"Clarity in a Muddled World" Sixth Sunday of Easter May 29, 2011 1Peter 3:13-22
When you look out at the world scene it’s as if everyone is sloshing through mud. Paul was hanging out in the square in Athens and saw a lot people in a muddled world. There were monuments to this god and that god and every other god you could think of and even the Unknown God, just in case they were missing any. Two millennia later things haven’t cleared up any, there are still thousands of religions, those who tenaciously hold to a belief that they aren’t religious, as well as those who think that all the religions are right so just choose the one that’s right for you. When we look out at this scene, and interact daily with people who are sloshing through this muddy mess, we may feel much as Paul did 2000 years ago. We need to tell people about the one true religion. But no sooner do we see this then we see that things are muddled amongst ourselves. When you drive around the neighborhood you don’t just see St. John Christian Church, Trinity Christian Church, Faith Christian Church. You see St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Second Baptist Church, Grace Lutheran Church, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, and even many that attempt to rid themselves of denominational ties, just going with Hope Community Church, Church of Joy, or maybe even something as straightforward as The Rock. But slugging through this mud it gets even thicker because you don’t just see St. Luke Lutheran Church, you see St. Luke Lutheran, ELCA, and St. Timothy Lutheran, LCMS, and Hope Lutheran, Wisconsin Synod, and so on. In nearly every other denomination you have this same specificity of not just being Methodist, or Baptist, or Presbyterian, but you are of a particular church body in those larger denominations of Baptists, and Methodists, and so on. Paul was talking to a bunch of people who weren’t Christians at all and yet so often our talking with people of what the Bible says is not just to non-Christians, who plainly don’t believe what we believe, but also to fellow Christians, who in many and various ways also have differences with us as to what we and they believe and how we and they interpret the Scriptures. It’s ironic that when Harold Camping was making his crazy predictions of the end of the world that not only Christians were denouncing him but so were atheists. At the same time, there are major differences between what we believe and Harold Camping believes just as there is between what we believe and what atheists hold to. There are clear lines drawn. When we match up what we believe with what Harold Camping believes we see that though he says he bases his beliefs on the Bible, in fact, he imposes things like numerology on the Bible, saying the Bible claims things that the Bible in fact does not say, and even that are the opposite of what the Bible says. As to atheists, well, it’s clear the difference between what we believe and what atheists hold to, as we believe in the Triune God and they say there is no god. As awful as it is that false teachers like Harold Camping publicly teach things like you should not go to church and that we can know when Christ is going to return in glory, there is an opportunity here for us because it brings about clarity. Clarity is good. In the face of false teachings that lead people astray, we can be like Paul and talk with people, sharing with them the truth. We can show them that what God has given us in the Bible is what we need to know. It is the same with those who do not believe in God. There is an opportunity here to talk with them about why they think the way they do and why we believe the way we do. And it is the same way with those who are in other religions. What a great opportunity there is in this, as Peter says in the Epistle reading, to give in gentleness and respect a defense of what we believe. Everything is muddled out there in that world. It’s a challenge to reach out to people, but what about all our fellow Christians? What about all the hundreds of denominations? What about all the many differences, big and small, that are within the Christian Church? Do we just keep to ourselves? Should each denomination just go about their own business and not give a thought to all the other denominations, just letting them do their own thing? Should they instead get together as much as possible, focusing on our belief in Christ as Savior and ignore the differences? If you take each to its extreme you could take, for example, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and we could say, We’re going to do our own thing and not care at all what any and every other Christian church or denomination does. On the other hand, all Christians could get together and simply go with the One True Christian Church and ignore all our differences. With even a little investigation into these two options most people would see that there’s little value in going with either of these two extremes. Most of us would see that somewhere in the middle is the way to go. But it’s in the middle that things get muddled. It’s where we see that we’ll be sloshing through mud and that’s not fun for some people. That’s when they give up entirely or just ignore the whole thing or hole up in their own little bunker. How do you be faithful to the Word of God and engage in dialogue with those who don’t believe in the Triune God? How do you give a gentle and respectful defense of the doctrine of the Word of God to those Christians who are in error? There’s probably enough in answering those two questions for a whole sermon series, so let’s focus on one thing that can help us slosh through the muddiness with everyone else: clarity. At the outset, we must be clear that the Bible, the Old and New Testaments, are the Word of God. God has made known to us what He wants us to know regarding spiritual and eternal matters. The Bible is the sole authority in these matters. When we make that clear then we go to the words themselves. The Bible is a pretty big book and there’s a lot in there. God is the author of it and He authored it through human writers. They wrote in actual languages, Hebrew and Greek. In using those languages they employed various kinds of language. There is narrative, poetry, parable, apocalyptic, and other kinds. For many people, this fact is not all that interesting. However, it is crucial for us to know. When it comes to language, there must be clarity. You cannot take one kind of language and try to understand it or interpret it according to the way you’re supposed to understand and interpret another kind of language. If you are reading poetry you are reading language that is not meant to be taken literally. If you are reading a narrative it’s not meant to be taken figuratively, or symbolically. Various strains of Christianity in interpreting the Bible take figurative portions of the Bible and interpret them literally. An example of this is Baptism. Peter says in the Epistle reading that Baptism saves you. There are many Christians who don’t believe this. They understand the words of Peter, “Baptism now saves you,” as symbolic. It is true that the words ‘saved’ and ‘saving’ can be used figuratively. Let’s say you were really excited to watch the finale of your favorite TV show but you were going to get home after it was over. You plan to record it so that you can watch it when you get home. But you forget and when you get home you realize that and you’re devastated. Fortunately for you, spouse was looking out for you and realized that you forgot and so he or she recorded it for you. You are ecstatic and say, “Thank you! You really saved me!” It’s clear that you don’t mean that your spouse is your Savior. You’re not saying that he or she is getting you into heaven, or that he or she saved your life. You are using the word “saved” figuratively and people readily know what you mean. So it’s not only fair but probably wise to ask, is that how Peter is talking about Baptism when he says that Baptism now saves you? If all you had were these words on their own you might have to flip a coin. But what we have are these words in their context. In the same way, if all someone knew was that you said to your spouse, “You really saved me!” the person would have to guess if you meant that literally or figuratively. If you told them how the whole event transpired then they could know that you meant it figuratively. In a similar way if you explained to someone that you believe that Jesus died and rose to pay for you sins and saved you they could know that you believe that He literally saved you. Just as we need to see the context of the statement to the spouse in order to understand it, we need to see Peter’s statement that Baptism saves you in its context. The context of it is suffering. He is writing to Christians who live in a world where they are going to suffer for being Christians. As with all the New Testament writers, his writing to Christians about their suffering is connected with Christ, and that He in fact suffered. Peter speaks of Christ’s suffering, then His death, then His descent into hell in order to proclaim His victory over Satan, which brings Peter to talk about an event in the Old Testament, Noah and his family entering the ark. Now, why would he do this? What connection does it have to suffering and also to the suffering of Christ? Just this, in the Old Testament we have things—people, places, events—that point toward things in the future. In the New Testament we see what those things are. And they are connected with Christ, and specifically His suffering, death, and resurrection. So when in the Old Testament we are told of the story of Noah and the ark we aren’t just being told of history. We are being shown salvation history. What is going on is pointing us to the culmination of salvation history, and that is Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. Peter repeats a little of that history, Noah and his family were saved in the ark that floated on the water. This is not figurative language, it’s stating what the Old Testament itself does, they got in the ark, the waters rose, and the ark floated them to safety. They were saved when everyone else died. Now comes the connection. Peter says that Baptism corresponds to this. Noah and the ark and the water pointed toward what would be the fulfillment of that. Peter tells us it’s Baptism. Baptism which corresponds to this now saves you. In the context of Jesus’ suffering and death and descent into hell and Noah and the ark, Peter’s use of the word “saves” is meant to be understood literally, not figuratively. In the same way that Noah and his family were saved was meant to be taken literally, so it is with Baptism. God was the one who saved Noah and his family, God is the one who saves us in Baptism. But maybe this Baptism that saves us could be understood as a physical washing, so Peter makes it clear that it’s not a washing “as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience.” Baptism saves you, Peter says. How? “As an appeal to God for a good conscience,” Peter says. The Baptism is the appeal to God for a good conscience. When you are saved, you are saved. In other words, the one saving you is doing the saving. You are not doing the work, you are the recipient of the one saving you and of His work. The appeal for a good conscience is God doing this work for you and to make it abundantly clear Peter makes the final connection and that is with Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. He says that this appeal that is made is through the resurrection of Christ. The only way this is possible is if we are the recipients and Christ is doing the work. He is the one who suffered, died, descended into hell, rose, and ascended into heaven. We didn’t do these things but are saved by them in Baptism. Clarity is a very good thing. In a muddled world, there is one who has accomplished salvation and in a seemingly muddled Christian Church there is salvation in Baptism. When the world will tell you that you can’t know the truth of what will happen to you when you die and when your fellow Christians, well-intentioned though they may be, encourage you to appeal to God for a good conscience, step back and see in the Scriptures clarity. Jesus Christ has done what no one else has or can do. He suffered, He died, He rose. He Baptized you. You are saved. He’s clear on this. You can be too. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. 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