I love that story read to us this morning as our epistle lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, telling of Paul's visit to Ephesus. The first people that he happens to run into are Christians. He asks them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit?" They said, "We never even heard of the Holy Spirit."

Paul must have slapped his forehead in despair, saying, "Do I have to do everything myself to get it right." Then he asks, "What about when you were baptized?" Which is the clue that in the early Church, receiving the Holy Spirit was a part of the original act of baptism in the Church. So he says, "What about when you were baptized?" They said, "Well, we were baptized into John's baptism." Paul says, "Aha, that's the problem. John's baptism was for repentance." Whereupon he laid hands upon them, and …