this sermon began a six-week series on Paul's letters to the Corinthians. It was also Baptism of the Lord Sunday in the liturgical calendar. The sermon series is mostly using texts from the lectionary, although this first week the Corinthian passage is not the lectionary passage. In my mind as I prepared the sermon was the political divisiveness in our country.
“Baptism after Baptism”, January 10, 2021 ; SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp; Mark 1: 4-11
John the baptizer appeared[e] in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with[f] water; but he will baptize you with[g] the Holy Spirit.”
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;[h] with you I am well pleased.”
I Corinthians 1: 10-17: Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[d] by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.[e] 12 What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God[f] that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
Introduction: We gather in worship, we turn to God’s Word in the shadow of a very difficult week for our nation.
The divisiveness, anger, and distrust among us on full display.
Indeed, for the last ten months, we have gathered in worship and turned to God’s Word through difficult times: a pandemic and times of quarantine (for some, the church worship has been a place where quarantine seemed a little less isolating as you saw the comfort of the sanctuary);
through civil unrest;
through protests and counter-protests;
through an election cycle full of fingerprinting and ugly divisiveness;
even a post-election cycle with ongoing anger and resentment pouring forth
in the midst of all that, we have gathered here in worship to hear God’s Word read and proclaimed.
Perhaps for some, the words preached have not been prophetic enough;
perhaps some have found comfort and hope;
perhaps some have heard God’s word guide and call for repentance
I will tell you that standing in this pulpit and trying to proclaim God’s Word over the last ten months has been more humbling and challenging than most of my time in ministry.
So here we are today. gathering for worship; gathering with this familiar sanctuary as our background; gazing upon the Lords’ Table and the baptismal font as symbols of the sacraments; hearing music, lifting prayers, singing hymns, and turning to God’s Word for guidance, hoping and praying that the Holy Spirit will guide us and call us to new life.
WE humbly begin a six week preaching series on life in Corinth. Perhaps as we spend time seeing how Paul guides the Corinthians in their struggles, we will find insight into how we deal with our struggles.
move 1: Corinth
a. Corinth was the capital city of Achaia (uh-kee-uh)
1. Corinth at the time of Paul was one of the largest and most prosperous cities of the ancient world
2. it prided itself on being a haven for the newly rich and the opportunity of upward mobility.
3. By New Testament times, Corinth had come to be known for its lavish lifestyles and conspicuous consumption. - famous for theaters, temples, casinos, and brothels.
b. But Achaia was also looked down upon by the more refined parts of the world.
1. Looked down on because its history of being settled by freed slave;
2. Corinth was lifted up in contrast to Athens, merely 50 miles away, which was considered to be an intellectual center.
3. In fact, in Roman slang, “to act like a Corinthian” meant engaging in sexual promiscuity, hardly the place which the proper people might appreciate (introducing the New Testament: A HIstorical, Literal and Theological Survey, 2nd edition, Mark Alan Powell, 291-292)
c. But imagine the opportunity for the good news to be shared, for the Christian church to grow.
1. People who have grown tired of trying to prove themselves by what they can do or what they can have.
2. People for who upward mobility had still not satisfied that inner need for something more.
3. People who needed to know of God’s love for them.
4. perhaps we recognize that need in our world today.
Move 2: As Paul begins his letter to the new church in Corinth, he begins by discussing the divisions in the church - divisions caused by how members identify themselves and how they identify others.
a. They pledge their allegiance to one of the leaders in the church to the exclusion of others.
1. “i belong to Apollos” (“see - he is one of those Apollos' followers”)
2. “I belong to Paul” (“Can you believe she follows Paul?”
3. “i belong to Cephas” (“They have aligned themselves with Cephas - what will they do next?).
b. we may be a long way from Corinth, but we understand how the labels we claim for ourselves, or those we put on others, divide us.
1. We wear T-shirts or hats or masks that declare we are part of this group or that group.
2. We have bumper stickers that announce to everyone where we stand on issues.
3. We post or comment on social media making it clear which side we belong to and deride those who are not with us.
4. Not only do we have differences with others, but we magnify those differences and treat others as stereotypes.
5. To use Corinthian terms - “if I belong to Cephas and you belong to Apollos, than we are divided.
c. Paul has no tolerance for the divisions the Corinthians have created between themselves.
1. He does not care with whom they align themselves, because they are false indicators.
2. The Corinthians may see their differences, but Paul points them to their common calling, their shared humanity as children of God.
Move 2: child of God
a. Admittedly, Paul does not use the term child of God.
1. But as he writes to the Corinthians about baptism and their common ground of being claimed by God in the waters of baptism, it takes me to the font and the waters of baptism.
2. it reminds me of our baptismal language in which we find our calling as children of God.
b. this week, As I read Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and thought about Jesus being baptized in the river Jordan, I kept coming back to this phrase child of God.
c. child of God, claimed in the waters of baptism
1. I know it is unrealistic, but as I think about all the differences we have that gain momentum at separating us because of the labels we claim for ourselves or assign to others, I wonder what would happen if the only label we claimed for ourselves was “child of God,” and the only label we referred to others by would be “Child of God.”
2. how would that change how we understand ourselves?
3. Renowned preacher and storyteller Fred Craddock, who died a few years ago, used to tell this story.
the story of vacationing in the Smoky Mountains area of Tennessee. He and his wife had found a lovely restaurant at a place called the Black Bear Inn. Craddock writes: “ We Were seated there looking out at the mountains when this old man, with shocking white hair, a Carl Sandburg-looking person came over and spoke to us. He said, "You're on vacation?" We said, "Yes" and he just kept right on talking. "What do you do," he asked. ("Well, I was thinking," Craddock notes, "that it was none of his business, but I let out that I was a minister"). Then he said, "Oh, a minister, well I've got a story for you." He pulled out a chair and sat down. "Won't you have a seat," Craddock added. (He found out later that he was eighty years old and the former governor of Tennessee.) He said, "I was born back here in these mountains and when I was growing up I attend Laurel Springs Church. My mother was not married and as you might expect in those days, I was embarrassed about that -- at school, I would hide in the weeds by a nearby river and eat my lunch alone because the other children were very cruel. And when I went to town with my courageous mother I would see the way people looked at me trying to guess who my daddy was. "The preacher fascinated me, but at the same time, he scared me. He had a long beard, a rough-hewn face, a deep voice, but I sure liked to hear him preach. But I didn't think I was welcome at church so I would go just for the sermon. And as soon as the sermon was over, I would rush out so nobody would say, What's a boy like you doing here in church.' "One day though," the old man continued, "I was trying to get out but some people had already got in the aisle so I had to remain. I was waiting, getting in a cold sweat when all of a sudden I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked out of the corner of my eye and realized it was the face of the preacher. And I was scared to death. "The preacher looked at me. He didn't say a word, he just looked at me, and then he said, Well boy, you're a child of...' and he paused, and I knew he was going to try to guess not who my mother was but who my father was."The preacher said You're a child of...um. Why you're a child of God! I see a striking resemblance boy!' He swatted me on the bottom and said, Go claim your inheritance.'" And then the old man who was telling the story said to Fred Craddock, "I was born on that day!”
1. Imagine that we did not have to prove our value by labeling ourselves anything other than “Child of God.”
2. Imagine if our focus was living as a child of God, rather than living into other labels we have for ourselves.
c. If we began thinking of others as children of God, how might it change how we view and deal with them?
1. Angelou: “while I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God’s creations. This is particularly difficult for me when my mind falls upon the cruel person, the battered, and the bigot. I would like to think that the mean-spirited were created by another force and under the aegis and direction of something other than my God. But since I believe that God created all things. I am not only constrained to know that the oppressor is a child of God, but also obliged to try to treat him or her as a child.” (Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, Maya Angelou, 34)
1. to lay claim to being a child of God connects us to others.
2. Paul challenges the Corinthians on how they are living out their connectedness?
3. Might he be asking us the same question?
Move 4: Just as Paul begins his letter to the Corinthians talking about baptism, Mark begins his gospel focused on baptism.
a. notice that Mark has no birth narratives.
1. Mark begins with the glorious announcement: the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2. The Son of God whose first act is to be baptized by John in the Jordan River.
3. Imagine - the Son of God submitting to John’s baptism!
4. Not the Son of God coming to take over the role of baptizer?
not the Son of God demanding some special baptism.
no, the Son of God being baptized like all those others who have come to the River Jordan seeking new life.
5. Jesus connects with us in baptism.
6. When we see Jesus teach and heal and live among the people, choosing service to other;
when we see Jesus die on the cross, choosing to suffer and love, choosing resurrection over insurrection;
trace it back to the River Jordan when Jesus is baptized by John.
b. Power of the baptism comes not from the one doing the baptism, but from the one who speaks from the heavens.
1. God claims Jesus as God’s own son in the waters of baptism.
2. In the waters of baptism, God claims us God’s own children, connected to Christ, connected to each other.
c. Baptism that calls us to new life.
1. As Brian McLaren describes Jesus’ baptism:
“ What might have been considered acceptable before – hating Gentiles, hating priests, hating the poor, hating the rich – now seems like a sin to be confessed. What might have been considered unacceptable before – reconciling with enemies, showing kindness to outcasts, putting the needs of people above religious rules – now seems like a good thing. “ Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road, Brian McLaren (183)
2. the kind of new life that calls us to move beyond our differences and find new ways of living,
living together
as children of God.
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