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“The Promise of the Oath”
Hebrews 7:18-28; Mark 10:46-52;
Psalm 34:1-8, 19-22;
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Rev. Sandy Nuernberg
Oakland-Cambridge Presbyterian Church, Cambridge, WI
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time -
Reformation Sunday
Baptism Sunday - 100th Birthday of Polly Strohbusch
October 29, 2006
Please pray with me:
Oh God, send forth your Holy Spirit upon us in this room, that we may
see, and in seeing, believe that we, through your Son Jesus Christ
may serve you and others. Amen.
In celebrating
Reformation Sunday today, the sacrament of baptism, and also a 100th
birthday of an active member, we are reminded that at the root of our Reformed
tradition, John Calvin claimed that the sacraments are a God-given grace to us
as Christians, and that “we are not our own, but we are the Lord’s.”
(What Presbyterians Believe, p. 1, 1995).
We are, in fact, dedicated to God, and we believe, “the Holy Spirit claims us in
the waters of baptism.” (Brief Statement of
Faith, line 62, 1999). We might ask, in this early twenty-first
century, this secular world we live in, where we are pretty confident in
ourselves, is all that we are and do to the glory of God?
Doesn’t it seem realistic to think
that we live in an age where serious Christian commitment is less and less in
step with our society’s changing times and values, very much unlike 90-100 years
ago in "Miss Polly’s” young life? Do we realize this because we see and observe
today’s dedication not to God’s truth and promise, but to our own actions?
We practice and are taught to gain more possessions, try to achieve more power,
and seek more and more of everything. We focus more on ourselves and not on what
God has freely given us to bring glory to God and others.
It seems that what each of our
texts is proclaiming for us this day is the truth of the matter in the nature
and implications of God’s promise to us. God’s Son is the only high priest of
our faith; Jesus has been our help in ages past, and is our guarantee of our
hope for years to come.
The scene in Hebrews is God’s plan
for us as promise of an oath. God’s promise is the Word of the oath and
he became flesh in Jesus Christ; the ultimate, perfect high priest and king are
attributes of Christ Jesus, forever.
In our Gospel of Mark, the scene
is in Jericho, north of Jerusalem, where Jesus and his disciples learn of God’s
promise and truth in Jesus’ healing the blind beggar; the trust and promise of
his faith made Bartimaeus to see once again. Blind Bartemaeus was living
intentionally as one of God’s own–we aren’t told the details, but in previous
healing practices of Jesus, faith is in healing, and peace and understanding are
the outcomes. And Jesus’ actions, like his own baptism by John the Baptist, are
his identity; loving, graceful, unconditional, and transforming in nature.
These scenes in scripture are
different from the law and the prophets of the O.T., where kings had no oaths,
and life’s weaknesses included bloody sacrifices of slain animals. Yes, Jesus
Christ has a more excellent ministry, a better covenant, and kept promises. God
sent Jesus Christ to us as a ‘forerunner’ (v. 6:20) to prepare the way for us to
follow. A better hope and promise for us is in our approaching God not through
any earthly high priest or king, but drawing nearer to God through/in Christ’s
intercession for us; his priesthood is forever, he is sinless, and sits at God’s
right hand. All of this, and more, to the glory of God!
Today, we are celebrating a
God-given grace to us as Christians in baptism. Yes, like Calvin claimed, it is
all about grace; given by God freely to us; in our response we can give glory to
God! Baptism is initiation into the Christian faith and is a sign of God’s
covenant of grace, an act of God’s promise to us, done on our behalf, even
before we are able to respond. The promise of the oath of baptism is what God
has first done for us, and secondarily what we can do in response to God’s grace
and steadfast love, freely given, for us.
‘Miss Polly’ is the forerunner in
truth in her Presbyterian membership practices; she has paved the way for her
families and for us in her faith. She was baptized in our church one-hundred
years ago, and our children, baptized today, will pave the way, again and again,
for generation’s to come. This is why it is normal for Christian parents who are
active church members to present their children for baptism as infants, or very
young children. Parents and congregations make promises to nurture the baptized
child in the Christian faith.
The kind of grace that God extends
to us through the promise of the oath of baptism continues forever. For we all
receive God’s grace, promise, and hope abundantly in our Christian life; in
Sunday school, in confirmation, in active membership, in our experiences and in
our sufferings and illnesses, in death. In all of life we are given God’s many
graces as gifts. We change in our lives in this secular world in which we
live, in God’s actions, God has desired to show us clearly and distinctly the
promise of the unchangeable character and trust of God’s purpose for us (
Heb. 6:17). In the promise of this oath, our lives are dedicated to God and to
God’s glory!
In baptism’s outward sign of an
invisible grace from God, we aren’t our own. In Jesus’ visible sign of healing
blind Bartemaeus in his faith, we find graces of God’s healing, claiming us as
God’s own. The good news of the gospel for us is that Christ Jesus brings us
promise and hope in God the Creator for even more; to love us, to heal us, to
help us in hopeless situations.
As the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, God is actively at work in our lives, redeeming and transforming us
according to God’s vision and divine reign. In God’s promise to us, God calls us
to share in our ministry in the work of the Holy Spirit living in us; let us
respond and grow into full Christian faith and discipleship in God’s Name. It is
all to God’s glory! AMEN.
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