all these years.
Of course! We are still friends! I never thought otherwise.
I enjoyed our Pentecost Sunday--our church all wore red--kind of funny. But I love the fact that the Holy Spirit is present in believers and that we continue being filled by Him. I long to be more sensitive to Him and His work---I am glad that believers are all one in Him (even if there are various views on things!) that if we have Him we are one!! Can't wait for the celebration in heaven.
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