Middle School and Scripture

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, "Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John" - although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized - he left Judea and started back to Galilee.  John 4:1-2

Over the next few posts I am going to slow down and savor one of my favorite chapters in John's gospel, chapter 4.  It is one of the most beautiful and powerful narratives (like the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son) in all the Gospels.  These first few verses do more than just set the scene for the story.  

Chapter 4 starts off like a scene from a Middle School hallway.  'When Jesus learned that the Pharisees knew how popular he was...', I just have to chuckle.  Seriously?  The first verse sounds like a popularity contest.  Yet...how often do we do the same thing in our churches today?  We end up comparing ourselves to the other church down the road where there are more members or a bigger budget.  We are caught up in the cycle of commercialism that is based upon you never being fully satisfied.  Because the truth is if you were satisfied with the bucket of rust you call a car...you would not want to buy that new Ford or Chevy.  The truth is commercials play not only to your desire for newness, but also your emotions.  They "sympathize" with how hard it is to be a parent...so make life easy and pick up a bucket of chicken on the way home tonight so you can have some family time.  Honestly, I have nothing against the bucket of chicken, but we cannot buy our way into quality family time.  Spending time with our families brings its challenges regardless of what is on the table.  To be sure, if we don't have to worry about the meal, it can help, but it will not solve all our problems and it is not some kind of magic formula.

The other part of John that is fascinating is the length John goes to with Jesus and baptism.  He is insistent that Jesus was NOT baptized.  Go ahead...look over the first three chapters of John's gospel to see that NO WHERE is Jesus named as being baptized.  Really...go ahead and look, I will wait.

I am not sure why John felt so strongly that Jesus was not baptized by John.  Scholars speculate that it made Jesus look less divine.  The other three Gospels get around it with God's booming voice claiming Jesus as God's son or a dove descending.  But John just completely leaves it out, except for these occasional awkward mentions.

But maybe that is good, because we are not always sure of what to make of baptism today either.  I don't look at a child and think of original sin.  If a child dies without baptism, I believe God's heart breaks alongside the parents with profound grief and God still welcomes the child into God's embrace.  Baptism, for me, is a communal sacred event...like communion.  It is the community promising to help raise the child and support the parents.  That is vital!  It is not just about having the child be present so we can feel better about our Sunday School program.  Children are not just our future...children are already our PRESENT.  They are a living reminder of God's fingerprints and created in the very image of God.  That is what baptism celebrates.  

What are your thoughts on baptism?  When the water evaporates on a child's or adult's forehead and you promise your support, what is God up to in that moment?  In about a month, we will observe Ash Wednesday.  The ashes from burnt palms from last year's Palm Sunday Celebration are placed in the shape of a cross right over the place on your forehead where water was placed.  Both are vital moment: life and death; celebration of new life and grief over death.  In some ways, baptism is both too!  Many would say in baptism we die to our old life and are born anew/again/above (see John 3:3).  

I pray today you will remember your baptism...perhaps not the exact moment.  But remember that you are claimed by the very grace of God who knows you and loves you!  May that fill your life with hope.

Blessings ~