Sermon: “And Do You Come to Me?”

Text: Matthew 3

Baptism of the Lord (A)

January 13, 2008

Scripture introduction.  Our first reading this morning was the first half of Matthew 3, which tells us who John the Baptist was.  Our second reading is the remainder of that chapter, in which we learn how Jesus chose to be baptized by John.  Through the centuries, Christians have wondered why it was that Jesus had to be baptized.  Orthodox Christian theology insists, and we believe, that Jesus was without sin.  If baptism is an act that symbolizes our being washed clean of sin, then why would the sinless Jesus need to be washed?  Why wouldn’t Jesus come to John and say, “Good work, John; I’ll take over now”?  Evidently John had the same question; for when Jesus came to him for baptism, John didn’t want to do it.  He said, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  Jesus answered only, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”

What does that mean—“to fulfill all righteousness?”  When we talk about righteousness, we usually think of moral behavior—following God’s law.  If this were the sense in which Matthew intended to use the word “righteousness,” then we might truly ask what unrighteousness was Jesus repenting of.  But in Greek, the word we translate “righteousness” has a broader meaning than simply complying with the moral law.  It means fulfilling God’s will, God’s plan.[1]

  Thus, Jesus had no need to be cleansed, but by choosing baptism he placed himself in solidarity with John’s message and at the same time demonstrated how his followers are to become a part of the way of righteousness taught by both John and Jesus. 

Sermon.  Every now and then something happens during the week that completely changes what I have intended to preach about.  That happened to me yesterday.  I woke up not entirely excited about attending a six-hour board retreat scheduled at United Campus Ministries.  But I decided to go because I am a board member, because our church’s former pastor John Chironna was instrumental in forging the current structure of that ministry, because our particular congregation supports that ministry, and—most importantly—because Connie McLaren is also on the board and I wouldn’t want to disappoint her by failing to attend. 

The person facilitating the retreat was the Reverend David V.W. Owen, who is currently serving as executive assistant to the United Methodist bishop for our area.  With David’s permission, I want to share some points of his presentation with you this morning.  I apologize in advance to the sociologists and marketers among you, many of whom already are aware of these points.  I guess I, myself, had heard most of them before; but somehow they had a power yesterday that they had not had before.  We were discussing how to invigorate and advance campus ministry in our current social context, but I think the lessons are equally, if not more powerfully, applicable to our congregation.

David’s presentation was based upon the research of sociologists,[2] who have studied the mindset of persons in various age brackets in our American culture.  For most of human history, due to a relatively short life expectancy, the population contained only about two generations at a time—the young folks and the old folks.  By way of contrast, in modern America we have many generations present at the same time.  And each of these generations has different characteristics.  If you think about it, this won’t really come as a surprise.  Just in the last few weeks several of you in conversation have described for me what you considered to be the mindset of different generations within the church.  It’s just that these sociologists have done the research that lets them describe us with a degree of scientific confidence.

OK, enough of the introduction.  Let’s get down to the categories.  Keep in mind that as I describe the generational characteristics, none of you will exhibit every facet of the description; but each of you will have been influenced in some way by the factors that are described.  As a little experiment of our own, I would like for you to stand when I give the years of your birth.  Some of you may be sensitive about revealing your age, so you should feel free to stay seated.  I just want us all to get a sense of the relative numbers of the different generational brackets who are in attendance this morning.  First of all are the persons born in the years from 1909 to 1927.  [Would all of you please stand?]  This is the generation known as the G.I. generation.  They are the ones whose formative years were during the Great Depression, and they came of age during World War II.  They are also called the “Builder” generation because when they came back from the war, they applied themselves industriously to rebuilding the nation.  As a group they are understood to be frugal, willing to postpone gratification, loyal, and willing to support institutions.  [OK.  You may be seated.]

The next group is the so-called “Silent” generation, persons born between 1928 and 1945.  [Would you please stand?]  You are sometimes called the “bridge” generation because you are the bridge between the G.I. generation and the ones who came after you.  As a group, you are relatively quiet.  You do not blow your own horn.  And you are very industrious.  You adapt to changing situations.  [Thank you; you may be seated.]

Next up are the Baby Boom generation—the Boomers—born from 1946 to 1964.  [Would you please stand?]  As we look at the demographics, the Boomers are the biggest group; and their influence on our culture, for good and bad, has been profound.  As a group, Boomers are described as idealistic, self-absorbed, pleasure-seeking, and suspicious of authority and of cultural institutions like the church.  In contrast to the G.I. generation, they are not motivated so much by loyalty as by their own sense of what is right in the moment and right for them.  In their formative years the Boomers were sometimes indulged by their parents, the G.I. generation, and they came of age during the Vietnam War, at a time when cultural norms were shifting drastically.  I note with irony that at the time they “did not trust anyone over 30.”  [OK.  Thank you, Boomers.]

Next is Generation X.  You were born between the years 1965 and 1982.  [Would you please stand?]  You are called “X” because of your tendency not to identify with any particular social movement.  However, you look around you and see so much hypocrisy in the world that—whatever you are—you want to be that authentically.  Whereas for the Boomers, it was “all about me”; for you it is important to be in relationship with others.  [All you X-ers can be seated now.]

Finally, there are the Millennials.  You were born between 1983 and 2001. [Would you please stand?]  You are the first fully digital generation.  You’re still becoming who you are, but here’s what the research shows so far.  You are confident, hopeful, goal- and achievement-oriented.  You are civic minded—even patriotic.  You use digital technology effortlessly, and you are frustrated when you are deprived of it.  You are multi-cultural and inclusive,[3] and it’s a good thing that you are.  Our country will look a lot different when you are my age.  The Asian and Hispanic population of our country is currently growing explosively at a rate of about 50%, and by 2030 that growth will still hover around 25%.  African Americans, who are now growing at a 15% rate, will see their rate of growth slow to about 10%.  In contrast the Caucasian population will experience a growth rate of 5%, tapering down to 2%.  Our society is becoming rapidly multi-cultural.  [Thanks, you may be seated.]

Now what does all this have to do with the church?  I want to lift up three things about these generational studies that I believe are significant to how we do ministry here at Central.  First, as we move through the age brackets toward younger and younger people, we find that increasingly they have to experience something before they can believe it.  When I was a teenager in the Baptist church, evangelism meant explaining the “Four Spiritual Laws”[4] to someone and then waiting for their decision.  They might come to a couple of services—maybe a revival—and then they would make their profession of faith and become a member.  The decision came early in the process of association with the church.  Nowadays, the sociologists tell us, folks need to experience Christ before they decide for Christ.  Maybe they will come to Central Presbyterian Church to get this experience. 

But more likely they will experience us when we are out in the world being good disciples—when we are swinging hammers together at the Habitat build or when our team is participating in the breast cancer Race for the Cure or when they see one of us making the hard but right decision in a difficult situation.  I think we are learning this lesson.  We now have received our scores back from the second Natural Church Development survey.  We went up dramatically in what was our minimum factor, “Need Oriented Evangelism.”  As our outreach is increasingly successful at bringing new folks into the church, we may fing that although they attend and participate, they do not make a membership decision right away.  They may work in the church; they may give to the church because they see the good that we are doing; but they may need to come alongside us for a while before they hear the truth of our beliefs.  Right now we don’t even have a category for people like this.  We have active members and inactive members and visitors.  Maybe we need a new category to acknowledge this new kind of connection.

The second insight we get from the generational studies is that the younger generations value relationships.  This goes hand-in-hand with the first point.  Increasingly people are attracted to churches and stay in churches because of relationships.  What this means is that every small group within our church becomes part of the root system that helps us grow.  Monday Stitchers, choir, college and young adult group, youth group, Sunday school classes, Ladies’ Night out, book club, men’s fellowship breakfast, and even boards and committees working together—and, most especially, occasions when we share meals together—these are just as important as the style of our worship service.  The physical place where church happens—our building—will always be important.  But we should not forget that for the younger generation, relationships and community can be built and can exist also through the Face Book and My Space Internet sites, by instant e-mail messages, and by text-messaging with cell phones.

And finally, speaking of worship services, there may be good news for us in the generational studies.  Although the G.I. generation and the Silent generation have sometimes been in conflict with the Boomers about whether we should institute “contemporary worship,” we find that the Gen X-ers and the Millennials don’t care that much what style the worship is, as long as it is authentic.  In fact, left to their own devices, some of these younger folks seem to be drawn to what has been described as “classical worship.”  For them, “classical” describes worship practices that date back to the earliest centuries of the Christian Church.  You see, for them that is the badge of authenticity—what we been doing together as Christians for two thousand years.  Some of them, who have been attending contemporary services, are now asking for organ music!  Our culture, which used to be verbal, is now visual; so visual information is increasingly important in worship.  That is why we have been emphasizing more the sacramental aspects of worship—the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.  As we consider renovations to our worship space, we should consider how the visual elements of worship can be made clearer and more powerful.

When Jesus came to John to be baptized in the River Jordan, there was a transition in ministry.  Jesus had some new ideas that he was about to start teaching.  Although John was not completely sure about these new things,[5] he did not resist the changes that Jesus brought.  And Jesus, for his part, valued what John had been doing so much that he chose to validate John’s ministry by being baptized himself.  No matter how much we might wish it so, nothing ever remains the same.  Change is a natural part of the world.  Change is essential to growth and to life.  Every day we should ask ourselves, how have we changed for the better.  Above all the change, God presides, God guides, and God recreates.  God holds us fast no matter what changes may come.  God uses changes to help us grow.  Baptism is essentially a change—we put off our old selves with us at the center, and we place Christ in the center of our lives.  In Baptism we become part of a new family, the people of God.  It is about loyalty, about adaptation to a new reality.  Baptism is visual, it is experiential, it is about community, it is authentic, it is ancient.  Jesus showed us how to do it—something for every generation.