I Peter 3:18-22: Noah's wasn't the only ark

In the previous post, we saw how even in the midst of suffering, we are to “apologize”, or give a defense of our faith.  The reason for this is simple: Jesus Christ did the same thing.  Peter uses some very familiar stories to help us understand what it looks like when we find shelter in God’s grace during difficult times.  Specifically, he uses the story of the ark.  The story of Noah is parallel to the situation of the recipients of Peter’s letter.  They, like Noah and his family, are an oppressed minority.  The reason for the oppression they face is their faith in God, and the trust they have placed in God, that His word is true.  They are waiting for something that has not happened yet, and the waiting is taking its toll.

Consider the parallels between Noah, and the early Christian recipients of I Peter.  Notice the similarities between the ark, the flood, and the baptism that we receive when we begin our journey as Christians. 

-          God provided an ark so that Noah’s family might pass through the destructive waters safely. Similarly, God works through baptism, leading us safely by His grace through death, and out the other side, where we enter into the life promised us in Christ. 

-          We pass through the waters of baptism, of judgment, just as the ark passed through the waters of the flood. We arise unscathed, just as those in the ark came through the waters unscathed.

How exactly does this happen?  Oh, we understand roughly what it would have looked like for Noah to build a great big ark.  We can imagine his family being tossed about inside by the waves of the flood.  We can wonder how nerve-racking it would have been to hear rain on the roof, for forty straight days!  As incredible as the story is, we can envision it in some way, but what about baptism?  What does getting physically wet have to do with our spiritual lives?  It’s hard to comprehend how God’s grace is made manifest in a very physical act. 

The waters of baptism are not magical, any more than the ark was magical.  Sometimes because it’s easier to imagine, we forget about exactly how ridiculous the ark was at the time.  Picture it, Noah and his family out there day after day, week after week, month after month, building a huge boat nowhere close to water, when it had never even rained!!  Despite all the work that Noah put in, the ark was still a result of God’s grace.  He told Noah about the flood, and because Noah believed him, he acted accordingly.  Similarly, God tells us about the coming judgment.  We might think we are doing something by wading into that baptismal pool, but our physical acts of obedience are made possible only in light of the truth revealed to us by God.  Like Noah, we believe that what God tells us about the future is true.  The real question is, like Noah, do we trust God’s word enough to find shelter in His grace?   

Mark 10:35-45: Jesus, the original servant-leader

We live in a world of self-promotion.  In days gone by it was seen as poor form indeed to actively campaign for office.  John Adams and Thomas Jefferson remained remarkably aloof with respect to their candidacies for the presidency in the election of 1796.  It is true that they knew they were candidates, and they probably even gave some form of instruction to their surrogates, but it would have been unheard of for them to actively campaign, or promote themselves for high office.  As you may have noticed, times have changed.  Or have they?  I don’t think that people are more self-promoting than they used to be, I think that our society is more tolerant of self-seeking behavior than it used to be.  As proof that self-promotion isn’t a cultural phenomenon of our own era, we need simply to look at Jesus’ own disciples. 

Could the announcement that Jerusalem was the destination of Jesus’ and his disciples have insinuated to James and John that Jesus’ kingdom was about to be inaugurated?  That certainly seems to be how they interpreted it.  They ask for the places of honor in Jesus’ kingdom, to be seated on either side of him in all of his glory and might.  It’s understandable why they thought this way.  In Psalm 110:1, “the Lord says to my Lord: sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”  According to scripture, the right hand was clearly the place to be, and the left would do if the right had already been taken.  Even Jesus own words in parables like that of the Messianic banquet in Luke 14:15-24 and Matthew 22:1-10 refer to places of honor.  John would paint a picture of the heavenly throne room in Revelation 4-5 that would include a place of honor.  If there were places of honor to be had, better to get the jump on asking for them before someone else reserves them! 

Jesus’ response shows us that things clearly work differently in his kingdom.  He asks them explicitly if they are willing to drink the cup he is going to drink, and if they can be baptized with the baptism which he will endure.  Their affirmative answer betrays not only their eagerness for status and honor, but also the depth of their misunderstanding.  Later on in the gospel of Mark, we see that the cup Jesus will drink is not a pleasant one, indeed he even asks God to “remove this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36)  It’s no mere coincidence that in that crucial hour those found to the left and right of Jesus are on crosses.  To be at Jesus’ side requires us to be willing to crucify ourselves to this world, and to bear our cross in obedient discipleship.  When they ask for the places of honor, James and John are utterly unprepared to pay the cost of discipleship.  And yet, their failure and unpreparedness is not the final word.  While in the gospel of Mark “they all left him and fled” (Mark 14:50), elsewhere in scripture we see that the disciples overcome their initial setbacks, thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives.  Peter, who was among the ones who left him and fled, and who also denied him, would go on to write, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (I Peter 4:13)  James would eventually drink the cup and share the baptism of Christ’s suffering:  

 “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.  He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.” (Acts 12:1-3) 

While John is widely believed to be the only apostle to not be martyred, he too suffered in his own way:

“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 1:9)

So what does all of this mean?  Put simply, it means that we are called to be different from the world around us.  If things are the same in the church as they are in the world, something is wrong.  That difference should start, and it does start, with the church’s leadership.  Just as Jesus was different from all the rulers this world has seen, or will see, so those who seek to lead in the church should lead from places of service and humility.  Jesus points out that the disciples are acting just like the secular rulers they despise.  In their behavior, we see what Jesus had to work with in fashioning leaders for the early church.  And yet, in an odd way that’s good news for us.  If the self-promoting James and John can go on and give their lives, both literally and figuratively in serving Jesus, surely we have no excuse ourselves for not becoming the type of servant leaders that the church, and our world desperately need.  Paul words to the Galatians are an appropriate way to sum up what it means to live for Christ as servants:

“For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”  (Galatians 5:13)

It is often said we live in the freest nation on earth.  Perhaps instead of simply celebrating that freedom once a year with fireworks and parades, we should shock the world by choosing to use it not for ourselves, but in the service of others.   

Who is Theodore of Mopsuestia?

If you know without me telling you, then I want for you to slowly put down the textbook on church history and slowly back away from the computer.  For those of you who haven't spent the past several years in a theology library cubicle Theodore of Mopsuestia was, not surprisingly, the bishop of Mopsuestia from 392 to 428 AD.  
Now that you know who Theodore is, you are probably wondering why I have brought him up.
In one of his Catechetical Homilies (also known as sermons of instruction on Christian doctrine), Theodore states that:
"It belonged to our Lord to confer the Spirit, whom he conferred now upon us in baptism as the firstfruits of the future benefits, which he will confer upon us in their entirety at the time of the resurrection."
At the heart of Theodore's statement is a very simple truth, one that often gets obscured as we go to war in our churches over what the Holy Spirit is and what it is not.  When we move from one place to another, it is a fairly common occurrence for people to exchange meaningful objects as a way of remembering each other.  Just a few days ago, I received a very artfully laid out poster and tri-board from the youth group I used to work with.  The point of both was to capture some of the most memorable moments of our time together, while also taking as many opportunities to make fun of me as possible.  I love it.  I love it because every time I look at it, I will be reminded not only of those memories, but of the fact that there is a group of teenagers in Atlanta that I care deeply about.  In a similar way, the Holy Spirit has been give by Jesus as a palpable sign of God's presence in our midst.  As we engage the world that surrounds us, it is easy to get the feeling that there is much more to be done than can be accomplished by even the most dedicated of disciples, and that feeling is justified.  I know that it's justified because in His infinite wisdom, Christ did not leave us to perform the task of reconciliation and recreation alone.  He left us the Holy Spirit, referring to it as the paraclete, and thus giving us some insight into his reasons for leaving us the Spirit in the first place.  While the name Holy Spirit goes a long way in telling us that that of which we speak is both sacred and eternal, the word paraclete is far more concerned with functionality.  It's hard to use one word to describe what paraclete means, but its generally agreed that it is some combination of helper, comforter, and advocate.  The interesting thing about this is there are words that denote action.  Help, comfort, advocate.  There is a reason why Jesus left the Holy Spirit behind to lead us in our journey of faith: He knew we needed help, and beyond that, He knew there would be times when despite their past experiences, the disciples would begin to doubt whether He ever really existed.  Years from now I will be able to take out my poster and tri-board and know that the group of teens I worked with Atlanta was more than just a figment of my imagination.  Similarly, almost 2,000 years after His resurrection the Holy Spirit testifies to us that Jesus is more than a well-written character in some fictional drama.  He was, is, and forever shall be real, because the gift that He gave us in the paraclete remains with us to this day, helping us, comforting us, serving as an advocate for us with the Father.  
In an effort to come full circle, Theodore's point is that just as baptism is the beginning of our Christian walk, so is the Holy Spirit just the beginning of God's work in our world today.  Just as our baptism symbolizes the literal resurrection that we expect to one day experience, so the Holy Spirit serves to help us envision a world where God's kingdom will be made manifest among all creation; a world where love, peace, and justice have become universal norms rather than unrealized dreams.