I arrived early at Matthews Beach to see how the day was progressing. It was about 80 degrees and sunny. Local teenagers were bounding from the high dive board, people were sunbathing, others were picnicking. Any minute the Mars Hill crew would roll in with barbecues and party gear. Then something peculiar happened on Lake Washington. Lightning hit the water and thunder rolled, scattering some motorboats. The lifeguards had everyone get out of the roped swimming area for twenty minutes.

Uh Oh.

Mars Hill congregants began to gather after 6pm, numbering over a hundred adults with 40-50 kids running around so playfully it made counting impossible. The smell of barbecued beef and chicken hung in the humid air and made everybody except the vegans salivate. Frisbees spun, volleyballs bounced, and people were back in the water. We had three people scheduled to be baptized in about an hour.

Another bolt of lightning flashed, as clouds began to move in…

Pastor Jon looked at me. I looked at Deacon Andrew Pack. We finished the barbecue with an ounce of trepidation. People continued to eat and play with an occasional glance at the sky. Only two of the three folks scheduled to be baptized (Aaron Webb and Meredith Berg) had arrived.

A shaved head lets you know even more quickly when the first drops of rain begin to fall. It was warm rain, summer rain, but rain nonetheless. I blinked and saw a family of four already packed and headed for the car between drops one and two – they had their system DOWN. “Are we gonna do this thing?” Pastor Jon asked. I pulled Aaron and Meredith close and asked them if they wanted to have a potentially rainy, electrifying baptism; they both agreed it was time to get dunked. The worst thing that could happen is a jolting, one-way ticket to paradise, right?

Deacon Andrew Pack yelled “everybody down to the water” as a torrential downpour began. Aaron barked out how he used to take more joy from Star Wars and Transformers than the God who gave him life and breath. Meredith admitted she’d been baptized younger but that it had been ritual and not a knowing proclamation of true faith. They shouted against the competing sounds of thunder that they loved Jesus and acknowledge him as God, Savior, and King, and then the four of us got in the water.

People in the park who weren’t with our crowd wandered over to see what the crazy people were up to. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost we performed two believer baptisms and immersed our two members while the crowd beachside got the equivalent of a Lutheran baptism with the heavy sprinkling from the clouds above. Truly, the applause as both came out of the water was thunderous.

Within minutes, barbecues and signs and supplies were in the back of trucks and the park was deserted. Deacon Andrew Pack said this was his favorite part of the evening, seeing the amazing way dozens of people all pitched in like a single organism to pack and clean up. Late arrivals pulled into the parking lot to see Christian Seattleites fleeing because of rain which, when you think about it, is a bit odd. I’m praying our big event next weekend – the Sixth Annual Wedgwood Outdoor Movies – doesn’t see a repeat rainout! My wife Kat and I gathered some remaining folks and we regrouped at The Ram in University Village, finishing up the night with Taster Curls and Ram Chips.

Sitting on the porch back home with my wife about midnight, we watched the sky light up and enjoyed the rumbling of God’s determined weather pattern. It’s not what we planned, but He’s Sovereign. Fortunately, our NEXT barbecue on Saturday the 12th is indoor/outdoor so we’re safe either way. Still, His booming presence and timing were obviously more exciting than the message I’d planned, and it’s a baptismal service people aren’t likely to forget.