Making a Touchdown
“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas "; still another, "I follow Christ." 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” I Corinthians 1:10-17
Intro: Super Bowl 36 was played in 2002 between the National Football Conference champions the St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots. The Patriots defeated the Rams 20–17. It was New England's first Super Bowl victory. The game was played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, on February 3, 2002. Following the September 11 attacks earlier in the season, the NFL postponed a week of regular games and moved the league's playoff schedule back. As a result, Super Bowl 36 was rescheduled from the original date of January 27 to February 3, becoming the first Super Bowl played in February. Due to heightened security measures following the terrorist attacks that happened early in the season, this was the first Super Bowl designated as a National Special Security Event by the Office of Homeland Security. Since then all Super Bowls have been designated a National Special Security Event.
Today is Super Bowl Sunday 49played between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Sea Hawks. I know that at least some of you would like for me to continue to talk about football. I could include lessons about "deflate gate" how that competition can cause us to not play by the rules. We could also talk about how good communication is most often how ball games are won. I am going to continue the sermon by talking about “Making a Touchdown.” But the “Touchdown” that I am referring to is not on the football field. But at the baptistery where people are baptized and the altar where we take communion known as the Lord’s Supper. For both are Holy Sacraments which Jesus did, and he also commanded us to do.
It is a place where our heart and mind can lay aside the thoughts of competition and threats of terrorism and find unity. We could join hands with strangers. But we leave holding hands with a brother or sister in Christ. We could pray together with people regardless of their politics. How would you feel if you were visiting a church and you have come down to the communion rail during the service and you are kneeling at the altar waiting for the bread and cup. Only when it comes your turn the Pastor and communion steward pass you by. For a moment you would feel confused. You might be saying to yourself, “wait a minute, you skipped me. Where is the cup? Where is the bread?” Only to realize that you were intentionally left out because you are not a member of that particular faith. I would feel embarrassed. I would feel rejected. If you were to only one who was not served you would feel excluded. All eyes are on you as you take the walk of shame back to your seat. I wander if the Apostle Paul would be watching down asking the question, “Is Christ divided?”
What if you have already been baptized and want to join a church. But the church requires you to be baptized again because you were not baptized by them? Isn’t that divisive? Isn’t the whole purpose of baptism centers around uniting everyone into the body of Christ?
Was our Lord, who ate with publicans and notorious sinners and talked about sheep of other folds, watching down over me asking, “Is Christ divided?” Will we let the table of grace keep us from grace? One bread, one body, one baptism, one Lord of all. Will we let the holy water of baptism be marked as unholy because it wasn't done by us but someone of another persuasion. Baptism is a sign of new birth. The church exists to serve a common good. It does not meet to serve your individual pleasure. You and I have to change the question from what do I get when I come to church. To what do I give, how can I serve, how is the world a better place because someone has known me? That is the real purpose of our existence and creation. Have you found that reason to live in your life? Rise out of your seat and come kneel at the altar and “Make a Touchdown.”
Come to the table and come to water of baptism that is open to all people of every race, nation, gender, age and stature. The cross does not ask what is your age, or your ethnicity or denomination. The blood of Jesus does not separate us. The bread of Jesus does not separate us. The water of baptism does not separate us. It unites us with a freedom to celebrate together. Red or yellow, black or white are we all equal in God’s sight? So will you meet me at a place of unity and peace? The invitation is not from Bruce but the invitation is from the Lord. It is not to your table. It is not to my table. It is the Lord’s table. It is not your baptism it is the baptism into the Kingdom of Heaven and it baptism with the Holy Spirit. The whole message here by Paul is to go on to say that baptism is not of the church of Apollo’s, or the church of Cephas. Paul did not want anyone to be baptized by him because he knew that baptism unites us and identifies us as children of God. We begin with a prayer for peace. Personal peace that passes all understanding. Spiritual peace that forgives and cleanses our crimson sins to where they are washed brighter than snow.
Isn’t it the greatest “Touchdown” in the world when people who do not agree on politics, and people who cannot see eye to eye on other things in this world, yet they all agree at least for this one moment that at the center of the field is Jesus in the middle of the water is Jesus, at the middle of the table is the Lord. Ephesians 4:5 "One faith, one body (bread), one Lord, one baptism of all."
We cannot ignore what communion and baptism mean. Communion is the act of sharing the Lord. Baptism is the act of identifying us no long as individuals but now part of the body of the Kingdom of Heaven. If we cannot share the Lord’s Table and if we cannot share the Holy waters of baptism then there is no place on earth or above the earth that we can share.
We certainly cannot call ourselves United Methodist for our very name means the people who bring people together. We go around the world seeking not only the common good, but working for that common ground by which we will be able to say there is more that unites us than divides us.
Oh, and sing, Bless Be the Tie that Binds Our Hearts in One Accord. If we can sing, then we can commune. If we can sing “Shall We Gather at the River”, and “On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand” then we can rejoice. Because Paul is very clear hear the water isn’t of men but the Water Baptism is Christ standing in the middle of the water with us. Rejoicing together that the one who is lost is found. If we can pray then we can kneel together. If we can come together for a baptism and come together at the Lord’s Table then haven’t we made the greatest “Touchdown” in the history of all the world?
Last year there were over 111.5 million people who tuned in the watch the “Big Game.” The Super Bowl is the most watched event not only in America but around the world. But let us not forget that the world is always watching the church to see what we do. They are there by the millions watching us every time the doors are open. But more important for you and for me is the one or two here and now in the circles of our lives who are watching us to see if Christ really is as strong as we say he is.
Lucy is holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick in a Peanuts cartoon. Lucy tells Charlie Brown that she will hold the football while he kicks it. Charlie Brown usually refuses to kick it at first, not trusting Lucy. Lucy then says something to persuade Charlie Brown to trust her. Charlie Brown runs up to kick the ball, but at the very last second before he can kick it, Lucy removes the ball and Charlie Brown flies into the air, before falling down and hurting himself. Every year from 1951 thru 1999 there it was the same gag or a slightly different version of the same gag that always ended up with Charlie Brown saying that he should not have trusted her. Somewhere the cycle has to stop. Baptism is into the Kingdom of God. Then the person chooses the local church they want to become a member of. It is odd how baptism is what marks us and identifies us as part of the body of Christ but it is often something that divides us as Christians. If Jesus is in the water with us during baptism and the Holy Spirit is present during baptism, then why do we let our individual beliefs about how much water to use, or at what age you should be baptized? No this whole lesson is about unity. The warning is against quarreling about who or what Baptism is.
Is there any place that is holy or sacred? Surely it is the water of baptism and Communion of the Lord’s Table. When people come together for these two things and lay aside their individual beliefs and trust completing in God to know the intentions of our heart and we are united in the body of Christ this is how we “Make a Touchdown. The greatest touchdown ever! Amen.
