Pondering John's Baptism

This weekend my daily Bible reading took me further in to the Book of Acts, which I've read many times before.  But I was really struck by this story about Paul, and some disciples, in a way that I had never been struck before.  Maybe it is because I am reading it in The Message paraphrase or maybe I just never paid close enough attention!  Anyway, here it is, from Chapter 19:

"Now it happened that while Apollos was away in Corinth, Paul made his way down through the mountains, came to Ephesus and happened on some disciples there.  The first thing he said was 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?  Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart:  Did he get inside you?' 'We've never even heard of that-a Holy Spirit:  God within us?' 'How were you baptized, then?' asked Paul.  'In John's baptism.'  'That explains it,' said Paul.  'John preached a baptism of radical life-change so that people would be ready to receive the One coming after him, who turned out to be Jesus.  If you've been baptized in John's baptism, you're ready now for the real thing, for Jesus."

I want to point out a few things here-first Paul did not question the fact that they were disciples.  Second, he didn't question the fact that they were baptised.  By asking them if they had received the Holy Spirit, he was in essence asking them what type of baptism they had received.  When the disciples replied "John's baptism", you see Paul saying "That explains it!" 

A modern day reader might look at that exchange and conclude that the disciples were not really baptised because it's assumed that it is a given that we are baptised by the Holy Spirit.  I think Paul would disagree with that assertion.  So, here's what I am pondering.  Those who are in the church are baptised, but how many in the church are stuck in John's baptism?  Weird question?  Let me explain.

Paul describes John's baptism as "radical life change so people would be ready to receive the One coming after him" or in other words  taking "God into your mind only."  They received the Holy Spirit but they had not yet "embraced" the Holy Spirit. 

I may be splitting hairs here but I do wonder how many people are sitting in our churches longing for something more and yet getting the impression that this is as good as it gets in their spiritual life.  Faith, to them, is an intellectual exercise that you try to apply in a practical way in your daily life.  I believe taking faith beyond the church doors and using it in your daily life matters!  But I also get the sense that people are longing for something deeper, something more and they're not sure how to find it!  They sense, that there is something more, that there should be something more but how do you find that something more?

Apollos taught what he knew.  He taught it faithfully and well and the disciples followed.   Paul came along and showed them the next step.   They were not aware that there was something more.  Modern day Christians don't have the same exact problem but there is a similar issue-who will teach them how to take the next step?  Who will help point the way to something more? 

This may seem like a weird thing to bring up during Advent but think about it-when a woman experiences pregnancy she knows that the baby and her body will go through change.  There is a process that happens.  There is something more than simply being pregnant.  The first flutter, the first strong kick, the first bout of 3 a.m. false labor.  All of it leads up to the big event, the actual birth!  But there is even more after that-there is raising, to the best of our God given ability, the little helpless squirming bundle that is now in our arms!  There is always a next step, there is something more.  If you apply that analogy to the church-are we as a congregation teaching that something more?  Or are we just letting our members rest in a baptism that is similar to the baptism of John? 

It's a question that I think we should consider pondering.

Penance, Prayer and Depth

Penance is a really old fashion word that we historically associate with punishment, and that understanding is reinforced by the dictionary definition of the word.  I'd like to draw your attention to a few of the descriptive words in the definition:  "sincerely repent, confess and perform acts required".  I really got to thinking about this word as I read through chapter 5 in John Ardt's True Christianity (just a quick note if you decide to follow the link and read this yourself-it looks like it is all one big document but it does break down by chapter, you just have to look for the start of a new chapter in the body of the text).  Back to the topic at hand!  John Ardt made this statement:

 "For true conversion does not consist in putting away great and outward sins only, but in descending deeply into your own self, searching into the inmost recesses of the heart, the secrets and closets, all the windings and turnings thereof; changing and renewing them throughout, with the grace, that is given you..."

For an individual to really embrace the gift of grace, they need to understand that they have a need for forgiveness in the first place.  That's why we see Peter in Acts chapter 2 of The Message paraphrase saying:

"Change your life.  Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven." 

 Many did repent and were baptized.  Yet, we find Paul talking in chapter 5 of Hebrews about the fact that those who should be eating "solid food" are still drinking "baby's milk."  They understood on the surface, but they had not gone into the depth that John Ardt talked about.

We have the same problem in the modern church!  Think about it-why make the effort to go to church, or to fellowship with other believers if it does not make a significant difference in your life?  Depth matters!  I was reminded of this at a workshop that I participated in at the Church of the Resurrection's Leadership Institute.  Rev. Constance Cherry led the workshop and it's focus was on prayer-specifically corporate prayer.

Rev. Cherry asked a question that we should all ask and seriously consider: "if the people in this congregation only had me to teach them to pray, what would their concept of God be like?"  As leaders, we need to remember the importance of teaching others how to pray.  Corporate prayer is a conversation between God and people and what we say, the words we use, should reflect that understanding.  And true conversation not only involves speaking, but it also involves listening.  It involves acknowledging that God is present. Corporate prayer done well can be a model for individuals to use in their personal, private prayer time.  It can help us move towards a deeper relationship with God.

As I reflect on the information that I gleaned from this wonderful workshop I realize that prayer is one of the things I struggle with personally.   Particularly the quiet "listening" part and the admitting my shortcomings and mistakes and asking for forgiveness.  When was the last time that I sincerely repented, confessed and changed my ways?  It's not that I don't want to do these things, it's making the time to do them!  I long for that spiritual depth but I honestly didn't know where to begin!  I have the distinct impression that I am not the only one out there that struggles with the this issue!  The further down the road you go, the more you realize, the less you know!  Nothing like a little reminder that nails you squarely between the eyeballs!  (Yes, Virginia, God does have a sense of humor!  He puts up with me, that should be proof enough!  hee hee hee!)

So two lessons learned from this particular workshop.  One is that I need to work on my own prayer life and listen more and ask for forgiveness for my mistakes more often.  The second is that corporate prayer is important and I hope that my church will make this small change in our services to include more prayer time.  Modeling prayer in a corporate setting may be just the thing that an individual needs in order to make a significant change in their own life.  Isn't that what our faith walk is about?  Penance, prayer, grace and change.  Seeking depth rather than superficiality.  I pray that our faith community chooses to lead the way by example because it is a powerful and meaningful way-following in Jesus footsteps!

Time for me to go eat some more humble pie!

Resurrection vs. Regeneration

Once again, I have run across something that made me go hmm...and it actually clarifies something I have struggled with for a while.  Current "churchese" talk circles have said that the United Methodist Church needs a resurrection to happen.  I understand the point they are trying to make, but the term has bothered me.  So I looked up the definition in my Webster's dictionary and here's what it said:

"the act of rising again, after death"

So, are we saying the church is dead?  I don't buy that!  If you look at what Wesley wrote in the sermon that I posted yesterday, he said that there was a remnant or "seed" that remained, and it sprouts and it grows and it matures.

This morning I was reading in Wesley's Christian Library a piece from John Arndt's True Christianity.  He talks about following the pattern of Christ and he uses the term "regeneration".  Regeneration-it is a very interesting term!  Here's the definition:

"to give new life or vigor to-a spiritual rebirth" 

This is a term I can relate to-it makes sense!  It also illustrates exactly what I was seeing in the Book of Acts (which I posted about last Thursday).  The Spirit is not dead!  The church by extension is not dead because a remnant or "seed" remains!  Let's apply it to the model that I noticed in Acts.

The Apostles were the first "spiritual generation".  They planted seeds in the Disciples (the second spiritual generation) and they followed the pattern of Christ-they grew, they matured, they became leaders.  Stephen and Phillip and Barnabas became "seed planters" and Christianity spread.  They did their apprenticeship at the feet of the Apostles, then they were sent out as leaders to continue the process.  Regeneration was built in to the system right from the start!

Here's the modern day lesson for the church.  Discipleship done well has regeneration already built in to the system!  Our members need to spend time at the feet of good leaders, listening, learning and seeing how things are done BEFORE you put them in to leadership roles.  They need time to mature.   But once they reach that level of maturity, they can then become leaders themselves and they can plant the seeds and lead others through the same process.  The individuals that they Disciple can then become leaders as well, once they reach that level of spiritual maturity.  And the process continues.  Active regeneration.

Regeneration does not start from a dead place.  It starts from a living place.  The Holy Spirit is alive and well! It does not need to be resurrected.  The only thing that needs work happens to be "us".  We need to embrace regeneration in ourselves.  Then we can start the process of regeneration in our churches.

I'm liking this idea of regeneration!  :-)

What we See-What we Convey

Thoughts from Amos (The Message Paraphrase)-the "what we see" part:
Chapter 5:

"Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.  Decent people throw up their hands.  Protest and rebuke are useless, a waste of breath.  Seek good and not evil-and live!  You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, being your best friend.  Well, live like it, and maybe it will happen.  Hate evil and love good, then work it out in the public square."

"...I can't stand your religious meetings.  I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.  I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals.  I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making.  I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.  When was the last time you sang to me?  Do you know what I want?  I want justice-oceans of it.  I want fairness-rivers of it.  That's what I want.  That's all I want." 

Chapter 6:

"Woe to those who live in luxury and expect everyone else to serve them!  Woe to those who live only for today, indifferent to the fate of others!  Woe to the playboys, the playgirls, who think life is a party held just for them!  Woe to those addicted to feeling good-life without pain!  Those obsessed with looking good-life without wrinkles!  They could not care less about their country going to ruin." 

Is it just me or does this sound an awful lot like what we see around us today?  Amos may have brought the message (rather reluctantly) but he was obedient-he said what had to be said.  But he also ended on a hopeful note.  There would be shaking and sifting but a faithful remnant would remain.  And that remnant would rebuild because God would bless them.  

I'm still reading in the Book of Acts and today I read about Paul and Barnabas in Antioch (chapter 13). They were invited to speak twice.  The second time some of the Jews became jealous because of the crowds and they contradicted what Paul was saying.  Long story short, this is the point where Paul told the Jews that they had rejected the message so now they would be going to preach to the Gentiles siting Isaiah 49:6 as the justification for doing so.  It goes on to say that when they Gentiles heard this "they were glad and praised the word of the Lord..."  The message that was conveyed?  There was hope for them too!  They could accept that Jesus was the Savior and they too could be saved.  They could be included as well!  I got thinking about this:  what would it feel like to be an outsider, wanting to be a part of this but being told that you couldn't be included because you didn't have the right qualifications.  What would it feel like to have someone come along and suddenly say "oh that's nonsense, you can be included too!"  Is the church today willing to convey that message-hope.  Or will we stand by and look at what we see and say "this is simply how it is."  What message are we willing to convey?  How far are we willing to go?

If Amos, even in the midst of delivering a very painful message, could still hold out a message of hope, shouldn't we be doing the same?  The message is not pleasant-we all need to repent.  But there is hope!  Jesus is Savior and he is available to all who are willing to believe.  No qualifications necessary other then a believing heart and a willingness to repent our old ways and follow a new way.  That message should be first and foremost today!  Our world needs it desperately!

Something Significant Going on in Acts

This is going to be a short post because I am still trying to get a sense of what needs to be said on this topic.  Take some time today to read Acts, chapters 9-11.  Most of the time any sermon that is preached on these chapters deals either with Paul's conversion or Peter's vision.  As you read, I want you to ignore the rock star Apostles and focus on what is going on around them on the side lines.  Focus specifically on these sections:

Acts 9:10-19  Notice that God did not send an Apostle, God sent a Disciple-Ananias.
Acts 9:26-27  Notice that Barnabas has to intervene for Paul because the Apostles would not even speak to him because they are afraid of him.
Acts 10:1-8  Notice that God speaks to Cornelius first before he speaks to Peter.
Acts 11:19-26  Notice that only a few of them spoke with the Hellenists (meaning those who were not Jewish), they had great success, the Apostles sent Barnabas, Barnabas then went to find Paul and bring him back to Antioch and Antioch is where the Disciples were first called "Christians".

In my mind I am thinking in terms of "spiritual generations".  The Apostles were the first "spiritual generation" and here in Acts we are seeing work being done by the second "spiritual generation" of followers.  They had been trained well enough by the first generation to successfully carry out and carry on the mission.  And even though Cornelius was not necessarily a Disciple at the time, Peter is being sent to train him to become a Disciple leader.  

How exactly this applies to the here and now, I'm not sure.  I just know that I sense in my spirit that there is a significant lesson here to be pondered.  What we glean and how we apply it matters significantly.  All I know is that I am hearing that still small voice saying "pay attention, pay attention because this is big and it matters!"  I've learned to listen and pay attention and right now, I'm in "wait" mode.  I'll get back to you on this.  In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on this feel free to share! Something significant is going on!

Disciple and then Delegate

In chapter 6 of the Book of Acts we are introduced to a problem that arose in the early days of the church.  A conflict arose about food distribution between the Hebrews and the Hellenists.  It seems the Hellenists felt that their widows were being neglected and not getting as much as the Hebrew widows.  So the Apostles called the entire community together for a meeting to settle the issue.  In verses 2-4 (NRSV translation), the Apostles say this:

"...It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables.  Therefore friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word."  

Now a modern reader might read this and think "what, they were too good to do this?"  Somehow they thought they were above needing to do this task?  Not so fast!  I think if the Apostles thought that there was no one well qualified to handle the task they would have taken it on.  But, the community was growing-the Apostles had trained people within the community who could take on this leadership role.  They were fully confident that they could safely delegate this task.  The Apostles had discipled their followers so they could then start delegating so they could continue to disciple others.  That's how you grow-you teach and train others how to lead, so they can take over and then you move on and teach and train others how to do the exact same thing!

And Luke is kind enough to introduce us to two of the seven chosen-Stephen and Phillip.  We are able to learn about their separate ministries.  Stephen's ministry went beyond just feeding to performing "signs and wonders" and also speaking in the synagogue of the Freedmen.  He is so powerful in his speech that individuals set out to discredit him and he is brought before the council, where he delivers a message.  It was a message that they did not like, so they stoned him. Phillip, meanwhile, goes to Samaria and "proclaimed the Messiah to them."  He also performed signs and wonders.  He was so successful that the Apostles on hearing that Samaria had accepted the word of God, sent Peter and John to pray for them.

If these examples don't make a strong case for the importance of good discipleship in the church today, then I don't know what does?!  Not only did the Apostles teach and preach, they also trained their followers, leading by example.  And when they felt that certain followers were ready, they gave them a chance to lead by delegating tasks to them.  By doing this, it freed them up to help others work through the same process in order to get to the point where they could lead as well.

This makes a lot of sense.  Our members are "out in the trenches" working and dealing with people who might never darken the doorstep of a church, but are receptive to talking with and listening to someone "just like them."  Discipleship really is an apprenticeship because not only should it give "book knowledge" but it should also provide practical knowledge.  An apprentice needs to learn first by listening and watching and then you let them do the work.  You have them try their hand at something small so they can become comfortable doing the work and then they move on to more difficult tasks.  When a leader can delegate with confidence, then they can continue to do the work of leading and training others.  When the "trainee" can become a "trainer" then suddenly you can train even more people which means more work can get done.  It also frees a leader up to focus more on vision and leading because others have been trained to teach.

I can only speak from my personal experience in the UMC but I have a feeling that what I am about to say plagues a lot of denominations out there.  We assume too much and we tend to skip the discipleship step.  Not every church does this, and I don't think that it is done consciously, but the undercurrent is there.  We assume when someone walks through the door that they know how to pray.  We assume that they are reading their Bible and that they know how to read their Bible.  We assume that they are ready to do mission and evangelism work right from the get-go.  We assume that they understand what it means to be a Methodist and what comes with that territory.    We assume that they know how to practically apply Bible teaching in their daily lives.  So rather than taking some time to teach and train we put them in to some sort of ministry and they burn out and leave through the side door.  We scratch our collective heads and wonder what happened? We asked them to do something that they were not ready or prepared to do.  We skipped a step.



If we want to grow and share the gospel then we have got to get serious about discipleship.  It doesn't happen overnight.  It is not a "silver bullet", it is a process that takes time.  Are we willing to take the time to do some serious training?  That my darling readers is a question well worth asking and answering.  Our response will dictate our outcome.  And outcome is the new buzz word in the "measuring metrics" world.  If we get this right, then the numbers game will become a thing of the past!  That is what makes the question worth asking!  The day we declare "numbers no more" will be the day that I declare Hallelujah AMEN!

I'd Like a Little Cheese to go With my WHINE!

Darling readers, pray for little ole me cause I'm a wretched miserable mess!  Fall, one of the most beautiful glorious times of the year in Missouri is a wretched time for me until a hard frost hits!  Fall allergies-bane of my existence!  I sneeze-my head feels like it's going to explode.  I sniffle, snort and blow my nose-my head feels like it's going to explode.  Even my ears itch!  Allergy meds you say?  Well, that's complicated.  You see, I live in an area where there is an active methamphetamine producing culture, so in order to try and stop the production of meth, the county passed a law whereby you must have a prescription-which means a visit to the doctor-which means I have to have a car and a co-pay.  We're down to one vehicle (mine) and since my husband going to work in order to have money to, oh I don't know, pay the bills is rather important...you get the picture.  Pass the cheese please.  There you have it, my sad little whine.

Oh if only someone could lay hands on me and heal me like Peter did in Acts 3:6 when he healed the crippled man at the gate!

"...I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk."

Miracles, healing, do they exist today in our modern world?  If you watch religious television with the mega tele-evangelists you would have to think yes.  But, I also know some of those "miracles" have been called in to question.  With modern medicine and technological advances things that seemed "miraculous" before seem rather common place now.  We have become somewhat jaded methinks in regards to miracles-we take an awful lot for granted.

What would it be like to experience that wonder and excitement again of being awed by a miracle?  Better yet, what would it be like to count our blessings and be thankful for what we have?  Think about it.  The discovery of Penicillin was huge!  Something that would kill a person before could now suddenly be cured!  The Polio vaccine was miraculous.  Advancements in imaging technology allow doctors to see tumors much earlier than before.  Organ transplants, reconstructive surgery for our veterans, advances in cancer treatment-it wasn't all that long ago that these things were not even possible!  Add to that the doctors who volunteer to go to places that do not have these technologies in order to help others who would not otherwise get help and the fact that they can actually get to these places-that's miraculous!  Can you imagine what Luke would have done if he had these resources at his disposal?  A faithful follower of Christ giving what he had to heal and help those who could least afford it-WOW!  How cool is that to imagine?!

Healing taking place right in front of our eyes-miracles do still happen.  We just need to open our eyes to see them!  What an amazing world we live in!

The Big Picture-Imagination Adventure of the Day

Imagine with me for a moment.  Picture in your mind, your home town.  Picture the borders, where your town starts and where your town ends.  Have you got it, do you see it precisely in your mind?  Now, picture in your mind that a wall has suddenly been built on those borders and you are completely cut off from everything outside of your town.  No one gets in, no one gets out!  What you have is what you've got, nothing more, nothing less.  Here's the question: could your town sustain itself for one week based on what you have in your town?  I'm betting most of you would answer "no" to that question and honestly a few weeks ago I would have as well!

Something happened though to change my thinking on this question.  My home state got hammered by massive amounts of flooding and there were towns that were literally cut off from everyone else around them.  Granted, they didn't have to go a full week before supplies were flown in to them, but they did have a period of days where all they had to survive was what they had in town.  Not only did they survive, they thrived under the pressure!  You see, they discovered that when they worked together they had more than they thought!  They discovered that they were more than the sum of their parts!

I am reminded of the early church portrayed in the Book of Acts.  In chapter 2, starting at verse 44 (NRSV) it says:

"All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.  Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people." 

Now I'm not suggesting that you sell all your stuff and join a religious commune.  No.  What I am suggesting though is that you look at your church family and your community with a new set of eyes.  We tend to look at things a piece at a time.  We look at the parts rather than looking at the whole picture.  The early church prospered and grew because they worked together as a whole.  They had one goal-sharing the good news of Jesus!  Everything they said, everything they did, how they lived, was focused on that goal.  They discovered that they were more than the sum of their parts.

Let me go back to the example of the towns that were cut off by flooding.  The first thing they did was meet together to figure out who was accounted for, who was not, who needed help and what did they need to focus on first.  Some people had food in their freezers which they pulled out and donated for a big town barbecue so everyone would have something to eat.  Some had heavy equipment which they put to work trying to rebuild roads so they could get things opened back up.  Some had ATVs which they used to either rescue folks who were stranded or to try to find a way out of town to get supplies.   Horses, propane cook stoves, generators-there were things in town that individually wouldn't make much of a dent but when pooled together would sustain them all until they could get help.  And plain ole labor-people willing to pitch in to help clean up because the faster they could clean up, the more they could save and the faster they could rebuild.  They were able to accomplish a lot more working together than working individually.

There's a lesson to be learned here.  Churches want to "make an impact" they want to "do and be" but many times you have groups of individuals doing a little bit of this here and a little bit of that there in the hope that this will be "the next big thing".  Not that these things are not good or important but where do they fit in the big picture?  What part are they of the whole?  When you look at your church in relation to your community what part do you play?  Where do you fit in?  What is your goal for your church and for your church within your community?  What could you accomplish if your entire congregation worked together?  What would you accomplish if your church worked with others in your community?

If we focus on the big picture rather than the individual parts I wonder how that would change what we do in our churches and I wonder how that would change how we interact within our communities?  I wonder what kind of resources we would discover, that had always been there, but we didn't notice?  I think about individuals sitting in our congregations who would like to find a way to actively participate but who think there is no where that they fit in within church ministry.  Or, I think about people in the community who would like to find a way to help but they have no group to connect with.  Can we take those parts and connect the dots and do something truly extraordinary?

One of the great things about the Methodist tradition is that work is not a dirty word.  You don't do works because it somehow scores you angelic brownie points.  You do work because it is an outward expression and demonstration of your faith.  As the Apostle Paul said "Faith without works is dead."  Wesley understood this, that's why he went to the prisons and brought not only faith, but food.  That's why he set up Sunday School so children who worked in factories six days a week could not only hear the word but learn to read the word.  He knew if a young person could read they stood a better chance of advancement-they stood a better chance of being able to have a better life.  He understood the need to preach and teach but he also understood the value of the practical.  He understood the importance of meeting someones needs.

So take some time today for some quiet reflection and really think about the big picture.  Where do you fit in?  Where does your church fit in?  What can you do with others that would make a difference towards uplifting and sustaining your community?  What can you accomplish if you work together with others?

There's your exciting thought adventure for today!  Have fun!