Amazing Oil

What makes us do things? I mean, what makes us do things that we would never think of doing but all of the sudden we must do? Could it be that God moves us to do things? After my experience I would have to say I think God does lead us to do certain things.

I was lucky to have a special Grandfather that was the founder and pastor of the church that I grew up as a member. Being a member as well as the grandson of the pastor would give you special privileges and free use of the church when no one was around. I could go into the church and play the piano or organ and sing using the microphone and even preach a sermon if I wanted to. Often, I would be accompanied by a friend or family member. We could rearrange the furniture and play all kinds of games that we created. I would be willing to say that we knew where everything was in that Church. It is a good thing it was a Baptist church and no alcohol was available or we would have found it. We fooled around with everything in that church except the little bottle of oil that was under the pulpit. This bottle of oil was kept under the pulpit for use when Grandpa would use it for an anointing prayer. This type of prayer was reserved for people that were really sick. Grandpa would open this little bottle of oil and would put some on his hand and would reach out to anyone that was helping him pray and touch their hand with oil. They would then lay their hands on the person they were praying for. Most people call this laying on of the hands, or also anointing with oil. All we knew was that this oil was special and we did not feel right playing with it. It always amazed us that this little tiny bottle of oil had so much power. As we grew up in the church we saw many people who were anointed with oil and special prayers offered to God asking for healing and other things. We saw these people healed or at least some of them were healed. We were inquisitive and adventurous but we knew this was special and always left the oil alone.

This little bottle had some kind of power in it that probably scared us at the time. As we grew older we would come to realize that the Bible taught such things. It didn't matter that Grandpa may or may not be doing it as they did in the time of Jesus but what mattered was that they had faith and believed that they were doing as instructed by God. This church was special also and was a powerful force in my life. My first and all my bible school projects were there. My first sermon was preached there as well as my first Christmas play in which I performed. I overcame my fear of public speaking by teaching a child's class as I got older. I won a contest that required us to find bible verses very fast. I even attended Sunday School for thirteen years without missing a Sunday and was awarded lapel pins each year I qualified. I later became choir director and Sunday School director and also a deacon. My children were born while I went to this church. My Grandfather anointed them with oil at a special service when we dedicated them to God. I stayed an active member of this church until my Grandfather passed away even though I lived twenty miles away in another town.

Many years had passed and I had already been a Pastor myself. I had relocated back to my hometown and had another job. I knew that the church I had grown up in was gone. I knew that the building we use to play and worship in had caught on fire and was no longer in use. I did not know that they were going to bulldoze it down until after it had been done. All that was left was a concrete pad and a foundation that was there to hold the concrete. I called my father when I saw that it had been bulldozed and we discussed that the church no longer exist. I could not help but feel sad and to reminisce about the history I had at this place. Christmas was not far away at this time and I had been thinking of a special gift to give my brothers. One day as I passed the location where my Church once stood, I had an idea to get rocks from the foundation of the old Church and pass them on to my brothers. As usual I did not act on it and kept driving on. A few weeks had passed and my wife and I were out shopping. We were on the other side of our town and this thought came to me again. No voice in the sky or inner voice had spoken, it was just a need to go and pick up some rocks for my brothers or so I thought. I told my wife that I felt compelled to do this and she said for us to go and do it now. I could have thought of many reasons why that day was not a good day to do this, however I felt compelled and my wife was willing to put aside what we were doing to go pick up rocks off of someones property. I never for one minute felt that I did not have a right to do this. My past experience with this property should have given me the right to pick up or steal some rocks off of this property. If the police had arrived I would have been in trouble but what happened would have been worth it.

I got out of my car and walked to the foundation and the concrete pad that was still there. I bent down and picked up a few rocks but could not find enough on the ground. At the corner of the slab were some loose rocks and what I thought were some good ones for me to get. I pulled a few stones from this stack of blocks and I saw something sticking out as the sand in the block began to pour out of it. I grabbed the top of what appeared to be a small brown bottle. The bottle was identical to the ones that grandpa would keep in the pulpit. I rubbed away what was probably sand and dirt that had been attached to this bottle for forty years. Very gently I opened the bottle to see and smell that yes it was filled with oil. After a short while I went back to the car and shared this with my wife. I phoned my uncle who was the associate pastor of this church and asked if he remembered a ceremony or celebration or dedication that may have went on that would require putting oil in this foundation. He told me that he did not remember any but that it sounded like something my Grandfather would have done. After sharing this story to another pastor I was told of a verse in Exodus that required things in the church to be anointed with oil. Exodus chapter 40 verse 9 "Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it..................". Forty years later and after many years of being open as a church and many were successful years of sharing God's word and doing God's will, this foundation gave up the oil that anointed it. As for my brothers, they each got a rock that had been anointed with the oil and placed in a shadow box. They loved their Christmas present and I loved mine. The bottle was my gift and is still in my possession but can be used when needed. I am so glad that my wife and I followed that feeling to go and collect rocks because we ended up collecting something much more special.

The Church Sanctuary was already in existence when Grandpa started his ministry there and so was the parsonage. Two other buildings were added on this property while he was pastor. The Sanctuary and the Sunday School rooms that held the oil for forty years were the two buildings that were bulldozed, but the parsonage and the Fellowship Center is still there. Sometime in the future they will tear down the Fellowship Center that was built during his ministry and I can't wait so I can search through the rubble and see what Grandpa put into this building's foundation. I bet there is some very special oil in a very special bottle in a very special foundation put there by a very special person.