I find the ministry of Paul as it is revealed in the Book of Acts and in his own letters strangely comforting. It's full of trials and tribulations and horrid church politics and bitter arguments within the church leadership... I mean, Christians have had problems being the church together from its inception. And I find that oddly comforting.
I mean, there are so many differing traditions and interpretations within post-modern Christianity that I think we'll always have disagreements. Reading about the very similar disagreements in the early church somehow gives me hope.
Take Baptism for example. Even Protestants and Catholics agree that it's a sacrament, but there are all kinds of things about Baptism that we can argue about. Some Christians believe that we are born sinful, and therefore infants must be Baptized ASAP or risk going to hell. Other Christians believe that Baptism involves an important personal commitment, and therefore you shouldn't be Baptized until you're old enough to make such an important decision for yourself. In most traditions, once you've been Baptized, you're Baptized forever, but the Mormons will re-baptize you to show a commitment to their movement or as part of a healing ritual.
So I find it interesting when I read in the Book of Acts that Paul once found a group of Christian converts in Ephesus and asked them about their experience of the Holy Spirit when they became members. And they said, "This is the first we've heard of the Holy Spirit."
So Paul asked them, "Well, what kind of Baptism did you have, then?"
Sounds like a legitimate question to me! And to them, too, apparently, because they immediately said, "The kind that John the Baptist did."
And Paul told them that John baptized for the remission of sins and repentance, but that he also taught the people that should believe in the One who would come after him--in other words, to believe in Jesus. And so Paul Baptized them in the name of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit descended on them and they did all the awesome and powerful Holy Spirit things. And all was cool.
As a geek, I look at that passage from Acts and I can't help but think about the plot of a video game that has the reputation for having one of the best storylines--with one of the best surprises--in the history of gaming. And while I'm going to do my level best to talk about it in generalities, please consider this a Spoiler Alert: I intend to talk about Bioshock: Infinite. If you haven't played it through yet, and you haven't had the plot spoiled yet, proceed with caution!!
Ok, so, one of the most interesting and disturbing things about Bioshock: Infinite for me as a Christian geek is the fact that the difference between our hero and the arch-villain--literally the only difference--is the fact that one of them decided to be Baptized and the other didn't.
And it's the hero who did not.
Both hero and villain were soldiers. Both were a part of the horrifying brutality of the Wounded Knee massacre. But the hero decided to wallow in guilt as he descended into a pit of addiction to alcohol and gambling. The arch-villain accepted Baptism and was reborn as a megalomaniacal despot. It's a classic story of absolute power corrupts absolutely--and yet the turning point in the character's development is... Baptism.
Which begs the question, what kind of Baptism?
We don't know much from the game about what comes after, but the pastor who Baptized the arch-villain appears to be an itinerant frontier type. There was certainly no education about what Baptism means before it was offered, and I suspect that he was left to his own devices afterwords. Jesus is not mentioned once, unless you count a reference to "the blood of the Lamb." Every question leading up to the event is about sin, including the reference to the Lamb.
So... it's a Baptism for the remission of sin, but not in the name of Jesus. It sounds like what Paul describes as the Baptism of John--the kind that doesn't include the Holy Spirit.
What I'm trying to say is that at best, the Baptism he was offered wiped clean the personal sins up until that point. And his response to that grace was to use it to rationalize even greater evil acts in the future.
That's not what Baptism is supposed to be. That's not the proper response to the grace of God. And it's certainly not a sign that the Spirit is present. And it does not fairly represent what Christianity is supposed to be about.
Ironically, the hero, who refused Baptism, more closely represents what being a Christian is like. It's a journey. One where you constantly try to live up to the grace of God--and live down all those things that you have to be guilty about.
Baptism isn't just about cleaning your sins, in other words, it's about repentance--literally turning away from the bad and back towards the good.
That's really the difference between our hero and our arch-villain. The hero is repentant and the arch-villain is completely unrepentant.
It really is just that simple.
Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
010615
The scripture lessons for January 11th—The 1st Sunday After Epiphany—are:
Genesis 1:1-5
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Psalm 29
Ascribe to God, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to God glory and strength.
Ascribe to God the glory of God's name;
worship God in holy splendor.
The voice of God is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
God, over mighty waters.
The voice of God is powerful;
the voice of God is full of majesty.
The voice of God breaks the cedars;
God breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
God makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of God flashes forth
in flames of fire.
The voice of God shakes the wilderness;
God shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of God causes the oaks to whirl,
and strips the forest bare;
and in God's temple all say, "Glory!"
God sits enthroned over the flood;
God sits enthroned as ruler forever.
May God give strength to the people!
May God bless the people with peace!
Acts 19:1-7
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They replied, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." Then he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They answered, "Into John's baptism." Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied — altogether there were about twelve of them.
Mark 1:4-11
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 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. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 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. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
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