But I Am Baptized [pt1]

This past Sunday, while continuing our Shaped By Worship sermon series, we considered the issue of baptism.  But before we even get directly into baptism let me ask two questions: 1) What has shaped you to this point in your life? and 2) By what do you desire to be shaped from this point forward?  While both questions are valid, they are certainly not equal. 

Question #1, "what has shaped you?" can (LET ME BE CLEAR - it certainly does not have to) lead to a victim mentality.  E.g., "Well I did ______ because of ______."; or "Two years ago _____ happened and so now I ______."
Now, I am certainly not so naive as to say events and circumstances of our past have no impact on us.  This would obviously be false.  Yet we cannot ignore the reality that "has shaped" is a passive phrase.  In other words, the focus is on something external to us which has impacted us in such a way that we are "just this way" now.  Obviously this is a simplification and my intention is not to minimize life-shaping and even life-altering events.  Yet I do want to move our focus to... 

Question #2, "by what do you desire to be shaped?" can (again it will not automatically) lead to an overcomer mentality.  E.g., "I know ______ happened, but I am a child of God and so I am to imitate Him; therefore I will _____." 
If we desire something that puts us in an active role.  Once again this is a simplification and I do not want to be read as indicating we can "take the world by the ears" and become whatever we want.  Yet the reality is, to a large extent, we are in the driver's seat when it comes to things which shape our life. 

So how does this relate to baptism?  Well, before we get into that we need to briefly look at the actual word.  There are a handful of things we need to note...

1. It is a transliteration of a Greek word.  What this means is instead of taking the meaning of the word and bringing it over into English, the Greek letters have been brought directly (or correlatively) into English.  This should be clear when we see the Greek verb βαπτίζω close to the English "baptize".  This happens frequently in the Bible and a major drawback is words are then open (even moreso) to interpretation.  In the case of baptism it not only leads to confusion about how it is done (e.g., sprinkling, pouring, immersing), but it also leads to a loss of some significant nuances in the word...
2. The Greek word(s) related to baptism are full of violence.  E.g., Josephus uses the verb for "baptize" to describe ships that were sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, Herod the Great drowning an "enemy," and even for a sword being plunged into another's body.  As I said, much violence surrounds this word...as well as death.  These historical realities seem to be a "missing link," if you will, in understanding baptism today. 

With that (abbreviated) bit of background done it seems clear to me that baptism involves 1) being plunged under water and 2) death.  Yet it seems Christianity cannot even agree on these basics... 

In my "church heritage" (i.e., the Stone-Campbell Movement) a large emphasis has historically been placed on baptism.  After all, the leaders of the movement (which desired to unify all Christians, in whichever sect (basically denomination in our verbage today) they found themselves, in order to evangelize the world - cf. Jn17:20-23) desired to follow the New Testament Church as closely as possible.  I certainly applaud that intention...but we all know it is difficult (perhaps some of those difficulties will be a future post). 

In order to shorten this post I will quickly cut to the chase and end part one.  Often those in the heritage of the Stone-Campbell Movement (e.g., Christian Church, Chuch of Christ, Disciples of Christ) have focused on Acts 2:38, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."  While I think it is admirable to do this, unfortunately due to differing Theological perspectives (e.g., Reformed, Arminean, Openness, etc.) there is a great deal of disagreement on a text which seems very clear. 

I am not going to focus on v38 because what flabbergasts me about this text is not what Peter says so much as the response to what he said.  In v41, "So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls."  That is amazing.  Yet a question that must be answered is "Why the response?".  Perhaps if we focused on the answer to that question the contention around baptism would dissipate and we would be able to utilize it as the tool/resource that it truly can be (and I believe was intended to be). 

Oh, you can read Galatians 3:23-29 as well as Matthew 21:23-27 to prepare for the next post.

Remembering...

This past Sunday we did something a bit different at New Life.  What did we do?  We remembered our baptism.  In part this meant reflecting on events surrounding (leading up to and after) the personal immersions (baptisms) of people at New Life. It could be described as ‘testimony’ time, but there was more to it than that…

There is too much to explain for a succinct summary. I had thought about posting the whole service on-line at www.nlccoe.com (it consisted of praising God in song, confessional readings, confessional prayers, teaching on baptism (biblical and historical), "remembering" our baptism, the Lord’s Supper, etc.), but due to the personal nature of some stories shared during the "remembering our baptism" part of the service I will not.

Sitting and listening to the stories of others I was struck that this needs done more often. What is “this” you may ask? Well, a better (more holistic) understanding of baptism is one. Yet another is remembering it (how has it shaped you; how should it shape you; etc.), which necessitates remembering and telling your story.

Hearing the stories of others is a part of living in community (to which Christians are called). This is so helpful because we may hear someone who (heaven forbid) had it “worse” than us and God saw them through the time; therefore we have a new found hope. In addition to that, we all know people; someone we know may be in a similar spot to a brother/sister in Christ and we only know that because of knowing their story. What then is the responsibility of the “story-bearer” (i.e., the Christian to whom God was faithful)? To share what God has done with the person who now finds himself/herself in a similar situation. It may in fact be the last thing needed for a commitment to a King and His Kingdom to take place.  

Oh yeah, and please do not make the mistake of thinking your story is "too much" or "too little" for others to hear.  God is bigger than everything; nothing is insignificant.  Let me clarify what I mean by “too little” - it is the false notion some may have that their story “isn’t any good because I grew up in Church and followed God then and still do now…”  THE TRUTH IS WE SHOULD ALL HOPE FOR MORE OF THOSE STORIES!!!  (I.e., people who have done their best to be faithful to God their entire life and never “walked away" from church or anything like that.)  There is power in someone who “gets it” at a young age…and continues to “get it” (in increasing measures) the rest of their life. 

What do you remember about your baptism? How has it shaped you? How should it shape you?

Spirituality

Spirituality is becoming increasingly popular in America (and has been for quite some time); however church attendance is not.  I do not have the time nor the intelligence to delve into all the possible reasons why this is happening.  Therefore I want to pose a question: Is there an aspect of "spirituality" that does not fit under the Lordship of Jesus Christ? 

In other words...

• many "spiritual" people are concerned about the environment.  Shouldn't Christians be concerned about the environment and therefore doing their part in taking care of it? 
• many "spiritual" people are concerned about acceptance.  Shouldn't Christians love people because they are made in God's Image and allow the Holy Spirit to bring about conviction and change in them? 
• many "spiritual" people are looking for a connection with God without the hindrances imposed by "religion".  Shouldn't Christians be the most connected people to God there are because we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us?  Shouldn't Christians be willing to do away with "cultural Christianity" for the sake of the Kingdom of God? 

Those are only a few examples - but the basic question remains: Is there an aspect of "spirituality" that does not fit under the Lordship of Jesus Christ?  I do not think there is...if there is I want to know.  With that said, I do want to be clear on at least one point. 

Just because something is acceptable to "spiritual" people does not mean it is godly.  In other words, some "spiritual" views may need refined based on what the Bible says.  After all, the goal of spirituality - from a Christian perspective - is glorifying God.  I repeat, it is not the "thrill of seeking God" that should consume a Christian.  What should consume and propel a Christian is the thrill of being used by God so He is glorified. 

One last note, if you have "spiritual" friends who are not Christian, talk to them about their passion for spirituality.  What is important to them?  Why?  How did this become important to them?  What is the end goal of their passion?  While doing this (over the course of time no doubt) be in continual prayer asking God to show you how their passion fits into His desire for humanity. 

In other words, while all spiritual paths do not lead to a common destination...all spiritual paths have at least one thing in common - there is something BIGGER than us.  Our job as Christians is to allow God to work through us so those who are "spiritually minded" can see their ultimate fulfillment will be found only in God.  Why?  Because spirituality for the sake of spirituality is unending - there is always something "more" to do, or another "experience" to have.  Admittedly, while for Christians there is always more Kingdom work to do and the overwhelming presence of God is quite an experience...we have something others do not.  Acceptance and peace given to us by a Heavenly Father who loves us... 

   

Shaped By...

There are a variety of things which have had a hand in shaping the people we are today. While it is not proper to lay all the praise or blame for who we are at the feet of others, a reality is a) culture, b) teachers in school, c) current friends, d) past friends, and e) our home environment (along with many other factors) have played a part in shaping us.

A startling reality portrayed in Scripture is we become like that which we worship. This is behind the unsettling words of Isaiah 6 - "Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed..." Do not think for a second God made the people of Israel this way...they made themselves this way by worshiping deaf, blind, and mute idols (e.g., Isa44:9-20; and other places).

No wonder the world is such a self-centered and dangerous place. By worshiping things other than God we take on their characteristics. Tied into this is the reality that by choosing what it is we will worship (if it is not God), we have put ourselves in the position of "playing God" and therefore (in a sense) we worship ourselves too.

This is a reason "why" for the current sermon series - "Shaped By Worship". The implications of worshiping anything other than the "one seated on the throne" (cf. Rev4:2) are frightening. Merely look around at the world for indications...

The series will last for nine weeks, but it will certainly not cover everything pertaining to worship. My intention is to take a step back and observe a portrait of worship painted in Scripture instead of focusing on the individual brushstrokes. What do I mean by that? On Sunday we read aloud and listened to chapters four and five of Revelation. It is a beautiful scene if the portrait is observed, but it can also be extremely puzzling - even contradictory - if the brushstrokes are the focus.

E.g., Jesus (while not named) is identified as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" - but when John turns around he sees a "Lamb standing as though it had been slain". The brushstrokes are contradictory (Lion does not equal Lamb). Yet the portrait is magnificent. The foretold Messiah (e.g., Gen49:9) conquered not by destroying the "fleshly" enemies (as many Jews hoped the Messiah would) but by being sacrificed (e.g., Jn1:29); thereby giving us our modus operandi. [By the way - the real enemy Jesus faced on earth was spiritual; cf. Eph5:12.]

E.g., the Lamb is portrayed as having "seven horns" and "seven eyes". A brushstroke approach reveals a grotesque Lamb. Yet a portrait approach sees Jesus as completely powerful (7 is a number for completion and horns are a symbol for power) and completely wise (7 paired with eyes which are a symbol for wisdom). Hence Jesus is all-powerful and all-knowing - meaning He knows about the plight of everyone and is capable of intervening. Yet since He is all-knowing He may know intervening in the ways we desire are not in the best interest for the Kingdom of God (or us).

There is much more to the vision, but those will suffice for now. In keeping with the theme of worship we must not miss the Subject nor the Basis of it. God is worthy of worship because of who He is (Rev4:8) and what He has done (Rev4:11). Likewise Jesus is also worthy (Rev5:9-10).

The bottom line - when it comes to worship God has acted...we respond.

So, what are the things which have most shaped you to this point in your life?
How can true worship of God better shape you for His purposes?
How has God acted first in your life?
How can that reality shape you heading into your next gathering for worship?

What Should I Do?

The short answer to the title question - LOVE PEOPLE. We have no other option as Christians...

In this past Sunday's sermon a few examples from church history were given concerning what forms loving people has taken. I "wish" I knew more history...it is so informative, so humbling, so challenging, so inspiring...

Also on Sunday I talked some about a Greek word, sodzo, which is often translated as "salvation" in the New Testament. Far too often many Christians think of salvation as some sort of future event for our souls. While there is some truth to that, it does not do justice to the the biblical portrait of salvation.

In a very broad sense, salvation can be seen as "spiritual" and "physical" in the Bible. Now, before I go further it is vital to understand a few things about how language works. Very simply stated, the context a word finds itself in determines its meaning in that setting. This is a reason why dictionaries have numerous definitions for a single word. In every day language no one attributes all possible meanings for "word" when I say I looked up the word equivocate in the dictionary. or May I have a word with you? The same "word" - but two totally different meanings. This is how language works...

With that said, the portrait the Bible paints concerning "salvation" is beautiful. Ultimately all the "bad" stuff will be gone as we live fully and unhinderedly in the presence of God. Yet we live with an "already and not yet" aspect to our faith. E.g., we may already be saved from our sins (e.g., they are not counted against us) but sin still affects us (e.g., choices of others harm us, our own bad choices, etc.) - this is the not yet portion.

Taking these truths (i.e., how language works and the "already and not yet") and applying them to "salvation" (for our purposes, sodzo) is mind-boggling. In Mark alone the Greek word occurs 14 times; three of them are clearly "spiritual" in meaning (cf. Mk8:35b; 10:26; 13:13), 11 of them are "physical" in meaning (cf. Mk3:4; 5:23,28,34; 6:56; 8:35a; 10:52; 13:20; 15:30,31,31). So clearly we see "salvation" is intended to be holistic. This is vital to understand as we love people.

E.g., the "bleeding" woman in Mark 5 desired to be "made well" (5:28 - ESV) - using the Greek word sodzo. Later, after she touched Jesus' clothing and her bleeding stopped, Jesus said her faith "made her well" - using the Greek word sodzo. Remember, this word sodzo is used frequently to talk about "salvation" in the more commonly thought of sense - spiritually (e.g., Mt1:21). What are we to make of this?

While trying to not lengthen this too much, we can see how the "bleeding woman" was in fact "saved" in a holistic sense because prior to this contact with Jesus she was alientated from all forms of community for 12 years. Most certainly we would agree community with God and and others is a huge part of salvation.

So a question to us is...how will we "save" people? LET ME BE CLEAR...only God saves in the ultimate sense of the word. Yet when we look at the concept of salvation we see so much we can and must do... Initiating a friendship with someone and providing them a community that loves them is a part of "saving" them. Again, this is because we were made for community and not isolation. Furthermore, the community we initiate can play a part in allowing God to continue to work in a person's life as they submit to Him and are thuse "saved" in the spiritual (ultimate) sense.

Questions, thoughts, observations (both the word sodzo and the sermon from Sunday)?

Who Am I?

There are a handful of questions we cannot afford to get wrong in this life. But now as I ponder that question "on the fly" I wonder if there are really only two 1) Who is God? and 2) Who am I?

The reason Who am I? is such an important question is because when we figure out who we are, the rest of life's questions (will eventually) fall into place/are answered...provided "who we are" becomes Our Identity that is.

I should have been blogging each week for this current sermon series titled (you guessed it) Who am I?) but alas I have not. Perhaps in the future I will wake up to what I ought to do with this blog...but until then I have to try and fill in gaps here and there.

As I have been upfront in the sermon series, I will be upfront with this blog entry. The concept I am following has been and is being taught by Shane J. Wood at Ozark Christian College. In "The Christian Life" class Shane structures the Christian Life (i.e., what followers of Jesus are called to live because of who they are) around the following chiasm. (Note: the chiasm may not be his exact words, but the concept(s) is/are the same.) (ANOTHER NOTE: unfortunately at this time I cannot get this to work as the chiasm I want on the blog...SO imagine no space between the lines and The Christ's Accomplishments indented further to the right than Jesus' Identity and Our Identity.)

Jesus' Works (words and deeds)

• Jesus' Identity
• The Christ's Accomplishments
• Our Identity

Our Works (words and deeds )


The chiasm (which again does not look how I want it to right now) can also be illustrated like this:
Jesus' Works --> Jesus' Identity --> The Christ's Accomplishments --> Our Identity --> Our Works

The "-->" are intended to be directional arrows, which help us to see Jesus' Works (i.e., what He did and said) inform us about Jesus' Identity (i.e., the significance of Him being Him), and His Identity allowed The Christ's Accomplishments (i.e., the cross and empty tomb/resurrection) to be done. Our Identity flows out of The Christ's Accomplishments (i.e., we are who we are because of what Jesus has done), and Our Identity informs us what Our Works are to be (i.e., what we do and say). If we start with what we think, as Christians, we are to do and say without looking at what Jesus said and did...let's just say that is not good.

I encourage you to ponder the chiasm and flow chart. Ask questions about it. Pray about it. Comment on this blog about it. There is much more I want to say about it...but I at least needed to get this entry done for now.

in Christ - Brent

Been Too Long...

Hi everyone, sorry it has been too long since I've posted. I have so many thoughts and things I would like to post - but at times (most of the time) I do not make the time to do so, or I shy away from them...

With that said I should have been posting regularly during the last sermon series I did at New Life; it was from the psalms and titled "When God is NOWHERE". The obvious implication of the last word is your perspective...is God a) NOW-here or b) NO-where.

During the series some of the psalms at which we looked were lament psalms (i.e., a song written during a time of hardship in which the author is crying out to One (i.e., God) who can indeed change their situation). I know if I made a more regular practice of reading the psalms, and especially writing my own laments, I would be helped immensely. So, I encouraged us all to write our own laments. A pattern can be found by clicking on http://www.nlccoe.com/resources/devotional-guides-for-sermons/when-god-is-nowhere/ and then selecting the "Devotional Guide" titled "Why..." on 7/4/10.

I may revisit the psalms in some future posts...and even post some laments I wrote (as well as those written by others with their permission). If you would like to write your own lament please feel free to "comment" and do so.

Also please note this is not a vanity thing of "listen to my sermons" (I know I am not the best preacher)...BUT it is a plea to utilize God's Word for our continued sanctification. I believe the psalms can be a great help in this. And just maybe something you hear or read (by way of the Devotional Guides) may be of help. One thing we must do is realize we can be honest with God...and we need to be too.