Message 01-07-07 [Traditional]

 

Series:            Lectionary

Scripture:            Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

 

Title:                                                    Pickled

 

Just about every Monday of the year a large group of men gathers in Fellowship Hall about lunch time to eat and to study the Bible and to pray together.  They’re called “Followers of the Way” and were started, I understand, by Bob Jordan. It’s an eclectic group. There are a crowd of Presbyterians, but there are Baptists and guys from Independent churches and Episcopal churches and Orthodox churches. As you can imagine, and maybe you already know, there are a lot of opinions. Some guys have strong conservative and staunch perspectives and some are wondering whether God really inspired the whole thing. The conversations flow pretty widely, but it is a great time.

 

I usually enjoy this study time, but every now and then someone raises a hand and says, well, this talk is all great, but I want to know what the clergy think. I feel like I have to pull on a different hat at that moment. Up until that point, I feel like I’m just another guy sitting at the table and sometimes I know something from what I’ve read and sometimes I just have a thought from the Scripture we’re looking at, but when somebody asks for the opinion of the “clergy” then it feels like I can’t just give my opinion. I feel like what’s being asked for is an “official call” – like looking for the ref to make a judgment.

 

Now, the other trouble that I have at those moments is that I’m usually seated next to John DeBevoise. And John’s mind and my mind don’t work the same way. John analyzes passages of Scripture with a pinpoint clarity. I tend to look at meanings and ideas. The way that works is that John expresses a clear outline of thought and I kind of meander around. There was one time where clergy opinions were called for and immediately John said, “Well, there are five points in this Scripture.” And I’m thinking, “There are?” And then he just starts clicking them off and that’s amazing in itself. I know that even if I thought of five points while looking at the Scripture that if I started to relate them by the time I got to number 3 I’d be wondering what the other two were. John finished naming and detailing all five points and then he turned to me and said what do you think?

 

There’s an old Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown, Linus and Lucy are walking to school and Lucy suddenly realizes that it’s a “Show and Tell” Day. They were supposed to bring in something from home to “show and tell” about. Lucy forgot to bring anything, and she asks if Linus brought anything. And Linus says yes, and pulls out authentic looking copies of portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a portion of one of Paul’s letters that he’s been working on – in the original Greek. Lucy is duly impressed and turns to Charlie Brown asking if he brought anything. And Charlie Brown says, “Well, I thought about showing my little red fire engine” as he pulls it from his pocket, “but I think I’ll forget it.”

 

And that’s sort of the way I feel sitting next John DeBevoise. He’s got his five points and I’ve got some story.

 

So, it was just a couple of weeks ago that this scene was repeated. Jay Lippy, the chaplain from the YMCA asked for “the clergy opinion”. But this time he went on to explain just what he was looking for.

 

We were studying the end of the Gospel of Matthew and In the great Commission – Jesus last words to his disciples – the idea of baptism is lifted up. Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

 

And Jay made a point of lifting up the word “Baptizing” because it isn’t just the idea of baptism that Jesus seems to speak about right there. He seems to be saying and a number of Biblical authorities suggest that he is saying that we need to “immerse” people into the teaching of the God we serve.

 

Jay went on to describe baptism this way. He talked about a cucumber being sliced up and added to a salad. Now the cucumber has changed. It no longer looks like the cucumber it once was and it is now part of the salad, but for all that it is still a cucumber. If you looked at it you’d say there’s cucumber in that salad and you’d be right.

 

But Jay said, suppose I take that same cucumber and put it in a jar and add vinegar and certain spices and leave it for a while, a long while. When I take it out of the jar is it still a cucumber – not really. We call it by a different name. We call it a pickle. Jay lifted up the idea that we as Christ followers are told by Jesus in the passage we call the Great Commission that we’re supposed to go out and immerse people in the teaching of Jesus, so that they are actually changed. And Jay wondered what Presbyterians thought about that. Should we wait to baptize people until they are immersed in the teaching of Jesus, until they are actually changed? Was it okay to baptize infants? Jay asked John and me what we thought.

 

And I turned to John and he leaned back in his chair and said, “Do you want to answer that?”

 

And actually I did.

 

And first I thought I should just say that Presbyterians believe in baptism. We do. We believe in baptism of children and baptism of adults. You will see in our blue announcement sheets, on a regular basis, that if you’re interested in being baptized and making a profession of faith we are prepared at all four morning services and at our evening Vespers. And people have come forward for baptism in all those settings.

 

We believe in baptism because Jesus gave us the example of baptism. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. And Baptism along with Communion are the tangible expressions of faith that come to us directly from Jesus. And Presbyterians don’t care about the manner of baptism. I need to share this because I married a good Baptist girl. The truth is that immersion is the style of baptism that is talked about in the Bible and that was experienced by Jesus. We don’t use the full bath in Presbyterian Church simply because of convenience. The person being baptized goes under the water symbolically there, but if it was important to you to be fully immersed then we would be happy to do that. We’d be happy to go with you to the beach or a river or even a pool. The issue comes down to a public setting, meaning everyone’s invited to come along, water and an ordained pastor participating.

 

On Christmas Eve morning, upstairs in the Connection service, a teenager from our community came seeking baptism because she was prepared to make a profession of faith. On that same morning I also baptized a baby and on Christmas Eve night we had four other babies baptized. We believe in baptism because we believe that this is one of the tangible expressions of faith that says that the door of Grace is open to all who would receive it.

 

Now, you may remember that Jay Lippy asked specifically what we thought about “immersing” someone in the teaching of Jesus before they were baptized and should we baptize infants. So I went on to respond by sharing our practice.

 

I really appreciated the image of the pickle that Jay brought up. When we baptize an infant we believe that they are under God’s grace and are part of the household of grace, but essentially, what happens to the baby is that he or she gets wet. What actually happens in that moment is that two significant promises are made. The parent or parents of the child promise to bring this child up to know the Lord and to come to a place where they will confirm their own faith, they will claim Christ as their own Lord and Savior. And the church, this congregation, also promises that they will not only support the parents but also live out the life of faithfulness in front of this child so that they will someday confirm their own faith in Christ. In other words, we collectively promise to immerse this child in the life and teachings of Jesus so that some day they will be a pickle.

 

We say that we are followers of Jesus. We promise that we will live this life of following Jesus when we join the church – we promise each other then. And when a new person arrives we ask them to promise as well. But when we bring a child into the community for the touch of Christ, we promise that we will live out this life in front of them, we will teach them so that they can find their way easily into being his as well. We are looking for them to confirm the baptism they had as an infant. We promise to immerse them in the life and teaching of Jesus so that it can most likely challenge them, charge them and change them.

 

You see if a child grows up in church and comes to confirmation class, at that point they should have heard enough, felt enough, seen enough and learned enough to be prepared to claim faith. You promise that you will do your best, do your part in making that happen.

 

Now I have a choice at this juncture of my sermon. My choice is do I make you feel guilty or do I let you off the hook. Do I talk with you about the students who come to confirmation class without much knowledge of faith, Jesus, God or anything? Or do I just tell you that you’re a great church. You have a great Sunday School program and a great Youth program with dedicated and capable leaders? And you do have great programs and great leaders.

 

But I think there’s another choice. The issue comes down to are you pickled? Now I’m not talking about Gasparilla “pickled”. Our friend the Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians [5:16] – “Do not get drunk on “spirits”, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit.” And that’s what we’re talking about – being filled with the Spirit, being completely immersed in the life and teaching of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Are you pickled?

 

Pickling, in the context of this message, means becoming more than just a cucumber just added to worship once a week. Pickling means that God is part of every day of your life. Now, how do we do that? How do we do that, especially if we haven’t done it before or don’t do it much or wonder how to get close to God? Well, one thing to do is to begin to immerse your days with God.

 

Try doing that with simple things. I shared this with the other members of your church that meet upstairs. Let every meal be Communion. Jesus’ words were “whenever you do this – recall me” We say “do this in remembrance” but the idea is recalling. Calling me back. So one thing I do is when I’m going to eat a meal with a roll or bread – I tear it. I pull it apart and remind myself – this comes from you and I was saved by you. Think about sitting down to each meal with Jesus.

 

And then, in the same way that you let every meal become communion, let every washing become baptism. When you shower remind yourself that you were washed clean in your soul as well. Remind yourself that you were baptized. When you wash your hands before you eat, remind yourself that taught you about cleansing by going ahead of you and giving you the example of coming to God clean and ready. Let every meal be communion – where Jesus comes to sit at your table with you and with those you’re meeting with. Let every washing be baptism – where you say once again, “I was baptized.”

 

Immerse your days in simple ways, in the things you already do, so that you can become what you were created to be.