Christian formation: Baptism part Four

Formational events in life are ones that impact who we are and help determine how we live our lives. Sometimes these are significant, one-time events that change something about us. Others are not single events, but rather a series of things or people that slowly shape our lives. Yet others are people who work in our lives, who encourage us to improve, or who lovingly point out areas where we can grow.

In Baptism, we are introduced into a whole community of people that share much in common. In fact, when we are baptized as children, the whole community into which we are introduced takes on the responsibility of shaping us in the image of Christ. They do so by sharing the story of God with us, by pointing us to God's action throughout history, and especially by pointing us to God's great saving work in Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection.

We are formed in our interactions with God's people. In the Proverbs it says that, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. We are formed by the presence of other Christians in our lives. That is why it is so vitally important to be with other Christians, and to be grown by those further along the faith road.

We are formed by our fellow Christians, and they are also formed by us. While our Christian faith is intensely personal, it is also pervasively communal. Without others, our formation suffers. With others, we are formed and grow. Painfully at times, yes, but those painful times often form us the most.

Christian formation in Baptism, part three

As I continue this series on Christian formation in Baptism, today we look at something vitally important; the gifts in Baptism. Gifts are something that we understand. We like those occasions when we receive gifts. Birthdays, Easter, Christmas, Mother's day, Father's day, and the like are special because we are often given gifts to celebrate.

Now, to start this, I want to say something quickly about gifts. Gifts are given freely to us from another. A true gift carries no obligation on the part of the recipient. If you get a gift, but you sense that the other person expects something in return, they haven't given a gift, but an obligation.

In Acts 2:37-40, Peter speaks of two great gifts that come through Baptism. These two are the forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit's presence. In Baptism, God gives these as gifts. They were yours when the water and God's name combined on you. God gives them freely, because He sees you then just as He sees Jesus.

That has much to do with your Christian formation. When you come to know that God gives you such costly things, but that He gives them freely to you, you are formed. Think about how you are formed in a relationship, say, when a husband gives his wife an unexpected gift, such as flowers. The depth of relationship grows. The attachment increases. The one receiving sees a glimpse of the other's care. Such things form us in deep ways.

Likewise, God's gifts in Baptism form you. That's why it is so sad when Baptism gets seen as something we do for Good. Then we lose our on seeing how much we matter to Him. We lose out on the gifts that show the depth of that care. We fail to see ourselves as the apple of His eye, but instead see ourselves as proving ourselves to Him. Those are two far different things.  And each forms us differently.

For now, know this. The gifts God gave you in your Baptism form you as you see his great care for you. Being cared for in such a significant way forms you. I hope that you continue to be formed as those gifts are renewed in you each day by God's promise.

Christian Formation, Baptism Part 2

So yesterday we started taking a look at the beginning point of Christian formation in the lives of people, the action of God on us we call Baptism.  We mentioned yesterday that this action brings us into relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit, according to the words of Jesus.

Yet, that is not all that happens in this action.  One thing we also find is that it not only brings us into connection and relationship with God, but it also connects us with God's greatest work on our behalf, the saving work of Jesus in His death and resurrection.  Writing about this to a group of Christians in Rome, St. Paul would write that when we were baptized into Jesus, we were baptized into His death.  Okay, so what does that mean?  It means that, when we were baptized, everything that happened to Jesus has, in essence, happened to us.  Jesus died bearing our sins, and so, when we were baptized, it is as though the same thing has happened to us.  Who we are as a fallen creature died with Jesus.  Everything wrong and broken (the Bible word is sinful) died, and as a result, it no longer haunts us.

However, there is even more than that.  We were baptized into Jesus' death.  But Jesus didn't stay dead.  He rose back to life, raised by the Father, reclaiming His own life that He had lain down.  The amazing thing is, through Baptism, we are also connected to that resurrection.  A few verses later Paul would write "just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."  (Romans 6:1-14 at work here)  With Jesus raised from the dead, we also have a new life, a life connected to His perfect, eternal life lived in perfect harmony with the Father.

So that's the theological background, but now you ask, "What does this have to do with Christian formation?"  Well, everything, but that's hardly the answer you were probably looking for.  So we'll focus on a couple of things in particular.

In Baptism, you died with Jesus.  As part of your formation as a Christian, that also means that all those wrong things (Bible word: sin) that you have done that you feel sorry about (Bible word: contrition) have died and no longer have any impact on you.  Imagine, for a moment, that you could live as though you hadn't done those, that those things would no longer be held against you.  That friendship you betrayed, well, it's forgiven and over with.  Those unfortunate words that slipped out of your mouth that really hurt another person, forgiven and over with, not held against you.  Just imagine the new life that you could have with all those things forgiven, with you being able to live as though they weren't held against you.

That's formational in your life!  You essentially get a new life when that happens. And wouldn't you know it, that's one part of the new life that is yours in Jesus because you are also connected to His resurrection.  Now you can have a bold, daring confidence in living according to God's design and will because you know you have that new life in Jesus.  That gives meaning.  That gives fulfillment.  That gives purpose.  And that gives you something to form your life around.  Yes, Baptism truly is a part of our Christian formation, as we will hear more tomorrow.

The Beginning of Christian Formation

For many, the beginning of their Christian formation took place before they were even aware of what was going on.  It began with an event that is spoken very highly of throughout the New Testament, one that continues to be one of the ways that God does His work into the lives of those whom He would claim as His own.  It's an event that takes place when water (in whatever quantity, and applied in whatever way) touches a person at the same time as the name of God is spoken upon the person.  This washing of water with God's name is called simply Baptism.

There is a lot that happens in this simple action, though what it is really doesn't seem readily understood by many Christians, and even more seem to take these great and amazing things for granted.  How do we discover what all happens here?  Well, we simply go to the Bible, to God's Word, to hear what He has to say about it.  And as we dive into those gifts that God gives in Baptism, we also see that this action is the beginning of our Christian formation.

Now, to go into all these details, we'll take a couple of posts, at least, to get through them all.  For example, the very first thing we start off with.  It is where Jesus speaks about His desire to have people of all nations baptized, that most familiar of Bible references in Matthew 28:16-20.  Most translations say that Jesus says to baptize them "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  Not to get all Greeky on you, but it's perhaps better to translate the first word of those quotes as "into" rather than "in". 

What big difference does that make, you ask, and how does that impact Christian formation?  Well, rather than just simply having some name spoken over you when you are baptized, "into" actually carries the deeper meaning of you being brought into an intimate connection with the Father, Son, and Spirit.  Your Christian formation begins when you are brought into that intimate connection with God in His full essence.  And notice that this isn't something that you do.  This is God bringing you into Himself as the water and His name are spoken on you. 

When you are brought into that relationship with God, your Christian formation begins.  There is more to this action than what we have covered today, and we'll dive a bit more into it tomorrow.  But this truly does point us to the place where our Christian formation begins: when we are brought into our God, who created us, redeemed us, and sustains us.