Thumbs up from God... That "Partnership" feeling.

I took a wedding last Saturday afternoon. As friends and family greeted the bride and groom at the close of the ceremony, a lady I know in the congregation came up and said, "That was lovely, just right for this couple." I so appreciated that comment, it was like a thumbs up for all the effort I had put in to making the wedding fit. When Jesus was baptised it is described that "a voice from heaven" said, "You are my own dear Son. I am well pleased with you." I am not sure what historically happened, but for Jesus I believe it was the sacred "presence" saying, "you are on the right track". His baptism was, in a sense, his "coming out". From now on he was "on a mission" in a public way. It was a mission fraught with conflict, challenge and ultimately costing him his life. His baptism was a brave step and this I believe was an inner confirmation that he was on the right track... a thumbs up from God. I want to tell you about some of my experiences like that.

I had been visiting a recovering alcoholic/mental health patient man who had terminal lung cancer. This day I had brought him soup which was about all he could eat at that stage, and had fixed a window he had broken. He had two of his old drinking buddies visiting and they invited me to stay for coffee. To cut a long story short, I found myself sitting on a box, drinking awful coffee from a dirty mug, in a smoke filled room listening to old stories about three wasted lives. I began to think... "What the heck am I doing here?" Almost immediately I "heard" an inner voice saying "Because this is where I want you to be, with these people." and I sensed an inexplicable sense of partnership with the spirit of Jesus.

I came into church ministry because when I was a plumber I sensed that the church just did not make sense or was not relating to the people I worked alongside of. There seemed a big gap between the church and the community and I have a burden to try to bridge that gap. At one of our Christmas day dinners, another alcoholic friend came up to me and asked me to pray with him. People were coming up to me saying goodbye and thank you. I had firemen and community volunteers asking for directions in the cleaning up process. I had church people wanting to know information about who to transport. It was really a busy and noisy scene. So I said to him, "You want prayer? Where? Here? Now!?" "Yes" he said. I looked around and thought "Why not?".... I put my hand on his shoulder and offered a prayer for the issues he had talked about. As I said "Amen" an inner light went on like a bolt out of the blue... Here I was in a church, with an alcoholic friend, alongside heaps of people from the community, my firemen and my church people and the "sacred presence" was "smiling" at the whole scene. The gap had been bridged in a beautiful way and I was part of that! Another "thumbs up" from God.

A worker at my brewery chaplaincy asked if I would marry him and "the wife" on the 25th anniversary of them moving in together. They wanted the wedding in the brewery yard and, for a variety of reasons, just after midnight. So I found myself in the midst of columns of beer kegs, taking a wedding with brewery workers and rugby league players as the main people in the congregation. After the signing of the register things got out of hand, and people started making speeches to the couple etc. jokes and all. (When you take a wedding in a brewery you don't have the same control as when in your church... it is their territory! You are the one out of your comfort zone.)I stood there thinking, "Hang on... I still have a prayer of blessing I want to give!" "Will I do it now? Will it seem stupid?" An inner voice said, "Do it!" So in a gap in the proceedings I said, "Lets have a prayer of support for this couple, aye?" Voices said, "Yes lets." And there was a sudden silence as everyone bowed their heads. I led in a prayer and when I said "Amen" I suspect every voice there said an emphatic "Amen!" Suddenly I was deeply aware of the "sacred presence" and the incredible privilege I had been a part of. I had stood in the middle of a brewery and through me God had made his presence felt... in a brewery, amongst brewery workers and rugby league players!? Wow!

A fireman had committed suicide and naturally his family, his workmates and I were all deeply saddened, shocked and full of all sorts of emotions. I had known him for twelve years and I was very busy going around listening, talking and arranging the funeral. On the appointed day around 700 people gathered on the lawns of Glenfalloch Gardens to share in the service. All eyes were on me as I started the service. Here I was already emotionally drained, grieving and confused myself and they were looking at me expectantly. I began to speak and stammered out the first sentence. I nervously stuttered out the next... sounding like a fumbling ministry student at his first funeral. I paused... I took a deep breathe... In that brief moment I felt a deep sense of the "sacred presence" and an "inner voice" say, "I have a special task for you today to be here for these grieving people and only you can do it." With renewed confidence I launched into the third sentence and the rest of the ceremony with a deep sense of partnership, significance and connectedness. It was interesting that afterward there were a couple of people who asked... "What happened at the start there? You suddenly changed?".

These are just a sample of such experience. I can't explain these experiences but they are deeply significant for my journey. (Photo: Brewery wedding)