October 14, 2007

Why?

Why Baptism?

Roman 6:1-7

Opening Words: There are five basic questions. There is who, what, when, where and why. Each question is important but the most probing question is the question of why. When you ask why it means you are digging below the surface. It means you are trying to understand the complete situation or concept. It means you are using the brain that God has given you. Never underestimate the question of why?

This is the fourth sermon in a seven part sermon series I have called, Why? Why does the church cling to certain practices and beliefs? There is more to it then simply tradition. To date we have looked at Jesus, the Bible and communion. In the weeks to come we will look at missions, fellowship and the church, itself. Today, on Hayden’s baptism Sunday, we answer the question, why baptism? We are instructed this morning from Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Romans 6:1-7 ¹What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Historians tell us Ivan the Terrible married the daughter of the King of Greece in the fifteenth century. It was an arranged marriage, which required some negotiations. The King of Greece would permit his daughter to marry Ivan under one condition - Ivan must become a member of the Greek orthodox. Ivan indicated he was willing to do so and a priest was sent to Moscow to instruct Ivan in Greek Orthodox doctrine. Once the instruction was completed Ivan, accompanied by his palace guard - 500 of his most skilled soldiers - made their way to Athens. Upon arrival in Athens Ivan was to be baptized into the Greek Orthodox Church. This is where it gets complex. Ivan’s soldiers, always loyal to their leader, asked if they could also be baptized. After a crash course in the Greek Orthodoxy faith, they too were ready for baptism. Ivan and his guard would be baptized together in a mass baptism, to be attended by huge crowds from all over Greece. As was the custom in the Greek Orthodox Church, the baptism would be by full immersion. However, there was a small problem. The Church did not allow professional soldiers to be members. If they were to be baptized into the church they would need to give up their occupation. This was unacceptable to Ivan and his soldiers, so another compromise was reached. As the priests baptized each soldier, he would reach for his sword and lift it high above his head. Then he would be baptized – all of him, except for his fighting arm and sword.

I said it last week about communion. I will say it this week about baptism. It was meant to be a simple practice. However, baptism has become very complex in our age. Did you know the early church borrowed baptism from the Jewish faith? John the Baptist was not the first. He borrowed it from his own faith. He immersed, symbolically washing away the individual’s sins. The early church immersed to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus. When the convert went under the water they died with Christ. When the individual was pulled out of the water they were resurrected with Christ. Many traditions still cling to believer’s baptism. It is a wonderfully symbolic service that we as good United Methodist support. However, it is not our way. We practice infant baptism.

Infant baptism began in the Dark Ages. Infant mortality was sky high. Parents have always loved their children. (I have never met a parent who didn’t want to see their child in heaven.) With fear in their eyes they ran to the church to get their child baptized, just in case the unspeakable happened. Some say infant baptism is important because it washes away the original sin, which came from Adam. Theologically I believe that is true. However, I believe there is more. I believe infant baptism is important because of a little word, influence. At infant baptism we are promising to raise the child in a Christian environment from the very beginning. In recent years psychologists have told us how important those early years of childhood really are. It is during the informative years that our personalities, our attitudes, our values, our habits, principles, our self-esteem and even our IQ’s are shaped.

Mamie Gene Cole wrote a poem called, A Child’s Appeal. Using a child’s voice the words go like this.

Here I am, the one you waited.

I am the one who will decide what tomorrow will be.

But I do not know anything yet.

I don’t know why I am here or how I got here.

But I want to know why and how

Give, me, I pray you those things that make for happiness.

Train me, I beg you, that I may be a pleasing to this world.

Today, I want to talk about three things that we need to teach our children from the very beginning. Each one of these points is Biblical. The influence you have on a child will very. The more you are with a child the stronger the influence. However, the influence you have on a child is more important then you think.

Honesty

The first thing we must teach our young is honesty. That is not necessarily isolated to Christianity. There are many non-believers, who are honest. However, being honest and being a Christian go hand in hand. Proverbs 24:26 says, “An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.” Honesty deals with our relationships with others.

The sports world was abuzz this week about Marion Jones. Do you remember her story? She won five metals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia in track and field. She seemed to have the world by the tail. She signed endorcements deals worth millions. Her future seemed so bright but it all unraveled for her quickly. A week ago Friday, she pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in White Plains, N.Y., to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs, steroids. She forfeited her metals and is now bankrupt. She stood in front of the media and confessed to the world that she did take steroids. As she cried she apologized to everyone for her lies. One of the sports columnists said she wasn’t crying because she lied to the world for years about steroids, she was crying because she got caught in the lie.

Do you know anyone that resembled that comment? The only time they are upset about lying is when they are caught in the lie? Let me state the obvious. There is a shortage of honest people in our world. We need to raise our young be honest. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

Integrity

The first thing we need to teach our young is honesty. The second thing we must teach our young is integrity. I am not just talking about integrity when we deal with others. I am talking about integrity when we deal with ourselves. We have a surplus of people in our world who are not even being honest with themselves. They are trying to be someone they are not. How many people do you know that are not even being honest with themselves? My favorite president and theologian Calvin Coolidge once said, “We do not need more knowledge, we need more people of integrity!”

Two of my best friends in this word are Mike and Lois. Mike is an ordained Elder in this Annual Conference. Lois is an oncologist in the Cleveland area. She is one of my heroes she didn’t listen to negative voices in her life. She went to college for the first time when Mike was out of seminary. They had three children and everyone said she was crazy to be studying for chemistry degree. People said she crazy when she applied to medical school, she would never see her children. People said she was crazy when she specialized in oncology. It is hard, challenging work but she finds it rewarding. She says the hardest part of the work is not the cancer. The hardest part of her work is the other oncologists. She told me last summer, “Russ, the worst disturbing thing about my job is seeing all the doctors, who just went into medicine just for the money. Some hate medicine and people. They went into medicine because of the income potential.”

John Wesley once said all jobs that benefit mankind are divine in nature. My parents raised me with the theme: Have a job you like and never work a day in your life. But what happens if your calling becomes secondary to your income potential? Do you know anyone who is miserable in this world because they made money more important then anything else? They are not even being honest with themselves. We need to be raising people of integrity, people who are honest with themselves. What is God calling you to do with the rest of your life? We need to be raising people of integrity. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

Faith

The first thing we need to teach our young is honesty. They second thing we need to teach our young is integrity. The third and final thing we must teach our young is the faith. Faith deals with our relation with God. The scripture lesson for this morning says that through our baptism we have a connection with Jesus. There are certain things that Paul knows about the faith. Paul knows we are saved by grace. Paul knows we are going to heaven when we die. But Paul also knows the great folly of compromising the faith. We need to be building people who are rock solid in the faith.

That is why we are in the disciple making business. We are to be building people who are more like Jesus everyday. That is why we offer Bible studies. That is why we offer Sunday school. That is why we offer a wide variety of worship services. That is why we go on mission trips and value youth groups. The truth is your opinions of spirituality really don’t matter. The only thing that really matters is Jesus. That is why we study the Bible! Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Only his opinion really matters in the life of this church. So are you making any progress in the faith? Are you more like Jesus today then you were last year, ten years ago, twenty years ago? If your answer is no, how can you teach our young about the faith? You have to be a disciple to make a disciple? We have to teach of young in the ways of the faith. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

The story is told about the baptism of King Aengus by St. Patrick in the middle of the fifth century. Sometime during the rite, St. Patrick leaned on his sharp-pointed staff and inadvertently stabbed the king's foot. After the baptism was over, St. Patrick looked down at all the blood, realized what he had done, and begged the king's forgiveness. Why did you suffer this pain in silence, the Saint wanted to know. The king replied, "I thought it was part of the ritual."

Do you know that there is more to baptism then just reciting a simple paragraph during the worship service? You are making a promise. Today, you are making a promise to Hayden and you are promising God you will create a Christian environment to influence him. Within this Christian environment we are influencing our young to be honest in their relationship with others. We are promising to influence our young to be a person of integrity, to the point that they can be honest with themselves. We are promising to influence our young to be a person of faith, which will reward them for eternity. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”