Creekside Church Sermon of January 12, 2003 "You've Got Charisma! " Acts 19:1-7	Rev. David Bibbee
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I don't know the whole story of why I was baptized as an infant. My guess is that it was done to calm the concerns of the Methodist connection on my mother's side of the family. Mom and Dad were attending the Church of the Brethren where infants were dedicated, not dunked or sprinkled. Maybe they wanted to be sure all the bases were covered, just in case, so I was baptized and dedicated.

I do not remember my first baptism. I did not request it. I was not asked whether I wanted it. At nine months old I couldn't quite comprehend the sacrament. I don't know if I became a better baby. I am not an advocate of infant baptism, but neither will I say the sacrament done on my behalf back in 1954 was pointless. What I do know is that a claim was staked on my little life. It was my parent's recognition that they could not handle me all alone. You could say I was, "handed over" for God to do what God would do with my life, though I recall nothing about the moment.

The next thing I knew, I was opening a letter from my pastor, Jim Kinsey. I was seventeen and was asked to join a membership preparation class, culminating in a decision "to be baptized or not to be baptized." I almost didn't join the class because I was a senior, and the rest of the kids in the class were sophomores and freshmen. Mrs. Brandt sat in on the sessions, not so much to teach but to keep an eye on us and to make sure that our "fresh from seminary" pastor wasn't deviating from traditional teachings and practice, which fresh from seminary pastors sometimes do, and which is precisely why I liked our new pastor.

Unlike my first baptism, the second wasn't in Jordan River water, but I was involved in the decision. No one twisted my arm, but the Holy Spirit stretched my spirit to say yes and begin walking the life-long path of faith.

Looking back, I had what could best be called a "minimalist" grasp of what it meant to be a Christian. I didn't know what my baptism would lead me to be or do.

But up to today and beyond, one thing I do know. The Holy Spirit has graced my life and has been the sustaining strength that has helped me through many a mess, and hoisted me over many a hurdle, and helped me do the mission that God has appointed to me. Because of baptism, I've got charisma.

My awareness of the Spirit's did not come in a pleasant circumstance. At the time of my baptism, the Charismatic Movement was making its presence felt in many churches. My home church was no exception. A former pastor was holding meetings in a member's home, and up to sixty members of the congregation would attend these meetings at which speaking in tongues was practiced.

After repeated efforts at getting me to come and bring my guitar in tow, I gave in. I won't go into descriptive detail of all that happened. Let's just say it was an "un-positive" experience. The gist of the message that night was, Baptism by water alone wasn't enough, and the sure sign that you were Spirit baptized was speaking in tongues. The pastor stopped short of saying that "everyone" should speak in tongues, but said that everyone "should pray for it, and if it was granted, all the better." The bottom line was, "Not all Christians speak in tongues, but they should." Never mind Saint Paul's cautions about the danger of creating division in the Body of Christ. Paul posed a rhetorical question in I Corinthians 12: "Do all speak in tongues?" The implication was, "No." Then he added: "Ernestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show you a more excellent way…if I speak in the tongues of mortals and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal…"

What got my goat was when the pastor prayed over a young boy with a leg deformity. He prayed for the leg to straighten while several others circled the boy praying in tongues. The only thing they succeeded in doing was scaring the boy into tears. He was told to stand up and walk without limping, but he couldn't. The explanation was that more faith was needed. I was livid. I sat there, arms crossed, leaning forward with my head down ready to interrupt their circus act when I felt hands on top of my head. It was the pastor at whom I was so angry. As he prayed, he thanked God for the gift of guitar playing and for the other gifts which the Spirit was yet to reveal. The legitimate anger I felt began to subside and in its place was a feeling like having come home after a long time away. I had prayed often about what I could do to serve God, but kept drawing blanks. Through a prayer that lasted maybe a minute at a meeting that made me wish that I was anywhere but there, a prayer was answered. A gift was affirmed.

On that night thirty-one years ago I discovered I had charisma. No one actually said it in that way, but I came to see myself in a way I had not seen myself before…gifted. It was nothing to boast about. How can you boast over what you did not create? When we hear the word "charisma", we think about people who have irresistible appeal, magnetism, or charm. Their power commands attention. Their personality entrances. Most of us wish we had that kind of appeal, or at least a little bit of it, but few of us do.

John F. Kennedy had it; Richard Nixon didn't. Joe Namath has it; Johnny Unitas didn't. Magic Johnson has it; Larry Bird doesn't. Bill Clinton has it; Al Gore doesn't. Lady Di had it; Queen Elizabeth doesn't. George Clooney has it; Andy Rooney doesn't. These are cultural distinctions we make between people. But when we examine Christian people up close through the biblical lense, the number of those possessing charisma grows to include all Christians… I repeat "ALL CHRISTIANS." We have charisma whether we are extroverted or introverted; whether we prefer working up front or behind the scenes, we all have charisma.

All Christians are "charismatic." The Greek word "Charis" simply means, "gift." When you were baptized, the Holy Spirit came upon you, gifted you, became a tool to compel, strengthen, and guide you in living the Christian life.

Some say there isn't just one baptism, but two…water and spirit baptism, and that without both as distinct experiences, one is not a complete Christian. They affirm the importance of water baptism for forgiveness, cleansing, and starting life over, but they insist that everyone must be filled with the Holy Spirit and manifest the authenticity of the experience by prophesying, speaking in tongues, or having some life altering experience.

Does this mean the Holy Spirit is not available to us at our baptism? Does it mean we do not posses the gifts we need to do God's work and that we must ask for, pray for, and wait for a further installment? No. You will only find the phrase, "Baptized with the Holy Spirit" one place in the entire New Testament. In Acts 1: 5, Jesus tells his disciples to wait in Jerusalem to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. He was pointing them toward Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples and they spoke in other tongues and the onlookers thought they were drunk. Peter told the crowds that the Spirit which was present in Jesus had been given to his disciples.

Peter then said that the Spirit was available to everyone. The crowd asked, "What shall we do?" "Repent," Peter said. "Be baptized in Jesus' name. Be forgiven, and receive the Holy Spirit. The promise is to you, your children, and everyone." The New Testament prescribes one baptism. We go down, drowning the old self; we are raised a new self and in that act, God's promised spirit comes to us. In the Church of the Brethren we baptize for forgiveness and regeneration, and we lay hands on the head to symbolize the promise of The Spirit's presence. It is a once and for all act, and all who are baptized get charisma. The gift is given not to be embraced but employed.

What then can we say to bring this charisma business close to home? First, you must find it. Maybe you had it and lost it. Maybe you were once in touch with the gift you were given, but lost track of it. You can pray to God to help you locate it. Pay attention to what goes on inside you. Joseph Campbell said we should "follow our bliss" which means doing what we need to do and what needs to be done. What gives your life meaning and purpose? Maybe you will find it where that which brings you joy and the world's needs intersect. Ask your Christian friends what gifts they see in you.

When you find your charisma, you then must accept it. One sure way to kill charisma is by comparison. Set your gift along side the high-profile gifts of others. Be jealous that they have what you don't. See how small your gift is compared to theirs. But before you do, remember that for every one spectacular gift, there are thousands of less noticeable, but no less important gifts necessary to sustain the church. "You are the body of Christ and individually members of it," Paul said. "The body doesn't consist of one member but many. If the foot should say, 'I am not a hand and I do not belong to the body,' that wouldn't make it any less a part of the body." Where would the church be if there were none to do the ushering, visiting, teaching, praying, organizing, and cleaning? These tasks are indicators of charisma, too!

As you travel here below, spread your charisma wherever you go. Find your gift, and having found it, accept it. But your charisma won't work as intended if you fail to use it. The Holy Spirit doesn't dispense gifts for us to sit upon. Paul told Timothy, "Stir up the gift that is in you."

Right now the air is full of voices and images you cannot see or hear. You cannot access them unless you have a radio or television which can receive electrical impulses and translate the energy into voices, music, and pictures. The Spirit that brooked over the face of creation's waters, and descended upon Jesus at his baptism, and at Pentecost filled the disciples with transforming power, is promised to us. It is there always, but to do its work we must tine in and allow ourselves to be conduits of God's will on earth.

We received the Holy Spirit once and for all at baptism, but we continue to turn toward it. C.S. Lewis said about Christianity: "Every day we must begin again." Last Sunday we recited St. Frances' prayer: "Day by day, O dear Lore three things I pray ? to see Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, and follow Thee more nearly, day by day." Some days the Spirit is so real we can touch it. At other times, it seems to be gone with the wind. But regardless how it seems, we turn and return, and use the gifts given specifically to us when we were baptized in his name.

The students of the great rabbi Susha gathered for instruction and found the teacher in tears. When what was wrong he said: "Last night I dreamed I had died and was standing before the Lord. He asked, "Susha, while you lived why were you not a Moses?" "Because there was not created in me the character of Moses," I replied. "Susha, while you lived why were you not a David?" "Because there was not created in me the great leadership of David," I said. And the Lord asked, "Susha, while you lived, why were you not a Susha?" I could only fall down and weep."

Rest assured that at your baptism you received the Holy Spirit. God promised it. Let no one, especially you, tell you that you do not have CHARISMA.

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