Is America a "Christian Nation"?

Nobody can speak as much as I do on a weekly basis and not say something every now and then that bears further explanation.   On Sunday, as I was discussing the Apostle Paul’s preaching of the gospel throughout the pagan world of the first century, I offhandedly made a comment that several have asked me about.  I referred to our own country, the United States, and commented on how similar it is to the world of Paul’s day.  I remarked that it has never been a “Christian nation” as some have supposed.  Here is what I meant by that.

A “Christian” is one who has submitted himself or herself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  By definition, a Christian is an individual, not a group or a nation.  In that technical sense a nation can be neither “Christian” nor “non-Christian” since a nation is made up of all kinds of people with all kinds of different beliefs.  America is a “Christian nation” only insofar as its citizens are Christians.  While many Americans have a background in “Christianity” that is not the same thing as personally submitting oneself to His Lordship.

In fact, our founding fathers ensured that the government of our nation could not be “Christian” in the principle of the separation of church and state implicit in the Constitution.  While that principle may have been misunderstood and even misapplied today, the idea very clearly is that the government is to stay out of the affairs of religion.  Therefore it cannot properly be called “Christian” can it?

This is a great thing, as it allows for the free exercise of my faith!  I love my country, not because it endorses Christian teaching, but because it allows me the freedom to actively pursue my Christian teaching!  I suppose England is “officially” a “Christian” nation with the Church of England as its national religion.  Early Americans fled that country because of the abuses inherent in that system.  Surely no one wants a state religion in the United States today.

I understand, though, that when many of us use the term “a Christian nation” we are referring to our background and heritage.  It is very true to say that our founding fathers came from a very similar Judeo-Christian background and that the values and principles they held dear were written into our founding documents.  Certainly, most of them were believers and unashamedly acknowledged God even in those documents.  I am very grateful for that and wish today’s leaders shared those same convictions.   However that does not make our nation “Christian” today.  The fact that my parents were Christians does not mean that I am.  I must have my own faith.  I must own my own relationship with Jesus in order to properly be called a “Christian.”  Just because our founding fathers were “Christians” doesn’t make our present government “Christian” does it?  What would it look like if they were?

When I look around our country,  I do see so much good and I see God’s people at work in so many ways, yet there is also much fallenness.  Our people laud and applaud what was once called evil and sin.  Our culture glamourizes infidelity and adultery and mocks purity and uprightness.  I can’t turn on the television without hearing the Lord’s name used in vain or seeing people treated as objects of someone’s sexual fantasies.  If you look at ancient Israel in the books of Joshua, Judges and the Kings… you find much the same thing.  Israel was supposed to be a “Godly nation.”  In fact, it was supposed to BE “God’s nation.”  Yet, it was unfaithful to that call and experienced the consequences of its unfaithfulness.  God was harsh enough to allow those consequences and even used other nations around them to bring His judgment on them.

So, when I say that America (the country that I love) is not and never has been a “Christian” nation, that is what I mean.  I pray for the day when all of its citizens will bow on their knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord… but until that day, it is my job as a Christian to faithfully witness to those around me that day is coming.

Missio Dei: Pursuing the Mission of God

     Over the next few weeks I want to talk about MISSION… the church’s mission, but more importantly, the MISSION OF GOD in our world.  What’s he up to? What is he doing and what does he want to do? 

             I’ve borrowed the term ‘Missio Dei’ to describe this series of lessons because it makes me sound a whole lot smarter than I really am!  Actually, it is a Latin term meaning “the Mission of God” and It comes from a German theologian named Karl Hartenstein who, in 1934, coined it to describe the context and motivation for mission in the church.

“When kept in the context of the Scriptures, Missio Dei correctly emphasizes that God is the initiator of His mission to redeem through the Church a special people for Himself from all of the peoples of the world.  He sent His Son for this purpose and He sends the church into the world with the message of the gospel for the same purpose.”  (Hartenstein)

            The mission of the church… is rooted deeply in the mission of God.  We don’t often think about it that way, but I think it really is the correct way to view it.  That is to say:  The church doesn’t have a mission… God has a mission!  And he has invited the church, those called out from the world to be His, to be a part of that ongoing mission to the world!

            It has been pretty standard operating procedure these days for companies, organizations and even most churches to come up with a “Mission Statement.”  Mission statements help define purpose.  They help organizations focus on what is really important to that org.  It helps them be able to set goals & objectives… and then provides them a way to make decisions that will help them reach those goals.  Its also a way to communicate to others (customers, clients, even employees, etc.) what is really important to that organization.

• Some examples of famous mission statements…

 McDonald's vision is to be the world's best quick service restaurant experience.  Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile.

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

The Walt Disney Company's objective is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information, using its portfolio of brands to differentiate its content, services and consumer products.  The company's primary financial goals are to maximize earnings and cash flow, and to allocate capital profitability toward growth inititatives that will drive long-term shareholder value.

Interesting, huh?

            Washington Street even took a stab at it a few years back.  Do you remember what our mission statement is?  After much thought, reflection and prayer, our Elders and deacons at that time settled on the phrase “Seeking, Serving & Sharing Christ” to describe what we are about here at Washington Street.  That means that everything we do, every ministry we’re involved with, every decision we make ought to have some function in either Seeking God… Serving Others… or Sharing Christ in our community.  How are we doing at that?

            Ever wonder… what would God’s mission statement be?  How do you think he would define his mission in the world if he had to put it into words?  I realize “mission statements” are a fairly new thing… He probably wasn’t that interested when he was inspiring Scripture in coming up with a catchy slogan or a slick marketing strategy, but… Here in the text we read a moment ago, Colossians, Paul does a pretty good job summarizing the mission of God.  Let’s back up just a bit to get the context… 

           To the church in Colossae, Paul was writing to encourage them… and he makes the statement in vs. 6 “…all over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood it!”  Doesn’t that sound good?  Wouldn’t you like to know how this was happening?  So that it might happen again?  Notice Paul’s prayer for the Colossian church.

10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

            Paul’s aim, his wish, his desire, his prayer is for the Colossian Christians to be successful… to continue to grow & bear fruit… to be strengthened and to grow in every way!  And so it is interesting that in doing this… he reminds them of God’s mission.

13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Mission of God is essentially a RESCUE OPERATION!

            God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness… and set us safely in Kingdom of Christ.  I think about those Chilean miners rescued last month on t.v.  After an explosion rocked the mine where they were working, 33 miners were trapped thousands of feet underground for 69 days until rescue workers finally pulled them out (Oct. 13, 2010).  The whole world was glued to their television sets watching it unfold live!  I don’t usually get claustrophobic, but the few times I have… it has been in caves.  The thought of thousands of square feet of nothing but rock overhead and below… darkness… I can’t imagine how these miners must have felt!  But through determination and ingenuity and working together, rescue workers got every single one of them out alive!  The mission of God is like that.  He is all about RESCUING us from out of the darkness!

            We live in a fallen world… a dark world.  As we reflect back on the Biblical narrative… we remember that things started off pretty good!  Genesis 1 & 2 are bright & cheery!  God creates the heavens & the earth… every living thing… and everything is “good.”  In fact he says about humanity that it is “very good.”  And chapter 2 comes along… and Adam gets a wife… which makes him happy… and everything seems even better!  What could go wrong?  But then comes ch. 3… and the serpent… and the lie… the temptation… and the SIN!  And the story is forever changed!  Nothing is ever the same again!  With sin came death, disease, decay, the curse of the ground, the fracture in human relationships, alienation & separation from God.  Mankind is cast out of the Garden of Eden… and into a world of death… characterized and dominated by Sin… and ruled by the Tempter himself!  And this is the world WE still live in today!  Where else but in a fallen world will people celebrate the birth of the Messiah by getting up at 3am, driving to the mall and fighting one another over parking spaces and door-buster deals?!  What sense does that make?  Our world is fallen, there is no doubt.

We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 1 John 5:19 NIV

BUT… God chooses to act to rescue us from that darkness!

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8NIV

Jesus is at the Center of that Rescue Operation… from the very beginning!

Col 1:15 He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

            Now, God had begun to put the plan into motion way back with Abraham and the promise made to him… then he used Moses to rescue his people… to forge the ‘children of Abraham’ into a great nation (Israel) that would be a light to the rest of the world and bless the nations… and he gave them the Law to lead them to the Christ.  Then the Bible says… when the “time had fully come… God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”  -Gal 4:3-5 NIV 

            The plan was Christ the Messiah… from the very beginning!  Some have misunderstood God’s intention… thinking that the OT was God’s “Plan A” at rescuing the people and when that didn’t work he put into motion “Plan B”… and sent Jesus.    No, Jesus was there in the very beginning… and notice the goal.

19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

But, wait!  The Goal of the Operation isn’t just to rescue US… but to rescue… “all things!”

            God was interested in our souls, to be sure!  But that’s just a part of a larger rescue mission!   God intends to redeem, to restore, to rescue all of creation!  “All things… on earth & in heaven” thru the blood of his Son!  That’s what he’s about!  He doesn’t just want to pull us out of the world… he wants to re-make the world!  Ever notice how the Bible begins AND ends with creation.  In Gen. 1 its creation… “God created the heavens & the earth”… but in Revelation 21 its “New Creation.”  “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…” John writes.

            This tells us that God has an “END” in mind for the entire creation… a goal that he is working towards… and that he is moving all history towards.  He speaks of it again in

Romans 8:19-24
19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.  22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? NIV

            THAT is our hope!  Not just in going to heaven when we die… but in the redemption of God’s creation!  In its liberation from its bondage to decay & death!!!  In this final reconciliation of all things back unto God!  Back to Colossians…

Col. 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation- 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. NIV

Its interesting to me that this is also how Paul thinks of his own mission… in terms of reconciliation… in terms of what God did.

2 Corinthians 5:16-19
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. NIV

            Paul very much saw his ministry, his mission… in light of God’s mission!  This is what I mean when I say, the church doesn’t have a mission… God has a mission, and the church is called to participate with God in that mission of reconciling the world unto Him!

And God is relentless about this pursuit of His Mission!

            He is determined… he is set on it… nothing in all of creation is going to stop him from making it happen!  I told you last week about losing Michael at host.  Well, while I was looking for him I didn’t stop to talk to anyone.  I felt bad and went back to apologize to a few friends later… folks I dissed and didn’t talk to.  See, I was a man on a mission!  And I was single-minded… determined.  I wasn’t going to stop until I found him!  You see, God is a God on a mission… and he’s not stopping until “all things” are reconciled unto Him!

            If that doesn’t get you fired up… I don’t know what will!  But what do we DO with it?

But what does all of this tell us?  What does it mean?  How does it change what we do or how we think?

Implications for us…

It ought to give us a new respect for God.
God has not quit or gone anywhere!  He is still living and active and working in his creation to bring about his intended goal… the restoration of all things.  Some have the mind that God created and then left the world to wind on its own… but I don’t get that sense from Scripture.  On the contrary, it tells us that there is an END, a goal… a purpose towards which God is moving us, and thus a purpose for us!

It ought to give us a new sense of Purpose.
It tells us that we have a mission… and it is not ours, its God’s!  We are partners (in a sense) with God; Paul calls himself a “coworker” with God.  Like the Blues Brothers… we really are “On a Mission from God!”  There is no loftier purpose than that!  There is nothing better that you can give your life to!

It ought to change the way we think about ourselves as the church.
‘Missions’ is not just one of our many programs… MISSION is who we are, because it is Who God is!  In other words, it is not just another ‘activity’ of the church… it becomes our ‘identity’ as the church.  We are a people on a mission! 

It ought to broaden the scope of how we think about Mission.
I used to think about missions as something we supported ‘missionaries’ to go off to foreign lands and do.  Now I realize that its something we are all called to be involved in wherever we are and wherever we go.  I used to think that mission work was primarily as preaching & teaching; door-knocking & studying.  Those things are certainly included in mission… but the mission of God is even larger.  Wouldn’t it also encompass… ministry to the poor, the sick, the weak, and to the brokenness of our world.

What implications do you see?  How does thinking about our mission in the context of the larger mission of God affect how you think or what you do?  How should it?

Freedom is not free

Every where you look in our country there are monuments to freedom. Those monuments are usually markers indicating the location of great battles or of great struggles. I grew up in Chattanooga, a place littered with such markers. They are reminders to us that freedom is not free. Often freedom has been born out of great struggle. That’s the thought I have as I dive into the text of Galatians again this week for our series “Finding Freedom in Christ.” Read chapter two of Galatians this week and consider the struggle that Paul faced as he preached the message of freedom in Christ to people who had lived in bondage to the Law. It wasn’t easy. He faced criticism. He faced hypocrisy. He faced attacks… not from outsiders, but from friends and from those within the church. Yet he never wavered. He never stopped preaching his message… the message of freedom in Christ that God had laid upon him to preach. What about us? What will we do with the message?

The Call of Discipleship

I'm having trouble living up to my sermon from last Sunday. I challenged our church to choose something in his or her life that they would "drop", give up for the sake of Christ. I'm having trouble because I've got so many things that I ought to give up, its difficult choosing. But, I'm convinced that Jesus calls us to be willing to give up everything in order to follow him. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that.
When he called his first disciples, his invitation to them was simple, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men." And they did! They dropped their nets right there and followed him. I'm not sure we realize the significance of that statement. They "dropped their nets"... wow! Those nets had to have been so important to each of those men! Those nets were their livelihood... fishing was how they earned a living, fed their family and paid the bills. But they walked away from that when they dropped those nets in order to follow. And us guys know how important our jobs can be to us. They can become our identity... and even our source of self-worth or finding meaning in our lives. They gave up their identity as "fishermen" when they dropped those nets. And they also left their family... at least their father... as they left and he stayed behind holding on to his nets. Imagine... being willing to drop everything for the sake of being a disciple, i.e. a follower, of Jesus! The problem is that most of us can't imagine it, but isn't that what Jesus still calls us to?
Doesn't he still want our relationship with him to be THE most important thing in our lives? Doesn't he still want us to be willing to leave it all behind in order to follow him? If I'm not willing, doesn't that reveal a heart of pride, arrogance or self-determination over a heart of submition and obedience to Christ? Doesn't that reflect a heart unwilling to TOTALLY give myself over to him, a lack of trust or a reluctance to make any substantive change in my life?
What did you choose to drop this week for Jesus? Its not that Jesus commands all of us to quit our jobs, leave our homes, give up our caffeine or our sweets... but he wants us to be willing to. Are we? Am I?
BTW- I chose to give up coffee and soft drinks all week. I made it a half-day without coffee. (got a ways to go!) So far I've stayed away from any soft-drinks... Yeah!! (but it IS only Tuesday.) I hope you are faring better than I.
Next week... the Marks of a Disciple. What does a disciple look like? How can one tell a disciple from everybody else around him? Any thoughts?

a prayer for our nation...

Okay, Lord... You Have Our Attention

Our friends lost their house
The co-worker lost her job
The couple next door lost their retirement
It seems that everyone is losing their footing

This scares us. This bailout with billions.
These rumblings of depression.
These headlines: ominous, thunderous-
“Going Broke!” “Going Down!” “Going Under!” “What Next?”

What is next?

We’re listening. And we’re admitting: You were right.

You told us this would happen.
You shot straight about loving stuff and worshipping money.
Greed will break your heart, you warned.
Money will love you and leave you.
Don’t put your hope in riches that are so uncertain.

You were right. Money is a fickle lover and we just got dumped.

We were wrong to spend what we didn’t have,
Wrong to neglect prayer and ignore the poor,
Wrong to think we ever earned a dime. We didn’t. You gave it. And now, tell us Father, are you taking it?

We’re listening. And we’re praying.
Could you make something good out of this mess?

Of course you can. You always have.
You led slaves out of slavery,
Built temples out of ruins,
Turned stormy waves into a glassy pond and water into sweet wine.
This disorder awaits your order. So do we.

Through Christ,
Amen

God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day,
and he will not be slow to answer them. (Lk. 18:7 NCV)

on second thought... baptism IS important

As I stated before we ever began this last month's study on baptism, it is important!  In fact, it may be even more important than we ever thought it was.  Having concluded the series now, here is a short list of reasons why I believe baptism is more important than we may have ever thought...

1. Jesus did it


2. Jesus told his disciples to go and do it


3. it boldly proclaims the gospel in the picture of death, burial & resurrection


4. it is an outward sign of our inward repentance proclaiming our own death to sin & resurrection to new life


5. it is a promise to be faithful to God and recognition of his faithfulness to us


6. it is where we are united/ joined to Christ


7. it is a common experience we share with other believers in the church


8. it is where our sins are washed away and forgiven forever!


9. it is where we are promised that we will recieve the gift of the Holy Spirit which empowers us to face the temptations that tomorrow hold

Was your baptism an important event in your life?  Can you remember it?  How does that memory encourage and strengthen you to this day?

Concluding "Of Water & the Spirit"

I hope that our month-long congregational study on New Testament baptism has been as much a blessing to you as it has to me.  If you learned just one tenth as much as I did, then it was a tremendous success!  As I said, and I hope you found it to be true, no matter how much we thought we knew about the subject, there is always more to glean from the Scriptures. Churches of Christ have long emphasized the importance and necessity of baptism, but I think it may be even more important than we have ever thought.  I hope you have been convinced as well.

 

I appreciate Brad filling in for me last weekend and for the excellent lesson he brought.  If there is one thing that we sometimes neglect about baptism, it is how it was meant to draw all Christians together in unity.  As we unite with Christ in baptism, he adds us to his church and that is something we all share in common.  How sad that this unifying act of baptism has been used through the centuries to divide.  It just goes to show you how people can really mess up a good thing.

 

We will be wrapping up the study this Sunday from the pulpit with one final lesson, "the promise of baptism" where we will be looking at another often overlooked aspect of baptism and that is the promise of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:38).  What is the Spirit's role in baptism?  To get ready for the lesson I suggest you go back to Acts 2 and re-read Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost and then look at the crowd's reaction.  Make special note of what Peter told them to do in response to hearing the good news.  Then go back and re-read Luke 3:21-22 and ask yourself, "Why was Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, the sinless Son of God, baptized?  Did he 'have to'?"

  On Sunday evening, we will be having a panel discussion to conclude the series, "Down in the River."  No, we won't be going to the river, but I do hope and pray that we may need to put our baptistry to good use!  A panel of Sunday school teachers, Elders and maybe a deacon or two will be addressing any "loose end" questions which may have come up in our discussion.  I'll be serving as moderator.  It will not be a debate, but rather an open discussion on the meaning and importance for us today.  Come prepared with any questions you may still have!  You can drop me a line anytime this week with questions that you would like to see us address.

the covenant of baptism

This past Sunday I latched on a metaphor I got from F. LaGard Smith's book, Baptism: the believer's wedding ceremony and tried to explore how baptism functions as that event which forever unites the penitent believer to Jesus.  He of course drew the analogy from the numerous texts in the New Testament which liken our relationship with Christ to that of a marriage.  We are "united to Christ" in baptism (cf. Rom 6) and we are called the "bride of Christ." 

Its an analogy that works really well, I think, for a number of reasons.  One, it emphasizes the covenental aspect of baptism.  It is the "pledge of a good conscience towards God"... a promise to be faithful to him because of what he has done for us.  Two, it emphasizes that baptism is about relationship over ritual.  While some have viewed baptism simply as a command to be obeyed that God put out there just to see if we would do it.  It is more about being united to God.  Its not some hoop to jump through, a rung to be climbed or a box to be checked.  Its about entering into a joyous union with your best friend!  Third, it reveals baptism as an expression of love... not duty.  The question shouldn't be, "Do I HAVE to be baptized in order to be saved?"  It ought to be, "You mean I GET TO be baptized?"  The Ethiopian eunuch didn't respond to the gospel by asking, "Do I HAVE to?" but rather he saw water and said, "What is keeping me from it?"  Finally, thinking about baptism in these terms emphasizes that it is just the beginning of our Christian walk... not the goal.  Too often we forget that the newly baptized aren't yet "full grown" and they will need help along the way... help from older brothers and sisters in the faith.  Let's not leave them as infants to care for themselves!

Ocassionally I get a response from people to my lessons.  One response that I heard was from a lady who shared that her marriage wasn't a good one at all and so the analogy didn't really work for her.  I think that is so sad, but I think that it does emphasize the importance of being faithful to our baptisms.  Just as unfaithfulness in marriage can destroy those relationships, unfaithfulness to our baptism covenant with God can destroy our relationship with him.  Of course, he is never unfaithful... but sometimes we are.  In so many ways we fail to live up to that promise to always love him, always cherish, and always obey.  That may be the most powerful lesson from this metaphor that I can think of... and something that didn't even occur to me until I heard this response.  Isn't that the very problem that Paul was addressing in Romans 6?  The Roman Christians were continuing in their sin EVEN after their baptism and Paul scolds them by telling them that to continue in sin is contrary to the meaning of their baptism.  Thoughts?  In what ways can we demonstrate faithfulness to the covenant of baptism?

cookies & coke for communion.... and flag-burning?

Okay, I am sure that the word has already gotten out... they're talking about cookies and coca cola for communion over at Washington Street.  AND the preacher's a flag-burner!  Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I just know how rumors get out.  Well, this one actually has some truth to it...

One of the things I hear about baptism from some of our religious friends is that baptism is "just a symbol"... that it is an "outward sign of an inward grace."  I agree with them up to a point.  The outward act of baptism is meaningless unless it includes a genuine penitent heart.  What God cares about is the surrender of our hearts to him, not just our bodies to the water.  And yet... I don't think that negates the importance and even the necessity of that visual, symbolic act of baptism.  The truth is that symbols mean something.  Take for example our nation's flag, as I did this morning.  It isn't particularly creative in design.  the material is like hundreds of other fabrics and it isn't that expensive to purchase one.  it is "just a symbol."  So, what would cause men and women to give their lives to protect it?  What would prompt Francis Scott Key to write his ode to it which would become our national anthem?  What would happen if I lit it on fire before our church this morning?  I got out a match and acted like I might just to get a reaction.  One gentleman told me afterwards that he would have thrown ME in the baptistry if I had done it... and I wouldn't be coming up!  Yikes! 

What about the Lord's Supper?  We know, don't we, that the bread and the fruit of the vine (i.e. Welch's) are "just symbols".  They aren't ACTUALLY the body and blood of Jesus.  They only symbolically represent the body and blood.  So, what if I substituted cookies and coke next week?  Maybe the point is overstated, but I think you get it... I hope everyone did at church this morning.  Symbols mean something!  We wouldn't desecrate the symbol of the flag and we wouldn't substitute the symbols of the Lord's Supper.

Why, then, do some want to do that with baptism?  Replacing the mode of baptism with sprinkling or pouring for convenience sake misses the whole point.  The visual symbol of the water burial is important.  It publicly proclaims the gospel (the death, burial & resurrection of Jesus) AND it publicly proclaims our own death to sin, desire to leave it behind and resurrection to new life.  A powerful symbol, indeed.

the "work" of baptism

 

I believe that a lot of churches have not recognized the importance of baptism to our Christian walk because they have viewed it as a “work.”  The Bible is clear that we are saved by grace, thru faith and NOT by works (cf. Eph 2:8-9).  I think I understand where they are coming from.  If baptism is a “work” it cannot effect our salvation.  Yet I challenged us Sunday to rethink that definition of baptism.  The Bible never defines it as a work nor does it present it as something that WE do at all.  Baptism is something that is done TO us.  If it is a “work” it is a “work of God.”  He is the worker, we are the passive recipients.  He does the baptizing and the forgiving.  We do the receiving of that forgiveness in baptism.  So, baptism is not to be seen as a “work” but rather as a submissive response to the incredible good news that God has acted to save us through Jesus Christ.  And it is through that submissive response to the gospel that God WORKS to save us from our sins. 

Colossians 2:11-13

11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.  13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins… NIV

 

Notice again what is said in vs. 13 of Col. 2.  We were dead.  God made us alive.  We didn’t bring ourselves to life.  God did.  We didn’t do a thing other than to receive the mark of baptism which, like circumcision was the identifying mark of a child of God in the Old Testament, is the mark which identifies us a children of God today.  And God did it!  He baptized us!

 

So, can I affirm that I am saved by grace through faith and not by works?  Absolutely.  Can I also affirm that baptism is an important AND necessary part of that salvation process?  Absolutely.  Next week we’re going to take a look at the symbolism behind baptism and why that is so very important.  Baptism isn’t just some requirement that God has asked us to do just to see if we will do it.  The act itself is so full of meaning for us!  Join in on the discussion this week…