On Sunday, August 30, 2009, Claire (Wang Yiran) from Beijing, China, was Baptized into the Body of Christ at Christus Victor Lutheran Church.  

Up until one year ago, Claire did not know about or believe in Jesus Christ.  A year ago Claire heard the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, she experienced the love of God in her heart, and became a follower of Jesus.  A year later, while on an internship at the Minnesota Zoo, to improve her English language skills, half a world away from her home she found a group of Christians gathered together for worship and Christian fellowship near the apartment where she was living.  These Christians called themselves Lutherans, which she had never heard of before.  But that didn’t matter to her so much because a number of these Lutheran-Christians greeted her and made her feel welcome and at home, and through their worship, praise, words, and actions she knew these people loved Jesus Christ.  So she asked them a question…

“I have never been Baptized.  I want to be Baptized, and want to be Baptized in this church, among these Christian people, before I go back to China.”   Through emails and in the conversations that followed, it became clear how much Claire knew and loved Jesus, and how much she desired to be Baptized into the life of God, into the forgiveness of her Sin, into the Family of God, which is the Body of Christ, the Church Universal.   Her passion and commitment to continue to learn and grow in her knowledge, understanding, and spiritual life in Christ, was deeply moving.  And she is so excited to share her faith in God with her friends and classmates in China, most of whom have never heard the story of Jesus Christ, and the love God given to every person on earth.  

Claire had never heard about Martin Luther or the Reformation.  She knew very little about Church History, the development of the creeds and doctrines of the Church, nor the long process of determining the Canon of Scripture known as the New Testament, let alone all that is contained within those scriptures and the various interpretations thereof.  She had no idea what the differences might be between her church in China and our church in America (At one point she asked, “what’s a denomination?”), but she did know that we believed in and followed Jesus Christ and had the love of God in our hearts.  And I saw the same in her!  What a witness to the vastness of the Body of Christ (Beijing, China – Apple Valley, USA – Mlowa, Tanzania – Dominican Republic), and to the power of the Holy Spirit to work through very different people from very different places, to build each up in faith!!

The Body of Christ is bigger than any ethnic group, culture, country, or denomination.  God’s intention, revealed throughout the Bible, is to gather all the people of the world together into the love of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit (this gives you the jist of churchy words like redemption, salvation, and sanctification).

In the midst of denominational rivalries and struggles, in the midst of the conflicts and divisions within the ELCA, in the midst of our  own struggles and challenges, both large and small, within our own congregation, to experience first-hand that God’s love and work is more wonderful, powerful, and beyond any of our comprehension or control gives me great hope and comfort.  To see the Holy Spirit overcoming and transcending any and all barriers to bring people to faith, strengthen people in faith, and bring people of faith together is to know that all we really can do, or need to do, is give witness in our own lives to the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ that has been given to us.  ”Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” – 1 John 4: 7