hm...

What do you make of this?

“Baptism does not assure us of salvation.  Baptism assures us of Christ who is our Savior. It reminds us that, throughout time and place, God has willed to save us.

Here's what I think I like about it -- it is a reminder that the Gospel is not a commodity.  The Good News is not a thing we inherit (although I think it is that, in a way). The Gospel is Christ.  The Good News is a Savior.

I especially like the last line (you will recognize it as a refrain on Sunday) That God has willed to save us.  Isaiah 43:1-7; Luke 19: 28-44.  Every Old Testament story.  Every New Testament epistle can be boiled down to an essence that is 6 words long:

God has willed to save us. 

Thanks be to God.

We are Kept Safe

The title for this Sunday's service/sermon is tricky.  We are Kept Safe.  What does that mean?  Plenty of Christians in the world today do not worship in safety. We are just as subject to car accidents, cancer and violence as anyone else.

Where did I come up with "We are Kept Safe"?  I'll confess it took me a minute to remember.  But then ... Noah.  One of the earliest Scriptural connections made between Old Testament narrative and baptism was the story of Noah and the flood.  In I Peter we read:

"God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also -- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. Is saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who had gone into heaven and is at God's right hand."

From earliest days, we understand Scripture's story (in Cliff Notes version) as this: God wills to save us.

Noah. Abraham. The people of Israel & the Red Sea.  And, at last, on this Palm Sunday, Jesus wills to enter into the coming holy and horror-filled week in order that we might be saved.

In baptism, as I said last week, "We receive the end at the beginning."  We receive an assurance of God's salvation -- resurrection to eternal life -- as we are barely setting about our earthly, temporal lives.  Knowing the end means there isn't a chapter we face between here and there that can overwhelm or overcome God's moving us toward His good will and His good purposes.  This is what we confess in the first question & answer of the Heidelberg Catechism when we say:

"Not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven.  In fact, all things must work together for my salvation."

This is also what we confess when we sing this song (as we will this coming Sunday):

Too Full

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday.  And the last Sunday in our Lenten series on Baptism.  It's Monday evening and already I know there is TOO MUCH that could be said, should be done & would be celebrated if we had unlimited time.  But I guess that's what heaven is for, huh?
So, this week perhaps this blog will be the place some of those "extras" are deposited.  Use them to prepare your hearts and focus your thoughts.

On Palm Sunday,

Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem.

He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

So that, in Baptism,

We are Kept Safe.

Here is a video created by a friend at the baptism of his daughter.  

May this song become a soundtrack to your week.

Turns Out There's A Lot To Say About The Spirit

Having to edit down my sermon this morning.

Sad that I won't be able to fit this quotation in, because I think it is a wonderful source of reflection.

T.F. Torrence wrote, "In baptism, the end is given to us in the beginning."

Faith. Forgiveness of sin. Faithfulness to the work of the Kingdom.  That is the "happily ever after" of the Christian story.  Perhaps you know it by its simpler name: salvation.

In baptism, we are given the end of the story so that each day of our lives -- from our first "Jesus Loves Me" to aged hands clasped in prayer -- we might write another page. another paragraph. another chapter.  In baptism, we come to know the end of the story so that we might never doubt we have a meaningful part to play in its unfolding.

Thanks be to God.

We are Spirit-filled

Last week, we learned that baptism is a sign & seal of the blood of Christ, which saves us FROM our sin.
This week, while we acknowledge that we are saved FROM our sin, we also begin to reckon with the fact that we are also saved FOR a purpose.  Indeed, forgiveness from and freedom for are often held together in Scriptural references to baptism.

Observe ...

Tuesday
Acts 1:5 & 2:38
At the Ascension, Jesus foretells the baptism of the Spirit in distinction from the John's baptism.
At Pentecost, Peter marries repentance and reception of the Spirit together in the act of baptism.
So, what do you believe is the "normal" relationship between baptism, repentance & the Holy Spirit (many Christians disagree.  You may want to wonder about that as well.)

Wednesday
Romans 8: 9-11
Again, what does this passage teach about the "normal" relationship between sin, salvation, the Spirit of God, Christ & life?

Thursday
I Corinthians 12: 12-14
What does the Holy Spirit do?  What is the relationship between this action and baptism?

Friday
Acts 19:1-12 (sermon text)
How is this encounter different from the "normal" relationship between the Spirit and baptism? Is baptism of repentance/baptism FROM sin enough?  What other meaning/purpose of baptism is required?

Weekend
Titus 3:3-7
Does your Bible have titles?  What is this section entitled? Why are we saved?  HOW are we saved?  (two answers required!) What benefit comes with our salvation?

Baptism (HC Style)

For the bulk of this Lent, I have been relying on The Belgic Confession's multi-faceted explanation of baptism's meaning.  This week, though, I went back to the good ol' Heidelberg Catechism.  Zach and Casper sure were stuck on this week's theme: WE ARE CLEANSED as a centralizing motif.  I'm going to copy out some questions and answers below.

Feel free to use them tonight at dinner.  Host your own Cate-QUIZ-em.  Pose the questions and see if your household can do better at answering them than Zach and Casper did almost 400 years ago.

Q: How does baptism remind you and assure you that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross is for you personally?
A: In this way: Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that, as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly his blood and his Spirit wash away my soul's impurity, in other words, all my sins.

Q: What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and spirit?
A: To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ's blood poured out for me in his sacrifice on the cross.
To be washed with Christ's Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life.

Q: Where does Christ promise that we are washed with his blood and spirit as surely as with the water of baptism?
A: In the institution of baptism where he says: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
This promise is repeated when Scripture calls baptism the washing of rebirth (Titus 3:5) and the washing away of sins. (Acts 22:16)

Q: Does this outward washing with water itself wash away sins?
A: No, only Jesus Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sins.

Q: Why then does the Holy Spirit call baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins?
A: God has good reason for these words. God wants to teach us that the blood and Spirit of Christ wash away our sins just as water washes away dirt from our bodies.
But more important, he wants to assure us, by this divine pledge and sign, that the washing away of our sins spiritually is as real as physical washing with water.

We Are Cleansed

Greetings from Snowquestered DC.  This past Monday & Tuesday, I was at our Classis (geographical grouping of churches) meeting in New Jersey.  But now I'm getting my head in the game for Sunday.  This coming Sunday we are going to learn that, in our baptisms,

We are Cleansed.

Perhaps this will be a strange concept for us in our culture & context.  Because it begs the question: cleansed from what?  Are you saying there is something wrong with me?

In the context of Scripture, however, the idea of cleansing has ample precedent. People understood their need to be cleansed and healed from all their sin, all those things that distance them from God, all their weakness and infirmity.  The New Testament teaches that baptism functions as a cleansing. relying heavily on this mutual understanding.  So, perhaps, we are wise to share the same foundation in preparation for this coming Sunday's service.

Wednesday

READ Numbers 19

REFLECT For what reasons could an Israelite be declared "unclean"? How could they be made clean again? What benefit (to God, the individual & the community) came from being made clean?   

Thursday

READ II Kings 5:1-16 (Sermon text)

REFLECT Who are the characters in this story?  What does each one believe (rightly or wrongly) about "cleansing"?

Friday

READ Luke 3

REFLECT John's baptism is a baptism of repentance and preparation.  What details in the story demonstrate this for us?  IF John's baptism is for repentance and preparation, why was Jesus (who was sinless) baptized?  What does the inclusion of Jesus' genealogy add to the story (hint: see how far back the genealogy extends.  compare with Mt. 1)

Saturday

READ Ezekiel 36:22-32 & 37-38; Hebrews 10:1-25

REFLECT In the Old Testament text, what was the benefit & purpose of this cleansing? In the New Testament text, what is the relationship between Old Testament ritual and the work of Christ? How does baptism reframe our lives?