Igniting and Refining Our Inner Fire
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
January 22, 2023
Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. Our scriptures for today at the story of Jesus’ water baptism from Matthew 3:10-17 from the New Revised Standard Version.
Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him, and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
If I was a betting man, I would bet that most of us could not read our text for this morning without thinking a little bit about FIRE.
Ironically, there are several references to fire in this text about Jesus’ water baptism, if you did not notice we heard about…
Being cut down and thrown into the fire
baptizing not in water but in fire, and...
burning the chaff with a fire
Too often Christians these days simply jump to hell or eternal damnation when thinking about fire in the scriptures and sadly miss what I believe John had been preparing the people in the wilderness for – that being what Quakers especially would acknowledge as the coming of the Light (the Fire) into their lives.
I sense the reason we move quickly to hell is that the word pictures John paints for us are messages that, as William Barclay in his commentary notes, seem to combine both “promise and threat.”
Before anyone get’s cut down and thrown into the fire, I think we first must remember what John says,
John says that the baptism of the one who is to come will be with fire.
William Barclay helped shed some important light on his ideas of what this coming fire would entail – and with many things in scripture it is three-fold. He sees the fire in three ways:
1. Illumination,
2. Warmth, and
3. Purification.
Let’s explore what Barclay said in his own words on this subject.
1. There is the idea of illumination. The blaze of a flame sends a light through the night and illuminates the darkest corners. The flame of the beacon guides the sailor to the harbor and the traveller to their goal. In fire there is light and guidance.
2. There is also the idea of warmth. A great and a kindly person was described as one who lit fires in cold rooms...God kindles within our hearts the warmth of love towards God and towards our neighbor.
And finally…
3. There is the idea of purification. In this sense purification involves destruction (or deconstruction); for the purifying flame burns away the false and leaves the true. The flame tempers and strengthens and purifies the metal.
For you and me, this often happens through painful or challenging experiences, but, if a person throughout all the experiences of life believes that God is working together all things for good, they will emerge from them with a character which is cleansed and purified, until, being pure in heart, they can see God within themselves.
We must remember that for us, what John the Baptist has described is a present reality. When you and I realize the Light of God is in our present lives – as John realized on the shore that day when Jesus came and dipped into the water – our eyes and hearts are not only open, but even more our entire lives (physically, mentally, spiritually) are opened up to God’s fire and light to enter into our very souls.
Thus becoming, as Quakers have always professed and testified, “THE LIGHT WITHIN”
· A fire in our souls that lights and guides our journey.
· A fire in our souls that kindles in our hearts the warmth of love towards God and towards our neighbor.
· A fire in our souls that burns away the false and leaves the true
In the original Greek the word for cleansed, washed, or even baptized meant to be literally immersed - which meant...
To be thrust, plunged, or thrown into
To be consumed by – surrounded by or overwhelmed with.
John’s Baptismal cleansing was for repentance and people were immersed in the water of the Jordan river as a symbol of that cleansing.
But when Jesus comes, the immersion that takes places is one of being thrust, plunged into, consumed, surrounded and overwhelmed by the Spirit or refining fire of God.
Did you know that when the first Quakers introduced their faith to others, the Refiner’s Fire was often the first element of the spiritual journey they described?
They were quick to tell people how to discover the Light of Christ within. Look into your conscience, they counseled. If you pay attention to what makes your conscience uneasy, you will discover that the Light within your conscience illuminates how, inwardly, you resist God.
If you persist in looking at what is revealed, you’ll see more and more clearly–possibly to your surprise–how thoroughly you have been under the sway of fear, uncontrolled desires, negative emotions, distracting mental processes, deceitful manners, unjust social practices, greed, and pride.
When you and I truly experience the Light Within – that Refiner’s Fire – the simple truth is that we cannot stay the same.
Folks, I think one of the greatest things I have learned over the last several years is that fire is not always bad but rather transformational, and it definitely doesn’t translate to hell.
A few years ago, when we were at Yosemite National Park and taking a tour over the valley floor, they told us how descendants of the Ahwahneechee people (the first settlers of the area) taught park rangers the importance of burning parts of the valley floor each year. Doing this brings about new life - seeds that could not open without the intense heat of the fires would instead lay dormant. The dry brush and overgrowth would naturally overtake the forest without the cleansing quality of the fires. And if there were no little fires, an all-consuming fire could take the entire park.
If we would have done what the Ahwahneechee people had learned by living close to the earth and learning from it, instead of abusing, distressing, and overworking it as we too often do, we may have been doing what they have are doing in Yosemite – lighting small controllable fires on a rotating cycle for the benefit of the forest and wildlife.
I think this may be closer to what John was trying to teach us about Jesus’ baptism of fire. We need more than immersion in water. We need more than repentance (even though I believe that is part of it).
We need transformation.
It reminds me again of the words of Martin Luther King Jr (a man who understood the need for transformation and has speaking to my condition throughout this week). He said,
"By opening our lives to God in Christ, we become new creatures. This experience, which Jesus spoke of as the new birth, is essential if we are to be transformed nonconformists ... Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit."
We need to be thrust, plunged, thrown into, consumed, surrounded, and overwhelmed by the Light/Fire of God on a regular basis.
Not just a once-and-done kind of thing, but a daily refining so that new life can come forth. So that cleansing can take place. So that we can prevent our own bad choices, destructive desires, and offensive ways from destroying those around us and making us useless chaff or non-fruit bearing trees.
As we enter our time of waiting worship this morning - take some time to ponder how your Inner Light radiates the Love of God.
Ask yourself...
How am I allowing the Refiner’s Fire to change and ignite me?
How is the fire/light in me illuminating my path and directing me in the darkness?
How is the fire/light in me kindling the warmth of God’s love to my neighbors?
How is the fire/light in me purifying my world and speaking Truth to power?