day 37 I speak Jesus

 Ive gone back to Jo Jingling after a 3 yr hiatus.  Im just helping out till June but I have to confess to enjoying being back in the company of very small people.   Yesterday I was in a nursery room with babies - they were probably between 8 months and a year old.  When I arrived they were having a snack and were all in high chairs stuffing toast and slices of banana into themselves.  I set up my Jo Jingles stuff and waited for snack time to be over.  Whilst I was waiting I was observing the wee ones and it struck me once again that babies understand a massive amount of what is said to them before they are actually able to speak themselves.   I watched as they responded to questions, did what they were asked to do and interacted with caregivers.  It was so obvious that they had language skills even though they couldnt yet talk.

I remember feeling a bit like those babies when I was learning Spanish.  I went to Spain.  And when I was there I could understand much of what people were saying to me but found that I didnt know enough Spanish words to be able to talk back.  It felt strange.  I dont like not being able to communicate.  Bit by bit I learned to speak as well as I could understand being spoken to.   Just like those babies in the nursery.  In fact it's the listening and understanding which allows us to learn how to talk.  The one thing leads to the other.

Which led me to think about how we learn to speak 'God'.

When we get saved we dont have any language with which to speak.  We begin to understand and we learn a huge amount.  It all goes in and starts to form us.  For a while we absorb , we read, we study, we listen, we go to conferences and hear sermons and it is all new.  After a time we start to venture a few spiritual words.  We maybe pray out loud.  Or we get a bit more confident in talking about our faith. We worship in Spirit and Truth. We learn to identify our sin and deal with it.  Our character starts to form in the likeness of Jesus and we find ourselves speaking the same language as our brothers and sisters in Christ.   And then we go to a different church, or meet someone on a train or in a hospital and we recognise a fellow believer.  And it doesnt matter that we dont know them because we 'speak the same language' - so we do know them.  Ive experienced this time and time again and it is wonderful and amazing.    English ( or whatever your mother tongue happens to be)  is a secondary language when you are part of the body of Christ. There's a spiritual connection which is deeper and higher and wider than mere words and it is part of that thing that Jesus talks about - John 13;35  They will know you are my disciples by your love.  

Families all have ways of communicating which are unique.  There are memories shared, special words or terms for things, sayings that are passed down generations, tones of voice and stories which mean nothing to anyone else but are redolent with meaning for those who understand.  These ways of communicating help to bind us as families and, at best, provide a sense of comfort and belonging and identity.    Its the same in the family of God. We recognise each other because of our common experience of the goodness of God and the sacrifice of Jesus .  The older I get the better I seem to be at recognising Jesus in other people.  Sometimes I read something and I hear His voice in the text - not long ago in a train station I saw two people sitting on a bench and I knew they were praying together.   I wonder if, as we draw closer to the end of everything, we are going to need to know how to recognise each other without using words.   Im sure in some parts of the world this is already the case.  Its too dangerous to declare who you are with words so you have to recognise each other in the spirit.  

Now theres something to think about.