Title: REMEMBER YOUR BAPTISM!
Focus: Our baptism gives us a new identity.
Function: To encourage the people to act upon this baptismal identity and live increasingly a holy and blameless life.
Heidelberg Catechism: L.D. 26 and 27
Text: I Corinthians 6:1-11
Bill was a
man of God, who had come to the end of his life; he was suffering from cancer,
and slowly but surely Bill became weaker and weaker. He was a man of prayer,
accustomed to pray regularly. So it was with some desperation that he said to
me at one of my visits: “Pastor Jack, sometimes I have so much pain, that I
can’t pray. And sometimes, my thoughts are so confused at night, that I can’t
express myself coherently to the Lord Jesus in prayer. What can I do?” I
said, “Bill, when you can’t pray because of your illness or because it’s so
difficult to think straight, place your hand on your forehead and simply say:
‘I am baptized. I belong to Christ, my Lord.’” In other words, “Bill,
remember your baptism!”
It was a simple suggestion on my part, but it helped Bill greatly as he went through the valley of the shadow of death.
Jeroen is
the son of my older brother who lives in the Netherlands. A few years ago,
Jeroen came to Canada and worked for his uncle for an extended period of time.
During that time, Jeroen and I had a few conversations about his commitment to
Christ and his church. Living in Canada helped Jeroen to come to grips with
some issues in his life. At the end of his stay in Canada, I wished him well
and I said: “Jeroen, as you go back to Europe and your old stomping
grounds, remember your baptism!”
As Rosanne and I raised our children these last two decades, we would often tell them: “Remember who you are! You are a child of God! Live that way.” So, when Eric went to college for the first time, he needed no explanation when I said: “Son, remember who you are!” And when Elliot went to Baghdad as a U.S. Marine, he knew exactly what I meant when I said, “Son, remember who you are!”
For Christians, to remember who you are is another way of saying: “Remember your baptism!” That’s why the Christian church, throughout the centuries, has used the acclamation “Remember your baptism” as a way to encourage her members to be faithful and to live an increasingly holy and blameless life. Our baptism gives us a new identity. So, live as such!
Why do I say that? It’s in light of the Scriptures as found in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth.
Corinth, in the days of Paul, is a thoroughly pagan or worldly city: It’s a place of business, where people are making a fortune; it’s a place of pleasure, where many people “live it up.” It’s a place of religious practice and experimentation, where the worship of Aphrodites in her temple goes together with temple prostitution. Corinth is a place where every and any human vice can flourish and where all 7 deadly sins raise their ugly heads in triumph and general acceptance. Corinth is a Las Vegas and Amsterdam combined. It’s a place that needs Jesus and the new life that Jesus offers.
There is a Christian community in Corinth. The members of the church, there, are struggling to increasingly reflect the influence of Jesus in their lives and community. They need help, advice, and encouragement. And that’s where the apostle Paul comes in.
In chapter 6 Paul is speaking directly to these young Christians and he reminds them of some obvious problems in the church community. These problems point to Corinth’s culture, and they remind us of the practices and lifestyles of the people in Corinth in general—a lifestyle and practices from which the new Christians must be weaned and transformed.
Paul alerts us to some of the problems in Corinth when he writes:
“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?…Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” Here, the apostle addresses the problem of lawsuits among members of the church. Some new converts are dragging other Christians to the courthouse in Corinth, rather than settling their disputes among themselves by using Christian discernment and making use of wise Christian men and women. As a result of these public lawsuits, the church of Jesus is getting bad publicity and the name of Christ is discredited. That’s why Paul says: “Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!” In other words, clean up your act.
But there are many other problems. They range from sexual immorality to perverse forms of sexuality, from theft to greed, from corrupt business practices to gossip in the church. Paul warns against such practices by saying: “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?”
Clearly, the sinners of Corinth who by the grace of God became members of the church, have a lot to learn. As part of their conversion life and Christian walk, they must continue to clean up their acts. In fact, they must remember their baptism!
Listen to
Paul: “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male
prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards
nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what
some of you were. {(Ouch)}But you were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
Spirit of our God.”
Here we notice a powerful shift in how the Corinthian members of the church must think of themselves. As Paul recites a list of vices, some of which are still practiced by a number of new Christians in the church, Paul concludes with an emphatic, powerful “BUT” or HOWEVER” In the original language Paul says: “But you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified.” Here we have three buts to drive home a powerful nail into the coffin of Corinthian sins. Paul holds before us a U-Turn sign of repentance that is as large as a cow. You and I can no longer participate in the lifestyle sins of Corinth, because we are washed, sanctified, and justified.
My friends, what shines brightly as a treasure on the surface of the text and elsewhere in Scripture, the Catechism teacher brings out more fully in Lord’s Day 26 and 27.
Some of us struggle with our identity. If you are a teenager, you sometimes wonder who you are. Sometimes you wish you were somebody else—someone who is popular and cool and adored by everyone else. Instead, many people make you feel like a “heel,” an oddball, a geek, a jerk, you name it. And you hate yourself and wish it were not so. I have good news for you. Remember your baptism. You belong to Jesus. You are precious in his sight—no matter what others are saying, or no matter what that small voice in your head is telling you. You and I belong to God. We know, because God has claimed us in our baptism.
I invite you to “chew” or reflect much on the teachings of Lord’s Day 26 and 27. Why? Because the Catechism echoes the Scriptures and makes explicitly clear what lies as a treasure on the surface of the biblical text: For example:
Listen again: “To be washed with Christ’s Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life.” In other words, I will not join in sewer pit activities. I will not lie down and swim in the gutter of sin. By the power of God’s Spirit, I will remember that I’ve been set apart to live a life that brings joy to God and life to me. My friends, will you make this the mantra, the motto of your life?
Have you ever heard the story of Dulcinea? (Cf. Self-Esteem: The New Reformation) In the stage play, The Man of La Mancha, the grand idealist (a “nutty” Medieval knight so it seems) meets a prostitute named Aldonza. “You will be my lady,” he announced to the shock of this prostitute. Then he added, “Yes, you are my lady, and I give you a new name—Dulcinea.” As the stage play unfolds, the nutty knight Don Quihote keeps affirming and insisting that Aldonza is his lady, not some kind of slut. Aldonza finds it hard to believe, and at one point she cries out “Don’t call me your lady. I was born in a ditch by a mother who left me there naked and cold and too hungry to cry. I never blamed her. I’m sure she left hoping that I’d have the good sense to die.” Clearly, Aldonza is struggling with her identity and purpose in life.
At the end of the stage play, just before the curtain drops, there is the death scene of Don Quihote. This seemingly nutty, glorious dreamer of a knight, has come to the end of his life. Suddenly, to his side comes what appears to be a Spanish queen in a mantilla and lace. She kneels and prays. Don Quihote opens his eyes and asks, “Who are you?” “Don’t you remember?” The lady rises and stands tall. She is beautiful, perfectly proud and perfectly humble at the same time. She speaks softly, “Don’t you remember? You called me your lady. You gave me a new name. My name is Dulcinea!”
Once a prostitute and destitute of any self-respect and dignity, once lost in terms of who she is, Aldonza is now Dulcinea! Why? Because she remembered her new identity given by this nutty knight.
Once, you and I were lost in sin. But now, by the grace of God, we may belong to the people of God through baptism. Once we were sinners—now we are saints. Once we lived a gutter life—now we live an increasingly holy and blameless life. Remember your baptism!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.