Sermon "Living In the Garden"
Rev. Lonnie Richardson
Rev. Dr. Steven A. Peay
Chris Rygh
Sunday, August 2, 1998
"Living in the Garden: Baptism the Sacrament of Incorporation"
Rev. Steven A. Peay, Ph.D.
Which came first, the seed or the garden?
To live in the garden means that, at some point, a seed was planted and grew. To the Christian mind, faith is the seed. In Matthew's "great commission" the apostles, and we as well, are commanded to go tell the Good News of God's love to everyone. Go, plant the seed, scatter it liberally and with love, just as the Father has. Then we are told, "and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
Baptism, then, is the primal sacrament; it is both the planting of, and the water which is poured upon, the seed. Baptism is the means by which the new plant is placed within God's lush garden, the church. The early Congregational theologians debated long and hard about this "seal of the covenant" and what it meant. Eventually, their thinking - which had diverged a bit from the traditional understanding of baptism - came back to the position that baptism was the act by which the follower of Jesus was purified, made a participator in Christ's life, and incorporated into his body.
The strong symbolism of water as cleansing and purifying agent attaches naturally to baptism. Scripture is replete with references to baptism as the act by which we are washed from sin, our hearts and minds cleansed, and our lives set-apart for the service of God. Moreover, the one made pure is then empowered to live a new ethical orientation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The baptized one is cleansed and brought into a real participation in the death and resurrection of Christ (again, New Testament references abound). Paul tells us that "as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Through baptism we are plunged into the love of God revealed in the life of Christ. The liturgical action of threefold immersion or pouring not only involves the Trinity, but reminds us that, like Christ, we have died to self, been in the tomb three days, and rise a new, a transformed person. Given this understanding, it's easy to see how the Puritans could call this sacrament a "visible Gospel."
Those who have been baptized are then made a part of the body of Christ - literally incorporated. Baptism, ultimately, is not something we do for God, but that God does for us. Baptism is both God's gift and our human response to that gift. It looks toward a growth into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Through this "seal of the covenant" we are drawn into the church - Christ's body - and prepared to "own the covenant." Thus, the early Congregationalists saw no conflict in baptizing infants or children. They saw the act as the Christian equivalent of circumcision, the mark of the covenant. To be in covenant is not our gift to God - it is God's gift to us.
As the first epistle of Peter reminds us, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, and a people claimed by God for his own, to proclaim the triumphs of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. You are now the people of God, who once were not his people; outside his mercy once, you have now received his mercy." (I Peter 2:9-10 -NEB) The great dignity which each of us has as a Christian comes because of our baptism, our entrance into God's chosen, priestly people. Priests are mediators, ones who make present, and that's what Christians do.
Living in the garden means that we acknowledge and renew our baptismal covenant - which is a once-and-for-all thing - daily, but especially in our worship and most particularly by our participation in Holy Communion. Our worship, then, is a response which enables us to fulfill what the Lord has commanded: to proclaim the Good News of God's love to every creature. Amen.
"Living in the Garden: Why We Worship"
Rev. Lonnie A. Richardson
"... God has set eternity in our heart," {Ecclesiastes 3:11}
This morning we shall look together at what it means to live in the garden of our corporate experience of worship. Why do we worship? Through the years I have observed many reasons why people come to church.
Most people come because they derive some personal benefit which they may be hardly aware of or which they cannot articulate clearly. They simply say, "I just like church. It helps me. It does something for me." We do many things on the basis of simple enjoyment. Other people come because they feel a need for meeting people, for being with others, for socializing. Some, I am sorry to say, come because they feel they have to. Some like to come because they enjoy the music and the singing. Some people come because they like the preaching. Some like the preaching, of course, because it makes them sleep!
Whatever may be the reason you come to church, most people feel they come for a good reason yet there is a wide range of expectations of what a worship service ought to be. If we tried to choose everything that individuals wanted in a service, we would be engaged in endless controversy.
Some want more ritual. Other people say, "No, what we need is a different music style. There are some people who like less formality in the service. Some want a shorter message especially on Packer game Sundays.
There are many different opinions. Worship should arise from a deep and urgent sense of need. We are designed for more than ourselves. It is what makes us worship. As the book of Ecclesiastes says, "God has set eternity in man's hearts," {Ecclesiastes 3:11}. Deep within us all there is a cry for God. That is what makes us worship.
Living in the garden attends to the cry for God in various ways:
We worship basically and essentially to honor and praise God. God is central in worship. We do not come for any other reason, fundamentally, than to express our praise and thanksgiving unto God. As the Psalmist puts it, "Give unto him the glory due unto his name," {Psalm 26:2, 96:8}. God is our creator. He made us. He fashioned us. He sustains us. We live and breathe because of his creative power. We praise him for his mercy and express glory to him. We worship to honor and praise God.
We also worship for a comforting sense of reassurance. If we, as a people, have been made afraid, or been threatened, we need reassurance; perhaps our faith has been shaken by some event. Many scriptures are designed to quiet our fears and make us rest in God and know again that God cares for us. Not necessarily that God will take care of us, but God cares for us. That theme is repeated in many of our services of worship. We for a comforting sense of reassurance.
We also worship to recognize afresh the ultimate end of relating to God and relating to each other. Worship prepares us to serve! The church is here to teach and bless and help. God's ultimate objective is the world, the scripture tells us that Christ died for the world not just the church us, people who's faith is at-risk. People who are stumbling blindly through life and destroying themselves in the process. There is plenty of hurt also in the church, but there it is being cured and corrected in order that we might learn how to help in desperate conditions of life. Worship heals a hurt.
Why do you worship? There is a cry for God at the core of who you are. God is here. In word, in sacrament, in songs of praise and adoration. Go now, serve in his name. Amen.
"Living in the Garden: The Sacrament of Continuation"
Chris Rygh
For this is what the Lord himself said, and I pass it on to you just as I received it. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and you, sealed by the shedding of my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it." For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again. I Cor. 11:23-26
Baptism is a sacrament that is normally only observed once by each person, as a sign of the beginning of his or her Christian life. The Lord's Supper is something different, a sacrament that is to be observed, not once but repeatedly throughout our Christian lives.
I believe we can examine this sacrament as a sign, as a symbol and as a substance. First, let us examine the Eucharist, (or Lord's Supper or Communion,) as a sign.
Sign is a word that can mean many things. At its most basic meaning: A posted communication or advertisement. Stop signs. No left turn signs. Signs that tell us about rummage sales. Signs that warn us about upcoming construction. "Over one trillion served" signs. Signs are used to convey information or direction.
At its most basic, the words we use to administer the Lord's Supper become like a sign, an advertisement for God's grace, a reminder of our continuing fellowship with Christ.
But Communion can also be viewed as a symbol. Let me show you what I mean by symbol. When we were married, my wife Mary Beth gave me a ring and with it her promise. Whenever I look at this ring, it reminds me not of the promise I made to her, but of the promise she made to me when she said, "With this ring I promise to . . ." My wedding ring is a symbolic reminder of Mary Beth's commitment to me. It is also a wonderful affirmation of her love for me through thick and thin.
In a much grander fashion, the Eucharist is a symbolic reminder of Christ's commitment to us. And it is an affirmation of Christ's incredible love for us.
Let us unpackage this. Our communion is a symbol of Christ's death. When we participate in the Lord's supper we symbolize the death of Christ because our actions give us a picture of his death. When the bread is broken it symbolizes the breaking of Christ's body, and when the cup is poured out it symbolizes the pouring out of Christ's blood for us.
Just as ordinary food nourishes our physical bodies, so the bread and juice of the Lord's supper give nourishment and refreshment to us. But they also represent spiritual nourishment and refreshment that Christ is giving to our soul. The ceremony that Jesus instituted is in its very nature designed to teach us this.
When Christians participate in Communion together they also give a clear sign of their unity with one another. In fact, Paul says, "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."
When we put these three symbols together, we begin to realize some of the rich meaning of the Lord's supper: when I participate I come into the presence of Christ; I remember that he died for me; I receive spiritual nourishment; and I am united with all other believers who participate in this Supper.
But when we participate, we should also be reminded again and again of the following affirmations that Christ is making to us:
The fact that I am able to participate in the Eucharist--indeed, that Jesus invites me to come--is a vivid reminder and visual reassurance that Jesus Christ loves me, individually and personally. When I come to take of the Lord's Supper, Christ affirms his love for me.
When I come at Christ's invitation to Communion, the fact that he has invited me into his presence assures me that he has abundant blessings for me. Christ affirms that all the blessings of salvation are reserved for me.
Also, as I partake in the breaking of the bread and the pouring out of the cup I proclaim again and again that my sins were part of the cause of Jesus' suffering and death. In this, I affirm not only my neediness, but also my faith in Christ.
The Lord's Supper can also be thought of in terms of its substance. In fact, this is the issue which has caused the greatest turmoil through the centuries of church expansion. Is it primarily something tangible? Or is it the meaning behind the words? Or is it something akin to a silent understanding?
Initially, early Christians agreed that the elements actually became, in fact, the body and blood of Christ. After all, Jesus said, "This is my body, this is my blood." Why shouldn't we take Jesus, the miracle worker, at his word?
By the time of the Reformation, however, Luther was trying a different spin. Although he rejected the orthodox position, he insisted that the phrase, "This is my body" had to be taken in some sense as a literal statement. His conclusion was not that the bread actually becomes the physical body of Christ, but that the physical body of Christ is present "in, with, and under" the bread of the Lord's Supper. The example is sometimes given: Christ's body is present in the bread as water is present in a sponge--the water is not the sponge, but is present "in, with, and under" a sponge and is present whenever the sponge is present.
John Calvin and some of the other Reformers argued that the bread and wine of the Eucharist did not change into the body and blood of Christ, nor did they somehow contain the body and blood of Christ. Rather, the bread and wine represented the body and blood of Christ, and they gave a visible sign of the fact that Christ is truly present.
Friends, the church has split again and again on this single issue: what constitutes the substance of Communion? For some of us it is the tangibility of the elements. For others it is the meaning behind the words. For still others the Eucharist represents profound emotional satisfaction.
Even though we have different approaches to what communion is,
we could probably agree that the what isn't as important as the
who. Communion, like all of worship, is something we do to honor
the one who created us, redeemed us and sustains us. Amen.
