Baptized in Your Love

Ephesians 4:4-6 (NRSV)

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
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I would be a fool to let you go
With you I'm reborn
I'm no longer torn
Yeah
I refuse to loose my heart and soul
I have to be Strong

I don't want to know emptiness
Take me down to the water
Wanna be baptized in your love
Far away from the loneliness
Take my heart and wash away the fear
Let me be baptized in your love

Baptized, by Lenny Kravitz, from Baptism, 2004

There are several different images the church uses when describing the sacrament of bapitsm.

There is the bath. The waters of baptism are seen as the cleansing, the washing away of sin and rising clean in the presence of the Lord our God. Many cultures and in many faiths, the symbol of ritual washing-oblation-is still very, very important.

There is the womb. The waters that we come from are the waters of the second birth in the presence of Christ. As we come from the womb of our mothers, so too do we come from the womb of the church in the waters of our baptism.

There is also the tomb. In the ancient world, water was often seen as a place of danger and death. So when we rise from the waters, we rise from the death of an old way of living in the world and living in the presence of God.

But another image which is quite glorious is that of our baptism into the Church, the community of the Christ. The hope of our calling is the one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Life is often filled with emptiness. Seems ironic doesn't it? "Filled with emptiness." It is a feeling we have become all too comfortable with. In a way, we have become comfortable with this discomfort. Again, ironic, isn't it? But in Christ we are reborn. In this rebirth, in these waters, it would be foolish to return to the emptiness, to the discomfort.

We want to be baptized in the love of God. This love takes us far away from the loneliness we know in this world, so we ask god to take our hearts and wash away the fears. This is cleaned in the waters of our baptism. This is what dies in the tomb of baptism. This is our rebirth into a life worth living.

The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

Proverbs 8:34-36 (NRSV)

Happy is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
For whoever finds me finds life
and obtains favor from the LORD;
but those who miss me injure themselves;
all who hate me love death.”

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The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

"The Waiting" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from Hard Promises

In a society that runs off of drive-thru restaurants, one-stop shopping, and the internet-ready personal communication device (rhymes with y-phone or crackberry or mandroid); we are a society that is not prone to waiting. I offer it up as a simple fact, but the proverb offers a take on waiting that the 21st century world (particularly the West) is not comfortable with. Tom said it best, the waiting is the hardest part.

The proverb teaches us that those who wait on stuff, the internet, the dishwasher, and so on wait on things, just plain stuff; but "happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors."

Patience is a virtue, but who wants virtue in the age of instant gratification. Waiting on the Lord can seem like a gruelling process. The Jews have been waiting for 5,000 years for the savior. Christians have been waiting almost 2,000 years for the savior's return. Whether you wait for the first of second coming, the wait has been a long time. But everyday, there are times--moments at most--when the Spirit of God breaks into our world and God's peace and grace can be seen in creation.

These moments are as fleeting as a notecard or email that says "I Care." It is the smile on the face of a child. It is the peace on the face of someone who has compassion. It is the fact that "angels unaware" surround us. Still, waiting is not easy, but Tom has advice for that too, "You take it on faith, you take it to the heart."

I Believe in Your Song

Psalm 27:13-14

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!

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Thanks for the joy that you've given me
I want you to know I believe in your song
And rhythm and rhyme and harmony
You help me along
Makin' me strong

Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock n roll
And drift away

"Drift Away" by Mentor Williams. This version by Dobie Gray reached #5 on the US Pop Charts. The version by Uncle Kracker reached #1 four times.

What a lovely saying, I believe in your song. Just to hear Dobie Gray sing it creates a warm feeling of love and acceptance. It's a feeling of joy and love and support that is beyond wonderful.

The Psalmist sings, I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord. The goodness of God will be seen. The singer doesn't deny the presence of sin, there's no mention of sin at all. There is confidence though, confidence that the goodness of the Lord will be seen in the land of the living. We are called to wait and be strong. We don't wait for the next big thing. We don't wait for some new fad or something, we wait on the Lord. We wait being strong and letting our heart take courage. This is the only way to wait for the Lord.

It's a wait that may give us impatience, but that's just an attitude. We could use an adjustment. We are to believe in God's song, in rhythm and rhyme and harmony. It's a pity that the melodies and rhymes of the ancient songs are lost, but the one who inspired the words is still at work.

There is a beat that frees the soul. Believe in the goodness and begin to see the goodness of the Lord. Then let's get lost in the song and drift away to a place of hope; a place without fear.