Lenten Devotional – Day 36

Q. 94. What is Baptism?

A. Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, does signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace and our engagement to be the Lord’s.

“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Gal. 3:27)

  Whenever the church baptizes anyone, it is a radical and controversial thing we do. There is an ancient tradition that goes, "When you save the life of a person, when you rescue them from drowning or death, you are bound to them forever." That is what we do in baptism: we have saved this person's life; we have claimed the person for Christ. Now, we have a relationship with that person that can be neglected or abused, but never broken. In moments of despair and doubt and desolation, Martin Luther would say to himself as a reminder, "I was baptized."

  Baptism is neither a ticket to heaven nor a magic charm to keep us out of harm’s way. Rather, we called to work at sustaining our identity as the baptized becoming the sons and daughters of God. The Westminster Larger Catechism speaks of “the needful but much neglected duty of improving our Baptism… all our lifelong” (7.277). As John Calvin put it, “baptism is the sign of the initiation by which we are received into the society of the church, in order that, engrafted in Christ, we may be reckoned among God’s children.” The power of baptism is lifelong.

  Baptism, as a sacrament, is an outward visible “sign” that attests to God’s gracious goodwill toward us. Calvin indicates that sacraments are “testimonies of grace and salvation from the Lord.” The principalities and powers have suffered ultimate defeat through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but they are still at work in the world. Baptism plunges believers into a situation where the old has passed away “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Cor. 5:17), although the old can still afflict, perplex, persecute, or strike down (2 Cor. 4:7-18). The present reality of alienation, brokenness, and injustice demonstrates the gap and tension between our world and the fullness of the reign of God.

  Baptism links believers with the death as well as the resurrection of Jesus Christ, disciples of Jesus Christ and the faith communities where they participate share in his suffering and self-giving ministry (cf. Phil. 3:10). They are called to live into their baptism, to learn daily how to die and thus how to live. As such, baptism goes far beyond the private salvation of the individual soul or the isolated moment of baptism. It forms a new humanity by incorporating believers into the body of Jesus Christ and beginning their formation as a missionary people. We are not simply a single, lone individual claimed by God in baptism we are the body of Christ who are the baptized together as a covenant people working together as a missional people.

Lenten Devotional – Day 31

Q. 84. What does every sin deserve?

A. Every sin deserves God’s wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.

“For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” (Gal. 3:10)

Fear the judgments of God! Dread the wrath of the Almighty! Do not discuss the works of the Most High, but examine your sins - in what serious things you have offended and how many good things you have neglected. - The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, Book 3, Chapter 4

  Anyone who honestly examines our relationship with God and the many ways we employ in our lives to avoid God’s presence in our lives, we must come to the conclusion that we don’t desire much from God expect wrath and curse. Fortunately, for us God does not see it the same way. I have discovered that sin has its own punishment built into it. When we separate ourselves from the will and presence of God, this separate on its own inflicts injury, hurt and suffering in our lives. What we might call the wrath of God, is only our own sin catching up with us and is all self-inflict. We would rather live under the delusion we are good and upright, even though the evidence shows otherwise.

  In the early part of this century, a novelist researching a book about life in a certain New England town visited the local cemetery as part of his investigations. The writer noted with interest that nearly every tombstone from that era bore a final epitaph. Unfailingly, these were words of praise for the departed with references such as "kind,"  "generous,"  "upstanding," loving" and "faithful" appearing again and again.
This prompted the researcher to ask, "I wonder where they buried the sinners?"

  Former Yale chaplain and seminary president John W. Vannorsdall writes: “In spite of the fact that God must watch his whales die, and our submarines increase, God comes to us with the message of love, not wrath. That's why it seems so remarkable to me that when God comes to speak God's Word to us, that Word becomes a child. A child announced by singing, not by thunder. A child born by lamplight in silent night, rather than a Word which shakes the mountains, pouring rivers of unstoppable fire down every side. The Word becomes a child, which can be received and cannot hurt us: a Word which does not make us afraid. I am prepared for the anger of God, and believe that God has a right to wrath. What is so amazing is that when God comes among us, whatever God's hurt and indignation, God comes not with violence but with love, even as a child vulnerable to our further hurt.” - He Came to His Own Home, 24 December 1978, The Lutheran Series of the Protestant Hour

Lenten Devotional – Day 16

Q. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?

A. The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man, in two distinct natures, and one Person forever.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.” (Gal. 4:4-5)

“For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all —this was attested at the right time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6, NRSV)

Christ "walks through the centuries alongside each generation, alongside every generation, alongside every person. He walks alongside each person as a friend. An important day in a young person's life is the day on which he becomes convinced that this is the only Friend who will not disappoint him, on whom he can always count." - Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (New York: Knopf, 1994).

  Pastor and author Max Lucado describes some of the weak views people have about Christ: For some, Jesus is a good luck charm. The "Rabbit's Foot Redeemer." Pocket-sized. Handy. Easily packaged. Easily understood. Easily diagramed. You can put his picture on your wall or you can stick it in your wallet as insurance. You can frame him. Dangle him from your rear view mirror or glue him to your dashboard.

  His specialty? Getting you out of a jam. Need a parking place? Rub the redeemer. Need help on a quiz? Pull out the rabbit's foot. No need to have a relationship with him. No need to love him. Just keep him in your pocket next to your four-leaf clover.

  For many he's an "Aladdin's Lamp Redeemer." New jobs. Pink Cadillacs. New and improved spouses. Your wish is his command. And what's more, he conveniently reenters the lamp when you don't want him around.

  For others, Jesus is a "Monty Hall Redeemer." "All right, Jesus, let's make a deal. For 52 Sundays a year, I'll put on a costume - coat and tie, hat and hose - and I'll endure any sermon you throw at me. In exchange, you give me the grace behind pearly gate number three."

  The Rabbit's Foot Redeemer. The Aladdin's Lamp Redeemer. The Monty Hall Redeemer. Few demands, no challenges. No need for sacrifice. No need for commitment.

  Sightless and heartless redeemers. Redeemers without power. That's not the Redeemer of the New Testament. - Max Lucado, Six Hours One Friday (W. Publishing, 2004), pp. 89 & 90.