sermon

We Know Love by This (Sermon April 26, 2015

1 John 3:16–24 (NRSV)

¹⁶ We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. ¹⁷ How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

¹⁸ Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. ¹⁹ And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him ²⁰ whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; ²² and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

²³ And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. ²⁴ All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Every generation or so human cultures seem to have a period of time in which they redefine themselves. By redefining themselves I do not necessarily mean that they change everything about themselves, but they reexamine what they find to be important to retain and what they defining feature should be pursued. This happens in pretty much any type of culture within societies. Business redefined their core beliefs and mission statements whenever there are significant leadership changes. School districts examine what has worked and what they need to do better when new leadership is hired. Even churches reexamine themselves as newer leadership emerges among them. It is healthy to take time to slow down, look at what has been going on and what goals for the future might be and consider how to proceed to accomplish our future goals. This process is not always a comfortable task to accomplish. When we examine what has been done in the past and consider what changes we might make as we walk into the future people can begin to push back. They were comfortable doing things the way they were, maybe they do not understand the significance of why the changes need to come about, or there may possibly be a change in structure that would change how influential a segment of the population might be.

Changes can be stressful. Changes are difficult to implement and even more difficult to continue to work toward. Last week I mentioned that systems like homeostasis or a state where there is no conflict, where everyone has a place and things can proceed with little dissention. Change disrupts homeostasis and forces us all to find a new normal.

Imagine for a moment the first century church. For decades the faithful followers of the Christ followed the teachings of the original apostles. Men and women that walked with Jesus, spoke directly with him, ate meals with him and witnessed the many miraculous events. But one by one the apostles were martyred for their faith as first the Jewish people drove them out of the Holy City, then the Gentiles began to place blame on them for disasters that fell upon various cities or political figures. One by one they were taken from the earth leaving only stories. As the church expanded across the empires and the faithful grew beyond the ability of the apostles to personally lead each gathering they began to write letters to encourage their disciples to continue to walk in faith. Those letters were collected together to form what we now know to be the New Testament. There are many theories about how the books of scripture were chosen. Most of those theories are not based on any fact what so ever, because the books of scripture were being used for centuries before anyone actually made a list of which were sacred and which were not and oddly enough the list that all the various ancient churches used are the very books we read today, with  very few exceptions. There was really only one criteria that was used to determine the worthiness of a letter to be included as sacred writing within the church, was it written by an apostle or a direct disciple of an apostle. Of the books of scripture we read in the New Testament there is really only one book from which the authorship is questioned, that is the Letter to the Hebrews. But the question with that letter is not if an apostle wrote it but which, there are some that believe James wrote it and others believe it was Paul, because the writing style could be either.

So the end of the apostolic age was quickly approaching, change was staring the church in their face. The majority of faithful truly believed that Jesus would have returned by this time yet he had not. The faithful began to have questions and doubts. That is the purpose of the epistle especially the Epistles of John. John was the last of the apostles, he was the final eye witness that could verify the stories that were shared that encouraged the disciples to believe in the hope of Christ. At this time he was old, to be honest in ancient cultures he would have been considered ancient somewhat of an oddity. He no longer went by the title apostle because he felt he was no longer able to be sent out to minister because his joint hurt, his hands shook, and his eyes were failing. Now the church knew him as John the elder, he was the most respected of all men among the community of Ephesus, and he was the voice that encouraged the energetic youth to slow down and consider what was emerging before they rushed into the future.

There were many things that were emerging during this transformational period of time. Some of the more erroneous ideas were spoken about in other letters, but some were still gaining strength. The church was at a place where they were going to have to decide what is right and what is wrong. Where to walk and where to stand.  Friends we are at one of those transformational periods today. We have been walking through one of these transformational periods for most of your lives, it has been building and building until suddenly all among the church at this point in time question where the future actually resides. We are in a cloud of unknowing, only able to see a dim silhouette of what stands before us. But well respected leaders are interpreting that silhouette in different ways and the faithful seem to rally around the various ideas and seem to exclude any and all differing interpretations of what the future holds.

These transformational periods are extremely difficult. It nearly ripped the early church apart and it is nearly ripping our contemporary church as well. But John the Elder, the apostle that saw the church from the very beginning into the changing age speaks great comfort to those of us in the midst of change.

He begins today with two incredibly powerful words, “We know…” We do not really get a full understanding of what the word know means in this context because in English know can mean so much. In the ancient Greek language the concept of know is not connected to any opinion but only the observable facts, and of all the senses sight is the one sense that stands above all other things. “We know…” John says. We have observed this, and we know it to be true in every imaginable way, we experience it, perceive it afresh every moment of our lives, and just when we begin to doubt we observe it again. We Know Love.

That is the number one thing that will get anyone through the most difficult time in their lives, that is the number one thing that will get a community through the major changes that every community faces as the culture seems to reexamine what it will be defined as. Love. We know love. They do not know love, but we know it by this, that he laid his life down for us. That is the most basic of the Christian faith. The simplest and purest form of Christianity is Love and we know love by the example, the very vicarious humanity of Christ taking on human form, living and dying for us. Sacrificing the glory of heaven for a moment to live among mankind to show us how to truly be human as God created us to be. We know this, because we have seen it.

John tells these “little children”, these disciples that were not even alive at the time that these events happened that he saw this happen, he faced the persecutions and the exiles because he knows it to be true, and he knows it because of love. So right there in the very face of change, a change that threatens to rip the very fabric of their known existence in two, John tells them in essence, “Go back to the beginning, go back to what we know for certainty and let us start from there. We Know Love because he gave his life for us.”

This is why it is so extremely important to slow down and start from the very beginning, get to the core of what and who we are as individuals and as a community before we even begin to approach anything else. If we lose track of what we know, we lose everything. Every form of Christianity begins right here, Love. The love that God has for us that we can have a relationship with him because of the sacrifice that Jesus made to lift us back into communion with God once again. Then John goes on to say, “We know love by this, that he laid his life down for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.”

Love God, Love Mankind. The purest form of Christianity. Before one can even begin to contemplate any other issue we must start at this place. This is why Trinitarian incarnational theology begins with Jesus before they try to explain anything else because it is in Jesus that we know anything. It is in Jesus that we begin to understand God and humanity and what love really is all about. Jesus came and gave everything to and for us, and we ought to do the same for others.

John continues to drive the basics of Christianity home as he says, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” If any verse in the bible could knock us off our feet it is this one.  What is meant by the “world’s goods” are things like money, jobs, abilities to create, economics, time, and pretty much anything we consider property. Let that just sink in for a bit. John says We know Love because Jesus sacrificed his life for ours and we should do that as well, and to for others to know that same type of love if we see a need and we have any sort of resource available to us to help that person and we do not act we are not followers of Christ.

The church as John was writing this letter, stood on the threshold of a new era. Everything that they once knew was drawing to a close and the future seemed dim before them. They had to move forward into this unknown somehow, and john says stay with what you know. Love people with everything you have and show them through actions the love of God that was shown to us through Jesus. Today we face changes that really pale in magnitude to what they faced in that day. They faced persecution to such a degree that they would literally embrace one another at every meeting because that may be the last time you ever see a friend. They faced so much yet they gave all they had so that as a community they would survive. Our troubles are quite frankly inconveniences, yet the future is still unclear.

Every day you can read reports and essays about how the younger generations are leaving the church, everyone claims to know the answers in how to maintain the faithful. Very few actually tell us where the youth are going. They are seeking out groups that know who they are and live it every day. People want to gather around those that love people for who they are and are not ashamed to be who they are. So many people are reading these articles and coming up with plans to reach out to the target audience yet in the process they have forgotten the most important thing, which is simply love. Love the Muslim person not because they are Muslim but because they are human, treat them as you would anyone else and as the relationships grow between the two of you God will eventually open the door for you to share your faith. Love the drug addict, the alcoholic, the exotic dancers, the car salesmen, the lawyers, the janitors, the teachers, the preachers, the managers, and the stay at home moms. Love everyone as if they are just as important and just as worthy of the love that God has shown you, and let God direct your way. We do not have to convert anyone to faith, but if we are followers of Christ we must love one another or we are liars.

I know it isn’t easy, that is why we need constant encouragement from each other. That is why we need this time of worship to feed our spirits so that we can continue to love those in the world that do not know the God that loves them. We need each other so that we can keep one another honest and help one another discern the directions that God is opening before us. We need this time of communion as Friends to help us center down, putting all the distractions off to the side for a while, and just focus on the most basic of faith, love for God and love for mankind. As we enter this time of open worship I pray that we will examine what is most important and how we know what that is. And as we examine this let us each allow God to put away the justifications that we have made and just get right back to the center of Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit and Living the love of Christ with others.

Shut Up! (Sermon February 1, 2015)

Mark 1:21–28 (NRSV)

The Man with an Unclean Spirit

Sheets, Millard, 1907-1989 (painted 1964)
University of Notre Dame
South Bend, IN

(Lk 4:31–37)

²¹ They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. ²² They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, ²⁴ and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” ²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷ They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

There are several things in life that I cannot explain. For the most part it does not bother me one bit, but then there are times when I feel like I should be able to explain something yet I cannot. Those are the times that I have trouble with. I would love to be able to clearly explain heredity and genetics since I spent so much time studying this in school, yet unfortunately I cannot even remember the terms. Of course since most of you probably do not care to talk DNA I am probably safe in my igrorance. But then there are things like this passage that we read which I cannot fully explain, and frankly it scares me a bit. It scares me because there is something just under the surface that I know is happening both in this scripture and all around me, but I do not necissarly have the vocabulary to explain it. Scares might not be the proper term, because I do know if I am truly scared, but I am uncomfortable and nervous.

There is a reason I remain guarded because there are several different theories around this passage and other like it that cover a broad range, I cannot fully support any of these theories fully because each do not fully explain what is happening, while others from a theological standpoint contradict everything I hold to be important. So I am left in this akward state, of not wanting to diminish what is happening while not wanting to perpetuate heresy.

When it comes to the spiritual realm I hope each of us are just a bit uncomfortable, because it is a realm of the unseen. Do not get me wrong I belive that there is a spiritual realm, I believe there are benevolent and malicious spirits at work around us. I believe this not only because scripture tells us that they are present, but also because things happen around us that cannot be fully explained. As I first read this passage though I am struck by continuing evidence of a continuing battle that has raged since the heavens and the earth were created. A battle that is both seen and unseen that is fought in physical and spiritual ways, and that throughout the centuries has never let up. There is evidence of this continued battle in the various understandings and explainations that various doctrinal traditons and interpreteatons have given us about ancient observations of demon possession, some of the cases can be clearly explained as mental illness yet others passages do not lend themselves to this. I hear the stories that our missionaries tell of the spiritual wars that they have fought with Christ and they amaze and unnerve me, so just when I think I begin to have an understanding everything twists again and I am left wondering what is really going on yet again.

I admit this failing because I want us all to be honest with ourselves. Things happen and we cannot explain it. We can simply say that it is spiritual and leave it at that or we can look deeper. There is a risk in either approach, because one thought process can give more power to spiritual forces than scripture allows while the other approach leave can cause us to question the authority of scripture and leave holes in our faith. There are forces of good and evil in our world. There is a spiritual battle that is being waged, and yes we are caught in the middle. But as I wrestle with this scripture I do not want us to look at it from a different perspective than we are used to looking at it from. Not to detract from the power of Jesus and the first miracuouls feat that Mark records in his Gospel, but I want us to look at this through a different set of eyes.

To begin I want us to admit that there is evil in this world. It is not hard to see. We can watch on the news, read in the papers and on the internet story after story about revolting and inhumane activities that occur within our nation and around the world. We can turn back the pages of history and see ghastly deed that have been performed for various reason which can nauseate us and cause even the strongest among us to weep. I could say the word ISIS, Nazi, or slavery and each of would be able to say yes there is evil there. But then there are other terms that we use where the line between good and evil is blurred words like drones, Wall Street, waterboarding, Israel, Palistine, or genetic modification and we may begin to argue because some see these as evil while others may see them as justified. The blur occurs when we as humans define and redefine what evil is, what right and wrong are, and what actions are culturally acceptable. Do you sense the danger in that statement?

There is evil in this world that much we can all agree on. It does not matter what faith or lack thereof we have, every human being on the planet knows that there is evil. But where that evil rears its head can often be surprising.

I have read this passage countless times as I have walked along the pathways of faith, yet each time I have seemed to overlook something. Something that is so simple yet causes the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. It is easy visualize in our mind’s eyes Jesus preforming a maricle. We are drawn to it and begin to imagine the convulsing man from which an unclean spirit emerges. But how often do we actually consider and contemplate where this man actually is? He is in the synagogue. The place of worship. He is participating and involved in the very same activities that we ourselves engage on a regular basis. The church as we know it emerges out of the synagogue.

Jesus goes into the synagogue in Capernaum, and begins to teach and among those in the crowd is this man. But before we discuss the man it is important to expand on the scene. There are similarities and differences in the first century synagogue to our contemporary expressions of worship. They did offer prayers, they did sing hymns, and read scriptures which occurs throughout the world in houses of worship, but the difference is in the interpretation. In the first century the approach to the sermon or the teaching portion of worship was different. That is alluded to in this passage of scripture. Mark records that, “They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Jesus began to teach and it astounded them, because he taught with authority, and not as the scribes. This is profound because in the first century there was a deep focus on orthodoxy. One did not speak during the teaching portion of worship without having been trained in the oral traditions of the faith. Those that spoke, spoke giving reference to the rabbi from which they learned. It was unusual for someone to speak without making some reference. Jesus spoke without referencing the teacher that trained him. He spoke as his own authority, He moved away from the oral traditions they were used to and began speaking an interpretation of his own.

Now I say that this is a difference between the first century synagogue and the church, but in actuality is not all that different. Our pastors today do not merely reiterate the sermons presented by others most write their own, but often they are filled with theological teaching they have learned from others. This in and of itself is not wrong. Each of us do this, we learn one way and when we are asked to teach we teach out of what we have taught. But what happens if someone challenges our understanding, what happens when we hear a different perspective. There are only two choices really, we are either open to the teaching or we reject it. There is a growing number of people that accept the teaching of an end time rapture where those in Christ will be gathered in the air removed from this world just prior to the last days. Many of us accept that teaching, we believe that that is exactly what the scripture teaches, and when we hear something contrary to that teaching we can become defensive. But that was not the teaching a century ago, in fact that teaching was not mainstream until after World War II. Why is it that so many of us belive that teaching as the true interpretation, because it is what we have been taught. That interpretation was not widely accepted until after the nation of Israel was reestablished, and along with that interpretation is cultural baggage from the Cold War. We as Americans were taught that Russia was the one that was going to lead the war against Israel and therefore that interpretation of scripture was correct because Russia was allied against us and Israel. We have been taught that. That of course is only one example of the teachings we have been taught. The teachings that often times are challenge as cultures shift and emerging generations begin to focus on different aspects of faith.

What is our reaction to the teachings that differ from what we have always been taught? Ultimately each of us are like those first century worshipers in the synagogue of Capernaum, we are astonished. And sometimes we are defensive. Sometimes we may even cry out a challenge. At times we may even demand for the removal of a minister or teacher because they are not holding true to the traditions. We may even consider someone to be evil because of a difference of interpretation.

Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, He was teaching with authority unlike that of the scribes, and someone cries out from the congregation, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” I stop there because I want us to be very aware that that very same spiritual battle that possessed this man still rages to this very day. What we have known can be challenged and often we can cry out like this man, “Have you come to destroy us?” I stop there because we as humans define for ourselves what is good and evil, we justify in our own minds what is right and wrong. We base our understanding on many factors but sometimes we can be led astray. “Have you come to destroy us?”

We see this man as being a man possessed with an evil spirit, someone who was indwelled by a demon and far from God, but again he was at the synagogue. We know nothing about his past or his future but we do know that he had great concerns. Was Jesus there to destroy everything that he and others had worked so hard to create? Was Jesus there to change the direction that this faith community was going? Was he and those like him going to lose their influence if the community saw Jesus’ authority as being greater than theirs? Do you see why this passage makes me uncomfortable? Do you see why I admit to being just a bit scared while I read it? I am unnerved because I have cried out at others very similar things. I myself could be this man. I could be the man Jesus is telling to shut up! And I do not want to be that man. I do not want to be a man that is so influence by evil that I cannot accept the authority of Jesus. I do not want to be the man that is afraid that if I were to listen to Jesus that everything I thought was important would be destroyed.

This is the very place that many of us are at today. There is a raging war all around and within us. And we are afraid that everything we have struggled to keep alive is about to be destroyed. Jesus said to that man, “Be silent…” Be silent. Yes I know he commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man as well. But first He said be silent. There is something important there. Something that we used to know but have forgotten. Be silent, be still, close your mouth and let Jesus speak. Admit that maybe just maybe we have been influenced and led astray by various things and maybe we might have focused on the wrong things. Maybe in our struggle to keep things going we have forgotten what is really important. Maybe we are that man. A man or woman sitting in a church listening yet being led by something else, something unclean, perhaps something evil. What is evil? What is sin? These questions have been asked before, we might say that it is a transgression of the law, but I think it is more than that, I think sin is anything that detracts and distracts our attention from God and the people that God loves so much that He gave his very life to redeem. Evil is when we consciously decide to live a life of sin. We cry out with this man, “Jesus, Have you come to destroy us?” The answer is absolutely yes! Yes he has come to destroy anything and everything that hinders reconciliation. Yes He wishes to destroy this illusion of self-justification of evil that keeps us from loving him and or neighbors. Yes he wants to destroy you and me, so that He can then redeem and restore each of us to being who we deep down know we are. He wants us to be individuals and a community that is defined as loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others. And that all begins with us being still and letting His authority direct our paths.

Immersed (Sermon January 11, 2015)

Mark 1:4–11 (NRSV)

Catacomb of Peter and Marcellinus
early 3rd century
Rome, Italy

⁴ John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸ I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

(Mt 3:13–17; Lk 3:21–22; Jn 1:29–34)

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Of all the differences between all of the denominations found in the various Christian traditions the most divisive is that of baptism. When there is one church one God and one baptism why exactly is there so much disunity among believers over this one activity? There is much fuss over this activity because in most faith traditions baptism is the first rite, the first ordinance or means of grace. Which is why we read about it today during the first Sunday of Epiphany. The season of Epiphany is the celebrations of the great revelation of God, the revealing of Jesus as the Messiah, Lord, and king. Baptism and the baptism of Jesus is the beginning of God’s greatest revelation to mankind, the revelation of the very word of God, Jesus.

Every Christian denomination has some understanding of what baptism is and how it should be performed, and each of these various denominations have a disagreement in some form with each other. Of course there is the common argument infant baptism versus believer’s baptism, then there are submersion versus pouring, there are arguments and against the number of times one must be submerged or sprinkled, or what words one must say for the baptism to be acceptable, and even who is authorized to do the baptizing. There are arguments even over what type of water can be used when administering a baptism. Some traditions have an age limit, some have degrees of which your baptism can count. There are even some faith traditions that require frequent baptisms for repentance of sins. I have confused myself already, but with all of these various understandings of baptism how can we be sure we are right? And to top it off how can be sure of anything when we are in a Friends Church where most would say we do not believe in baptism.

Let us start over. John was baptizing in the Jordon, dressed in crazy attire and eating things that do not sound too appetizing. Why and what was John doing? For most people we believe that baptism is a Christian thing, but we would actually be wrong. Baptism has a long history one that stretches back to the very beginning of humanity. Baptism in some form has been part of religion for as long as religions have been acted out. But according to some Jewish traditions the first mention of an activity similar to baptism comes directly Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from the Garden of Eden. It is said that Adam fasted and stood in the Jordan River (or the River Gihon) up to his neck for forty (or forty-nine) days and Eve likewise stood in Tigris for thirty-seven days. Each stood there as for penance for their sin, hoping to gain atonement. Now that story is one of tradition and not of historical fact, and is not mentioned in scripture anywhere and is not even believed across all forms of Jewish tradition but there is a history that connects ritualistic washing to the cleansing of sin. This is seen even more directly during the time the Jewish people were exiled to Babylon.

During the exile the rabbinical forms of the Jewish faith began to emerge. This is important because this is the beginnings of both the contemporary Christian and Jewish traditions. The rabbinical systems had to find a way to express orthodox faith without an actual temple to perform sacrifices in. It was during the exile that Daniel and his friends were in the courts of and became advisors to the king. Because there were people of Hebrew heritage in such prominent rolls people became curious about their faith. These people were taught and in some cases had a strong desire to join into the community of the faithful. To accommodate these God fearers the Rabbis devised methods and practices for conversion. These included a period of rejection, ceremonial washing, and circumcision or the release of blood. Many of the methods and practices that started during this timeframe are still being used in some traditions today.

The use of water in the acceptance into the Jewish community is symbolic for many points in history. It can represent the repentant activities of Adam and Eve, it can represent the joining of the community by passing through the water that the children of Israel passed through during the exodus or before entering the Promised Land. But in all cases it represented the crossing from one life to another. A new beginning, letting the old life be washed away and a new life to emerge unblemished and clean.

John was out there baptizing in the Jordan. The location of John’s ministry is very important as well. It is widely accepted today that John was most likely a member of the Jewish sect known as the Essenes, which is the sect that preserved the documents we call the Dead Sea scrolls. The odd thing about this group of people is that they made their residence outside of the land of Israel. The lived on the opposite side of the Jordan because they taught a very strict form of faith that one could not enter the Promised Land unless you were properly cleansed from all sin. John stood on the banks of the Jordan crying out to the people of Israel to repent and be baptized because they were not prepared to be in the land promised to their fore fathers, they were corrupt and unclean in some way and needed to be rejoined into the community just as any other person foreign to the community of the faithful. They needed to have a new beginning.

John baptized in the Jordan and he proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.  I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Consider this statement for a moment while we contemplate the meaning and purpose of baptism. When the early Friends spoke out against the performance of water baptism they almost exclusively used this very statement for their discussion. Robert Barclay, considered the first Quaker theologian and author of An Apology for the True Christian Divinity (now commonly refered to as, “Barclay’s Apology”) says, “If those that were baptized with the baptism of water were not therefore baptized with the baptism of Christ; then the baptism of water is not the baptism of Christ…Why should he have said, that those whom he had already baptized, should yet be baptized with another baptism?”

Why exactly do we as followers of Jesus continue to argue over this one activity of baptism? Mainly because it marks the beginning of a new life. When a husband brings their new wife home for the first time there is a tradition of carrying her over the threshold. This tradition symbolically represents a profound change in their relationship and their existence from that moment on. He is placing her into his house, she has crossed over no longer a guest but part of the household, placed in not to be removed. You can add or subtract whatever you want to that tradition, I did not carry Kristy over the threshold because she feared for her life that I would drop her or cause a serious head injury as I rammed her head into the door frame. And she was probably right. The religious rite of Baptism is just like that it is a symbolic representation of crossing over from death to life, from a foreigner a to member of a community, from one rejected to one accepted. This happens in various forms, at various ages, and by various methods. Infants, children, adolescents, and adults are all accepted as they are and are encouraged from that moment on to walk with Christ. We continue to argue the point across the various traditions because we have different understandings of when that life of discipleship begins.

The most important thing is that it does begin. The most important thing is the encouragement of every individual that is in or has contact with our community to walk with Christ. To immerse them in the teachings and lifestyle that Christ has shown us. To turn every aspect of their being away from the ways of a sinful world and refocus them to promote the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Pure faith, distilled faith, faith taken down to the purest most elemental form is what the early Friends wanted to promote. A faith that was not filled with ritual or weighted down with dogma. I have often been asked how can I be a Christian if I have not been baptized, how can Friends be Christian if they do not perform baptisms? I ask what baptism is. For a Baptist it is one thing, to a Lutheran something else, for a Catholic it is performed one way for an Orthodox another. In every case the pure elemental form of the rite is the same there is an acceptance of an individual and a commitment of a community to encourage and teach them to follow Christ. Baptism is just one of those rites used to encourage and provide means of grace available to each of us through Jesus. The Eucharist or communion is another, marriage another, repentance and confirmation, the anointing of the sick, and the participation in a life of devotion are others. Protestants see only two sacraments, Catholics see seven, Orthodox see an infinite number of mysteries that can draw us into to the grace of God, and as Friends we see every aspect of our lives as being holy and sacred to God, to be used to encourage everyone we meet to turn to God.

In the gospel of Matthew John refuses to baptize Jesus saying that it is John not Jesus that needs to be baptized, but Jesus responds by saying, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” It is proper for what, Jesus was sinless, he was the fulfillment and the hope of the ages, what and why was it proper for him to be baptized by John? It was the beginning. He was taking all people Jew and Greek, male and female, slave or free into the land of promise. He was opening the doors of the kingdom and providing the very means of that entrance through himself. John stood as the guardian of the old covenant and Jesus as the gate to the new and as he emerged from the waters the heavens opened and the spirit descended on him like a dove, and a voice from heaven spoke, “This is my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

God made the greatest revelation that day, and he began a new work. He revealed to us through that act that in Jesus, God is pleased. That in Jesus, all things are made new. It is in Jesus we can cross from death into life and have hope through the hopelessness we see all around us. The power of that life is not in the water, but it is in Jesus. It is Jesus who left his throne in Heaven to dwell among mankind. It is Jesus who took on our humanity, our sin and our shame and hung it on the cross and covered it with his blood. It is Jesus who over powered the grip of death and rose to life. It is Jesus who went before us to prepare our place in heaven. It is Jesus who sends the very spirit of God to dwell inside our hearts, to teach and guide us. And it is Jesus who is calling each of us to join him and cross over into the Promised Land, a land that is not devoted to the way of man but a land that is influenced and devoted to the ways of God. It is Jesus that is calling each of us to become a person who devotes every aspect of to be set apart and devoted for Him and his ministry in this world.

As we enter into this time of open worship and holy expectancy I encourage each of us to consider a few things. Consider what is more important to God, performing the right ritual or living a right life? Consider what is more important to mankind, arguing over methods or encouraging a better lifestyle? God told the prophets of old that it was mercy that he wanted from the people of Israel not sacrifice, it is a life lived loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit and Living the Love of Christ with others that he wants. Will we be his people living that out in our community?