Reflections on “Baptize Again” 2 Timothy 1: 3-7

This sermon was preached on Rally  Day, the day we dedicate Sunday School teachers, youth leaders, Children's Chapel leaders, hand out Bibles/books to our children (this was adjusted due to Covid), and preview our fall programming at the church.

“Baptize Again”  2 Timothy 1: 3-7;  SAPC, Denton; September 12, 2021; Rally Day

3 I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. 6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Move 1:  In the first presbytery where I served in KY, I was part of the presbytery’s first Commissioned Lay Pastor committee.   the committee recruited ruling elders to take classes we taught on theology, the Bible, church polity, an worship, so that they could then be commissioned to serve churches without pastors.

I’m not sure how I ended up on the committee, or how I was picked to teach Reformed theology, but there I was, driving over the Eastern KY once a month to teach Reformed theology to four ruling elders.  

I had notes from my recent theology classes at seminary;  they had notes from their many years of church leadership.

It turned out to be a great experience for me.  I learned a lot from them.  Not sure how much Reformed theology they learned.

I will never forget the class on the sacraments.  We began with baptism.

I made what I thought was a fairly routine comment”  “you are only baptized once in the Presbyterian tradition.  We do not baptize twice.”

There was stunned silence.  

One of the elders filled the silence:  “you mean my son who I had baptized as an infant won’t get to be baptized again when he joins the church this year?”

“No,” I quickly replied.  “God has acted in baptism once, and God does not need to do it again.”  My quick response did not comprehend the depth of his concern.

“they didn’t tell me that when i agreed to have him baptized as an infant.  he needs to be baptized for himself so he can claim his own faith.”

Thus began a long, challenging conversation about baptism - both the theology behind it and the practice of it.

We do not baptize twice in the Presbyterian tradition.

But, it does not mean we do not take growing in our discipleship seriously.

This morning we kick off our year of full-scale activities - Sunday school starts up in earnest next week; Super Wednesday begins this week;  we tell you about all the offerings we have here at St. Andrew to entice you to be a  part of some of them.

But do not miss the point - our activities are how we live out the commitment we make when we stand at the baptism of our babies and say we will stand with them, we will nurture them, we will guide them so that one day they may profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

In fact, we will not stop our nurture and guidance even after someone professes their faith.

We will continue to offer opportunities for Bible study, for learning about the Christian faith, for small groups, for all ages - all in an effort to help each of us grow in our discipleship, to claim and commit to Jesus Christ again and again.

Move 2: We read a portion of the 2nd Letter to Timothy.  This letter is one of what are known as the “pastoral letters.”  they are named pastoral letters because they deal with leadership and pastoral oversight in the early church.

the early church heavily invested in how to help people understand what it meant to believe in the resurrected Christ and how to help people grow in their discipleship.

Such is our task.  

We read in this letter a bit about how Timothy’s faith has developed, how he has grown in his discipleship, though the example of the nurture of those who surround him in his life.

Ih this example, his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice have shared their faith with him, taught him the stories of the faith, and now he is embarking on his work of taking the faith to other churches and communities.

We not know the specifics of what Lois and Eunice did.  But we can imagine:

we can imagine Lois and Eunice were like a mentor for one of our confirmands who reads the daily Bible readings assigned to the confirmands and then can discuss those readings with the confirmands.

We can imagine Lois and Eunice were like a SS teacher, who on a weekly basis tells a Bible story or provides a science project or art project or mission idea to explore and expand about a Bible story, making the story come alive for those who gather on Zoom or in the room to learn about God’s Word. their work would make Bible Billy happy.

We can imagine Lois and Eunice were like the choir directors who teach music and songs that give voice to our Bible stories and theological concepts in a fun, musical way.

We can imagine Lois and Eunice were like our Children’s Chapel volunteers who share a different Bible story each week and teach our children about worshipping God.

Timothy’s faith development was not just a random event.  it happened under the guidance and witness of Lois and Eunice.

On Rally Day, we celebrate the intentional way in which St. Andrew helps us grow in our discipleship; to commit and claim again and again our faith in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion: Peanuts cartoon:  Linus:  big sigh 

Lucy:  Stop that stupid sighing. 

 Linus:  There's nothing wrong with sighing. 

 Lucy:  There is if it bugs someone. 

 Linus:  It’s Scriptural. 

 Lucy:  It’s what? 

 Linus:  Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.  Romans Eighth Chapter.  

Lucy:  I don’t know…I’m either going to have to slug him, or start going back to Sunday School”  

I vote for Sunday School, or a Bible study, or choir, or a Super Wednesday class.

Reflections on “Even the Dogs” Mark 7: 24-37

I am catching up on posting sermons.  I preached this text one week after teaching it in the Pastors' Class.  Consequently, I had a lot of material to use, which meant the main challenge was narrowing the focus.  I enjoyed this sermon.

  

“Even the Dogs”  Mark 7: 24-37; Isaiah 35: 5-6;  SAPC, Denton; September 5, 2021

24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre.[a] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Sir,[b] even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus[c] ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Introduction:  The lectionary gives us  two powerful stories of healing from the Gospel of Mark this morning.   The Pastors’ class studied these just last week, so if you have any questions, ask one of them!

As we look at these stories, we note that the story of the Syrophoenician woman immediately follows Jesus discussing, arguing, debating with the religious authorities the issue of hat and who is clean and unclean.

Jesus has made the point that it is not what you eat, or what purity rules you follow that matters, but what does from the heart.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at these two stories.

Move 1:  The woman would not let barriers stop her from reaching out to the person who can save her daughter.

a.  The story opens with the Syrophoenician woman on her knees bowing down before Jesus.

1.  Remember, the last person to bow down before Jesus and experience a healing of a daughter in the Gospel of Mark is Jairus just a few chapters earlier.  

2. Jairus was a leader of the synagogue.  It would be expected that Jesus would receive him and that Jairus would have an expectation that Jesus would see him as worthy of his attention and healing powers.

2.  The Syrophoenician woman, on the other hand, should have no standing wiht Jesus.  

3. She is, after all, a woman; a Greek Gentile; and she lives the land of pagans.

4.  We may be surprised when Jesus lumps the woman in with the dogs, but those hearing the story in jesus’ time would have immediately recognized the truth of that characterization.

5. She is an outsider with no reasonable claim on Jesus’ time or his healing powers.

b.  But, she will not let her status, or the world’s pecking order, or the expectation of who she is stand in the way of her seeking out the one who she believes can heal her daughter.

1. She takes on Jesus’ and his comment about dogs.

2.  “Even the dogs” eat the children’s crumbs.

3.  An interesting thing takes place in this dialogue.

4. When Jesus says, “let the children be fed first,” he uses the Greek word for children that means “biological children.”  

5. Jesus is talking about what he can do for the Israelites, for the family, for the insiders.

6. when the woman responds, she uses the Greek word for “children” that is expansive, that can mean the children of the household, and the servant children, and maybe even the neighborhood children who they might think of as family.

7.  It is as if the woman is boldly challenging Jesus - you say you have come for those beyond the tribes of Israel - do you really mean it?

8. In her pursuit of God’s grace and healing powers, she will even challenge Jesus.

c.   God’s grace for the pushy!

1.  The Reformer Martin Luther preached a sermon on this text and said that the woman got the best of Jesus in the discussion.

1. Luther lifts up the woman’s faith and suggests that when God’s grace is hidden, the woman still believes in God’s grace.

2. She will not stop until God’s grace appear and heals her daughter.

3. Over the last eighteen months we have again and again proclaimed that God is in our midst, despite the challenges in our world.

4.  The Syrophoenician woman reminds us that it is not enough to proclaim God’s presence, but we must work and push and challenge until God’s unseen presence becomes God’s grace seen among us.

5.  But do not forget that the woman’s persistence, her pushy ways, end up with her on her knees bowed down before Jesus.

6. We are not called to triumphalism that leads to or pushing what we want and our agenda.

7.  We are called to persistently and humbly push as we follow Jesus in bringing to the world God’s grace that transforms lives and leads us to new places.

Move 2: The healing of the deaf man with the speech impediment amplifies the point the Syrophoenician woman made.

a. Notice the path Jesus travels to be where he meets the deaf man.

1.  he goes from Tyre, by way of Sidon, toward the Sea of Galilee and ends up in the Decapolis area.

2. Google maps, or Waze, or even apple maps would never make the trip that way.  it would be like going from Denton to Austin by way of Texarkana.  You could do it, but it would make no sense.

3.  Perhaps Mark is telling us that Jesus is hitting up all the places where Gentiles are in this region.

4.  The way Jesus’ travels are reported suggest that he is taking his message, taking the life-saving, life-changing power of God to the Israelites and the Gentiles.

5. In other words, he is living out the truth that God’s relationship is no longer limited to the tribes of  Israel.

6. All people are invited to follow Jesus.

b.  We also notice that the deaf man has friends who have so strong a desire for him to be healed that they bring him to Jesus.

1.  Like the Syrophoenician woman, people who would have been considered outside Jesus’ circle still seeking him and his powers.

2.  Like the Syrophoenician woman, they beg Jesus to extend his healing powers to include their friend.

c.  So Jesus does.

1.  No argument this time, just a touch on his ears and his tongue and the man is healed.

2.  the actual Greek for “tongue released” is literally “the chain of his tongue was broken.”

3. The man is released literally from that which binds him and holds him by the one who comes to release all of us from that which binds us and holds us back.

4.  Surely, as the Israelites hear this story of the healing fo the deaf man, they will remember the words of the  prophet Isaiah who proclaims that when God arrives: 

“then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

 and the ears of the deaf unstopped,

then the lame shall leap like a deer,

    and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” (Isaiah 35: 5-6)

d.  God has arrived in the person of Jesus Christ who heals without concern for whether the person is on the inside or the outside of circle drawn by the religious authorities.

Move 3:  A final comment - Jesus is not kidding!

a.  At the beginning of the passage we read, we are told that Jesus “set out” and “went away…”

1.   Jesus “went” uses the Greek word that emphasizes the departure, instead of the normal Greek word for going somewhere.

2. It indicates that this is a decisive move by Jesus.

3. he is serious about where he is going and what he is going to do there.

b. as the stories unfold, we see how serious Jesus is.

1. he is expanding their understanding of whoa e God’s people.

2. he is sharing God’s healing powers with the Gentiles.

3.  Jesus cannot be stopped from sharing God’s grace with anyone and everyone….even the dogs.

Conclusion: Jesus offers us the same;  Jesus sends us into the world to settle for nothing less than to be part of God’s transforming grace in the world.

Reflections on the Cost of Relationship" Deuteronomy 4: 1-14; Galatians 5: 13-15

We have two weeks between the end of the Judges preaching series and Rally Day, so I am using the lectionary passages for the next two weeks.  The Deuteronomy passage is the Old Testament passage from this week's lectionary readings.   Late in my sermon process, I realized the mask mandates (r lack of mandates) could be a prime example in the sermon.  I opted not to directly address mask mandates, but did open the door for those who wanted to go there.  

This sermon was slow developing for me, so it kept changing even as I preached it.  What you read below is only an approximation of what was actually preached live.

 “The Cost of Relationship”  Deuteronomy 4: 1-14;  Galatians 5: 13-15; SAPC, Denton; August 29, 2021

 So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you. 3 You have seen for yourselves what the Lord did with regard to the Baal of Peor—how the Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, 4 while those of you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today.

5 See, just as the Lord my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. 6 You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!” 7 For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?

9 But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children— 10 how you once stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, “Assemble the people for me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me as long as they live on the earth, and may teach their children so”; 11 you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain while the mountain was blazing up to the very heavens, shrouded in dark clouds. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13 He declared to you his covenant, which he charged you to observe, that is, the ten commandments;[a] and he wrote them on two stone tablets. 14 And the Lord charged me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy.

Introduction:  We move on from our Judges series by turning to the lectionary for the next two weeks, before beginning our fall preaching series.

This week’s lectionary passage takes us to the book of Deuteronomy. As you may recall, Deuteronomy come s (from the Greek deuteronomos, literally, “second law”).

Deuteronomy consists of a series of speeches given by Moses to the generation of Israelites who are about to enter into the Promised Land. 

Remember, Moses will not make it to the Promised Land.  the speeches he shares with the Israelites are his words to be shared and remembered as they move forward without him.  

In many ways, the passage we read today may be understood as a microcosm of the entire book of Deuteronomy with its emphasis on following the law and the motivations for doing so. (Sarah Koenig, Associate Professor of Biblical Studies, Seattle Pacific University; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-22-2/commentary-on-deuteronomy-41-2-6-9-2)

Move 1: Rules, rules, rules.

a.  I remember seeing a Frank and Ernest cartoon: Standing with a stone tablet he says, “I’m afraid you’ll need to go into a little more detail.”

1.  the leaders of the Israelites will go into that detail.

2.  Ten Commandments will give way to many rules.  

3.  Each rule giving more definition to the original ten.

b.  Rules are often seen in a negative light.

1.   Steed Davidson, Professor of OT at McCormick Seminary, describes some of our hesitations to embrace rules.

1.  The idea of rules, laws, expectations, or even standards creates anxiety and fear for some persons. 

2.  Some hear a call to perfection. 

3.  Others sense failure before they even start.

4.   And yet others see this as an imposition on a relationship that should be liberating. (Steed Davidson

Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament; McCormick Theological Seminary; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-22-2/commentary-on-deuteronomy-41-2-6-9-4)

move 2:  But notice part of the rationale Moses gives for the importance of the rule - the statutes from God speak to a relationship with God.

a.  In vs. 7, Moses asks What great nation is there that has gods near to it like the LORD our God? (verse 7);

and then in vs 8, he asks, What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances righteous as all this law? (verse 8)

1.  The answer to these questions, of course, is “none!” 

2. No other nation has a God like the God of the Israelites.

3.  No other nation has a God who chooses to be in their midst.

4. No other nation has a God who desires to be in a real relationship with them.

b.  The many statutes and ordinances indicate God’s presence and God’s ongoing concern for the Israelites.

1. The law is seen as representing God and God’s desire to be in a relationship.

2.  As Old Testament scholar Sarah Koenig describes it:  “The righteous laws being written on the heart and being kept are in some sense a manifestation of the presence of God. God draws near in the law that God gives.” (Sarah Koenig; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-22-2/commentary-on-deuteronomy-41-2-6-9-2)

b. Thus, these statutes and ordinances as a gracious invitation into the relationship.

  1.  Not simply commands issued from on high, these are teachings given through patient education to form the character of the people of God. 

2.  Notice how vs 1 puts it - Moses is teaching the ordinances so that they may live.

3. The goal is not creating some standard of perfection that everyone will fail to achieve but to give life.

  c.  Remember, Moses is speaking to a people who have figured out they cannot make it doing it their way.

1.  Their time in the wilderness has shown them that all they can manage on their own is to be unfaithful to God and get into trouble.

2.  Their only hope is found in God.

2. The statutes and ordinances share with them how they can live in right relationship with God and with one another.

4. Obeying the statutes and ordinances is not about being forced to submit to rules, but about how to live in relationships that give forth life and show forth love.

Move 3: Moses has to teach these statutes and ordinances because he will not make it to the Promised Land.

a.  Moses seeks to shape the people while he can.

1.  In reading about Moses and the Ten Commandments, she asks if the commandments were the “word of God or crowd control.” The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, 10

2.  Or perhaps we might see a third option - the Word of God and that shapes a people

3. If we were to examine the statutes and ordinances, we would see that  They teach worship. They establish norms for political, prophetic, and religious leadership. They mandate communal holidays, festivals, and times of rest. They place limits on the practices of war and blood-vengeance. They ordain a just economy, communal care for the widow, orphan, and poor, and protection of those who are vulnerable. They sanctify labor, meals, and family life. (Anathea Portier-Young, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Duke University Divinity School

; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-22-2/commentary-on-deuteronomy-41-2-6-9).

4.  Important values and practices for God’s people who continue to need to be shaped and formed.

3. For people who are struggling with how to live as God’s people these were important and helpful guidelines.

b. We know how rules and regulations can be used to stifle and control.

1.  in fact, when Jesus comes into our midst he often points out the hypocrisy associated with the many rules and regulations and how the authorities held them over the people’s heads.

2. We know the challenge of dealing with rules.

3.  Seemingly on a daily basis now we read and participate in conversations and debates about when is it ok to have rules; who should be able to make rules;  and so on.

4.  The need for rules and the struggle with what to do with rules was not unique to the Israelites. 

5.  When Paul writes to the Galatians, he reminds them that the whole law can be summed up in one commandment - “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

6.  criteria for how we know when the rules are helpful and when they are not - if the rules help us express our love for neighbor; if our rules help us deepen our relationship with God and one another, then they are rules and give us life and demand our obedience.

Conclusion:  The Israelites, indeed we, are people who have been given a tremendous gift - relationship with God, who cares about us enough to be in our midst.  

May all our rules be about right relationship with God and one another.

Amen.