The Heart of a Pastor

Text study - Matthew 3:13-17 (The baptism of Jesus)

"the one thing that encourages me in this whole thing is seeing how deeply vested we all are in the church and her practices. Everybody contributing to this discussion here and on other blogs are doing so because we care so deeply. That is a very good thing!" (Luther Punk)

Well said...and yes...thank you for all the energy and wonderful dialog around the issue of lay presidency.  I am by no means cutting off or finished with this lively and healthy dialog.  There is definitely some deep seeded beliefs about lay presidency.  I do see what Luther Punk is saying about calling and gifts and I will be exploring that some more, but right now it doesn't change my belief about lay presidency.  The openness that has been shown is quite amazing and and for that I am thankful.

But now I would like to move to the Gospel text for Sunday from Matthew 3:13-17 and maybe get into a discussion about the other sacrament -- baptism.  According the the lectionary, this Sunday (January 13) is called "The Baptism of our Lord".  Since Epiphany is about revealing who Jesus is the text seems very appropriate as God announces from heaven after Jesus is baptized, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17)

But the questions I want to ponder are ones that always seem to come up when we deal with the text about Jesus being baptized.  The questions are this:  Why did Jesus have to be baptized? and When Jesus says that this must be done to fulfill all righteousness...what does he mean by "all righteousness?  Both are very good questions and of course I have my own thoughts about what is going on.  And...has always...feel free to "correct" me if you feel I am "wrong" :)

When I think about baptism I go back to Romans 6 where Paul says that "if we have been united with him in a death like his we will certainly be untied with him in a resurrection like his."  Baptism here then is about being identified with Jesus or joined to Jesus.  Therefore, since we are identified with Jesus; what is his is now ours...not because of anything we have done but because Jesus first identified with us.

Now to Jesus' baptism...

...if John's baptism was for repentance for the forgiveness of sins, then why did Jesus need to be baptized?  Jesus was sinless and had no need to repent.  The way I see it is that by being baptized Jesus identified himself with sinners.  If Jesus was going to bring us to righteousness, he needed to identify with sinners...he needed to identify with us.  And because Jesus identifies with sinners Jesus understands very intimately what we need.  Jesus understands what must be done.  Jesus understands that he must die and rise so we can live.  So therefore it all comes down to identification.

What do you think of that?  What are your thoughts?  (Of course I still invite you thoughts on the issue of lay presidency which is posted below.)

Thank you again for you contributions and I look forward to many more lively conversations.  Take care and God bless!

-edh-

The preacher and the drunk

My secretary emailed this to me and I just had to share it with you:

A man is stumbling through the woods, totally drunk, when he comes upon a preacher baptizing people in the river.  He proceeds to walk into the water and subsequently bumps into the preacher. The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of alcohol, whereupon he asks the drunk
loudly, for all to hear,  "Are you ready to find Jesus?" The drunk answers, "Yes, I am!"  So the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the water.  He pulls him up and asks "Brother, have you found Jesus?"  The drunk replies, "No, I haven't found Jesus!"  The preacher, shocked at the answer, dunks him into the water again for a little longer. He again pulls him out of the water and asks again, "Brother, have you found Jesus?"  The drunk again answers, "No, I haven't found Jesus!"  By this time the preacher is at his wits end and dunks the drunk in the water again - but this time, holds him down for about 30 seconds and when he begins kicking his arms and legs, the preacher pulls him up and asks, "For the love of God, have you found Jesus?" The drunk wipes his eyes and catches his breath and says to the preacher..."Are you sure this is where he fell in????"

Not very "Lutheran" but still very funny.  Maybe a better thing to say is, "Jesus has claimed you".  Jesus is not lost...we are.  Jesus is the one who leaves the 99 in search for the one.

So here is to dunking people in God's grace.
-edh-

God is not a repo man

I used to be a car dealer.  Back in 1997 I moved back home to work for my dad and learn the family business.  My dad owned and managed a Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge/Jeep dealership.  He started doing that in the early 80s and has a very good business with loyal customers (In 2004 my dad gave up the Chrysler franchise to focus on other ventures.  He now sells used cars and does some woodworking/cabinet building and still has a very good business).  My dad has an excellent reputation for honesty and kindness which largely contributes to his customer's loyalty. 

Most people in my small hometown of Dawson, MN expected me at some time to return home to learn the business.  After all, that is what the older (and in my case, the only) son is supposed to do.  But two and a half years later I realized I sucked at selling cars (but that is another blog entry, so let's move on).

While learning the business one of the jobs I disliked the most carried the title of "repo man".  You see...one of the things my dad would do is co-sign loans for people who bought cars from him.  Most people were honest so this was not a problem.  But every once in a while someone would take advantage of my dad's kindness and generosity and default on the loan.  When that happened, I was sent to retrieve the vehicle.  I only went on three repo missions but they always made me nervous.  Who knows how people will react when you show up to take their vehicle back.  Luckily I never had any problems, but it still didn't lessen my anxiety about repo missions.

Imagine if God had a repo man or worse yet, was a repo man himself as it pertains to the promises he gave to us <pause to reflect and ponder...but not too long> wouldn't that be a scary thought?  But don't worry, when you are baptized, God makes certain promises.  God essentially "co-signs the loan" and takes complete responsibility for any losses.  The promises that God makes are: forgiveness of sins, membership into the church and the body of Christ and eternal life.  God says "here you go...enjoy...why, because I love you".  But everyday we "default on the loan".  We sin.  We hurt God.  We fail to acknowledge God and the promises given to us.  We fail to help others.  We become selfish.  We don't talk to God.  And I could go on, but I think you get the point. 

But here is the great thing about God...God is not a repo man.  God does not come to us and say, "You haven't come to worship enough or read your Bible enough or prayed enough (...etc) so I am going to take back those promises I made to you".  God does not do that.  Instead, God sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to this world to die and rise for our sins.  God seals his promises through the cross.  God is not a repo man but this does not give us free reign to continue to take advantage of God's love for us.  What it does is assure us, even though we are sinful, we will always be wrapped in God's loving arms; knowing our status in God's family will never change.

So do your best to "repay God" not out of obligation, but out of thanks.  God is not a repo man and therefore the promises given to you in baptism are yours forever.  Praise be to God, always and forever.  Amen! -edh-