“Paul’s well”

March 14, 2008
Friday

Acts 9:1-18

On our fifth day it Turkey, we traveled to Tarsus, to see the house where Paul is purported to have lived. Today Tarsus is a very busy city. We turned off a main street and found Paul’s place in the midst of a bunch of back streets. But wait, it looked too modern as it was made of wood and had no walls. What was going on? We got out of the van, walked through the gate, got our tickets (everything has a ticket in Turkey!), and moved towards the structure. Our guide had us look down to see Paul’s house. Underneath a clear cover laying flat to the ground, about 10 feet below the ground were the remnants. “This is thought to be the Apostle Paul’s home”.
As I looked around there was a well in working condition. “They call it Paul’s well and some say the water has healing powers, “ continued the guide. “If you want, they will bring up some water for you to have.” What would it be like to baptize someone with water from Paul’s well? That would be cool! But would it be any more special because it came from the site of Paul’s house? I then remembered how Paul was concerned that folks in Corinth were dividing the church. “Were you baptized into the name of Paul?” No. Then I thought of my baptism in the name of God, Christ, and the Spirit and chose to use that moment, as I did at other times on the journey, to remember my baptism and give thanks to God for first loving me so that I could love others. The water, no matter from where it comes, is meaningless unless we understand the glory of baptism, of rejoicing in God’s grace, and celebrating our life as a gift from God. It is our response to God’s amazing love and grace in your life. Do you remember your baptism? Whether you do or not, do you remember why you were baptized? If you’ve not been baptized yet, maybe we could talk about it.