Obligations of the Baptized
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For January 12, 2020:
Obligations of the Baptized
by Tom Willadsen
This Sunday begs for sermons on baptism, even though the focus in Matthew is on Jesus' baptism and not ours. Yet the texts also remind us of the obligations imposed on those who are baptized, not to mention on the lives of those who are witnesses to baptisms. Our responsibility to teach the stories and traditions of faith, which is also the responsibility of the servant mentioned in Isaiah 42:1-9.
A new season begins today on the church calendar, so it’s very appropriate that we look at the very start of Jesus’ “career” in ministry. In the synoptic gospels the first thing that Jesus does as an adult is head out to the Jordan to be baptized by John. John the Baptizer has been leading a renewal movement of some kind. John’s attracting crowds; he’s even gotten the attention of some of the leaders, who made the trip all the way from Jerusalem.
Many churches mark the Baptism of Our Lord Sunday with a renewal of baptismal vows. This is a really helpful reminder for a lot of people. Many of us were baptized as infants and have no recollection of the moment when we were ushered into the universal church of Jesus Christ. Every baptism is an occasion to remember — whether it is our own baptism or those who loved us enough to present us for baptism before a congregation. Baptism is the closest thing Christians have to something that all of us do.
Presbyterians do not celebrate sacraments privately. One reason that is important is that we believe that in the same way it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a congregation to raise a Christian. The most important promise I ever make is when I promise to teach a newly baptized person to know and follow Christ. That’s a task for the whole church. Recently the Session of the congregation I currently serve considered baptizing an infant, the grandchild of members who would be in town for the holidays. After a brief discussion, the Session decided that they did not want to put the congregation in the position of making a promise they could not keep. The child was going to grow up in a community more than a 1,000 miles away, and her parents do not participate in a church there.
My favorite baptism story is from the time my congregation baptized a child named Kane. I am not sure whether the parents named their son after the wrestler or the comic book character. After the congregation answered the question promising to teach Kane to know and follow Christ, I asked them, “Do you know what you just did? You promised to help Edna and Roger raise Kane.” A once-in-a-career punchline, I’m sure.
In the News
The three news stories screaming for attention the first week of 2020 are two hold overs from prior weeks and months, plus a brand new one.
It’s hard to say when the impeachment became a top news story. The House inquiry began in September and it has never left the news. As the New Year dawned the impeachment was in a holding pattern of sorts. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not referred the matter to the Senate for a trial as she awaits reassurances from the Senate about how they plan to proceed.
The fires in Australia are unprecedented in their scope and destruction. “On January 1st, Australia’s capital recorded the worst pollution it’s ever seen, with an air quality index 23 times higher than what’s considered ‘hazardous.’” It is not an exaggeration to call the destruction apocalyptic. Fires of this magnitude create their own weather, causing stronger winds and creating feedback loops that intensify the fire to the point that the only thing that will stop it is running out of fuel. Video of the Australian fires looks like a real-time expression of Psalm 29. There is no doubt that fires of this magnitude are becoming more frequent as global warming accelerates.
Iranian Major General Qassim Suleimani was killed in an overnight drone strike at the Baghdad airport on Friday, January 3.
Iran’s United Nations ambassador, Majid Takht Ravanchi, called the killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani “an act of war,” and vowed that it would be met with “revenge, a harsh revenge.”
In the Scriptures
It is an enormous challenge to find ways that today’s lections speak to the three most pressing stories in the news.
While there are accounts of Jesus being baptized in all the gospels, there are a few things that set Matthew’s account apart. It is clear that Jesus went to the Jordan to be baptized on purpose; he was not simply caught up in the popular movement. John recognized that Jesus did not need John’s baptism, he suggests that he (John) should be baptized by Jesus instead. Jesus responds, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” It is as though Jesus is saying that being baptized by John demonstrates his obedience to God.
The synoptic accounts of Jesus’ baptism all mention the voice of God, the presence of the Spirit and the Spirit’s appearance being like a dove. They also share common imagery that the heavens “opened,” which is an interesting thing to imagine. What would it look like if the sky were torn in two? It is interesting that none of the accounts indicate what Jesus was thinking or feeling, as though he is merely being acted upon, in spite of his manifest intention to be baptized by John in Matthew’s account.
(Before I leave the discussion of John the Baptizer I need to retell an old, old joke. What three things do John the Baptizer and Winnie the Pooh have in common? They have the same middle name; they eat honey; and they got their heads stuck.)
Perhaps the most significant distinction is that in Matthew the voice of God speaks not to Jesus, “you are my Son, the beloved” but to those present for his baptism, “this is my son, the beloved.”
Psalm 29 is a tribute to the powerful voice of God. “God” appears 18 times in the psalm and “voice” appears seven. The voice of the Lord can do powerful, awesome things. We know that from the very beginning of the Bible where God speaks and creates. Here the powerful voice brings destruction. This psalm could be seen to describe figuratively the fires in Australia as a current exposition of the destructive power of the Lord.
The description of the servant found in the Isaiah reading, a reading that Christians regard as pointing to the baptism of Jesus, reads almost as an opposite of the kind of leadership we see on the world stage. While drones and other modern weapons make remote killing possible, they cannot be thought to make the world safer. Violence will only spur greater violence. Where is the servant leader strong enough to dare not to quench the dimly burning wick of peace?
The Acts reading is the sermon Peter preached when he finally reached Cornelius after the Holy Spirit had led them to each other. Like a lot of sermons, Peter preaches to himself in this one — he realizes that God shows no partiality, that God’s love embraces people of all nations. This is a moment of growth and transformation for Peter.
In the Sermon
In the face of enormous power that we see described in Psalm 29, the fires in Australia and the remote killing potential of modern weapons, perhaps we could use a little humility. Make that a lot of humility.
Jesus hardly needed to be baptized by John as a credential to start his ministry. The baptizer says as much himself, but Jesus, fully human, submits and participates in John’s movement of repentance. As we remember our own baptisms, or the baptisms we have witnessed, remember: baptism is done to you. And the whole church promises to guide, lead, instruct and teach you to follow Jesus Christ. You are not alone. No Christian can ever be considered “alone.” We’re all in this together, along with the Holy Spirit, the Almighty Creator and Son/Redeemer.
What would servant leadership as described in the Isaiah reading look like on the world stage? Would the servant leader call for drone strikes on distant enemies? Would the servant leader deny human-caused global warming as huge portions of the earth literally go up in flames?
Would the gospel have spread beyond first century Palestine if apostles like Peter did not admit that they were wrong to see God’s love so narrowly?
I found something like solace as I pondered today’s texts in dialogue with this week’s big three news events in “Three Words for the Church in 2019: ‘We Were Wrong’,” which appeared on the Baptist News Global website January 1, 2020.
While my tradition is not Baptist and some of the issues that Mark Wingfield mentions do not speak to my recent or current church situation, the tone of humility, of admitting that yes, there have been times we have been on the wrong side of history, may be the balm that your soul needs to preach and your congregation needs to hear.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Baptism is a Starting Line
by Bethany Peerbolte
Every year the church I serve welcomes 150 students in the 7th grade to learn about Christianity. Many of these students are Muslim or Jewish so they come with incredibly insightful questions. There is always a great discussion around baptism. We explore the idea of baptism by first talking about what we use water for in our homes. The teens’ answers are consistently right on point. Their first answers are usually about cleaning, and nourishment. I love when someone gets creative and says water is used for fun, like in a pool or to have aquatic pets. Together we wade into the depth of baptism with wonderings about if baptism is necessary for salvation, if one must be completely submerged in water, what age Christians need to be baptized by, and other theological wonderings many Christians take for granted.
After we have gone around the spectrum of baptismal beliefs in Christianity, I turn to a harder reality of baptism — that while water can be fun, it can also cause death. This shift in the discussion may bring down the mood but I feel it is important for everyone learning about baptism, especially Christians who are seeking to be baptized or to baptize their child, to know this is a moment of dying too. Yes, the water in nourishing for our soul. Yes, the water cleanses us. This moment is joyful, and the babies are cute, but it is not just that. This water also brings about a death so that we may live. If one understands that weight, they understand baptism.
One question I often get about baptism is how many times a person should be baptized. I explain that my tradition calls for only one, but after reading these verses I may have to amend my answer. My tradition believes in one baptism… by water. If baptism is a moment of dying to our old life and our old ways of doing things, then in fact Christians go through many baptisms. Our growth depends on moments of realizing we need to make a change. The furthering of God’s kingdom depends on us suddenly having our eyes opened to injustice and pain so that we can act upon them.
Isaiah 42:1-9 starts us on the path of a life of baptisms. Each time we see injustice, a dimly lit wick, or a bruised reed we are being baptized into a new way of seeing the world. We are being challenged to be the voice that will mend the brokenness. When we encounter the broken pieces of life a piece of us dies too. Isaiah gives us God’s promise that in every baptism, every moment of tiny deaths, God will breath into us and send the Spirit so that we can live a new way. Thankfully baptism teaches us that death is not the finish line, it is a starting line. We are called to speak God’s voice into the world. A voice that calls for the opening of blind eyes and freedom for prisoners.
One program bringing freedom to prisoners is called Shakespeare in Prison. While much of life in prison is dehumanizing on purpose, like being referred to as a number and not a name, this program seeks to help those who are incarcerated reconnect with their humanity. Many find Shakespeare arduous and inaccessible, but it is exactly these stereotypes that make Shakespeare in Prison successful. As prisoners learn the art, they gain confidence as they find they are smart enough to understand these difficult cultural treasures. They are empowered to explore their own trauma as they explore the trauma Shakespeare’s characters endure. After seven years, 93% of the program’s alumni have not returned to prison. Talk about rave reviews! Shakespeare in Prison helps people find their voice and words to express their pain and joy.
The Shakespeare program was started by people who saw prisoners get caught in the cycle of incarceration and their willingness to live with that cycle died. They did not want the suffering to continue, even the suffering of those who were found guilty. They heard God’s voice imagining another way to live and they were “baptized” into a new life. One that wanted the world to be better. God’s voice is not always a soft whisper of encouragement and comfort. Psalm 29 affirms that it does sometimes cause skipping like a calf, but it also shakes, and breaks, and thunders. This is the voice we turn up the volume on when we baptize. Asking parents to tune their children’s ears to God’s voice and adults to reject sin and listen only to God.
God’s voice cuts through oppression and brings joy, but it also is like fire and whirling winds. As we have seen in Australia this week, fire and wind are as dangerous as water. 500 million animals are estimated to be dead in Australia’s fires already. Maps showing the scale of these fires illustrate the blazes span an area comparable to the size of the continental USA. While international firefighters assemble and fight together the rest of us are left to watch. We can collectively feel pieces of ourselves dying as the days drag on. Now is when we need to listen for God’s voice and try to understand what kind of baptism we are going through. If Psalm 29 is right, and God’s voice is just as powerful as these fires in Australia then what are we being called to do? What does resurrection look like for our world after this massive death? What is it that we no longer can live side by side with now that we have been submerged in this event?
As Jesus came up from the water of baptism, according to Matthew 3:13-17, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God descended. The Spirit declared that God was pleased, and a new way of living would be started through Jesus. This moment of baptism was the moment that came before everything Jesus was about to do. The baptism gave him strength to get through the temptation in the wilderness. Interesting that baptism did not mean Jesus was out of danger or had overcome the hardest part. It comes before the hard work. Baptism is the starting point for the journey God is sending us on. It is sweet and cute with babies and doves but let’s not forget what happens if we do not come out of the water. Baptism changes us whether it is a baptism by the Spirit as an infant or a baptism of despair as we watch the world burn. Baptism is a starting line for the race God is calling us to run. Let’s get running.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:
Acts 10:34-43
Testifying
Finding God’s power at work in our own lives gives us deep reasons to proclaim God’s goodness. As Peter preaches, “We are witnesses to all that [Jesus] did…He commanded us to preach to the people.” Former NFL player Devon Still tells about the changes in his life, as a result of his daughter’s illness, and his own turn toward God. He says in tough times, “I’d remember what my grandma told me when she was dragging me to church as a kid back in Wilmington, Delaware. “The good Lord speaks to all of us, Devon, but you’re never going to hear him if you don’t open your ears and listen.” I grew up and joined a church of my own, and while I felt closer to God, it still seemed as if I was doing all the talking. I tried not to take it personally — until Leah, my sweet four-year-old daughter, got sick with cancer. I really needed to hear directly from him then. Leah had to undergo four grueling rounds of a combined radiation/chemo treatment. People around the world, moved by the story of a pro football player fighting to help his critically ill daughter, were praying for her…”
Being at the hospital allowed Devon Still to meet other families who were in the same crisis state, and to be moved by their struggles. “The treatment required Leah to spend five days in the hospital, then 21 days recovering, each round. There were critically ill children all around me. I couldn’t ignore the hurt these other families were going through. One day Leah and I went to the hospital’s children’s playroom. There was a girl there maybe eight years old, doing a puzzle while attached to a chemo drip. Her single mother was working. This girl had no one there for her. And she was not the only one suffering. Another family was fighting to take their dying daughter home, but their community had no hospice program. The hospital wouldn’t agree to it. There were families with financial worries. Babies only months old with cancer. I wanted to help them. I reached out to some journalists I knew. Within days, it seemed as if the whole country was talking about Leah and about the hardships that families of children with cancer face. I started posting pictures and regular updates on my Instagram account, mainly as a way to cheer up Leah.”
One day at the hospital, Leah said, “I want the cancer out of me. And God wants it too. He told me.” She added, “He tells me he believes in me, and no matter what I go through, he says, ‘Be strong.’”
The little girl added, “God talks in all different ways, right?”
Devon says, “I nodded, trying to process everything I was hearing. I thought of all the people who had lifted me up over the years: my family, fans, coaches, church family, all the prayers they’d said for me, the people I’d met at the hospital, the hundreds of thousands of folks who had responded to Leah’s story, the money we’d raised, the strength I’d gotten from Asha…and Leah. Beautiful Leah. From the mouths of babes. My entire life God had been talking to me, in ways I just hadn’t been hearing. “That’s right, baby,” I said, softly rubbing Leah’s back. She was lying down. Minutes later, she was fast asleep. It’s been five years since Leah had that surgery. She’s been in remission since 2015…I no longer play football. I meet with groups across the country as an advocate for children with cancer, talking to people about overcoming life’s challenges. And encouraging them to listen for the voice that’s always there, as long as we’re listening.”
We listen, and then we proclaim God’s power with our own lives.
* * *
Matthew 3:13-17
The Feeling is Mutual
As Jesus is baptized by John, he sees, hears and feels God’s claim on his life. He’s called into God’s work on the earth, and marked for it. He receives God’s acclamation for who he is. Father Greg Boyle, who works with young men and women coming out of gang life in Los Angeles, tells a human version of a similar experience. He’s giving a blessing to a young man named Louie, and Louie comes around his desk, and he bows his head. As Father Greg says, “his birthday had been two days before, so it gave me an opportunity to say something to him. I said, “You know, Louie, I’m proud to know you, and my life is richer because you came into it. When you were born, the world became a better place. And I’m proud to call you my son, even though” — and I don’t know why I decided to add this part — “at times, you can really be a huge pain in the ass.” And he looks up, and he smiles. And he says, “The feeling’s mutual.” And suddenly, kinship, so quickly. You’re not this delivery system. Maybe I return him to himself. But there is no doubt that he’s returned me to myself.”
Between God and Jesus, their deep connection is re-affirmed in the moment of his baptism.
* * *
Matthew 3:13-17
Baptism Lasts
In Jesus’ life, his baptism is the frame for his ministry, joining him to God’s power and purpose. More than a moment, its importance echoes down through the years of his work, and gives us the sacrament of baptism in our lives. Scott Cormode tells about similar reverberations of baptism in the lives of people he knows. He explains, “I once heard a man explain why Presbyterians emphasize baptism’s communal nature. He talked about the baptism of his daughter and how part of the service called for the congregation to make vows. The congregation promised to proclaim the faith to the children just as the parents promised to raise the child in the way of the Lord. The man went on to describe what happened many years later, after his child had grown. One night she called him from Denver, where she had gone to live. She told her father that she was in trouble. She had gotten into drugs and made a series of choices that she now regretted. She called asking him to help her turn her life around. But the man did not have a lot of options, a lot of resources. Circumstances were such that he could not move to Denver and she could not move back to his home. What was he to do? That night he called an old friend who now lived in Denver, a man who had been a part of the congregation that had promised at her baptism to proclaim the faith to her. He reminded his friend of that vow. And he asked his friend honor that vow. He asked his friend to be the family of God for his daughter that night and in the months to come. His friend dropped what he was doing and attended to the girl and proclaimed the love of God to her when neither her father nor the institutional church could. When this man called on his friend he was drawing on the sacrament of baptism as a resource.”
Baptism is an ongoing gift for us, too, just as it is in this story, just as it was for Jesus.
* * *
Isaiah 42:1-9
Former Things, New Things
Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God tells the people of Israel, who have seen so much upheaval, “See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare.” After her family was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, Tullia Hamilton had an experience with looking both back and forward. She tells her story this way: “Christmas was coming, and while browsing a local secondhand store with my sister, Shelia, I thought about everything my family had to be grateful for in 2006. We had to stay positive. We wouldn’t be in New Orleans this year. Our old neighborhood was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Luckily I had room in my home in St. Louis to take them all in. My family had lived in New Orleans for generations…”
In the store, her sister told her to keep an eye out for little things for stocking stuffers. The sisters knew that Christmas would be hard on displaced family members.
After a trip home to see what they could salvage, they found incredible devastation. “Family mementos were missing too. Decades’ worth of photos, clothing, furniture — most of it gone. Except for the few items we boxed up and brought back to St. Louis. When we unpacked the boxes my mom exclaimed with delight, “You found the Christmas angels!” She picked up a transparent glass candleholder in the shape of an angel. It was one of a pair, a gift to my mother from her sister-in-law. The pair had stood on our Christmas dinner table every year since the 1980s.” One was there, but the other was missing.
“That single angel would have a place of honor on our holiday table this year, but there would be something sad about seeing her all alone. It was as if, just like us, she’d lost a part of herself. I tried to concentrate on all the angels we’d had since the storm. People donated clothes, toiletries and money. Another friend even found a weekly bingo game in St. Louis to make my aunts feel more at home. Our family would be together this Christmas. God, help me focus on that instead of what we’ve lost, I thought. Maybe that pair of candleholders wouldn’t be there on the table, but one angel was blessing enough.”
She and her sister headed to the register to pay. “I had just taken out my wallet to pay when she grabbed my arm. “Look!” she said. “Is that what I think it is?” I peered into the glass case. Could it be? Yes! Two glass angel s— our angels, a pair. The cashier seemed a little confused by our excitement. There was nothing special about the candleholders that she could see. But for us, they were a small miracle. When my family sat down to Christmas dinner that year, our table had never felt so abundant. Once there were two angels, then one, and now three! Proof that with God, nothing good was ever lost forever.”
God’s new things include the former things, with new blessings in abundance.
* * * * * *
From team member Chris Keating:
Illustrations about baptism in general:
There’s something in the water
While most studies of contemporary American religion center on the vast numbers of younger generations who are dropping out of church, sociologist Samuel Perry decided to delve into what might work at keeping kids in church.
In some cases, it seems as though baptism plays a role.
Using data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, Perry and researcher Kyle Longest tested the long term impact of rites of passage such as believer’s baptism, bar/bat mitzvah, first communion or other significant public religious rite of passage. The study showed that those who experienced some sort or rite of passage as a teenager were 30 percent more likely to remain in their faith. Those who participated in religious rites of passage as teens were less likely to disaffiliate with religion in their mid-twenties. Perry notes that there seems to be something “binding about commitment that is declarative, formal and public.”
In a Christianity Today article, Perry shares an anecdote from his own church:
Our baptisms do not happen spontaneously without some sort of vetting on the part of parents and church leaders. There is often a formal process that includes a waiting period. The baptism ceremony is not only preceded by the affirmation of important questions, but for years now, those who are baptized provide a public reading of their personal testimony. Nervousness and tears are the norm here.
And the ceremony itself — though beautiful, given what it signifies — is messy, unnatural, and awkward. People have to change their clothes afterwards. Emerging from the water, one is greeted with thunderous applause and yells that border on the hysterical. One’s baptism, in other words, is memorable. And it is social. And it is memorable because it is social.
* * *
Meanwhile, the baptismal drought continues
Data is supporting what many pastors already know: the number of baptisms in the United States is on the decline. Statistics from the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Philadelphia reveals that there were 79% fewer infant baptisms in 2018 than in 1961. Protestant baptisms have also declined. Southern Baptists reported 7,000 fewer baptisms in 2018, a historic low for the evangelical church. The seven mainline Protestant denominations also continue to report declines in both membership and baptisms.
* * *
Avatar baptisms and virtual reality
Want to be baptized, but can’t make it to the river? Pastor D. J. Soto of the VR (Virtual Reality) Church will offer you virtual baptism. Soto says his church is “one of the first fully computer-generated religious institutions” in the United States. Those wanting to be baptized can log on and direct their avatar into the animated pool of pixels. Forget about the family-Christening gown. Just strap on your VR googles and headsets and take the plunge for Jesus. The report does not say whether CGI animated doves descend from the screen — but it couldn’t take more than a few keystrokes to add them.
* * * * * *
Isaiah 42:1-9
The power of vulnerability
Isaiah 42:1-9 addresses the survivors of the exile. Removed from the homeland, traumatized by the destruction of their institutions and landmarks, and carried off in chains, the exiles are stripped of all external signs of hope. Isaiah’s audience is shattered and fragile. Despite this, Isaiah manages to speak of a power that arises from vulnerability.
Thanks to popular author and researcher Brené Brown, there’s a renewed interest in understanding vulnerability. Millions have either read her books or viewed her TED Talks, including “The Power of Vulnerability.” As Brown recounts, it was her interest in how human beings form meaningful connection that led her to explore the interplay of the dynamics of shame and vulnerability. After years of research, Brown discovered that the most resilient persons she encountered — the ones she describes as living whole-heartedly — were those who embraced vulnerability. Brown says:
They believed that what made them vulnerable made them beautiful. They didn't talk about vulnerability being comfortable, nor did they really talk about it being excruciating — as I had heard it earlier in the shame interviewing. They just talked about it being necessary. They talked about the willingness to say, "I love you" first ... the willingness to do something where there are no guarantees ... the willingness to breathe through waiting for the doctor to call after your mammogram. They're willing to invest in a relationship that may or may not work out. They thought this was fundamental.
* * *
Isaiah 42:1-9
Vengeance, power and vulnerability
The prophet declares that the servant of Yahweh will execute justice faithfully, opening the eyes of the blind and releasing the captives. The current escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran offers an illustration of the differences between vengeance and power exercised in vulnerability.
President Donald Trump’s decision to order a drone attack against a top Iranian military leader was in part a response to increased Iranian aggression in the Middle East. Iran’s response to the attack was to vow “harsh vengeance” for the death of Qaesem Soleimani and other military leaders. In war, power is most often an exercise in vengeance, or retributive justice.
Restorative justice advocate Howard Zehr writes of the differences and similarities between the two. “A primary goal of both…is to vindicate through reciprocity, by ‘balancing the scales.’ Where they differ is in what each suggest will effectively right the balance.” (Howard Zehr, The Little Book of Restorative Justice New York, NY: Good Books, 2015 Rev. Ed., p. 75.) Restorative justice seeks to repair wrongs by addressing harms and causes, and by using collaborative processes. Retributive justice, as understood by Zehr, believes pain will correct harms. This is an often counter-productive process which does little to create opportunities for mutual transformation. Zehr promotes restorative justice as a paradigm for criminal justice reform, though the principles can be applied to international relationships. Zehr observes that restorative justice focuses on three “R values,” which he names as “respect, responsibility, and relationship.” (p. 79).
* * *
Isaiah 42:1-9
Here is my servant
However one understands Donald Trump, and regardless of politics, he remains a paradoxical figure for people of faith. While the President courts evangelical leaders, his own sense of faith could be characterized as “transactional,” and aimed at political pragmaticism. The President was married in an Episcopalian church and claims Presbyterian roots. His more recent church appearances have been at large evangelical churches. But a December editorial in Christianity Today magazine pointed out how the President’s actions have departed from more orthodox faith perspectives.
In a New York Times interview, retired Christianity Today editor Mark Galli offered his own perspective on Trump’s image as God’s servant:
There does seem to be widespread ignorance — that is the best word I can come up with — of the gravity of Trump’s moral failings. Some evangelicals will acknowledge he had a problem with adultery, but now they consider that a thing of the past. They bring up King David, but the difference is King David repented! Donald Trump has not done that.
Some evangelicals say he is prideful, abrasive and arrogant — which are all the qualities that Christians decry — but they don’t seem to grasp how serious it is for a head of state to talk like that and it does make me wonder what’s going on there.
* * *
Matthew 3:13-17
Fulfilling righteousness
Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, is the focus of a new movie, “Just Mercy.” The movie shares the title of Stevenson’s book and recounts the lawyer’s work to seek justice for persons who are sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. One reviewer notes that:
In “Just Mercy,” the painful and infuriating gaps between myth and reality of the contemporary South aren’t underlined as much as opened up and revealed, allowing audience members to come to conclusions that will range from wincing discomfort to outrage.
Christian activist Shane Claiborne urges people to not just see the film, but to not go home “talking about what a hero Stevenson is.” Instead, Claiborne encourages people to “Walk away from ‘Just Mercy’ dreaming and scheming about the hero you want to be.” Claiborne’s suggestion is an illustration of what Jesus means by saying “it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
* * *
Matthew 3:13-17
Beloved child of God
Jesus’ baptism ends with a heavenly acclamation: “This is my beloved Son.” Asher O’Callaghan tells a compelling story of what it means to receive that sort of affirmation in today’s world.
O’Callaghan is a trans person of faith whose experience growing up in the church left him feeling as “dis-membered” from the body of Christ. In his process of transitioning, Asher became involved with the House for All Saints and Sinners in Denver, and its then pastor Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber. When he approached Bolz-Weber about his experience of faith, he remarked he was moved by her single question: “Honey, what can we do for you?”
A particularly poignant moment came as O’Callaghan and Bolz-Weber planned a liturgical re-naming ceremony service. The liturgy helped O’Callaghan experience God’s affirmation in a new and powerful way. He writes:
(Bolz-Weber) tracked down a re-naming rite that another pastor had used, we sat down and made some alterations to it, and picked the date it would be used. My favorite line from the rite will continue to resonate with me for years to come: “Bear this name in the name of Christ. Share it in the name of mercy. Offer it in the name of justice.” I also set aside a table with a flower on it where I lit a candle, displayed my former name lovingly written, and some pictures of myself growing up. This was a way for me to pay tribute to and memorialize my childhood and my former name. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything as personally poignant as being affirmed that night by my congregation and greeted as Asher.
Though my gender transformation might sound rather exotic, I assure you that the greatest transformation I’ve experienced has been being re-membered into the Body of Christ. I’ve gotten knit together with my brothers and sisters into this fearfully strange and wonderful reconciliation that trespasses boundaries to sustain us individually and the Church collectively. Week after week, we receive Christ’s flesh and blood that incorporates us to his embodiment even as Christ’s Body is incorporated into our bodies. It’s weird. It’s disconcerting. It’s uncomfortable. It’s more than a little frightening. But it’s also our salvation and the sanctification of the Church. Which turns out to be very good news indeed.
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Matthew 3:13-17
A move toward the future
Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism is the stepping stone into his ministry and the prologue to the story Matthew writes for the church. It is the church’s Epiphany story, and much like the arrival of the magi or the baptism of Jesus, is a story about gifts given to the church as it listens to its calling to ministry. Thomas Reece explores these themes in a review of the Netflix movie, “The Two Popes.” Reece indicates that the movie is an Epiphany gift to the church.
The narratives of Epiphany — both the arrival of the magi and Jesus’ baptism — offer reminders “that salvation is being offered to the Gentiles,” writes Reece, a story he sees at work in the relationship between Popes Benedict and Francis.
As Christians, we are not just oriented to the past, we are also looking forward to the future — not simply by sitting passively waiting for Christ’s arrival to save us, but also by working actively to prepare the way of the Lord. We do this when we work for justice, peace and the protection of Mother Earth.
The Epiphany is not only the story of the Magi, it is our story. It celebrates our call to seek out Jesus, to follow his star, to meet Jesus with Mary his mother, to give him homage, and to offer to him whatever gifts we have. It reminds us that our destiny is to be seekers who listen to the Spirit and follow a star.
The story of the three kings, like the story of the two popes, is not factual, but it still teaches us deep truths.
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From team member Ron Love
Acts 10:37
That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced
My first appointment as a United Methodist pastor was to an inner-city church in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh. My instructions were to gracefully close the church. It was a white Protestant church in a predominantly Roman Catholic community. The demographics were also quickly changing from being a white neighborhood, to almost an entirely black neighborhood. The church did not adapt itself to the changing community. The church did not reach out to those whose skin color was different. The church did not create programs that would minister to a poor black community. With a dwindling membership and a loss of income that prevented even routine maintenance, the church was dying spiritually in a crumbling building. We were able to sell the building to a black congregation, and the white members all transferred to a neighboring white affluent Methodist church. Soon, if one stood outside the Lawrenceville church, you could hear Halleluiahs. If you went inside you could see Christians dancing in the aisles. The church once again became alive because it now had a program that reached out to the needs of the people in the community where it was located. Upon witnessing the rebirth of the former Lawrenceville United Methodist Church, the bishop declared that would be the last Methodist church he would ever permit to be sold.
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Acts 10:37
That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced
Pope John Paul II was opposed to Liberation Theology that became so prominent in South America. As the movement moved north it became known as Black Theology in the United States. Pope John Paul II was from Poland and he grew up in a communist state. It was his belief that Liberation Theology was too much like communism. Priests who practiced Liberation Theology were never promoted, and many were called back to Rome to serve in administrative positions. Pope Francis took control of the church in March 2013, following the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI. Francis was from Argentina, and declared a renewal of the church in South America. Pope Francis promoted Liberation Theology as a means to renew the church based less on laws and more on spiritual renewal and community social action.
* * *
Isaiah 42:4
He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
John F. Kennedy was asked by a reporter how he became a war hero. In jest, he responded, “It was involuntary. They sank my boat.” The sinking of PT-109 could not have been prevented; but, leading his men to safety and rescue demanded leadership and courage.
* * *
Isaiah 42:4
He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
In the movie “PT 109,” released in 1963, we have a romanticized version of the sinking of the PT boat that was commanded by John F. Kennedy. There is a scene with Seaman Bucky Harris (who is played by Robert Blake) bobbing in the water alongside Kennedy (who was played by Cliff Robertson) where Kennedy commands his group of survivors to swim to Plum Pudding Island, which is part of the Solomon Islands. Bucky complains that “12 miles is a long way” to swim. To which Kennedy responds, “It’s only three inches on the chart.”
A church must always ask, do we see everything as an impossible 12 miles or a doable 3 inches.
* * *
Acts 10:39
We are witnesses
Pope Francis, who took office in March 2013, said the problem with the church today is that we are “small minded.” The Pope said we have locked ourselves up in small things, into small minded rules. Instead, the Pope said we need to reintroduce that “the most important thing is first the proclamation that Jesus Christ has saved you.” The Pope continued that we have lost “the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”
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WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Ascribe to God glory and strength.
People: Worship God in holy splendor.
Leader: The voice of God is over the waters.
People: The voice of God is powerful and full of majesty.
Leader: May God give strength to the people!
People: May God bless the people with peace!
OR
Leader: Come to the waters of life and be refreshed.
People: We come weary and worn by life.
Leader: Come to waters and know that you are God’s beloved.
People: We come seeking to be loved and to love.
Leader: Come to the waters and leave a disciple.
People: We come to go and spread the good news of God’s love.
Hymns and Songs:
When Jesus Came to Jordan
UMH: 252
PH: 72
ELA: 305
W&P: 241
We Know That Christ Is Raised
UMH: 610
H82: 296
PH: 495
CH: 376
LBW: 189
Child of Blessing, Child of Promise
UMH: 611
PH: 498
NCH: 325
W&P: 677
Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation
UMH: 559
H82: 518
PH: 416/417
NCH: 400
CH: 275
LBW: 367
ELA: 645
AMEC: 518
In Christ There Is No East or West
UMH: 548
H82: 529
PH: 439/440
AAHH: 398/399
NNBH: 299
NCH: 394/395
CH: 687
LBW: 259
ELA: 650
W&P: 600/603
AMEC: 557
The Church’s One Foundation
UMH: 545/546
H82: 525
PH: 442
AAHH: 337
NNBH: 297
NCH: 386
CH: 272
LBW: 369
ELA: 654
W&P: 544
AMEC: 519
Amazing Grace
UMH: 378
H82: 671
PH: 280
AAHH: 271/272
NNBH: 161/163
NCH: 547/548
CH: 546
LBW: 448
ELA: 779
W&P: 422
AMEC: 226
STLT: 205/206
Renew: 189
O Jesus, I Have Promised
UMH: 396
H82: 655
PH: 388/389
NCH: 493
CH: 612
LBW: 503
ELA: 810
W&P: 458
AMEC: 280
We Are One in Christ Jesus (Somos uno en (Cristo))
CCB: 43
Behold, What Manner of Love
CCB: 44
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who claims us as your own beloved children:
Grant us the grace to accept your love
and to share that love will all your children;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are the one who calls us your own beloved children. Help us to live in the knowledge of this great gift of grace. Make us faithful in sharing the love with others so that they too know themselves to be your beloved. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to live into the reality of God’s great love.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You created us in and through and for love and yet we doubt your love for us. Worse, we make up for our lack of faith by denying your love for others. We are quick to judge and slow to accept. We don’t share with others the good news of your love and grace. Forgive us and renew us in the power of your Spirit that we may be faithful in our love of you and in sharing that love with others. Amen.
Leader: God is love and grants us forgiveness and grace abundantly. Know you are loved and share that love with others.
Prayers of the People
Praised and glorious in your name, O God of love and grace. You are love and you fill your creation with your loving presence.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You created us in and through and for love and yet we doubt your love for us. Worse, we make up for our lack of faith by denying your love for others. We are quick to judge and slow to accept. We don't share with others the good news of your love and grace. Forgive us and renew us in the power of your Spirit that we may be faithful in our love of you and in sharing that love with others.
We thank you for all the ways in which your love is made manifest in this world. We thank you for the beauty of creation and for the comfort of your Spirit. We thank you for those who have known your love and made it known to us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need and especially for those who do not yet know of your great love for them. As you seek them, help us to be your physical presence of love for them.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
I had an uncle who called me Punkin’. It was a term of endearment that meant a lot to me. Perhaps you have had a special name given to you or one you gave someone else. Share that with the children and talk about how good it feels to know we are loved. At Jesus’ baptism God called him the Beloved. God does that for us as well although we may not hear a physical voice speak. That is part of what baptism is all about: God claiming us as God’s beloved child. We can always rejoice in that and we can share that joy by letting others know that they are beloved by God, too.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Green Eggs and Ham
by Dean Feldmeyer
Isaiah 42:1-9
You will need: A copy of Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham.
Read from the book the following lines:
Do you like
Green eggs and ham
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
I do not like
Green eggs and ham.
Would you like them
Here or there?
I would not like them
Here or there.
I would not like them
Anywhere.
I do not like
Green eggs and ham.
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
Would you like them
In a house?
Would you like them
With a mouse?
I do not like them
In a house.
I do not like them
With a mouse.
I do not like them
Here or there.
I do not like them
Anywhere.
I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
Say: My, goodness. That Sam-I-Am just won’t let it go, will he? He really wants the guy, here, to try green eggs and ham, doesn’t he? But this guy — we don’t know his name — he doesn’t want to. Well neither would I, would you? Do you think green eggs and ham would be good?
But wait, let’s go to the end of the story and see what happens:
Read:
You do not like them.
SO you say.
Try them! Try them!
And you may.
Try them and you may I say.
Sam! If you will let me be,
I will try them.
You will see.
Say: So he decides to try them and what happens? He likes them, doesn’t he!
Read:
Say!
I like green eggs and ham!
I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat!
And I would eat them with a goat...
And I will eat them in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good so good you see!
… I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am.
Say: He tries them and he likes them and he says thank you to Sam-I-Am! Boy, who saw that coming? Not me.
You know, maybe this poem by Dr. Seuss is about more than these silly green eggs and ham. Maybe this poem is about trying new things, things that are a different color than you’re used to, even if you think you might not like them. Maybe what Dr. Seuss is telling us is that we should be like the guy in this poem and try new things from time to time. Because we might discover that we like them.
That’s one of the cool things about poetry. Poetry can have different meanings when you read it. Like this poem has two meanings — one, it’s about a silly thing like green eggs and ham, and two, it’s about a serious thing like trying new things.
In one of today’s lessons from the Bible we have some poetry by one of God’s prophets named Isaiah. It’s very pretty language.
Read
1 "Take a good look at my servant. I'm backing him to the hilt. He's the one I chose, and I couldn't be more pleased with him. I've bathed him with my Spirit, my life. He'll set everything right among the nations. 2 He won't call attention to what he does with loud speeches or gaudy parades. 3 He won't brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won't disregard the small and insignificant, but he'll steadily and firmly set things right. 4 He won't tire out and quit. He won't be stopped until he's finished his work — to set things right on earth. (The Message)
That’s a poem by the prophet, Isaiah. Who do you suppose he’s talking about in that poem. Who is this person who is going to set everything right? Who is this person who won’t give loud speeches or gaudy parades? Who is this person who will pay attention to people who are weak or powerless?
Some people say it’s a new king that’s being crowned and this poem is about him.
Some people say it’s really a poem about the country of Israel. Isaiah often refers to the people of Israel as “Jacob” whose name was also Israel. Maybe it’s the nation he is talking about.
Some people say it’s Jesus. But Isaiah was writing almost 700 years before Jesus. And Jesus did make some loud speeches and at least once he rode in a kind of gaudy parade. Who else might Isaiah be talking about?
Maybe it’s me he’s talking about — or you.
Maybe we are the people God wants to make things right, to take care of the weak and the powerless.
It is a poem after all. It could mean any of these things. Or it could mean all of them.
That’s one of the things I love about poems. You can read them 100 times and hear something different every time. Sometimes I think it’s one thing and sometimes I think it’s another. But I never know for sure.
Today, when we say our prayers, let’s ask God to help us be the kind of people God wants us to be, like the guy in this poem. You know, just in case. Just in case Isaiah is talking about us. Okay?
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The Immediate Word, January 12, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- Obligations of the Baptized by Tom Willadsen — The texts for this Sunday remind us of the obligations imposed on those who are baptized, not to mention on the lives of those who are witnesses to baptisms.
- Second Thoughts: Baptism is a Starting Line by Bethany Peerbolte — Baptism changes us whether it is a baptism by the Spirit as an infant or a baptism of despair as we watch the world burn.
- Sermon illustrations by Mary Austin, Chris Keating, and Ron Love.
- Worship resources by George Reed that focus on roles and responsibilities we share in baptism; besides our actual baptism we face other ‘baptisms’ of life that call forth faith responses.
- Children’s sermon: Green Eggs and Ham by Dean Feldmeyer — Maybe we are the people God wants to take care of the weak and the powerless.
Obligations of the Baptizedby Tom Willadsen
This Sunday begs for sermons on baptism, even though the focus in Matthew is on Jesus' baptism and not ours. Yet the texts also remind us of the obligations imposed on those who are baptized, not to mention on the lives of those who are witnesses to baptisms. Our responsibility to teach the stories and traditions of faith, which is also the responsibility of the servant mentioned in Isaiah 42:1-9.
A new season begins today on the church calendar, so it’s very appropriate that we look at the very start of Jesus’ “career” in ministry. In the synoptic gospels the first thing that Jesus does as an adult is head out to the Jordan to be baptized by John. John the Baptizer has been leading a renewal movement of some kind. John’s attracting crowds; he’s even gotten the attention of some of the leaders, who made the trip all the way from Jerusalem.
Many churches mark the Baptism of Our Lord Sunday with a renewal of baptismal vows. This is a really helpful reminder for a lot of people. Many of us were baptized as infants and have no recollection of the moment when we were ushered into the universal church of Jesus Christ. Every baptism is an occasion to remember — whether it is our own baptism or those who loved us enough to present us for baptism before a congregation. Baptism is the closest thing Christians have to something that all of us do.
Presbyterians do not celebrate sacraments privately. One reason that is important is that we believe that in the same way it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a congregation to raise a Christian. The most important promise I ever make is when I promise to teach a newly baptized person to know and follow Christ. That’s a task for the whole church. Recently the Session of the congregation I currently serve considered baptizing an infant, the grandchild of members who would be in town for the holidays. After a brief discussion, the Session decided that they did not want to put the congregation in the position of making a promise they could not keep. The child was going to grow up in a community more than a 1,000 miles away, and her parents do not participate in a church there.
My favorite baptism story is from the time my congregation baptized a child named Kane. I am not sure whether the parents named their son after the wrestler or the comic book character. After the congregation answered the question promising to teach Kane to know and follow Christ, I asked them, “Do you know what you just did? You promised to help Edna and Roger raise Kane.” A once-in-a-career punchline, I’m sure.
In the News
The three news stories screaming for attention the first week of 2020 are two hold overs from prior weeks and months, plus a brand new one.
It’s hard to say when the impeachment became a top news story. The House inquiry began in September and it has never left the news. As the New Year dawned the impeachment was in a holding pattern of sorts. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not referred the matter to the Senate for a trial as she awaits reassurances from the Senate about how they plan to proceed.
The fires in Australia are unprecedented in their scope and destruction. “On January 1st, Australia’s capital recorded the worst pollution it’s ever seen, with an air quality index 23 times higher than what’s considered ‘hazardous.’” It is not an exaggeration to call the destruction apocalyptic. Fires of this magnitude create their own weather, causing stronger winds and creating feedback loops that intensify the fire to the point that the only thing that will stop it is running out of fuel. Video of the Australian fires looks like a real-time expression of Psalm 29. There is no doubt that fires of this magnitude are becoming more frequent as global warming accelerates.
Iranian Major General Qassim Suleimani was killed in an overnight drone strike at the Baghdad airport on Friday, January 3.
Iran’s United Nations ambassador, Majid Takht Ravanchi, called the killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani “an act of war,” and vowed that it would be met with “revenge, a harsh revenge.”
In the Scriptures
It is an enormous challenge to find ways that today’s lections speak to the three most pressing stories in the news.
While there are accounts of Jesus being baptized in all the gospels, there are a few things that set Matthew’s account apart. It is clear that Jesus went to the Jordan to be baptized on purpose; he was not simply caught up in the popular movement. John recognized that Jesus did not need John’s baptism, he suggests that he (John) should be baptized by Jesus instead. Jesus responds, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” It is as though Jesus is saying that being baptized by John demonstrates his obedience to God.
The synoptic accounts of Jesus’ baptism all mention the voice of God, the presence of the Spirit and the Spirit’s appearance being like a dove. They also share common imagery that the heavens “opened,” which is an interesting thing to imagine. What would it look like if the sky were torn in two? It is interesting that none of the accounts indicate what Jesus was thinking or feeling, as though he is merely being acted upon, in spite of his manifest intention to be baptized by John in Matthew’s account.
(Before I leave the discussion of John the Baptizer I need to retell an old, old joke. What three things do John the Baptizer and Winnie the Pooh have in common? They have the same middle name; they eat honey; and they got their heads stuck.)
Perhaps the most significant distinction is that in Matthew the voice of God speaks not to Jesus, “you are my Son, the beloved” but to those present for his baptism, “this is my son, the beloved.”
Psalm 29 is a tribute to the powerful voice of God. “God” appears 18 times in the psalm and “voice” appears seven. The voice of the Lord can do powerful, awesome things. We know that from the very beginning of the Bible where God speaks and creates. Here the powerful voice brings destruction. This psalm could be seen to describe figuratively the fires in Australia as a current exposition of the destructive power of the Lord.
The description of the servant found in the Isaiah reading, a reading that Christians regard as pointing to the baptism of Jesus, reads almost as an opposite of the kind of leadership we see on the world stage. While drones and other modern weapons make remote killing possible, they cannot be thought to make the world safer. Violence will only spur greater violence. Where is the servant leader strong enough to dare not to quench the dimly burning wick of peace?
The Acts reading is the sermon Peter preached when he finally reached Cornelius after the Holy Spirit had led them to each other. Like a lot of sermons, Peter preaches to himself in this one — he realizes that God shows no partiality, that God’s love embraces people of all nations. This is a moment of growth and transformation for Peter.
In the Sermon
In the face of enormous power that we see described in Psalm 29, the fires in Australia and the remote killing potential of modern weapons, perhaps we could use a little humility. Make that a lot of humility.
Jesus hardly needed to be baptized by John as a credential to start his ministry. The baptizer says as much himself, but Jesus, fully human, submits and participates in John’s movement of repentance. As we remember our own baptisms, or the baptisms we have witnessed, remember: baptism is done to you. And the whole church promises to guide, lead, instruct and teach you to follow Jesus Christ. You are not alone. No Christian can ever be considered “alone.” We’re all in this together, along with the Holy Spirit, the Almighty Creator and Son/Redeemer.
What would servant leadership as described in the Isaiah reading look like on the world stage? Would the servant leader call for drone strikes on distant enemies? Would the servant leader deny human-caused global warming as huge portions of the earth literally go up in flames?
Would the gospel have spread beyond first century Palestine if apostles like Peter did not admit that they were wrong to see God’s love so narrowly?
I found something like solace as I pondered today’s texts in dialogue with this week’s big three news events in “Three Words for the Church in 2019: ‘We Were Wrong’,” which appeared on the Baptist News Global website January 1, 2020.
While my tradition is not Baptist and some of the issues that Mark Wingfield mentions do not speak to my recent or current church situation, the tone of humility, of admitting that yes, there have been times we have been on the wrong side of history, may be the balm that your soul needs to preach and your congregation needs to hear.
SECOND THOUGHTSBaptism is a Starting Line
by Bethany Peerbolte
Every year the church I serve welcomes 150 students in the 7th grade to learn about Christianity. Many of these students are Muslim or Jewish so they come with incredibly insightful questions. There is always a great discussion around baptism. We explore the idea of baptism by first talking about what we use water for in our homes. The teens’ answers are consistently right on point. Their first answers are usually about cleaning, and nourishment. I love when someone gets creative and says water is used for fun, like in a pool or to have aquatic pets. Together we wade into the depth of baptism with wonderings about if baptism is necessary for salvation, if one must be completely submerged in water, what age Christians need to be baptized by, and other theological wonderings many Christians take for granted.
After we have gone around the spectrum of baptismal beliefs in Christianity, I turn to a harder reality of baptism — that while water can be fun, it can also cause death. This shift in the discussion may bring down the mood but I feel it is important for everyone learning about baptism, especially Christians who are seeking to be baptized or to baptize their child, to know this is a moment of dying too. Yes, the water in nourishing for our soul. Yes, the water cleanses us. This moment is joyful, and the babies are cute, but it is not just that. This water also brings about a death so that we may live. If one understands that weight, they understand baptism.
One question I often get about baptism is how many times a person should be baptized. I explain that my tradition calls for only one, but after reading these verses I may have to amend my answer. My tradition believes in one baptism… by water. If baptism is a moment of dying to our old life and our old ways of doing things, then in fact Christians go through many baptisms. Our growth depends on moments of realizing we need to make a change. The furthering of God’s kingdom depends on us suddenly having our eyes opened to injustice and pain so that we can act upon them.
Isaiah 42:1-9 starts us on the path of a life of baptisms. Each time we see injustice, a dimly lit wick, or a bruised reed we are being baptized into a new way of seeing the world. We are being challenged to be the voice that will mend the brokenness. When we encounter the broken pieces of life a piece of us dies too. Isaiah gives us God’s promise that in every baptism, every moment of tiny deaths, God will breath into us and send the Spirit so that we can live a new way. Thankfully baptism teaches us that death is not the finish line, it is a starting line. We are called to speak God’s voice into the world. A voice that calls for the opening of blind eyes and freedom for prisoners.
One program bringing freedom to prisoners is called Shakespeare in Prison. While much of life in prison is dehumanizing on purpose, like being referred to as a number and not a name, this program seeks to help those who are incarcerated reconnect with their humanity. Many find Shakespeare arduous and inaccessible, but it is exactly these stereotypes that make Shakespeare in Prison successful. As prisoners learn the art, they gain confidence as they find they are smart enough to understand these difficult cultural treasures. They are empowered to explore their own trauma as they explore the trauma Shakespeare’s characters endure. After seven years, 93% of the program’s alumni have not returned to prison. Talk about rave reviews! Shakespeare in Prison helps people find their voice and words to express their pain and joy.
The Shakespeare program was started by people who saw prisoners get caught in the cycle of incarceration and their willingness to live with that cycle died. They did not want the suffering to continue, even the suffering of those who were found guilty. They heard God’s voice imagining another way to live and they were “baptized” into a new life. One that wanted the world to be better. God’s voice is not always a soft whisper of encouragement and comfort. Psalm 29 affirms that it does sometimes cause skipping like a calf, but it also shakes, and breaks, and thunders. This is the voice we turn up the volume on when we baptize. Asking parents to tune their children’s ears to God’s voice and adults to reject sin and listen only to God.
God’s voice cuts through oppression and brings joy, but it also is like fire and whirling winds. As we have seen in Australia this week, fire and wind are as dangerous as water. 500 million animals are estimated to be dead in Australia’s fires already. Maps showing the scale of these fires illustrate the blazes span an area comparable to the size of the continental USA. While international firefighters assemble and fight together the rest of us are left to watch. We can collectively feel pieces of ourselves dying as the days drag on. Now is when we need to listen for God’s voice and try to understand what kind of baptism we are going through. If Psalm 29 is right, and God’s voice is just as powerful as these fires in Australia then what are we being called to do? What does resurrection look like for our world after this massive death? What is it that we no longer can live side by side with now that we have been submerged in this event?
As Jesus came up from the water of baptism, according to Matthew 3:13-17, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God descended. The Spirit declared that God was pleased, and a new way of living would be started through Jesus. This moment of baptism was the moment that came before everything Jesus was about to do. The baptism gave him strength to get through the temptation in the wilderness. Interesting that baptism did not mean Jesus was out of danger or had overcome the hardest part. It comes before the hard work. Baptism is the starting point for the journey God is sending us on. It is sweet and cute with babies and doves but let’s not forget what happens if we do not come out of the water. Baptism changes us whether it is a baptism by the Spirit as an infant or a baptism of despair as we watch the world burn. Baptism is a starting line for the race God is calling us to run. Let’s get running.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Mary Austin:Acts 10:34-43
Testifying
Finding God’s power at work in our own lives gives us deep reasons to proclaim God’s goodness. As Peter preaches, “We are witnesses to all that [Jesus] did…He commanded us to preach to the people.” Former NFL player Devon Still tells about the changes in his life, as a result of his daughter’s illness, and his own turn toward God. He says in tough times, “I’d remember what my grandma told me when she was dragging me to church as a kid back in Wilmington, Delaware. “The good Lord speaks to all of us, Devon, but you’re never going to hear him if you don’t open your ears and listen.” I grew up and joined a church of my own, and while I felt closer to God, it still seemed as if I was doing all the talking. I tried not to take it personally — until Leah, my sweet four-year-old daughter, got sick with cancer. I really needed to hear directly from him then. Leah had to undergo four grueling rounds of a combined radiation/chemo treatment. People around the world, moved by the story of a pro football player fighting to help his critically ill daughter, were praying for her…”
Being at the hospital allowed Devon Still to meet other families who were in the same crisis state, and to be moved by their struggles. “The treatment required Leah to spend five days in the hospital, then 21 days recovering, each round. There were critically ill children all around me. I couldn’t ignore the hurt these other families were going through. One day Leah and I went to the hospital’s children’s playroom. There was a girl there maybe eight years old, doing a puzzle while attached to a chemo drip. Her single mother was working. This girl had no one there for her. And she was not the only one suffering. Another family was fighting to take their dying daughter home, but their community had no hospice program. The hospital wouldn’t agree to it. There were families with financial worries. Babies only months old with cancer. I wanted to help them. I reached out to some journalists I knew. Within days, it seemed as if the whole country was talking about Leah and about the hardships that families of children with cancer face. I started posting pictures and regular updates on my Instagram account, mainly as a way to cheer up Leah.”
One day at the hospital, Leah said, “I want the cancer out of me. And God wants it too. He told me.” She added, “He tells me he believes in me, and no matter what I go through, he says, ‘Be strong.’”
The little girl added, “God talks in all different ways, right?”
Devon says, “I nodded, trying to process everything I was hearing. I thought of all the people who had lifted me up over the years: my family, fans, coaches, church family, all the prayers they’d said for me, the people I’d met at the hospital, the hundreds of thousands of folks who had responded to Leah’s story, the money we’d raised, the strength I’d gotten from Asha…and Leah. Beautiful Leah. From the mouths of babes. My entire life God had been talking to me, in ways I just hadn’t been hearing. “That’s right, baby,” I said, softly rubbing Leah’s back. She was lying down. Minutes later, she was fast asleep. It’s been five years since Leah had that surgery. She’s been in remission since 2015…I no longer play football. I meet with groups across the country as an advocate for children with cancer, talking to people about overcoming life’s challenges. And encouraging them to listen for the voice that’s always there, as long as we’re listening.”
We listen, and then we proclaim God’s power with our own lives.
* * *
Matthew 3:13-17
The Feeling is Mutual
As Jesus is baptized by John, he sees, hears and feels God’s claim on his life. He’s called into God’s work on the earth, and marked for it. He receives God’s acclamation for who he is. Father Greg Boyle, who works with young men and women coming out of gang life in Los Angeles, tells a human version of a similar experience. He’s giving a blessing to a young man named Louie, and Louie comes around his desk, and he bows his head. As Father Greg says, “his birthday had been two days before, so it gave me an opportunity to say something to him. I said, “You know, Louie, I’m proud to know you, and my life is richer because you came into it. When you were born, the world became a better place. And I’m proud to call you my son, even though” — and I don’t know why I decided to add this part — “at times, you can really be a huge pain in the ass.” And he looks up, and he smiles. And he says, “The feeling’s mutual.” And suddenly, kinship, so quickly. You’re not this delivery system. Maybe I return him to himself. But there is no doubt that he’s returned me to myself.”
Between God and Jesus, their deep connection is re-affirmed in the moment of his baptism.
* * *
Matthew 3:13-17
Baptism Lasts
In Jesus’ life, his baptism is the frame for his ministry, joining him to God’s power and purpose. More than a moment, its importance echoes down through the years of his work, and gives us the sacrament of baptism in our lives. Scott Cormode tells about similar reverberations of baptism in the lives of people he knows. He explains, “I once heard a man explain why Presbyterians emphasize baptism’s communal nature. He talked about the baptism of his daughter and how part of the service called for the congregation to make vows. The congregation promised to proclaim the faith to the children just as the parents promised to raise the child in the way of the Lord. The man went on to describe what happened many years later, after his child had grown. One night she called him from Denver, where she had gone to live. She told her father that she was in trouble. She had gotten into drugs and made a series of choices that she now regretted. She called asking him to help her turn her life around. But the man did not have a lot of options, a lot of resources. Circumstances were such that he could not move to Denver and she could not move back to his home. What was he to do? That night he called an old friend who now lived in Denver, a man who had been a part of the congregation that had promised at her baptism to proclaim the faith to her. He reminded his friend of that vow. And he asked his friend honor that vow. He asked his friend to be the family of God for his daughter that night and in the months to come. His friend dropped what he was doing and attended to the girl and proclaimed the love of God to her when neither her father nor the institutional church could. When this man called on his friend he was drawing on the sacrament of baptism as a resource.”
Baptism is an ongoing gift for us, too, just as it is in this story, just as it was for Jesus.
* * *
Isaiah 42:1-9
Former Things, New Things
Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God tells the people of Israel, who have seen so much upheaval, “See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare.” After her family was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, Tullia Hamilton had an experience with looking both back and forward. She tells her story this way: “Christmas was coming, and while browsing a local secondhand store with my sister, Shelia, I thought about everything my family had to be grateful for in 2006. We had to stay positive. We wouldn’t be in New Orleans this year. Our old neighborhood was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Luckily I had room in my home in St. Louis to take them all in. My family had lived in New Orleans for generations…”
In the store, her sister told her to keep an eye out for little things for stocking stuffers. The sisters knew that Christmas would be hard on displaced family members.
After a trip home to see what they could salvage, they found incredible devastation. “Family mementos were missing too. Decades’ worth of photos, clothing, furniture — most of it gone. Except for the few items we boxed up and brought back to St. Louis. When we unpacked the boxes my mom exclaimed with delight, “You found the Christmas angels!” She picked up a transparent glass candleholder in the shape of an angel. It was one of a pair, a gift to my mother from her sister-in-law. The pair had stood on our Christmas dinner table every year since the 1980s.” One was there, but the other was missing.
“That single angel would have a place of honor on our holiday table this year, but there would be something sad about seeing her all alone. It was as if, just like us, she’d lost a part of herself. I tried to concentrate on all the angels we’d had since the storm. People donated clothes, toiletries and money. Another friend even found a weekly bingo game in St. Louis to make my aunts feel more at home. Our family would be together this Christmas. God, help me focus on that instead of what we’ve lost, I thought. Maybe that pair of candleholders wouldn’t be there on the table, but one angel was blessing enough.”
She and her sister headed to the register to pay. “I had just taken out my wallet to pay when she grabbed my arm. “Look!” she said. “Is that what I think it is?” I peered into the glass case. Could it be? Yes! Two glass angel s— our angels, a pair. The cashier seemed a little confused by our excitement. There was nothing special about the candleholders that she could see. But for us, they were a small miracle. When my family sat down to Christmas dinner that year, our table had never felt so abundant. Once there were two angels, then one, and now three! Proof that with God, nothing good was ever lost forever.”
God’s new things include the former things, with new blessings in abundance.
* * * * * *
From team member Chris Keating:Illustrations about baptism in general:
There’s something in the water
While most studies of contemporary American religion center on the vast numbers of younger generations who are dropping out of church, sociologist Samuel Perry decided to delve into what might work at keeping kids in church.
In some cases, it seems as though baptism plays a role.
Using data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, Perry and researcher Kyle Longest tested the long term impact of rites of passage such as believer’s baptism, bar/bat mitzvah, first communion or other significant public religious rite of passage. The study showed that those who experienced some sort or rite of passage as a teenager were 30 percent more likely to remain in their faith. Those who participated in religious rites of passage as teens were less likely to disaffiliate with religion in their mid-twenties. Perry notes that there seems to be something “binding about commitment that is declarative, formal and public.”
In a Christianity Today article, Perry shares an anecdote from his own church:
Our baptisms do not happen spontaneously without some sort of vetting on the part of parents and church leaders. There is often a formal process that includes a waiting period. The baptism ceremony is not only preceded by the affirmation of important questions, but for years now, those who are baptized provide a public reading of their personal testimony. Nervousness and tears are the norm here.
And the ceremony itself — though beautiful, given what it signifies — is messy, unnatural, and awkward. People have to change their clothes afterwards. Emerging from the water, one is greeted with thunderous applause and yells that border on the hysterical. One’s baptism, in other words, is memorable. And it is social. And it is memorable because it is social.
* * *
Meanwhile, the baptismal drought continues
Data is supporting what many pastors already know: the number of baptisms in the United States is on the decline. Statistics from the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Philadelphia reveals that there were 79% fewer infant baptisms in 2018 than in 1961. Protestant baptisms have also declined. Southern Baptists reported 7,000 fewer baptisms in 2018, a historic low for the evangelical church. The seven mainline Protestant denominations also continue to report declines in both membership and baptisms.
* * *
Avatar baptisms and virtual reality
Want to be baptized, but can’t make it to the river? Pastor D. J. Soto of the VR (Virtual Reality) Church will offer you virtual baptism. Soto says his church is “one of the first fully computer-generated religious institutions” in the United States. Those wanting to be baptized can log on and direct their avatar into the animated pool of pixels. Forget about the family-Christening gown. Just strap on your VR googles and headsets and take the plunge for Jesus. The report does not say whether CGI animated doves descend from the screen — but it couldn’t take more than a few keystrokes to add them.
* * * * * *
Isaiah 42:1-9
The power of vulnerability
Isaiah 42:1-9 addresses the survivors of the exile. Removed from the homeland, traumatized by the destruction of their institutions and landmarks, and carried off in chains, the exiles are stripped of all external signs of hope. Isaiah’s audience is shattered and fragile. Despite this, Isaiah manages to speak of a power that arises from vulnerability.
Thanks to popular author and researcher Brené Brown, there’s a renewed interest in understanding vulnerability. Millions have either read her books or viewed her TED Talks, including “The Power of Vulnerability.” As Brown recounts, it was her interest in how human beings form meaningful connection that led her to explore the interplay of the dynamics of shame and vulnerability. After years of research, Brown discovered that the most resilient persons she encountered — the ones she describes as living whole-heartedly — were those who embraced vulnerability. Brown says:
They believed that what made them vulnerable made them beautiful. They didn't talk about vulnerability being comfortable, nor did they really talk about it being excruciating — as I had heard it earlier in the shame interviewing. They just talked about it being necessary. They talked about the willingness to say, "I love you" first ... the willingness to do something where there are no guarantees ... the willingness to breathe through waiting for the doctor to call after your mammogram. They're willing to invest in a relationship that may or may not work out. They thought this was fundamental.
* * *
Isaiah 42:1-9
Vengeance, power and vulnerability
The prophet declares that the servant of Yahweh will execute justice faithfully, opening the eyes of the blind and releasing the captives. The current escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran offers an illustration of the differences between vengeance and power exercised in vulnerability.
President Donald Trump’s decision to order a drone attack against a top Iranian military leader was in part a response to increased Iranian aggression in the Middle East. Iran’s response to the attack was to vow “harsh vengeance” for the death of Qaesem Soleimani and other military leaders. In war, power is most often an exercise in vengeance, or retributive justice.
Restorative justice advocate Howard Zehr writes of the differences and similarities between the two. “A primary goal of both…is to vindicate through reciprocity, by ‘balancing the scales.’ Where they differ is in what each suggest will effectively right the balance.” (Howard Zehr, The Little Book of Restorative Justice New York, NY: Good Books, 2015 Rev. Ed., p. 75.) Restorative justice seeks to repair wrongs by addressing harms and causes, and by using collaborative processes. Retributive justice, as understood by Zehr, believes pain will correct harms. This is an often counter-productive process which does little to create opportunities for mutual transformation. Zehr promotes restorative justice as a paradigm for criminal justice reform, though the principles can be applied to international relationships. Zehr observes that restorative justice focuses on three “R values,” which he names as “respect, responsibility, and relationship.” (p. 79).
* * *
Isaiah 42:1-9
Here is my servant
However one understands Donald Trump, and regardless of politics, he remains a paradoxical figure for people of faith. While the President courts evangelical leaders, his own sense of faith could be characterized as “transactional,” and aimed at political pragmaticism. The President was married in an Episcopalian church and claims Presbyterian roots. His more recent church appearances have been at large evangelical churches. But a December editorial in Christianity Today magazine pointed out how the President’s actions have departed from more orthodox faith perspectives.
In a New York Times interview, retired Christianity Today editor Mark Galli offered his own perspective on Trump’s image as God’s servant:
There does seem to be widespread ignorance — that is the best word I can come up with — of the gravity of Trump’s moral failings. Some evangelicals will acknowledge he had a problem with adultery, but now they consider that a thing of the past. They bring up King David, but the difference is King David repented! Donald Trump has not done that.
Some evangelicals say he is prideful, abrasive and arrogant — which are all the qualities that Christians decry — but they don’t seem to grasp how serious it is for a head of state to talk like that and it does make me wonder what’s going on there.
* * *
Matthew 3:13-17
Fulfilling righteousness
Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, is the focus of a new movie, “Just Mercy.” The movie shares the title of Stevenson’s book and recounts the lawyer’s work to seek justice for persons who are sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. One reviewer notes that:
In “Just Mercy,” the painful and infuriating gaps between myth and reality of the contemporary South aren’t underlined as much as opened up and revealed, allowing audience members to come to conclusions that will range from wincing discomfort to outrage.
Christian activist Shane Claiborne urges people to not just see the film, but to not go home “talking about what a hero Stevenson is.” Instead, Claiborne encourages people to “Walk away from ‘Just Mercy’ dreaming and scheming about the hero you want to be.” Claiborne’s suggestion is an illustration of what Jesus means by saying “it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
* * *
Matthew 3:13-17
Beloved child of God
Jesus’ baptism ends with a heavenly acclamation: “This is my beloved Son.” Asher O’Callaghan tells a compelling story of what it means to receive that sort of affirmation in today’s world.
O’Callaghan is a trans person of faith whose experience growing up in the church left him feeling as “dis-membered” from the body of Christ. In his process of transitioning, Asher became involved with the House for All Saints and Sinners in Denver, and its then pastor Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber. When he approached Bolz-Weber about his experience of faith, he remarked he was moved by her single question: “Honey, what can we do for you?”
A particularly poignant moment came as O’Callaghan and Bolz-Weber planned a liturgical re-naming ceremony service. The liturgy helped O’Callaghan experience God’s affirmation in a new and powerful way. He writes:
(Bolz-Weber) tracked down a re-naming rite that another pastor had used, we sat down and made some alterations to it, and picked the date it would be used. My favorite line from the rite will continue to resonate with me for years to come: “Bear this name in the name of Christ. Share it in the name of mercy. Offer it in the name of justice.” I also set aside a table with a flower on it where I lit a candle, displayed my former name lovingly written, and some pictures of myself growing up. This was a way for me to pay tribute to and memorialize my childhood and my former name. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything as personally poignant as being affirmed that night by my congregation and greeted as Asher.
Though my gender transformation might sound rather exotic, I assure you that the greatest transformation I’ve experienced has been being re-membered into the Body of Christ. I’ve gotten knit together with my brothers and sisters into this fearfully strange and wonderful reconciliation that trespasses boundaries to sustain us individually and the Church collectively. Week after week, we receive Christ’s flesh and blood that incorporates us to his embodiment even as Christ’s Body is incorporated into our bodies. It’s weird. It’s disconcerting. It’s uncomfortable. It’s more than a little frightening. But it’s also our salvation and the sanctification of the Church. Which turns out to be very good news indeed.
* * *
Matthew 3:13-17
A move toward the future
Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism is the stepping stone into his ministry and the prologue to the story Matthew writes for the church. It is the church’s Epiphany story, and much like the arrival of the magi or the baptism of Jesus, is a story about gifts given to the church as it listens to its calling to ministry. Thomas Reece explores these themes in a review of the Netflix movie, “The Two Popes.” Reece indicates that the movie is an Epiphany gift to the church.
The narratives of Epiphany — both the arrival of the magi and Jesus’ baptism — offer reminders “that salvation is being offered to the Gentiles,” writes Reece, a story he sees at work in the relationship between Popes Benedict and Francis.
As Christians, we are not just oriented to the past, we are also looking forward to the future — not simply by sitting passively waiting for Christ’s arrival to save us, but also by working actively to prepare the way of the Lord. We do this when we work for justice, peace and the protection of Mother Earth.
The Epiphany is not only the story of the Magi, it is our story. It celebrates our call to seek out Jesus, to follow his star, to meet Jesus with Mary his mother, to give him homage, and to offer to him whatever gifts we have. It reminds us that our destiny is to be seekers who listen to the Spirit and follow a star.
The story of the three kings, like the story of the two popes, is not factual, but it still teaches us deep truths.
* * * * * *
From team member Ron LoveActs 10:37
That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced
My first appointment as a United Methodist pastor was to an inner-city church in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh. My instructions were to gracefully close the church. It was a white Protestant church in a predominantly Roman Catholic community. The demographics were also quickly changing from being a white neighborhood, to almost an entirely black neighborhood. The church did not adapt itself to the changing community. The church did not reach out to those whose skin color was different. The church did not create programs that would minister to a poor black community. With a dwindling membership and a loss of income that prevented even routine maintenance, the church was dying spiritually in a crumbling building. We were able to sell the building to a black congregation, and the white members all transferred to a neighboring white affluent Methodist church. Soon, if one stood outside the Lawrenceville church, you could hear Halleluiahs. If you went inside you could see Christians dancing in the aisles. The church once again became alive because it now had a program that reached out to the needs of the people in the community where it was located. Upon witnessing the rebirth of the former Lawrenceville United Methodist Church, the bishop declared that would be the last Methodist church he would ever permit to be sold.
* * *
Acts 10:37
That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced
Pope John Paul II was opposed to Liberation Theology that became so prominent in South America. As the movement moved north it became known as Black Theology in the United States. Pope John Paul II was from Poland and he grew up in a communist state. It was his belief that Liberation Theology was too much like communism. Priests who practiced Liberation Theology were never promoted, and many were called back to Rome to serve in administrative positions. Pope Francis took control of the church in March 2013, following the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI. Francis was from Argentina, and declared a renewal of the church in South America. Pope Francis promoted Liberation Theology as a means to renew the church based less on laws and more on spiritual renewal and community social action.
* * *
Isaiah 42:4
He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
John F. Kennedy was asked by a reporter how he became a war hero. In jest, he responded, “It was involuntary. They sank my boat.” The sinking of PT-109 could not have been prevented; but, leading his men to safety and rescue demanded leadership and courage.
* * *
Isaiah 42:4
He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
In the movie “PT 109,” released in 1963, we have a romanticized version of the sinking of the PT boat that was commanded by John F. Kennedy. There is a scene with Seaman Bucky Harris (who is played by Robert Blake) bobbing in the water alongside Kennedy (who was played by Cliff Robertson) where Kennedy commands his group of survivors to swim to Plum Pudding Island, which is part of the Solomon Islands. Bucky complains that “12 miles is a long way” to swim. To which Kennedy responds, “It’s only three inches on the chart.”
A church must always ask, do we see everything as an impossible 12 miles or a doable 3 inches.
* * *
Acts 10:39
We are witnesses
Pope Francis, who took office in March 2013, said the problem with the church today is that we are “small minded.” The Pope said we have locked ourselves up in small things, into small minded rules. Instead, the Pope said we need to reintroduce that “the most important thing is first the proclamation that Jesus Christ has saved you.” The Pope continued that we have lost “the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship:
Leader: Ascribe to God glory and strength.
People: Worship God in holy splendor.
Leader: The voice of God is over the waters.
People: The voice of God is powerful and full of majesty.
Leader: May God give strength to the people!
People: May God bless the people with peace!
OR
Leader: Come to the waters of life and be refreshed.
People: We come weary and worn by life.
Leader: Come to waters and know that you are God’s beloved.
People: We come seeking to be loved and to love.
Leader: Come to the waters and leave a disciple.
People: We come to go and spread the good news of God’s love.
Hymns and Songs:
When Jesus Came to Jordan
UMH: 252
PH: 72
ELA: 305
W&P: 241
We Know That Christ Is Raised
UMH: 610
H82: 296
PH: 495
CH: 376
LBW: 189
Child of Blessing, Child of Promise
UMH: 611
PH: 498
NCH: 325
W&P: 677
Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation
UMH: 559
H82: 518
PH: 416/417
NCH: 400
CH: 275
LBW: 367
ELA: 645
AMEC: 518
In Christ There Is No East or West
UMH: 548
H82: 529
PH: 439/440
AAHH: 398/399
NNBH: 299
NCH: 394/395
CH: 687
LBW: 259
ELA: 650
W&P: 600/603
AMEC: 557
The Church’s One Foundation
UMH: 545/546
H82: 525
PH: 442
AAHH: 337
NNBH: 297
NCH: 386
CH: 272
LBW: 369
ELA: 654
W&P: 544
AMEC: 519
Amazing Grace
UMH: 378
H82: 671
PH: 280
AAHH: 271/272
NNBH: 161/163
NCH: 547/548
CH: 546
LBW: 448
ELA: 779
W&P: 422
AMEC: 226
STLT: 205/206
Renew: 189
O Jesus, I Have Promised
UMH: 396
H82: 655
PH: 388/389
NCH: 493
CH: 612
LBW: 503
ELA: 810
W&P: 458
AMEC: 280
We Are One in Christ Jesus (Somos uno en (Cristo))
CCB: 43
Behold, What Manner of Love
CCB: 44
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who claims us as your own beloved children:
Grant us the grace to accept your love
and to share that love will all your children;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are the one who calls us your own beloved children. Help us to live in the knowledge of this great gift of grace. Make us faithful in sharing the love with others so that they too know themselves to be your beloved. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to live into the reality of God’s great love.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You created us in and through and for love and yet we doubt your love for us. Worse, we make up for our lack of faith by denying your love for others. We are quick to judge and slow to accept. We don’t share with others the good news of your love and grace. Forgive us and renew us in the power of your Spirit that we may be faithful in our love of you and in sharing that love with others. Amen.
Leader: God is love and grants us forgiveness and grace abundantly. Know you are loved and share that love with others.
Prayers of the People
Praised and glorious in your name, O God of love and grace. You are love and you fill your creation with your loving presence.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. You created us in and through and for love and yet we doubt your love for us. Worse, we make up for our lack of faith by denying your love for others. We are quick to judge and slow to accept. We don't share with others the good news of your love and grace. Forgive us and renew us in the power of your Spirit that we may be faithful in our love of you and in sharing that love with others.
We thank you for all the ways in which your love is made manifest in this world. We thank you for the beauty of creation and for the comfort of your Spirit. We thank you for those who have known your love and made it known to us.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need and especially for those who do not yet know of your great love for them. As you seek them, help us to be your physical presence of love for them.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
I had an uncle who called me Punkin’. It was a term of endearment that meant a lot to me. Perhaps you have had a special name given to you or one you gave someone else. Share that with the children and talk about how good it feels to know we are loved. At Jesus’ baptism God called him the Beloved. God does that for us as well although we may not hear a physical voice speak. That is part of what baptism is all about: God claiming us as God’s beloved child. We can always rejoice in that and we can share that joy by letting others know that they are beloved by God, too.
CHILDREN'S SERMONGreen Eggs and Ham
by Dean Feldmeyer
Isaiah 42:1-9
You will need: A copy of Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham.
Read from the book the following lines:
Do you like
Green eggs and ham
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
I do not like
Green eggs and ham.
Would you like them
Here or there?
I would not like them
Here or there.
I would not like them
Anywhere.
I do not like
Green eggs and ham.
I do not like them,
Sam-I-am.
Would you like them
In a house?
Would you like them
With a mouse?
I do not like them
In a house.
I do not like them
With a mouse.
I do not like them
Here or there.
I do not like them
Anywhere.
I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
Say: My, goodness. That Sam-I-Am just won’t let it go, will he? He really wants the guy, here, to try green eggs and ham, doesn’t he? But this guy — we don’t know his name — he doesn’t want to. Well neither would I, would you? Do you think green eggs and ham would be good?
But wait, let’s go to the end of the story and see what happens:
Read:
You do not like them.
SO you say.
Try them! Try them!
And you may.
Try them and you may I say.
Sam! If you will let me be,
I will try them.
You will see.
Say: So he decides to try them and what happens? He likes them, doesn’t he!
Read:
Say!
I like green eggs and ham!
I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat!
And I would eat them with a goat...
And I will eat them in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good so good you see!
… I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am.
Say: He tries them and he likes them and he says thank you to Sam-I-Am! Boy, who saw that coming? Not me.
You know, maybe this poem by Dr. Seuss is about more than these silly green eggs and ham. Maybe this poem is about trying new things, things that are a different color than you’re used to, even if you think you might not like them. Maybe what Dr. Seuss is telling us is that we should be like the guy in this poem and try new things from time to time. Because we might discover that we like them.
That’s one of the cool things about poetry. Poetry can have different meanings when you read it. Like this poem has two meanings — one, it’s about a silly thing like green eggs and ham, and two, it’s about a serious thing like trying new things.
In one of today’s lessons from the Bible we have some poetry by one of God’s prophets named Isaiah. It’s very pretty language.
Read
1 "Take a good look at my servant. I'm backing him to the hilt. He's the one I chose, and I couldn't be more pleased with him. I've bathed him with my Spirit, my life. He'll set everything right among the nations. 2 He won't call attention to what he does with loud speeches or gaudy parades. 3 He won't brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won't disregard the small and insignificant, but he'll steadily and firmly set things right. 4 He won't tire out and quit. He won't be stopped until he's finished his work — to set things right on earth. (The Message)
That’s a poem by the prophet, Isaiah. Who do you suppose he’s talking about in that poem. Who is this person who is going to set everything right? Who is this person who won’t give loud speeches or gaudy parades? Who is this person who will pay attention to people who are weak or powerless?
Some people say it’s a new king that’s being crowned and this poem is about him.
Some people say it’s really a poem about the country of Israel. Isaiah often refers to the people of Israel as “Jacob” whose name was also Israel. Maybe it’s the nation he is talking about.
Some people say it’s Jesus. But Isaiah was writing almost 700 years before Jesus. And Jesus did make some loud speeches and at least once he rode in a kind of gaudy parade. Who else might Isaiah be talking about?
Maybe it’s me he’s talking about — or you.
Maybe we are the people God wants to make things right, to take care of the weak and the powerless.
It is a poem after all. It could mean any of these things. Or it could mean all of them.
That’s one of the things I love about poems. You can read them 100 times and hear something different every time. Sometimes I think it’s one thing and sometimes I think it’s another. But I never know for sure.
Today, when we say our prayers, let’s ask God to help us be the kind of people God wants us to be, like the guy in this poem. You know, just in case. Just in case Isaiah is talking about us. Okay?
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The Immediate Word, January 12, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
