Seaside, riverside, lake, pool, bowl? The options are rather limited in hospital!
93-year-old Jiang was admitted to hospital in Adelaide last month after beating herself so badly that the nursing home sent her to hospital.
She felt that a family crisis was the result of her sin. A friend had told her that Jesus loved her so much that he would wash away her sins, but she was so troubled by family issues that she had stopped going to church and could not accept forgiveness.
Wing, a sister from church who cared for Jiang, and I visited her in hospital on September 1st and carefully went through the gospel with her. Jiang accepted Jesus and was so relieved of her burdens that she wanted to be baptised there and then!
Caught by surprise, and wanting to be careful, I felt it was important to check with her family. Her daughter was delighted with the care we had shown her mum and said, “Yes”. At that point I thought, “How could I not do it?”
See, here is water. What prevents me from being baptised?
Acts 8:36
I found a mug, filled it with water and baptised her there in the hospital bed, using the words of the Sydney Anglican Mandarin baptism liturgy. As I went through the liturgy slowly and carefully, to be sure Jiang understood the meaning of baptism, she stopped me and said, “I know and have learned about God the Father and Jesus the Son … but who is the Holy Spirit?”
We paused the baptism liturgy and took time to talk about how much God our Father loves us and how he sent his one and only Son to suffer and die for our sins so that we can be forgiven. We explained to Jiang that when we become Christians, we have new life in Christ, and that Jesus promised to be with us by giving us his Spirit, so that whatever struggles or challenges we face, we know he is with us always.
Jiang now understood why we were baptising her in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we proceeded. A crash course on the doctrine of the Trinity in a hospital room was certainly not something any of us had expected!
Thank God for his saving grace to Sister Jiang, and please pray that she will entrust all her burdens to our Lord and receive the peace that surpasses all understanding.
All praise and glory be to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.