Hey, this is serious!
Commentary
Baptism has been a point of contention and controversy almost since the beginning of the church. Down through the ages, arguments have raged about the amount of water, the way it should be dispensed, and what it should mean. Almost as many meanings and methods of baptism have emerged as we have expressions and divisions in the church. My particular tradition practices immersion for those old enough to understand what it means to confess faith in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Historically, we have contended this was the New Testament practice.
Unfortunately, our history seems to contain too many illustrations of making light of other baptismal practices and not enough of making an outstanding case for our own. These include the tale of one of our early frontier leaders with the delightful name of Raccoon John Smith. He was said to have drank all the water from a Presbyterian baptismal font as a way to demonstrate the inadequacy of using such small amounts!
What too frequently gets lost in this wrangling is that baptism, no matter how it is practiced, is supposed to be taken seriously. Through baptism comes the gift of the Holy Spirit and the presence of that Spirit is to be demonstrated as a change in our lives. The Episcopal collect for the day states it very well: "Grant that all who are baptized into his name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior."
Note the two elements in this prayer. First, the baptized have a covenant to keep. On this first Sunday after Epiphany, let us remind the congregation that the baptized are to be living Epiphanies. We are called to manifest God's love in the Christ to one another and to the world by living out the faith into which we are baptized. That means we are to live lives of grace, kindness and forbearance. We are to value and practice forgiveness over revenge. We are to love people and use things rather than love things and use people. Even more important than being right in our method of baptism, we are to be right in our living with one another.
The second phrase in that prayer calls for us to "boldly confess him as Lord and Savior." Don't let this week go by without mentioning a good word about evangelism. During the past 30 years, the objective of most church goers was "don't appear pushy about the faith." The goal has been achieved. We have been so successful at being low-keyed evangelists that most of our denominations have declined by one-fourth or even more.
The key word for evangelism is INVITE. The minister was lamenting that the average person in his denomination invited someone to church once every 18 years. A sigh of relief was heard from the back row when one older member said to a neighbor, "Whew, I don't have to do that for another three years!"
Take your baptism seriously. Be an Epiphany. Make known the presence of God by the witness of your life.
OUTLINE I
Making something out of nothing
Genesis 1:1-5
Introduction: The image of this passage is that God takes the chaos that was present in a formless world and a raging ocean and by the power of his word turns it into something good. This God we worship indeed can turn the proverbial "sow's ear into a silk purse."
A. If God can do that with the world's chaos, certainly he can do it with the chaos in my life. By the power of his word, some significant improvements can be made in me. After all if God can take a raging ocean and fill it with life, God can take my life and fill me with abundant life. Such is the promise of our baptism. The God who can create the world out of chaos certainly can do some refurbishing in you and me. For by faith, we can do more and be more than we could ever hope to do or be without faith.
B. And this same God who can work miracles with you and me can do the same thing with our friends. Let us tell the congregation about the difference the faith can make in their lives.
C. This God can make much out of very little. Let us never despair. There is hope.
OUTLINE II
Into what were you baptized?
Acts 19:1-7
Introduction: In our journey through ministry, many pastors spend time in difficult parishes. The best thing one can say about these sojourns is that they are on the way to someplace else. One colleague claims to have spent time as pastor of the First Church of Armegeddon. The arguments in this congregation had histories extending back to the founding of the church 50 years before. Nearly half the ministers who had served the church had been terminated.
After one particularly stressful week, the relatively new pastor asked a lay leader, "What gospel has been preached here?"
A. (v. 3). The concern of Paul in this passage seems to be similar. "Into what have you been baptized?" Have you not received the Holy Spirit? Do you not know that your baptism is supposed to change your behavior? You are supposed to behave as new creations in Christ, not as "same-old, same-old" folks.
B. (v. 6). Fortunately, there is still hope. People can still be changed. Even as Paul placed his hands on the Ephesians and they received the Holy Spirit, so individuals, families, congregations can be empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit and be changed.
OUTLINE III
How odd of God to choose the odd
Mark 1:4-11
No matter how much we discount as cultural differences, John the Baptist still must be considered an oddity. Even if we accept that the gospel writer might be demonstrating a parallel between John the Baptist and Elijah the prophet (2 Kings 1:8), we must account for the fact that this man wears a fur coat in the desert heat and lives on a diet of grasshoppers and honey. If Mark had not considered him a curiosity, I suspect he would not have mentioned these eccentricities.
Yet the scripture assures us that John the Baptist was God's choice to announce the coming of the Messiah.
A. It is odd of God to choose one so strange, yet that seems typical. Many biblical personages seem strange choices -- including a peasant couple to raise the Child and such common, uneducated folk to be his apostles, not to mention that assortment of Old Testament prophets.
B. God, however, continues to select the unexpected as the ones through whom he makes his ways known. Martin Luther King seemed unlikely to proclaim the necessity for racial harmony. A woman of peasant stock named Mother Theresa seems an unlikely candidate to be the world's best-known Christian.
C. God even seems to choose non-Christians to bring an important message. Could it be that Gandhi, a Hindu, brought a "Christian" message of the need for non-violent change? How about one so different as Malcolm X? Could God make such an odd choice?
Unfortunately, our history seems to contain too many illustrations of making light of other baptismal practices and not enough of making an outstanding case for our own. These include the tale of one of our early frontier leaders with the delightful name of Raccoon John Smith. He was said to have drank all the water from a Presbyterian baptismal font as a way to demonstrate the inadequacy of using such small amounts!
What too frequently gets lost in this wrangling is that baptism, no matter how it is practiced, is supposed to be taken seriously. Through baptism comes the gift of the Holy Spirit and the presence of that Spirit is to be demonstrated as a change in our lives. The Episcopal collect for the day states it very well: "Grant that all who are baptized into his name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior."
Note the two elements in this prayer. First, the baptized have a covenant to keep. On this first Sunday after Epiphany, let us remind the congregation that the baptized are to be living Epiphanies. We are called to manifest God's love in the Christ to one another and to the world by living out the faith into which we are baptized. That means we are to live lives of grace, kindness and forbearance. We are to value and practice forgiveness over revenge. We are to love people and use things rather than love things and use people. Even more important than being right in our method of baptism, we are to be right in our living with one another.
The second phrase in that prayer calls for us to "boldly confess him as Lord and Savior." Don't let this week go by without mentioning a good word about evangelism. During the past 30 years, the objective of most church goers was "don't appear pushy about the faith." The goal has been achieved. We have been so successful at being low-keyed evangelists that most of our denominations have declined by one-fourth or even more.
The key word for evangelism is INVITE. The minister was lamenting that the average person in his denomination invited someone to church once every 18 years. A sigh of relief was heard from the back row when one older member said to a neighbor, "Whew, I don't have to do that for another three years!"
Take your baptism seriously. Be an Epiphany. Make known the presence of God by the witness of your life.
OUTLINE I
Making something out of nothing
Genesis 1:1-5
Introduction: The image of this passage is that God takes the chaos that was present in a formless world and a raging ocean and by the power of his word turns it into something good. This God we worship indeed can turn the proverbial "sow's ear into a silk purse."
A. If God can do that with the world's chaos, certainly he can do it with the chaos in my life. By the power of his word, some significant improvements can be made in me. After all if God can take a raging ocean and fill it with life, God can take my life and fill me with abundant life. Such is the promise of our baptism. The God who can create the world out of chaos certainly can do some refurbishing in you and me. For by faith, we can do more and be more than we could ever hope to do or be without faith.
B. And this same God who can work miracles with you and me can do the same thing with our friends. Let us tell the congregation about the difference the faith can make in their lives.
C. This God can make much out of very little. Let us never despair. There is hope.
OUTLINE II
Into what were you baptized?
Acts 19:1-7
Introduction: In our journey through ministry, many pastors spend time in difficult parishes. The best thing one can say about these sojourns is that they are on the way to someplace else. One colleague claims to have spent time as pastor of the First Church of Armegeddon. The arguments in this congregation had histories extending back to the founding of the church 50 years before. Nearly half the ministers who had served the church had been terminated.
After one particularly stressful week, the relatively new pastor asked a lay leader, "What gospel has been preached here?"
A. (v. 3). The concern of Paul in this passage seems to be similar. "Into what have you been baptized?" Have you not received the Holy Spirit? Do you not know that your baptism is supposed to change your behavior? You are supposed to behave as new creations in Christ, not as "same-old, same-old" folks.
B. (v. 6). Fortunately, there is still hope. People can still be changed. Even as Paul placed his hands on the Ephesians and they received the Holy Spirit, so individuals, families, congregations can be empowered by the presence of the Holy Spirit and be changed.
OUTLINE III
How odd of God to choose the odd
Mark 1:4-11
No matter how much we discount as cultural differences, John the Baptist still must be considered an oddity. Even if we accept that the gospel writer might be demonstrating a parallel between John the Baptist and Elijah the prophet (2 Kings 1:8), we must account for the fact that this man wears a fur coat in the desert heat and lives on a diet of grasshoppers and honey. If Mark had not considered him a curiosity, I suspect he would not have mentioned these eccentricities.
Yet the scripture assures us that John the Baptist was God's choice to announce the coming of the Messiah.
A. It is odd of God to choose one so strange, yet that seems typical. Many biblical personages seem strange choices -- including a peasant couple to raise the Child and such common, uneducated folk to be his apostles, not to mention that assortment of Old Testament prophets.
B. God, however, continues to select the unexpected as the ones through whom he makes his ways known. Martin Luther King seemed unlikely to proclaim the necessity for racial harmony. A woman of peasant stock named Mother Theresa seems an unlikely candidate to be the world's best-known Christian.
C. God even seems to choose non-Christians to bring an important message. Could it be that Gandhi, a Hindu, brought a "Christian" message of the need for non-violent change? How about one so different as Malcolm X? Could God make such an odd choice?
