Baptism by Fire (2022-08-14, Sunday-20th)

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2022-08-14 –20^th Sunday     Title:  Baptism by Fire

● ● Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-10  ● ● Psalm  40 ● ●●   Hebrews 12:1-4  ● Luke 12:49-53 ● ●

 [__01__]     A few days ago, I was on my way to see an old friend from school for dinner, to eat at a restaurant. On the way, he called me to tell me he was not feeling well.

          While he is fine now, our visit to a restaurant turned into a trip to the ER … after I waited for him to get ready at his house.

I bring this up because the gospel this Sunday. In the Gospel of the Sunday Jesus refers to completing a baptism and also about bringing fire to the earth. This “BAPTZ” not = water baptism with candle and white that we know of…

Jesus was referring to the baptism and the fire regarding his own suffering, passion and death and resurrection.

 

Baptism is about rising again.

Also, you and experience – at times – what Jesus referred to – “baptism by fire”.

My friend – needing medical attention – was in a baptism by fire. We use the term baptism by fire to refer to a situation in which someone is fighting his or her way through a crisis, often doing so without much training, or an on the job situation.

EMS – P-D,  F-F, F-D experience baptisms by fire frequently, because every situation of your (my) public safety, even if there are no flames, or smoke, per se, may requires on the spot thinking.

I'd like to touch on baptism by fire as part of our own journey, our own conversion, and how it relates to three traditional practices in the church, fasting prayer and almsgiving and their goals:

FASTING à STILLNESS

PRAYER à STRENGTH

ALMSGIVING à SERVICE

 

 

 

[__02__]     [1^st. STILLNESS (fasting)]

While my friend was having a B_B_F  for his health, I noticed my own experience of the fire in my gut. I was hungry.

I did not want to sit still. We were supposed to be at dinner. Selfishly, I started to think about the meal I was not having. All I had to do during my fast was wait in my friend's house, wait while he checked his blood pressure so that then we could go to the hospital.

When you are “fasting”, it is difficult to sit still. Sometimes, during a fast, we want to do things to keep our mind off the hunger. Or, we want to take control in some other way. Fasting is a discipline and baptism by fire that teaches us to be still before God.

The 46^th psalm: “be still and know that I am God.”.

[__03__]     [2^nd. STRENGTH (prayer)]

After fasting, the 2^nd traditional discipline of conversion is prayer.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote: “We set forth our petitions before God, not in order to make known to Him our needs and desires, but rather so that we ourselves may realize that in these things it is necessary to turn to God for help.'”

In praying, we don't always come with the right words. We don't always bring we don't bring our own strength to bear, but rather we come because God's strength is here.

You are here in church today also because other people are bringing strength to pray, even if you don't have the strength, enough to pray yourself.

 

Jesus has a high standard for all of us, even warning us about being unfaithful with our eyes about the way we look at others, purity in the heart. This is why fasting and prayer are so valuable. They make us aware of what our desires are.  There are certainly countless screens, apps, video games, et cetera that lead us to believe that we need to be entertained whenever we ae still. But the strength we need is not in our own intelligence or technology.

And it is paradoxically a victory when we can be still rather than in perpetual motion. And paradoxically, a victory when we can draw strength from God's grace rather than from our own reserves. It doesn't all depend on us.

[__04__]      [3^rd . SERVICE (almsgiving)]

One of the problems with all fires – whether a forest fire or house fire…and and also a baptism-by-fire – is that they happen at unexpected times.

And, there was no fire drill.

Also, sometimes, the baptism by fire of someone else becomes a baptism by fire for you, or for me.

Maybe you do not want want to be involved. Truly, driving my friend to a nearby ER and postponing my dinner for an hour or so was not a big deal.

This was a slightly bigger deal…

At first, I did not want to be involved.

A few months ago, I received a text message from my brother with an image or flyer attached of his family dog. The dog's name is Ivy, I-V-Y, but the dog was not at their home in California. Rather, the dog had been transported by his daughter – my niece – a college student to her apartment in New York City where she is in college. So, the flyer and the text said,  in huge letters – IVY IS LOST ,  The dog is lost.

My niece was worried, which I knew she would be. I also knew that there were potentially other family members who could and other family members who owned dogs. Didn’t the fact that I am not a dog owner get me off the hook to help.

My father owned a dog as both a child and adult; my brother has a dog.

I was looking for a way out of this. This would be my baptism by fire as an experience of service of almsgiving I committed to go to NYC the next day. And once I said,

I made paper copies of the flyer to distribute to stores, apartment buildings, random people, because you never know who would see the dog. I had my own conversion experience through this baptism by fire. I went from being the indifferent outsider to being the doggy advocate.

Some people were so kind and generous. One person said he would put the paper flyer up all over his apartment building. That was nice.

Somewhere not so nice. 1 person said: you'll never find that dog people steal dogs.  I thought “you're mean” I didn't tell my niece. I was a doggy advocate now. After several hours of doing all this, going to the NYPD precinct to an animal shelter and a few stories we heard nothing. We found nothing. We did not find the dog.

I bought my niece a bagel and a coffee at Dunkin Donuts which she refused to eat. She could not bring herself to eat. She was fasting while I was almsgiving. We were a team. this morning and early afternoon activity. I left my niece who was still sad, but I couldn't do much changed that and is drove back here to NJ. About two hours after I arrived home. I was notified that IVY the dog who had been lost was now safe and sound and had been found. She even had a minor injury but she was really okay.

The baptism by fire was over. By the way the dog was found because the dog had run near and then onto the Columbia University campus. She was found in a corner by a building by some students, and the students reported it to campus security.

And this campus security called my niece. I treasure and cherish the time my niece and I had together looking for the dog. If I had waited a few hours longer, or if I had waited till the next day, there would have been no need to search. But I'm also aware that my “work” near 125^th Street had nothing to do with the dog who was at 116^th.  Dogs do not need GPS or maps, but know where to go.  My efforts in the baptism by fire were simply to be present. Perhaps that's all we can do to be part of a baptism by fire;

Fasting … is our stillness before prayer is seeking strength from God. Each day ….. and service by almsgiving and taking up our cross daily.

 

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