Galatians 5 (gifts
of the spirit)
Mark 8 (take up
your cross)
Good morning
friends. It is good to gather in worship with all of you this
morning. After a week marked by bombings, an explosion, and a massive
manhunt, it is right to come together in prayer, in worship, and to
commit to one another again to follow the prince of Peace. Today we
particularly focus on Christ's calling in our lives, as we welcome
LL into our community in the ritual of baptism, the
ceremony that marks formal entrance into the Christian community.
In the Easter
season, we are surrounded by the New Testament stories of
baptism-while we don't have any stories of Jesus baptizing people, as
soon as Easter happened, there are all sorts of stories people being
marked with water as part of the new community. Paul was baptized
after his experience on the Damascus road. Peter baptized Cornelius
and his whole household, after he saw the sheet descending, and
learned that what God has called clean, no one should call unclean.
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch, who heard the gospel while
riding in a chariot, saw the water nearby, and asked to be dipped
right away.
Since the
beginning, this ritual has marked entrance to the community of
believers.
And so too then,
do we come to the water this morning, claiming with these founders of
the faith our commitment to Jesus, our willingness to follow Christ.
In baptism we claim for ourselves the title of disciple- committing
ourselves to Jesus as savior as Lord, making the public declaration
that we are on God's side, and that we will do our best to follow
faithfully where God calls us.
So considering
that this is the theme of our service this morning, I was delighted
at the two texts that L chose for her baptism, for in a profound
way, they exemplify what it means to be part of the church.
In Galatians we
are invited to eat the fruit of the spirit.
This list of
attributes that Paul outlines here is emblematic of baptism because
it is both a promise from God and a commitment from us. Its possible
to read it either way- “you know them by their fruits” would
suggest that if you demonstrate love, joy peace patience, kindness
goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self control (how many times do
you think I should do that this sermon? Should I get faster each
time?) As I was saying, we could argue that those who demonstrate the
fruits are the ones who have the spirit of God. I've used this in
arguments before-I can't help welcoming gay and lesbian people into
membership, or women into leadership, they have demonstrated the
fruit of the spirit, who am I to withhold my welcome when God has
filled them with the Holy Spirit?
But Paul insists
we have agency here-we can choose to walk by the spirit, we should
keep in step with the heavenly guide laid before us, we should not
become conceited, or provoke each other, or envy each other. These
fruits of the spirit are the results of hard work-of digging and
planting and watering and pruning ourselves, such that we cultivate
the viritues of love joy peace patience kindness goodness
faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
Sometimes we talk
about baptism as a destination-coming to Christ or accepting Christ
or receiving the holy spirit. And it is-it is one of those faith
milestones that should be remembered and celebrated. But just like a
wedding is the beginning of a marriage, not a destination in and of
itself, in the same way to be baptized is one step on the journey of
shaping ourselves in the image of Christ. The step of committing
publicly to try and walk in the path he laid out of faithful love,
patient kindness, joyful goodness, gentle goodness and peaceful self
control.
And baptism is not
just a commitment to a divine self improvement project.
Baptism is about
pledging allegiance in a more profound way, as Christ makes clear in
the text from Mark that L has brought before us this morning.
This is a
significant moment in Mark's story-we're about halfway through the
Gospel, and we are turning from the feel good 'look at Jesus do
miracles' theme to the 'Jesus is going towards Jerusalem' part of the
story. Just before this, Jesus asked the disciples who they say he
is, and they answered correctly- “You are the Messiah”. But when
he said that the son of man must suffer, and be killed, Peter took
him aside to rebuke him. And Jesus responded with this clarion call:
“if anyone would become my disciple, they must take up their cross
and follow me.”
Now, Jesus is not
known for easy invitations-give all that you have to the poor, and
come and follow me. Do not worry about tomorrow. Give to everyone
who asks of you, and loan without expectation of repayment. Stay with
me. But “Take up your cross” is surely the hardest challenge in
the New Testament. Come to Golgotha, and join me at the top of the
hill. For it is on that path that you come to Easter Sunday.
It is a sobering
invitation, and it is one that Christians through history have lived
out in the most literal reality-from the martyrs of the early church
who were thrown to the lions, to the people in our present day who
proclaim the good news at the risk of their lives.
We all hope that
our Christian walk does not involve carrying a cross quite that
literally. But we are all called to consider the seriousness of
giving our lives to Christ. This world asks for loyalty-loyalty to
pleasure and power, to fame and fortune, loyalty to American Idol or
the latest video game. Loyalty to a country willing to torture it's
enemies and bomb distant lands with weapons from far above.
In the waters of
baptism, we pledge allegiance to a different path, where we challenge
the powers and principalities, the authority of this world, pledge to
give up shallow comfort of today for the deeper richer relationship
with God that is possible when we reach for the edge, and look
beyond, beneath and around the material. In baptism we pledge to
follow where Jesus leads, through the valley of the shadow of death,
to challenge the broken things of our world, the forces of racism and
poverty and violence, building relationships in frightening
neighborhoods, in poor countries, with broken people at the risk of
our own comfort and our own agenda.
Not of course,
that we'll always live up to it-
We wandered last
week with Peter and Paul, reflecting on the challenges of
conversion-acknowledging
that even after
making the baptismal commitment, we are still human beings, with all
of the silliness and struggle that implies-we have much to learn and
grow as we walk with Christ. And none of the disciples, the first
time through, went with Christ and the Cross. But that is the target.
And as we aim high, we find ourselves bearing fruit, and growing in
faith, and more and more looking like Christ who loved the poor and
lived for his friends and died for the sins of the whole world.
So we come again
to the water, remembering the invitation that is always there, to
drink from the living water, to return to God, to bear the fruit of
the spirit, to become Christs disciples indeed.
May it be so.
Amen.
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