Episode 1611: Power of Presence

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 1,611 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Clint Hatton: I'm Clint Hatton, and I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to live a big, bold, brave life is key.

And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship podcast with my friend Scott Maderer

Scott Maderer: and servants of the Lord are to help those people. It's to bring justice to those who don't have justice on their own. This is about the community that we are called into. As the [00:01:00] Fellowship of the Baptized, welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling.

In the Inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself. Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk about Isaiah chapter 42 verses one through nine, and Matthew chapter three, verses 13 through 17. I talk about how maybe repentance isn't only about turning away, and I also talk about how we are called to serve others. Isaiah 42 Chapters one through nine says, here is my servant, who I'm, I uphold [00:02:00] my chosen and whom my soul delights.

I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry out or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street a bruised read. He will not break and a dimly burning wick. He will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow, faint, or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth.

And the Coastlands wait for his teaching, thus says, God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it. Who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it. I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I've taken you by the hand and kept you.

I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord That is my name. My glory I give to no other nor I praise to idols. See, the former things have [00:03:00] come to pass and new things I now declare before they spring forth.

I tell you of them in Matthew chapter three, verses 13 through 17 says, then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the go, Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would've prevented him saying, I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him. Let it be so now for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.

Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were open to him and he saw God's spirit descending like a dove and a lighting on him. And a voice from the heaven said, this is my son, the beloved with whom I am well pleased. Have you ever known a polar bear?

I'm not talking about a real polar bear or one in a zoo. I, those people that decide that the best way to celebrate the new year is by [00:04:00] finding an ice covered body of water, cutting a hole in it, and then jumping in. I don't know about you, but I kind of look at those things and think to myself, you gotta be a little crazy to do that.

And yet many of those people continue to do it year after year after year. And they talk about it like describing to others what a wonderful experience it is, how great it is, how perfect it is, and they invite you to join them. Come on in, the water's fine. They say, and I don't know about you, but I'm always a little suspicious when someone tells me that.

Even in the high heat of summer, if somebody tells me not to worry, the water's fine. I'm not a hundred percent sure if I trust them. Maybe the water's too cold. Maybe it's too hot, maybe it's not deep enough. All sorts of things [00:05:00] cross my mind. Don't get me wrong, I, I know it can be refreshing when I'm in the summer.

Heat sweating like crazy. In the three digit Fahrenheit temperatures that happen here in Texas, but I still kind of wonder if they're really telling the truth. Yet. At the same time, I don't like being left out. When folks look like they're having fun and I'm standing on the shore watching, I kind of begin to think maybe I should join the party.

Maybe I should jump in too, or maybe I should wait in slowly, but maybe I should join them in the water. This passage today in Matthew, John is standing there on the shore of the waters of the Jordan River and he's waited out into the water and he seems to be telling everyone there, come on in the water's [00:06:00] fine.

And some people had seen him and joined him there, but some had not. Some were still standing there. Waiting to take up the invitation. They had not yet joined him in the waters, and maybe they were never going to. There's all sorts of issues that come out of this moment in the gospel. Questions about baptism and what counts and what doesn't, and do you do it this way?

Do you do it that way? We've literally had denominations split and people fight even to the death over the issue of what baptism is and what it isn't and how it counts and how it doesn't. I was raised Methodist and I remain a Methodist, and so. I kind of think all of those things fit and I, I see the argument on all of the sides, but I think the idea of fighting over it and making that the biggest [00:07:00] issue is a little crazy.

I can find meaning and justification for baptizing in a variety of ways, in a variety of settings with a variety of different words, but at the end of the day, it does have to be. About what's going on in baptism when Jesus climbed down the bank into the river. John appears to be shocked. Maybe we don't really know, but it's clear that he had some idea who Jesus was.

Maybe there was a whisper from the spirit. Maybe it was because of their family history, who, whatever it was, he seems to be going, wait, why you? Maybe it was just the way that Jesus had been causing a disruption and causing fishermen to leave their nets and broken people to reach out and hope and powerful people to tremble and worry.

[00:08:00] But regardless, John was wanting to bow down to Jesus and be blessed instead of confer a blessing. And we don't know exactly what happened to cause John to say what he said or what Matthew records that he said, but something did. There was some sense of right and wrong going on in his thinking. And regardless, John seems to think Jesus should be the one doing the blessing and the baptizing not him.

And yet Jesus says, let it be so now for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness. I don't know about you, but I'm not even sure I understand exactly what that passage means. Let it be So now is that fake it till you make it. Let's just go through the motions. Let's pretend.

And what is the righteousness that Jesus is trying to feel fulfill? And the truth is we [00:09:00] don't really know exactly what this means. That translation is a little bumpy. We have guesses, and some are more sure than others, but we really don't know exactly what it means. But in some sense, Jesus seems to be saying, I want to join in and I want to be seen joining in.

I want my ministry, my life, my witness to be about becoming a part of the body, about joining up with the kingdom of God. I want to be present with those who are longing for relationship and meaning. Maybe John was hesitating because his understanding of baptism was of repentance and forgiveness of sins, and why would Jesus need to have his sins forgiven?

So why would he consent to a baptism and repentance in this way? But it seems to also be that maybe Jesus is looking at repentance in a bigger way. John was seeing repentance [00:10:00] only as turning away. From our life of sin and the sins that we've done for being sorry about what's gone on before and pledging and saying, we're not going to engage in those behaviors again.

And that is an understanding of repentance and even a true one. But what if Jesus was looking at repentance, not just as turning away, but as turning towards. What if Jesus is making a gesture of inclusion, acceptance, and entrance into the community of the ministry that he was going to perform? This is a sign that there's something new, something different, and it's about the kingdom of God.

It's about living in community with each other, with God, and with Christ righteousness. Is about being faithful to relationship. You can't [00:11:00] be righteous all by yourself. You're righteous with God and you're righteous with one another. Righteousness by its very word, implies a relationship, and that as far as Methodist are concerned, that's what's necessary is a requirement for baptism.

It's the community. Baptism is a corporate act, an act done in community, usually as part of worship, or even if not as part of worship. It still needs to be done in community. It's an entrance into that community. It's adjoining with the body and a representation of that joining with the larger relationship.

It's about becoming a member of the family. That's what Isaiah's talking about as well. He's talking about community. [00:12:00] It, yes. It sounds like it's about a person and it is at one level. It's called the servant song of the book of Isaiah. And who the servant is in this first verse is, there's a lot of debate about that.

Maybe it's the ideal follower of God. Maybe it isn't anyone in particular. It's just anyone who seeks to follow. Maybe this is that kind of life. Maybe it's an example passage. Maybe it was read after the coronation of a new king, and as a reminder to the king that you're serving. The nation, you're a leader, serves the nation, not from power, but as servants of the Lord.

Maybe that's part of it. All of that is partially true. Probably maybe all of it's completely true, but if you keep reading, when Isaiah speaks of calling, of being a light on the hill, he's referring to the whole nation of Israel. [00:13:00] He's talking about the community of faith. It's also about Christ at some level.

Jesus was the ultimate servant, and this is what, hi his example is, and by doing that, he lifted up the falling. He spoke to those. Who had injustice and called for justice. And notice, by the way, how often the word justice shows up in this passage over and over again because justice in the community is a key to what the passage is about.

Justice is to open the eyes of the blind. Whether those are blinded by material things or education, poverty, prejudice, abuse, and servants of the Lord [00:14:00] are to help those people, it's to. Bring justice to those who don't have justice on their own. This is about the community that we are called into as the Fellowship of the Baptized.

Thanks for listening floor.

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