Friday, February 20, 2004
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Friday, February 20, 2004 |
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Happy birthday to me By DAVID EPPS It’s my birthday next week. On Wednesday, March 3, I will be 34 years old. Well, my physical self turned 53 on Jan. 15 of this year, but next Wednesday is the day of my “spiritual birthday.” Jan. 15, 1951, was the date of my physical birth; March 3, 1970, was the date I was “born again,” in the language of the evangelicals. Much of my childhood and youth was spent in church, although there were long periods of inactivity when my family slept in on Sundays. One could see Golda Memorial Methodist Church from our carport in Kingsport, Tennessee. Our house was set on a hill and, half a mile away, on another hill, sat Golda. Sometime between the ages of 6 and 11, I walked to Golda with my mom and dad when the weather was comfortable. I don't remember much about it except that I had to be quiet and my mom would give me gum to chew during the services. After I turned 11, we stopped going for some reason. When I was 15 1/2, I was invited to Mountain View Methodist Church by two teenage girls named Andrea Carter and Sherry Cloninger, and the church’s pastor, Rev. Fred L. Austin. For the next 3 years, Mountain View Church and the Methodist Youth Fellowship were where I spent Sunday mornings and evenings. It was a wonderful time in a wonderful church. Even though my parents rarely attended, the people made me feel like the church was “my church.” In February of 1970, having graduated from high school the previous June, I found myself enduring the rigors of Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. Sometimes, people will ask, “Is Parris Island as terrible a place as I’ve heard it is?” “No,” I always reply, “whatever you’ve heard, it’s much worse.” Which is why, on March 3, 1970, this 19-year-old recruit was lying in the bunk (properly called a “rack,” in Marine Corps lingo), trying to pray. I prayed my usual, “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer. I even prayed The Lord’s Prayer that I had learned at Mountain View. Still, God seemed far, far away. In desperation, I prayed an honest, if halting, prayer that went something like, “Oh God, if you are real and if you are in this awful place, please let me know somehow. I am so afraid and I am so discouraged. I just don’t think I’m going to make it. If you will let me know you are here, my life is yours.” Then, I waited. No voice from heaven, no lightning, no thunder — just the quiet sounds of a Marine Corps squad bay with sixty sleeping Marine recruits. I eased out of the rack, grabbed my flashlight, and rummaged through my footlocker until I found a small booklet that the Navy chaplain had given to me a few weeks earlier. I covered my head with the green wool blanket, opened the booklet for the first time ever, turned on the flashlight, and pointed it at the page. The words that leaped off the page were these: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10 KJV) It seemed as though another presence had entered the room. I felt as though I was no longer alone. Indeed, the presence remained with me throughout boot camp. Throughout that ordeal, I felt encouraged, assisted, and strengthened. In fact, throughout that past 34 years, God has always been faithful. I have not always kept my promise to give him my life — but he has never abandoned or deserted me. Rev. Austin wrote to me and encouraged me throughout boot camp. I even shared my story of “meeting God” at Mountain View Church during a church service some months later. The Church was a significant force is preparing me to encounter God and, for 34 years, the Church, in its many expressions, has continued to strengthen and influence my life. Sometimes, pastors and theologians make knowing God too difficult and too complicated. In 2 Corinthians 5:19, Paul said, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them” (ASB). In other words, God, through Jesus, was bring the world back home to himself and was not holding their sins against them. God is not mad at us! He just wants us to come home to him. He yearns to forgive us, he desires to give us a supernatural way of living, and he wants to help us fulfill our destiny. It all starts with having a “spiritual birthday.” St. Paul also taught, “For, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 ASB). How hard is that? A learned and aged theologian was asked to share the most profound truth he had learned in all his decades of study. Without hesitation, he said, “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.” It’s so simple that a child — or a frightened and discouraged 19-year-old kid — can understand and apprehend it. [Father David Epps is rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church, which is at 4881 Ga. Highway 34 between Peachtree City and Newnan. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com. The church, which meets at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Sundays, has a Web site at www.ctkcec.org.] |