Baptism

This sermon is not part of a series. Baptism is a topic we are familiar with but many of us don't really understand it.  The Bible did not come into its present form until the fourth century. Its current form was decided upon then and what was deemed inspired grew out of Church tradition.  In Jesus' day there were many ways to be a Jew. In the early days of Christianity, there were many ways to be a Christian. Diversity was greater then than now. God makes room for diversity. No human has it all figured out. If we look at the Bible as a way to separate the in group from the out group - as primarily rules and doctrines - then we miss the story. The Truth is a Story.  New findings in archeology are teaching us a lot about the first century. We understand more what the words in the New Testament mean.  We need a deeper understanding of baptism. Baptism is a story. Ancient people thought of the ocean as deep and dark and terrifying - rather like we think of space. It was also viewed as the dwelling place of demons. The deep in Genesis reflects the terrible darkness of the waters. Isaiah 27:1 also speaks of sea monsters and demonic realities. God will slay Leviathan and only God can save us when we go into the waters.  God used water as a judgment in the story of Noah. The story of Jonah adds salvation to the judgment of going beneath the waves. The point is not what kind of fish swallowed Jonah or how Jonah survived.  Going into the water is serious. The Exodus is like a baptism. God brought the people through the waters of the Red Sea into salvation. The Egyptians, who drowned, were judged by the water. The Jews became a different people on the other shore - their identity is bound up in the Passover and the Exodus.  Claudius kicked Jews out of Rome and Gentiles (formerly "second class" members of the Church) took over. Nero let Jews come back and Paul's Letter to the Romans addresses in part the resulting conflict. What rules your life - sin or grace?  When we are baptized we are the Israelites going into the Red Sea, we are Jonah going into the belly of the fish, we are Jesus descending into Hell. When we rise from the water, we are new, we are changed, we rise into Life. What changes, as viewed in first century thought, is our identity. The old self dies, a new self is born.  Faith is not knowing the rules and doctrines. Faith is living into the Life of Christ.