Sermons for the Month
"SO WHAT?"
DATE: January 8th, 2006
SERVICE: Baptism of our Lord
TEXT: Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
This past summer I made a trip to Nebraska and attended the 125th anniversary celebration at the church in which I was raised. At Sunday worship Bishop David deFreese was the preacher and he told a story that caught everyone's attention. It seems that when he was serving as a parish pastor the congregation entered into the huge undertaking of building a new worship space. Of course, Bishop deFreese had ideas about how this space should look. But, he said, he tried not to be too vocal except for one detail. The room was constructed so that a number of aisles flowed into a series of doors above which there was a large open space. It was the perfect location for a parting message to inspire the worshippers. So, Bishop deFreese expressed his desire to engage a skilled craftsperson to make a beautiful sign of wood with these words carved into it, "SO WHAT??" The building committee did not think it was a good idea. "Oh, Pastor", they said, "People do not always understand you." So, there is no sign urging people to ask themselves, "So what difference does what just happened here make in our lives." That's a good question as we remember our baptisms today. So what difference does being baptized make in our lives? There's a clear answer to that question in the passage we read from Acts. Let's take a moment to consider what occurred in that account. The Apostle Paul goes to Ephesus on his third missionary journey in Asia Minor (which is now Turkey). There he encounters some confused disciples. They have experienced the baptism of repentance that John offered, but seem not to have heard the second part of John's message concerning the one coming after him: Jesus. There is not enough detail in the story for us to know what they knew about Jesus, if anything. It seems likely that they knew of the astounding things he did and said, but perhaps the whole story of his death, resurrection and ascension was unknown to them. It's clear that they have never heard of the Holy Spirit, or at least not a Holy Spirit that would infuse them with power from on high. So, Paul fills in the blanks; he revives for them the forgotten part of John's preaching. In response, they are baptized in the name of Jesus. As Paul lays his hands on them the Holy Spirit comes upon them, just as it came upon Jesus at his baptism, and as was true of Jesus they too are proclaimed to be the beloved children of God. For these disciples there is immediate external evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence; they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Please do not allow yourselves to get stuck on that detail. Instead, think about what these spiritual gifts represented in the lives of these children of God. As one commentator so beautifully explained, "Not only did they see themselves differently, they saw everything differently and they spoke of it differently." (1) Their baptisms made a difference in their lives. Today we remember our baptisms. We remind ourselves that in baptism we receive the Holy Spirit and are identified as the beloved children of God. But do we see ourselves differently because of our baptism? Do we see everything differently and speak of it differently? Are we able to answer the "So what?" question? Is our baptism something more than an expected event of life, a pleasant family memory? I was reading a sermon brief this week in which a woman named Glaucia Wilkey described her amazingly beautiful memories surrounding baptism. She speaks of the farming community in which she grew up in Brazil. The people usually worshipped in small groups, but once a year they gathered in one place that was called, "The Gathering Place." A sign with that name welcomed all who came. For eight glorious days the community lived together, and on the last day, a Sunday, baptism was celebrated. When the place was selected there were three criteria. It had to be accessible to all. It had to be by a clean, living stream of water. And, it had to have plenty of trees. So it was that such a setting was found, and the people came together to quench their physical and spiritual thirst. They splashed and played in the stream. They hid from the blistering sun in the leaves of the mango trees and ate their luscious fruit. They worshipped together, hearing Jesus' baptismal story retold, and seeing it reenacted. Glaucia writes that it was as if that place was a new as new creation, and they called it good. In time, after years of basking in such goodness, after years of hearing the story of her Lord's baptism, Glaucia says that it dawned on her that if the baptism for Jesus, "implied changing the world, reordering its values … then there must be more to baptism than I glimpsed in my childhood, however rich that experience had been." If for Jesus, baptism meant the coming of the Spirit, empowering him for "gracious living", then for her, baptism must mean more than the joy of friendships at The Gathering Place. (2) So what? What difference does baptism make in her life, in our lives? I propose that it makes all the difference in the world. In Baptism the Holy Spirit comes to us, we are infused by it, filled with the love, grace and, yes, the power of God. Therefore, if there was a sign "up there" asking us "so what?" - because of our baptisms and the Spirit's presence within us - it would be possible for us to answer that question. In other words, the Holy Spirit's stirring within us could be so strong, so real, that our very lives would scream out a multitude of answers to the question, "So what difference does being baptized make in your lives (and in the lives of others)?" And those answers would bring hope and healing to the world. But, did you notice that I used the word "could"? That's because by the power of the Holy Spirit we can make a difference, but it is the power of human choice that determines whether or not we will. That's why we need to be reminded to ask ourselves, "So what?" over and over again. Oh, there is one more detail from Glaucia's story that I want to share with you this morning. Remember that I told you about the sign at the entrance gate of her childhood paradise proclaiming it as, "The Gathering Place"? Well, it seems that someone had scribbled two words on the back of the sign. Let me quote her, "When we left the place of new creation the message we received sent us out into the world in the MANNER of Jesus Christ. For the gate to the world read, "Servant's Entrance." (3) (1) "Baptism In Jesus' Name: Acts 19:1-7", analysis by Carolyn Schneider, www.crossings.org/theology, pg. 2
(2) The Abingdon Women's Preaching Annual, Series 2, Year B, Baptism of the Lord, "The River at the Gathering Place" by Glaucia Vasconcelos Wilkey, pgs. 53-55.
(3) Same as above, pg. 55.
AMEN