Book of Faith - Luke 20:19-26 - Paying Taxes

This week, our conversation returned to the practice of baptism.  What was the practice in the early church?  Baptism began as a rite of ritual cleaning in Judaism and moved to a rite of entry into Judaism by those outside the faith.  John would bring a new understanding with baptism being the washing away of sin which was beyond being ritually unclean.  In the early years, baptisms were held once a year at Easter and people would go through a three year time of preparation.  All of this would change with Constantine.  When he made Christianity the official religion of the empire, the doors opened to everyone being able to be baptized publicly.  Up until that time, with the persecutions, it was very dangerous.  Augustine would bring in the idea that one had to be baptized.  The debate about the necessity of baptism, baptizing infants, and believers baptism has continued down through the ages.  Luther, while understanding baptism as a sacrament within the life of the church, left the final determination (Can someone be saved who is not baptized?) with God.  In the end, Luther always differed to a gracious God.  

We moved from baptism to paying taxes and Jesus' great line to the question of paying taxes, "Render unto Caesar the things that our Caesar's, and render unto Got the things that our God's".  This was a clever response to the trap being set for Jesus by the Pharisees.  Having him come out against taxes, which would get him into trouble with the Romans.  Having him be in favor of taxes, which would get him into trouble with the people.  However, the answer is more than clever.  The answer really has us wrestle with what it means to be a disciple in this world.  How can we be in the world, but not of it?  There are no clear guidelines.  Each day, we have to face the challenge of being God's person at work, at school, and within the community.  Each day, we have to ask for God's guidance.  For example, we cannot abandon politics because we say politics is corrupt.  Christians need to be engaged in the political process and walk that line between Caesar and God.  That is true with every aspect of our life.  The good news is that God understands our struggle and walks with us as we discern and live out his call.

Peace,
Pastor Summer

Book of Faith - Luke 19:45-48, 20:1-8 - Cleansing the Temple

As we recover from Hurricane Sandy, it was good to return to a more normal routine including Book of Faith.  Everyone in the group has their power restored and we resumed our exploration of Luke.  Jesus has entered Jerusalem for the final week leading to the cross.  In the text, we found him clearing the temple of the sellers, which is a well known story.  The group found that Luke's account was so different than their memory of the events.  Luke is much shorter than Mark and not as detailed as John.  In John, we have an angry Jesus who makes a whip of cords and overturns the tables of the money changers.  John also has the cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry rather that at the end.  In Luke and Mark, the cleansing of the temple sets in motion the reaction from the Sanhedrin.  They have to deal with Jesus.  In John, the raising of Lazarus has the same affect.  In both cases, the Sanhedrin has to make a decision about Jesus.  He forces their hand.  They cannot sit safely on the fence.  This becomes apparent in opening of chapter 20 in Luke.  They want to give Jesus enough rope to hang himself.  They ask by what authority is he acting.  Jesus turns the question around and asks them by what authority did John baptize.  He knows the chief priests and elders are caught.  If they say John received his authority from God, the question is why didn't they follow him.  If they say John received his authority from men, then the people would rise against them.  The chief priests and elders play it safe and do not answer and so Jesus will not answer their question.  Again, Jesus is pushing them to make a choice.  He is forcing their hand to take action.  Jesus knows the game he is playing will lead to his death.  He knows they will choose against him in the end.  Jesus is a victim, but he is not innocent as though he did not see the rejection of the authorities coming.  Jesus was setting their rejection in motion beginning with his cleansing of the temple.

The rest of the time was spent in a conversation about baptism.  The group was surprised that baptism was a part of Judaism.  People outside the Jewish faith are baptized into the community.  John the Baptist would change the understanding of baptism by insisting that his own people be baptized, not just for ritual cleaning, but for the forgiveness of sins.  John also recognized that a different kind of baptism was coming.  Jesus becomes the occasion for this new baptism, but Jesus did not baptize anyone though he instructs his disciples to go out  and make disciples of all people baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The question is the group was whether these were Jesus' words or were they the words of the early church placed on the lips of Jesus?  It was also noted that Paul rarely baptized people and says that he did not come to baptize but to proclaim the Gospel.  This raised some interesting questions about baptism.  What is the history of baptism?  When did baptism become a central act in the life of the church?  When did infant baptism begin?  Is the requirement of baptism counter to the gift of grace as declared by Paul?  Is baptism needed for salvation?  We will be exploring these question at our next class.  Please join us on Wednesday at noon to be part of the conversation or continue to follow this blog.  Your feedback is always welcome.

Peace,

Pastor Summer