PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
We seem to have developed – as Americans – a strange fascination with the supernatural. Television airwaves are full of programs that deal with the subject at hand. There’s a show called Ghost Hunters and a spinoff called Ghost Hunters International. There’s a show called Ghost Adventures and a show called The Ghost Whisperer. There wouldn’t be so many of these shows if there wasn’t a captive audience. Like I said, we Americans seem to have developed a strange fascination with the supernatural.
In fact, there’s a movie on that subject that recently became a blockbuster hit, entitled, Paranormal Activity. Paranormal activity begins when a young man named Micah purchases a camera to record the strange things his live-in girlfriend, Katie, claims to be experiencing. Micah’s purchase of the camera is more to appease her than anything else, and we soon find out he’s more interested in electronics than he is in the strange occurrences that seem to be haunting his partner. As the film progresses, however, the ghostly happenings become more and more apparent – and intense – while the hand-held camera documents these occurrences, as well as the sheer terror this young couple experiences.
There’s an interesting exchange that occurs in the film when Micah and Katie go to visit a psychic. Katie wants to use an Ouija board to discern what the entity wants and is puzzled by Micah’s lack of understanding. Micah says to her, “I understand where you’re coming from. Just remember too, that you didn’t exactly warn me about this kind of stuff before we moved in together, so I think I have a little bit of say in what we do.”
Katie replies, “I get that, but honestly, what was I supposed to say? On our first date, ‘Hey, I think there’s a demon that I think has been following me.’” Micah says, “No, but maybe on our fifteenth date, or our thirtieth date, or when we decided to live together…that might’ve been a good thing to bring up!”
We seem to have developed – as Americans – a strange fascination with the supernatural. Why do you suppose that is? Is it merely because we like to be scared out of our wits? Or is there something more? Life can be very hard on all of us. Is this perhaps a part of our process of trying to discern if there’s something beyond this earthly life? Is this perhaps a part of our process of trying to discern if there’s help from above? Whatever the reason is, we have a strange fascination with the supernatural – with what we call the paranormal.
Paranormal is a term that describes unusual experiences that lack scientific explanation. Approaching the paranormal from a research perspective is difficult because of the lack of physical evidence from most of the purported phenomena. These phenomena are alleged to be outside of science’s current ability to measure or explain. In other words, ghosts and ghouls and goblins are called paranormal because they’re beyond the realm of scientific explanation.
Perhaps, in a manner of speaking, we could say that Jesus himself experienced some paranormal activity in the passage we read from the gospel according to Luke. John the Baptist went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus himself went to John to be baptized by him. The question we should ask here, I suppose, is this: “Why did Jesus go to John for a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins…when he, himself, was without sin?” Some commentators say he did so as a mere formality. Other commentators say he did so to appease his Jewish mother. But the fact of the matter is, when Jesus was baptized by John in the River Jordan, he received his commission from God. More specifically, the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove.
Technically, this constitutes the paranormal because no scientific inquiry can explain the gift of the Holy Spirit. Yet we don’t usually call baptism paranormal activity; we call baptism a sacrament. A sacrament is an outward and physical act, instituted by Christ, with an inward and spiritual meaning. Again, a sacrament is an outward and physical act, instituted by Christ, with an inward and spiritual meaning.
The outward and physical act of baptism is the placement of water on the head, or in more conservative churches, the act of dunking a person in water. I don’t want to get into the theological distinctions of methodology here, so let’s just leave it at that. The outward and physical act of baptism has to do with water. To say that it is instituted by Christ is to say that Jesus told us to do it, which he does in the great commission. You can look that up at the end of the gospel of Matthew. What I want to talk about this morning though is the inward and spiritual meaning. What is the inward and spiritual meaning of baptism?
It’s three things, really. As water cleanses the filth off our bodies, the waters of baptism symbolize our cleansing from sin. The sacrament of baptism also symbolizes our reception into the Church universal. But perhaps even more important, just as the Holy Spirit descended upon
Jesus like a dove at his baptism, so, too, does baptism symbolize our reception of the Holy Spirit. Baptism symbolizes our reception of the Holy Spirit.
God the Father we know as God over and above us. God the Son we know as God with us and for us. But God the Holy Spirit we know as God in us. So when the Holy Spirit descends upon us as the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus, God begins to dwell within us. That’s a hard thing to measure scientifically, and perhaps it can be a hard thing for us to discern personally as well.
In churches of the Pentecostal tradition, one knows one has the Holy Spirit when one can speak in tongues. We are not of the Pentecostal tradition, and the Apostle Paul notes that the ability to speak in tongues is but one of the gifts of the Spirit, so no one needs to speak in tongues here to prove they have the Spirit. The Apostle Paul describes the fruits of the Spirit in the book of Galatians. The fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Again, the fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So in other words, one knows one has the Spirit when one produces the fruits of the Spirit.
That seems pretty black and white, does it not? So how do we deal with this when we don’t feel very loving, when we can find precious little joy in life, or when we don’t feel very peaceful or very patient or very kind? Are we to assume then that we lack the Holy Spirit? That’s a logical conclusion, wouldn’t you say?
I’ve always had a hard time with this because there are times when I don’t feel very peaceful or patient or kind myself. I found my eyes opened by C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity. He contrasts two different people, whom he has named Mr. X and Mrs. Y. Mr. X is not a Christian, but he is gentle and loving and kind. Mrs. Y is a Christian, but she is cantankerous and impatient and a bit overbearing. In light of what we just said about the Holy Spirit, how are we to view this contrast?
C.S. Lewis puts it this way. Imagine how wonderful Mr. X would be if he were a Christian, and imagine how cantankerous Mrs. Y would be if she were not! The point is this. Each of us is a work in progress. None of us has reached the final destination of who we are or who we can become. There is no way for us to determine who is in possession of, and who is not in possession of, the Holy Spirit. The key is for us to strive to grow in the Christian life. We must continue to work on producing the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It’s something that could well take a lifetime.
Baptism symbolizes our reception of the Holy Spirit. No one is qualified to determine whether or not we do, in fact, possess the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we may even feel as if we’re not qualified to determine for ourselves whether or not we possess the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we just need to trust that the Holy Spirit is there. The better we learn to produce the fruits of the Spirit, the more convinced we can become.
But here’s my concern. You’ve heard me talk about this for about six years now. Our society continues to raise a generation of young people apart from the church. Thus, our society is raising a generation of young people absent the sacrament of baptism. Can we not thus infer from a theological standpoint that we are raising a generation of young people who are essentially bereft of the Holy Spirit?
As a church, I think we need to do something about that. We need to continue to pursue a dynamic and vital youth ministry in this church. At the rate we’ve been going the last couple of years, we may not be able to afford such a person. Thus, perhaps we need to do a couple of things. First, we need to prayerfully reconsider our giving patterns. And second, we need to pray for the young people in our community. They face way more temptations and challenges than many of us ever did. How can they decide wisely if God is not with them to help them? We can help to change all that, you know.
Ladies and gentlemen, we need the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. Pray for God to send his Spirit to our young people. Pray for God to send his Spirit to our community. Pray for God to send his Spirit to our church. That, my friends, is the kind of paranormal activity we all can use. Amen.
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