Baptizo (Matt 28:18 Trinity A)

Not to be confused with bapto. The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change.

When used in the New Testament, this word more often refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water baptism. e.g. Mark 16:16. 'He that believes and is baptised shall be saved'. Christ is saying that mere intellectual assent is not enough. There must be a union with him, a real change, like the vegetable to the pickle!

Bible Study Magazine, James Montgomery Boice, May 1989. (Cited from the Online Bible)

What does it mean to be permanently immersed in the Triune Name?

Creation (Trinity A)

The readings this week remind me of the hymns at the beginning of our hymnal. Songs like This Is My Father's World, For The Beauty of the Earth, Praise Ye The Lord or I Sing the Mighty Power of God. Songs of creation and providence come under the heading of The Godhead.

God the creator was fully vested in his work as he created the Spirit hovered and the Word flowed from his lips. When he created man in his own image it was the fellowship he knew in Himself.

"What [Karl Barth] has helped us understand is that relationship is at the heart of what it means to be 'in the image of God' and that the relationship between male and female is the human expression of our relationship with God."[i]

He created man, what are we that we should be known by him, and yet he cares for us. We look at his creation and see him in his transcendent power. He is worthy of all our praise.

The disciples worshiped the Son on the Mountain before he left. Jesus declared that all the power in heaven and earth had been given to him. The power and authority of the heavens and earth echo down through history as the very words He spoke creating them in the first place. How right they worshipped, and he is with them-with
us-to the end of the age!

Jesus in his authority commanded them to make disciples who would obey everything he had commanded. Paul says, "Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."

The benediction is repeated and expanded when he adds, "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

Is this the same as the first benediction? The first addressed to the Godhead and the second to the persons in the trinity ascribing to them distinctions in the way they bless us?

Three Personed God, lift our eyes to your transcendence this week as we see your authority and power in your creation and in our lives pour out all the grace, love, fellowship and peace that are ours in the Son.
Amen.

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[i] Richard J. Foster. The Challenge Of The Disciplined Life (San Francisco: HarperSanFancisco, 1994.) 92.

Theocentric (Trinity A)

rIn college one of my professors said something that resonated with me, but I still am trying to figure out what it means. “We need to get back to a Theocentric theology.” How does that differ from our fiercely Christocentric theology?

The Spirit shows the Son, the Son reveals the Father. Is the Father to be the center of our focus and worship? The thought hit me recently that, as Pentecostals, we mean Theocentric worship should be directed at the fullness of the Godhead. (Let us never forget the Holy Spirit ;)
I can remember sitting at the altar at camp when I was nine. I was seeking and praising God. I found myself making sure to address each member of the Trinity so none of them felt left out. It hit me even then how silly that was. They are one! Incidentally that was the night I was first baptized in the Spirit, but it wasn’t just him I was looking for. Even at nine, I wanted the fullness of the Godhead.

Meditations on the Passion

Iain McKillop

Pentecost - the cry of release
this painting is used subject to the artist's copyright

(The artist has poems to acompany his work)

Seeking the Spirit (Pentecost A)

Seeking the Spirit: A/G Pentecost Day Emphasis

The day of Pentecost is huge for us. Not just some festival day on the church calendar, this is a day of promise, a day so linked with our distinctive doctrines that, along with Christmas and Easter, is one of the only days of the church year that all our churches observe.

For us, Joel's prophesy continues to this day, as Peter says later in his sermon,

"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."

And the pattern of Acts indicates that the initial physical evidence of the Baptism is speaking in tongues.

Moses looked forward to a day when all would be prophets, that day has come. With the dawning of Pentecost the Spirit has so gripped the church and given his people gifts to build one another up.

John gives and abbreviated look at the Pentecost experience and likens it to rivers of water gushing from the believer's heart. I often think of my own experience with the baptism with those images-the cool unstoppable bubbling of a fountain. Pretty.

Beautiful and awesome are all God's creations, and yet, the psalmist sings,

"When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground."

What now? (Easter A7)

Jesus has ascended, he is glorified with his Father, he is returning. What now?

He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

This has been a favorite verse for Pentecostal preachers since the beginning. A lot of old time preachers were proud of taking any sermon weather from Genesis or Revelation and ending up at Acts 1:8.

Jesus has ascended (three days ago by the church year). These disciples are now all in the upper room. "They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers." This is where we find them when they receive the promised power on the day of Pentecost.

The power of God for those still on earth is the theme from the other readings as well.

The psalmist declares God's power as a warrior riding on clouds, his enemies melting like wax before him. "He gives power and strength to his people."

In a world of suffering, Peter commends us to cast our cares on God, "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen."

In Jesus' final prayer he prayed to the point of sweating blood that his Father would protect us so that we may be one as they are one.

Lord God, as we approach Pentecost, protect us, let us know your power, make us one. And may we know the sweet fresh wind of your Spirit in an intimate way over the coming weeks. In the name of the one who prayed before me, Amen.

Vine pruning.

Led down a garden path-to a vineyard
This so captured my imagination, that my sermon wrote itself today. I was thrown for a loop when I realized that this was the Episcopal reading not the RCL. My thoughts included both material, so I decided that I would extend my Gospel reading to the beginning of chapter 15.

I was pruning my roses today, which is why the vine so captures my imagination. They aren't very fruitful. Father John came over to take a look at them. He is involved with the gardening extendtion program. He said that they need more sun and that the big one (which was taller than me) should be cut back to about two and a half feet so that it can become bushier. I could only do a little at a time, but today I made some drastic cuts. When I was done I sat looking at the plant feeling sad.

Here is how I see the sermon running.
I. The Spirit is Promised

A. Comforter

B. Pentecost foreshadowed (How can a good Pentecostal preacher ignore this?)

II. Love is the fruit of the Spirit

A. Love one another is commanded

B. If we love Jesus we do what he commands (See A)

III. We are vines

A. Union with Christ and the Father

B. We are to be fruitful

I may also do something with the structure to include the movement John nuances with "Let us go." Do I smell a narrative? Hmm.