Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
Matthew 28:16-20
February 3, 2008
This week we are going to look at what baptism means for those who follow Jesus. We will be looking at Matthew 28.
Last week we celebrated my birthday. Well, it was my fortieth. Not a big deal for me but Kendra wants to keep reminding me. Last year she got me the weirdest birthday gift ever: a cemetery plot. Yep. And she informed me that she wasn’t going to get me anything for my birthday this year. When I asked her, “Why not, couldn’t you find anything?” (After all, as long as I have her and our girls, then I have everything that I want). She said, “No that isn’t it. I’m not getting you anything for your birthday this year because you didn’t use the gift that I got you last year.”
Matthew 28:16-20
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
There is a song with the words
Sign, sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this don’t do that can’t you read the sign?
Our lives are filled with signs and symbols. It has been estimated that we observe over 15,000 images a day. I believe more and more that we need Spiritual signs to help us negotiate this world more so than ever. Baptism is one such important sign. It is sign or symbol that has some significant power to point to ourselves and others toward Jesus.
Everywhere a Sign
• Changed life
It was sign of repentance. My life has changed. I live according to the ways of Jesus. The person would go into the water and come out a different person. Therefore they could proclaim with the Psalmist, “He lifted me out of the slimy pit. He set my feet on a rock. He put a new song in my mouth.”
Since it was done in public worship setting, people would see it and know. It was an act of worship encompassing one’s entire body and being. It was not something undertaken lightly because the decision would have lasting repercussions usually negative.
As a result of poor planning, Dennis from Kay, Texas, needed some same-day dry cleaning before his trip. He went to a store that said, “One-Hour Dry Cleaners.” “I need this in an hour,” he told the clerk.
She said, “I can’t get this back to you until Thursday.”
“I thought you did dry cleaning in an hour?”
“No,” she replied, “That’s just the name of the store.”
Being baptized without the changed life is like this store. Not being baptized with a changed life is like having store with no sign to show whose business you are about.
Sister Margaret, “We are trying to shout the gospel with our lives.”
• Disciples who make disciples
Following Jesus means that we follow his ways. Being a disciple means that I am a student who seek to not just do this and not do that but to reproduce the life of the rabbi (in this case Jesus). Jesus expects that we will not only be a disciple and learn his ways but that in doing so we would be making disciples.
This is tough because today’s Christianity Lite says, “Just pray the sinner’s prayer and you’re in.” But Jesus calls us to much more than that.
The early Church of God pastors and preachers often preached a message of what they called “sanctification.” It is a big word that means set apart. They were concerned because in many churches of their day around the turn of the 20th Century, they saw two groups of Christians. There were those that went through the motions (sometimes they went to church [although I doubt they went to church] and sometimes they did not go [yet they still called themselves a Christian]).
Yet following Jesus is much more than paying your dues (whether you pay with your time on Sunday morning or with money or credit card). It is loving Jesus and his ways so much that you seek to have his life lived out in you. It is being set apart to be used by God.
It means being willing to set aside our preconceptions of God and Jesus. It means recognizing that we don’t have it all figured out. It means that God will continually seek to remake and reform you into his image.
Being baptized is a statement or sign that says, “I am willing to be a disciple of Jesus.” A disciple, as Jesus says, who makes disciples.
• Who owns you
Baptism was a public proclamation that you belong to Jesus. Not to Caesar. But to Jesus. It was revolutionary. It was rebellious. And it was not a private affair. It was public. It was done in a public worship setting and became a radical celebration of life for this person. It was a joyous celebration of what God has done and an acknowledge of what God will do.
Basically, it was a sign that read: Nothing else matters. God. Jesus. The Holy Spirit. This community of fellowship. Nothing else matters except for these things. It said, “I belong to Jesus and I belong to the community formed by Jesus.”
It was a radical proclamation because the authorities would label you a dissident and even an enemy of the state. Paul says that our citizenship is in the kingdom not based on earthly kingdoms.
When Peter met Jesus, Jesus gave Peter a new name. This was something that only God could do. No longer Simon but Peter. Jesus was claiming owner of Peter.
John the Baptizer said that the one [Jesus] that comes after himself will be greater. He called Jesus the Lamb of God. The lamb that would take away the sins of the world. Andrew and another disciples went to Jesus calling him, “Rabbi,” and seeking to spend time with him. They were seeking to place their lives into his hands.
When we follow Jesus by being baptized, we are giving a sign that no matter what happens, I am from here on out the property of Jesus. For life or death. For sickness or health. For poorer or for richer. I trust and live in Jesus.
Lastly, being baptized is a sign of:
• Our hope
Our hope is ultimately not in the powers of this world but in Christ. When we are lowered into the water and come up into a new life, we place our hope and trust in The One who will provide. “I am with you even to the end of the age.” He never fails us. He is our hope.
Baptism is a sign and symbol of a power that is so much greater than ourselves. The power of God is too great to comprehend. We serve an awesome and all-powerful Lord. So while we don’t expect the miraculous, we do anticipate that God provides exactly what we need.
There is a saying that I think is very powerful and captures the sentiments here.
Without Christ, tomorrow holds no significance.
With Christ, tomorrow holds no threat.
Shane Claiborne tells about how his little community of faith received some money. First, they won a lawsuit against the police of New York for misconduct. Shane with several hundred people had protested the arresting of people for sleeiping outside by sleeping outside. They were arrested, charged, found not guilty, and eventually won a lawsuit against the police. They were awarded $10,000. Then an anonymous person gave them another $20,000.
So what did they do with the money? They decided to have a Jubilee celebration. First they sent $100 to a hundred different communities. Each $100 bill had the word “love” written on it. Then they invited everyone to Wall Street for a Jubilee celebration. Forty or so people brought all the change they could carry – over 30,000 coins in bags, coffee mugs, backpacks and briefcases. A dozen or so people hid hundreds of two-dollar bills all over lower Manhatten. At 8:15 many more trickled into the front of the main entrance to the New York Stock Exchange dressed in a variety ways – homeless, tourists, business folks. At 8:20 Sister Margaret (the nun quoted above) stepped forward to proclaim the Jubilee.
“Some of us have worked on Wall Street, and some of have slept on Wall Street. We are a community of struggle. Some of us are rich people trying to escape our loneliness. Some of us are poor folks trying to escape the cold. Some of us are addicted to drugs, and others are addicted to money. We are a broken people who need each other and God, for we have come to recognize the mess that we have created of our world and how deeply we suffer from that mess. Another world is possible. Another world is necessary. Another world is already here.”
Then Sister Margaret blew the ram’s horn and said, “Let the celebration begin!” People in the balconies threw hundreds of dollars in paper money filling the air. Banners were dropped that read, “Stop terrorism,” “Share,” “Love,” and “There is enough for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed—Gandhi.”
And the streets turned silver as the folks in disguise poured out their change. The sidewalks were decorated with chalk and the air was filled with bubbles. Someone started passing out bagels. Others started sharing their winter clothes. Another guy hugged someone and said, “Now I can get my prescription filled.” God faced down Mammon and darkness was overcome with light. Hope was proclaimed.
It all begin with Jesus saying, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
