No, I will not re-baptize you.

In the fourth and fifth centuries a movement in the Christian tradition appeared called donatism. One of the things that defined this group was they way they understood the sacraments. Donatists believed that the validity of the sacrament depends upon the moral character of the minister. If the minister was a person of ill repute then, for the Donatist, it affects the sacrament of, say baptism.

Which may be why John would rather he be baptized by Jesus and not the other way around.

If you had to choose, wouldn't you rather be baptized by Jesus than by John? But Jesus says that in order for righteousness to be fulfilled, John needs to baptize Jesus. Could it be that what Jesus is pointing out to John and the crowd is that baptism is not about the moral character of the person. Baptism is less about the actions of humans and more about the actions of God.

Today we have a variation of Donatism when it comes to baptism. Where we may not be focused on the moral character of the minister, there is a focus on the moral character of the one being baptized.

In the United Methodist Church, we do not re-baptize anyone. We do not care if you were baptized as a baby. We do not care if you were baptized as an adult. We do not care if you really meant it when you were baptized. We do not care if your parents only got you baptized to keep family peace. One baptism is enough.

The UMC does not re-baptize in part because the UMC teaches that baptism is less about the actions or thoughts of the baptized and more about the actions or thoughts of God.

Baptism is a sacrament that publicly articulates a Truth about God: God loves each of us and calls us by name. God calls us God's beloved. 

Notice that Jesus does not repent before his baptism. He is not slain by the Holy Spirit. He does not say a specific prayer. Heck, up to this point in the story of Jesus, Jesus has done very little other than be born.

And that is the point.

You do not have to do anything to be claimed and loved by God. You are God’s beloved just because.

John’s understanding of baptism puts the emphasis on the individuals involved in the baptism. This is why John desires to be baptized by Jesus. Jesus is greater than John, John cannot hold Jesus’ sandals. Jesus is the greater teacher and messiah.

But Jesus understands baptism is less about the actions of humans and more about the actions of God.

It does not matter who or how you are baptized, because baptism is a way we express something about God’s love for each and every person. This is in part why Christians desire everyone to be baptized. Not as a ticket to heaven but as a way to tell everyone on the entire earth that God loves you. You are important. You are valued, cherished and a beautiful human being. You are God’s beloved.

The Root Sin in the Clergy

Every January I come across this reading and every January this expresses exactly how I feel. 

"The fathers of the early church who went out into the desert are popularly thought to have fleeing the evils of civilization. But this is a simplification. They thought of themselves more properly as going out to fight evil. The demons, as well as the angels, were believed to live in the wilderness and there could be confronted and bested in all their horrible destructiveness.

The bestting sin of the desert fathers was acedia or accidie, tellingly described as "the devil of the noonday sun."Acedia is spiritual boredom, and indifference to matters of religion, or simple laziness. Symeon the New Theologian wrote to his monks, 'Do not forget your special tasks and your handicraft to walk about aimlessly and in dissipation and so expose yourselves to the demon of accidie.' His remark is almost a commentary on the axiom, 'Idle hands are the devil's workshop.'

The ancient sin of acedia lies at the root of the pastor's or priest's refusal to heed the calling to be the instrument of spiritual growth. In 1977 Carlyle Marney, a distinguished Baptist 'pastor to pastor,' spoke at the seminary where I serve. I remember him asking our students if they thought after ten years they would still love the Lord Jesus if instead would have become 'hand tamed by the gentry.' Of course, he would have been exceedingly surprised if any had confessed that probably the latter would be the case, but the fact is that many ordained persons  quickly lose a sense of the excitement of the spiritual quest. They succumb to acedia in those forms that are to a degree peculiar to our times, and yet share mush with previous centuries of clergy.

Many of us when we think of the sins of the clergy recall the 'fallen priest' in literature, such as Reverend T. Lawrence Shannon in Tennessee William's play, The Night of the Iguana. He was a boozer, a wencher, and had lost his faith. Yet, such a person is less a sinner than he is a casualty. American religion is obsessed with the 'warm sins' such as illicit sex and gluttony. Because many of us are Donatists-believing that the validity of the sacrament depends upon the moral character of its minister, which was condemned as a heresy long ago-we become inordinately concerned when the warm sins are committed by the ordained. What we fail to realize is that pastor or priest who succumbs to the sins of passion is fallen in the same manner as a fallen soldier. These are the demons that threaten anyone who sets out upon the path through chaos. Some will lose.

The sins that should concern us far more deeply are those that prevent the ordained from ever exercising their spiritual vocation. These 'cold sins' truly violate the mission of the pastor to be a symbol, symbol-bearer, and hermeneut. They arise not from an excess of passion, but from a fear of passion. They are the product of a calculated apathy, sustained only by the embers of a dying soul.

Acedia is the root sin of the clergy as a spiritual guides. Like cancer it eats away at our abandonment to the love for God and his creation. It takes a number of forms, which have much in common with those of other centuries but also have their own peculiar twist in our times."

- From Spirituality for Ministry by Urban T. Holmes III

It is better to give than to receive? Shenanigans.

“6 Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. 8But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, ‘Why this waste? 9For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.’ 10But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. 11For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. 13Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’”

— Matthew 26:6-13

How can Jesus be a generous guy and then say it is okay for this woman to pour expensive oil on his head when it could have been sold and proceeds given to the poor? That does not sound very generous at all.

And yet this story may be one of the great stories of Jesus teaching about true generosity in any Gospel.

It is worth noting that generosity is often understood as when we give. We talk about being generous givers of which we generally are good at especially this time of year. But there is also the idea of being a generous receiver.

We tend to think that it is better to give than to receive, however it really is just as important to be able to give as it is to receive.

If we cannot receive something from another person, if we think we don’t need anything from anyone, if we are uncomfortable when someone gives us something and we don’t have anything to give back to them - then we are not very generous receivers.

Giving is an act of grace and receiving is an act of humility. It is humbling when someone gives us a gift is it not? We have been conditioned to think that we are not worthy of receiving gifts. We say things like, “I don’t need anything.” or “You really shouldn’t have.”

We say things like this, I think, in part because we don’t want to feel that humbling feeling we have when we know that someone went out of their way, used their resources, in order to give us a gift to say, “I was thinking about you and I wanted to give this to you and say I love you.” It is humbling when someone looks you in the eyes and shows you that they love you.

In the story of the woman anointing Jesus we get Jesus teaching his disciples both how to give and receive generously.

First, when Jesus says “For you will always have the poor with you.” He is alluding to Deuteronomy 15 - specifically the verses where God commands the people how to give generously:

Deuteronomy 15:7-11

7 If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your needy neighbour.8You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be. 9Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near’, and therefore view your needy neighbour with hostility and give nothing; your neighbour might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt. 10Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbour in your land.’

When Jesus says, “For the poor will always be with you” he is using one line to invoke the entire teaching. It is like if I say, “she was a Good Samaritan”. If you know the parable of the Good Samaritan then you know what I mean. Through didactic teaching Jesus is articulating how to be a generous giver.

But like I said, it really is just as important to be able to give as it is to receive. And Jesus was a generous receiver.

Jesus does not turn the gift away. He does not say to the woman, “Hey, I am the Son of God, I don’t need anything.” or “You shouldn’t have. I did not get you anything.”

No.

Jesus recognizes that this woman went out of her way, used her resources, in order to give him a gift to say, “I was thinking about you and I wanted to give this to you and say I love you.”

It is humbling when someone looks you in the eyes and shows you that they love you.

Because it is just as important to be able to give as it is to receive.