His skin was peeling something chronic as this was the third day that he had been down at the river in the sun. it stung whenever he moved : the only soothing was when he went and sat in an eddy of the flowing water. And he would watch from a distance this phenomenon.

People from all over were coming out of the city on a weekend trip, leaving their jobs and families to take part in this movement if you will. They gather around a man who was clean only because he hung out in the water all day, his beard and hair made him look like james k Baxter or some other prophetic type. A beard that had things living in it, the odd locust leg rotting away stuck to the hair by days old honey drippings. Hair that was matted into accidental dreads. He was skinny. What you saw in his beard was his diet. Locusts and honey. “Weirdo” thought the man as he eased himself into the water.

Once he was in fully he bend his head back and rested it on a rock that he had discovered was the perfect shape for him a day ago. He let out a sigh of relief as the cool water soothed his tender skin. “This is the life” he thought. For one moment he caught a respite from the hassles of normal living. He didn’t have to worry about his family or friends interrupting him here. No work to do, this was a holiday from life. His wife and kids were at home doing what wife and kids do. He felt a bit guilty about this but soon shut it out of his mind. “I need this” he said to himself. And he did.

Over in the distance he heard the prophet shouting at the top of his voice. He wasn’t condemning the people, not at all and that was part of his charm. He was merely making a suggestion that rang true with people.

“Repent” he shouted. “acknowledge your sin before God and turn!”

it resonated with him. There was a distance that he felt from God. Sometimes he felt like he was walking, not away from God, that’s too deliberate, no he’s walking toward something other than God. Like he was drifting apart, the often cited reason for divorce. The non-action of relationship. The misconceptions of the relationship. The non-participation of relationship.

When you’re on that track the world takes on a different perspective. When you walk away from having to choose to love then the object of your affection inevitably becomes yourself. The distance increases and you serve yourself more. It seems to be the cycle.

As he thought about it, he could see that his journey of faith was becoming something else. Depersonalised, God became bigger and bigger, more over there than right here. With water coursed over his body and nursing his wounds he thought, though he couldn’t confirm it, he thought that there was the hand of God. Cleaning his sores making sure that they don’t get infected with dirt. Letting the wounds be, but also letting them heal. For a brief moment he thought he ought to thank God, but he was too uncertain about the appropriateness of that. “it’s like I haven’t caught up with him for awhile” starting that introverted spiral away from relationship and into aloneness.

“Repent” was the word that he heard. It means to turn around. It’s an old term, but it works. Turn around from sin. It’s as profound as it is releasing.

But before we can continue with the story I want us to come up with a definition for sin using exactly seven words.

immoral act considered transgressing against divine law.

He asked himself, “Why would anyone want to transgress the divine law? Why would anyone want to do their own thing? Surely if we have faith in God being…well…God, then we would just trust in his wisdom, his knowledge, his understanding.” His mind wandered off trying to work out the answer.

And there is a huge amount of practical truth to what he’s thinking. If we all loved each other as Jesus loves us, what would the world look like? World peace is surely part of the kingdom of heaven on this earth. But the problem is that we live in a world where other people don’t love us. Where other people make it hard to love them. Where other people do not even want to be kind to us, who disrespect us. And in this environment it’s hard to imagine not being like them. It’s easy to lose hope because we’ve been told to change the world. And we could. All of us have a contribution to make to changing this world for the better. All of us can improve the world by simply apologising when we need to, talking things through with people just to clarify things, being humble, allowing all people to be equal since the gospel is after all the great leveller of social status.

Yep these are some of the principles behind the good news of Jesus Christ. And the rules, if you want to call them that, no let’s not. We don’t call breathing a rule do we? These things that the bible holds for us, truths if you like, a slippery word nowadays though, these truths ought to be like how we breathe. The outright refusal to sleep around for instance, to protect our sexuality from becoming less intimate; or how about desiring only to have enough, not falling into the trap of wanting more, just having enough; or being slow to anger and quick to show mercy? Aren’t all these things in and of themselves and even more so when thrown together collectively, aren’t these ‘rules’ actually meant to be the fabric of our character? These rules are what ought to bring us to a purer understanding of what it means to be humans : the bearers of God’s image.

This all sounds wonderful doesn’t it. Knowing the stuff that makes us into better people that everyone will like. It’s part of the purification process of the holy spirit. It’s part of the cleansing that we are meant to experience as we journey with Jesus. If this is what it’s meant to do for us…why do we sin?

The water coursed its way around every curve of his skin, creating little ripples and wonderful reflective patterns. The water cleansed every part of his exterior. The city was a dirty place. A place where you would walk through the streets where there was no real sanitation. The stuff would get stuck in between your toes, it would accumulate with the dust in the wrinkles of your skin. If you had an open sore, it would likely get infected and the healing process could take months. The smell wasn’t an issue like it would be for us today it was a fact of life. To go to the river for a swim was quite a big deal, it took ages to get there on foot : 6 hours of solid walking. To get to the Jordon river from Jerusalem was no small feat. To be immersed in this much water was luxury. True luxury. To let it clean him was just incredible. He was feeling refreshed. It helped him feel alive, and it helped him feel as though perhaps he was closer to God if only he would say thanks… So the water cleaned him : well his outside anyway. He knew he would leave this river and return home to the filth. He knew this was temporary and he loved it, but it wasn’t real life. He knew all these things and his heart was saddened and the distance between he and God came back.

“Repent” came the voice of the prophet again. People were coming in small but still significant groups. They were singing and shouting. They went into the water apprehensive, and came out jubilant. All the time, the prophet was calling out, “repent and be baptised! Let this be not just a symbol but a true reflection of what it means to be cleansed inside. Your sins will be washed away!”

and how that was music to their ears. How that made all the difference in the world to them. To know that there was a way out of this state of existence. There was escape from the ugly stuff of life. What does it mean to have my sins washed away? What’s the outcome?

He wanted to have this too. The decision to repent was one that he wanted to make. To be able to leave all his sins behind forever, to know forgiveness on a heart level, to know that there is hope for this life that is just so stink sometimes, to know that there was a way for God to not be distant, but for him to be intimate, to not be judge, but to be merciful, to not condemn, but to offer hope, to not make him feel like a failure, but to empower him to be a new creation. “Who wouldn’t want that?” he thought to himself. “If my inside is even half cleaner than what it is now, surely that’s an improvement…” he thought as he looked at the uniform colour of his clean skin. “I need more than this.”

People were queuing up in a line now. Waiting their turn to be dunked under the water. And he got up and joined the queue. He wasn’t sure of what he was doing. He was already clean. He wasn’t sure about much, it was more of a let’s see what happens type of thing. He knew that something significant was going to take place, but he didn’t know what.

He took a step closer. He was 5th in line now. He was thinking about what people would think of him. It’s one thing to be here in line with a whole lot of like minded people but yet another to be telling people about it back home. They would think he’s crazy, a kook, they’d say things like “whatever works for you man” and stop inviting him round. He was sure of it.

4th in line and he had entered the water up to his ankles. He looked around and saw a whole lot of weird people. People who had come out of the water with massive smiles on their faces. He asked one of them, “what was it like?” and they replied, “well, you just feel…lighter somehow”. Some people were shouting praises to God at the top of their voices, dancing around with no care for how people thought of them, others were sitting there head bowed weeping tears of joy.

There were so many responses, not one of them exactly the same in either appearance or in depth, but they had responded.

3rd in line. He could hear the voice of the prophet now, “be clean. U-turn on your pathway and head back to God. Be clean.” And he said it like he meant it. “Be clean. Know that you are worth God loving. Know that you are not damaged goods. Know that there is more to life than what you ever thought. Know that you are cared for and embraced by the loving God.”

2nd in line. He could see what was happening now, they would drop to their knees and close their eyes. Then they would take a deep breath and nod. The prophet would then guide them under the water while he prayed for them. And as they came out they would take their first breath of a new life.

It was his turn.

Water up to his hips now. Prophet looking at him intently. “take your time,” the prophet said to him. And the water swirled around his legs and then around his lower body as he knelt on the river bed. The noise of the water going past was loud enough to be intimate, he could feel the river’s current pressuring him. Eyes closed he nodded and took his breath.

The prophet put his hands on the mans head and pushed him under.

And that’s where my story stops. Today is Pentecost Sunday. It’s a day where we celebrate new beginnings. It’s the day when we celebrate the holy spirit becoming part of this life. As we go into communion it’s appropriate that we acknowledge the role of the holy spirit in our lives as individuals but also corporately. The holy spirit entering into our life experiences and purifying us, empowering us and enriching us.

There are three steps to take for this communion. First, take a cup of water and drink it. Drink it slowly and be refreshed. Then take the bread and the juice. Then take a sparkler outside and have fun with it.