I Peter 2:2-10

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Through our baptism, our lives are given structure, connection, and community.

A sermon preached by

Rev. William O. (Bud) = Reeves

First United Methodist Church

Hot= Springs, Arkansas

March 30, 2008

Dr. George Thompson, a pastor in North Carolina, tells a story about a fighter pilot who was flying a mission over the Pacific Ocean during Wo= rld War II. Suddenly his plane wa= s hit by enemy fire, and he had to bail out to save his life. His parachute carried him safely t= o the beach of a beautiful tropical island. But terror struck the heart of the pilot as he realized that he had landed on one of the islands that was supposedly inhabited by cannibalistic headhunters. So not only was = there a chance he might be captured by the Japanese soldiers who had shot his pla= ne down, he might also become the entrée for the evening meal of a trib= e of savages.

As the pilot cautiousl= y made his way through the jungle, he saw a column of smoke coming from a campfire= . Anxiously he crept closer, attempt= ing to camouflage his body with tropical leaves.&= nbsp; Still he could not see through the thicket well enough to make out w= ho else was on this tiny island with him.&nbs= p; Suddenly he heard someone shout from the area of the campfire, “All right! Who in the = !@#$* trumped my !@#$* ace!”

Immediately the pilot = burst through the jungle, fell on his knees, threw up his hands to the heavens, a= nd cried out in tears, “Thank God! I’m among Christians!”

How can you tell when you’re among Christians? Is it their words? Is it their actions? What is it about Christians? Those card-playing soldiers had some growing up to do before we might consider them good examp= les of Christian discipleship. But that’s the whole point, isn’t it? We all have some growing to do. God gives us his gifts to help us = in the process. That’s how we = grow in discipleship. <= /span>

I Peter talks about gr= owing up in the first verse of our Scripture lesson this morning. “Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by= it you may grow into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”[1] Anyone who knows the Lord knows that God is good—all the time! We just want to know God more and more. Salvation is this proce= ss of growth in knowledge of and relationship with God.

One of the signposts o= r mile markers on this journey of growth is our baptism. Baptism is a sacrament, a symbolic action given to us by God to help us grow in him. Baptism is the sacrament of Christ= ian identity. Through baptism, we= know who we are and whose we are. = Through confirmation, these young people re-affirm the vows made for them at their baptism, or several of them are being baptized today. This is a major event in their spi= ritual lives. It’s a signpost,= a mile-marker, an indication that they are headed in the right direction on their journey. Baptism and confirma= tion give us three gifts from God.

Baptism and confirmati= on give our lives structure. Our baptized lives have shape and definition. There is a purpos= e to it all; there is a reason to exist. Peter compares our baptized lives to a temple: “like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house.”= = [2] The cornerstone of this spirit= ual house is Jesus Christ. He was rejected by the unbelievers, but he is precious to those who are being saved. Built on his foundatio= n, our lives can become a spiritual house that gives glory to God.

At the end of the Serm= on on the Mount, Jesus gives a great analogy of the Christian life. He says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like the wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, an= d the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone= who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like the foolish man w= ho built his house on sand. The = rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, = and it fell.”[3] A house built without the str= ucture Christ provides will fall in the first storm that comes along, but a life b= uilt on the teaching and the way of Jesus will withstand whatever the world can throw against it. It is as si= mple as this: with Christ you stand; without Christ you fall.<= /p>

Ask Pat Summerall, one= of the greatest sports announcers ever to talk about a game of football. The former = University of Arkan= sas Razorback has been broadcasting since the 196= 0’s and is a member of the Sportscasters’ Hall of Fame. But just a few years ago, his care= er was nearly derailed by alcoholism. Pat Summerall was able to keep his life intact by turning to Jesus Christ during his stormy time. For the first time, at almost seventy years of age, he was baptized and became a Christian. He said, “I = went down in the water, and when I came up it was like a 40-pound weight had been lifted from me. I have a happ= ier life, a healthy life, and a more positive feeling about life than ever before.” Too bad he wai= ted until the fourth quarter of his life to find that out!

But now Summerall sear= ches out church services and prayer meetings wherever he is on the road. He says, “It’s like an alcoholic looking for a drink. If he wants it bad enough, he can find it—no matter what. I’m like that when it comes = to finding prayer services and Bible studies.= No matter where I am working, I know that they’re out there, a= nd I can find them."[4] Now that he has found the Lord and= been baptized, those experiences of worship and prayer and study are what give structure to his life.

The second gift baptis= m and confirmation gives us is a connect= ion to God. Through baptism, we a= re connected to our Creator. We = know who we are and whose we are. = Through confirmation, we renew our connection.&nbs= p; We are marked forever as Christian disciples.

I’ll never forge= t a young man that I met the summer I worked in a prison in Durham, North Carolina. I was a seminary student; Tim was = about my age, in prison for drug-related offenses. He had a tattoo on his left arm ju= st above his elbow. It was a red= heart inscribed with the words “Diane forever.” Tim also wore a wedding ring, so o= ne day I asked him if Diane was his wife. He said no, his wife’s name was Brenda. Then he told me where he had Brenda’s name tattooed, but I declined to view that work of art!=

That’s the bad t= hing about tattoos; once they’re on, they stay there. That can be bad news if you put the wrong thing on your arm—or wherever.= But that is precisely the good news about baptism: once you’re marked, you’re marked forever. That relationship never ends. Unlike Tim taking on the name of Diane, when we receive the name of Jesus in baptism, our identity is formed by who he is, not how we feel on a= ny given day. That relationship = is much more than skin deep. It = is a spiritual tattoo, an eternal connection.

Peter describes this connection in verse 9 of our text: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.”[5] Collectively, we have an identity.= We are who we are because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ= . We owe our abundant life here and = our eternal life in heaven to him. We can= not abandon our discipleship without denying a basic fact about who we are. We are God’s children. We belong to him.

Dr. Joseph Haroutunian= was a professor of Old Testament Studies at McCormick Seminary in Chicago. He was also an immigrant to the United States, born and raise= d in Soviet Armenia. Even after be= ing in the States for quite a while, he still spoke with a Russian accent.

Not too long after he = came to America, a friend pulled Dr. Haroutunian aside to give him some advice. He said, “Joseph, the accent= is a problem; you can work on that. But nobody can spell Haroutunian. This name is going to handicap you professionally in this country. Why don’t you change your name? Americanize it a little bit. Change Haroutunian to Ha= rwell or Harwood or something like that.”

Joseph thought for a m= oment, then he asked his adviser, “What do these names mean?”

“What do you mea= n, what do they mean?” his friend responded.

“These names—Harwell, Harwood—what do they mean? What is their significance?” Joseph said.

“Well, nothing,&= #8221; the friend said. “They’re just names.&nb= sp; They’re just easier to pronounce and spell.”<= /span>

Joseph Haroutunian loo= ked his American colleague in the eye and said something very important: “= ;My friend, in Armenia many years ago, my grandfather became a Christian. He was baptized and was given the = name Haroutun, which means ‘resurrection.’ When my father was baptiz= ed, he was given the name of Haroutunian, which means ‘son of resurrection.’ My name,= too, means ‘son of resurrection.’ I am Joseph Haroutunian, and I wil= l be a son of the resurrection all of my days!”[6]

Baptism gives us our connection with God. We are h= is children by the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ—all our day= s!

Baptism and confirmati= on give us a structure for our lives and a connection to God. But here’s more good news: y= ou don’t have to do this all by yourself. You are never alone on this journey= . Your identity as a baptized Christ= ian means you are part of a community<= /b> of faith. Did you notice that all these Scriptural terms of identity are collective nouns, group names—living stones, royal priesthood, holy nation, God’s own people? We are not alone. We = are part of a community that has been chosen by God, formed by his grace, and entered into by baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. We have crossed over the boundary = line into a whole new life, a new relationship with God, and a new community with our brothers and sisters in faith. As Peter wrote, “Once = you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”[7] Don’t you ever forget that! Or if you have somehow forgotten who you are—spiritually speaking—today you can rememb= er again.

Do you remember the bestselling book and television mini-series Roots, in which African-American author Alex Haley traced his family history b= ack through slavery to his origins in Africa= ? There is a memorable scene involvi= ng Kunta Kinte, Haley’s ancestor who was taken from Africa and sold into slavery in America. Over the years, almost all of his African heritage was lost in the labor of a southern plantation. But one night, Kunta Kinte drove h= is master to a party at a neighboring plantation house. He parked the buggy and settled do= wn to wait out the long evening while his master socialized. As he sat there, he began to disti= nguish a different kind of music coming from the slaves’ quarters, the little cabins behind the big house. = There was a unique, yet familiar sound to it. Kunta Kinte got out of the wagon and walked down the path to the cabins. There he found a man playing African music, his music, the music he remembered hearing in Africa as a child, the music he had almost forgotte= n. Kunta Kinte discovered that the ma= n was from his region of Africa, and they talk= ed excitedly in their native language about the things of home.

That night Kunta Kinte= went home a changed man. When he g= ot to his cabin, he lay down on the floor and wept. He wept for joy that he had rememb= ered; he wept for sadness that he had almost forgotten. The terrifying, degrading experien= ce of slavery had almost obliterated his memory of who he really was. But the music helped him remember = his identity.= [8]

I want to invite you t= o hear the music of your soul today. If you have never made the first step of commitment and received the sacrament= of baptism and become a part of the Christian family, maybe it’s time for you to cross that boundary. T= he doorway of invitation is wide open. I personally invite you to the party.

For some of you who are making the commitment of baptism, confirmation, and church membership, that song is playing loud and clear in your hearts today. Don’t ever forget that tune!=

But maybe it’s b= een a while since the music played loud and strong in your heart, but the song is still there, softly and sweetly calling you home. Maybe it’s been a w= hile since the flames of your passion for the faith burned hot, but there are st= ill embers under the ashes; God won’t let them die. I simply want to invite you today = to remember who you are and whose you are.&nb= sp; Recall the structure of your life as it was formed by the grace of G= od. Renew the connection you have with God through Jesus Christ. Reflect on your place in the commu= nity of faith. Most of all, rejoice! Rejoice, my brothers= and my sisters, if you are baptized. You are God’s child. This is God’s gift to you for life! Amen!