Scriptures: Matt 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-34.
Amidst the flurry of news coverage surrounding
the race for the Republican nomination for president, we find that a
candidate’s Christian beliefs are as important as ever to American voters in
2012.
But some candidates are more open about
their beliefs than others.
Romney has been a Mormon bishop, leading
worship and teaching Bible and the Book
of Mormon and overseeing more than a dozen
congregations. But he rarely talks about his faith publicly.
Huntsman, also a Mormon, is more open. He
said, "I believe in God. I'm a good Christian. I'm very proud of my Mormon
heritage."
Santorum is passionately pro-life and
openly shares personal experiences that affected his faith. He is Roman
Catholic. In 1996, his wife developed a life-threatening infection while
pregnant; their son Gabriel was born at 20 weeks. He lived for only two hours. And
Santorum and his wife have a 3-year-old daughter, Bella, with Trisomy 18, a rare,
serious genetic disorder. Only 1 in 10 children with this disorder make it to
their 1st birthday.
Gingrich was raised Lutheran and became
Baptist as an adult. He converted to Catholicism in 2009 after his marriage to
a Catholic woman. He decided to convert when he saw Pope Benedict XVI on his
visit to the United States in 2008. He says, "Catching a glimpse of Pope
Benedict that day, I was struck by the happiness and peacefulness he exuded.
The joyful and radiating presence of the Holy Father was a moment of
confirmation about the many things I had been thinking and experiencing for
several years."
Perry grew up Methodist but attends a
nondenominational church in Texas. Perry openly professes belief in the
inerrancy of the Bible, intelligent design, and that people who do not accept
Christ as their Savior will go to hell. He has taken some flak for saying that.
Bachmann, who pulled out of the race this
week, was raised Wisconsin Synod Lutheran. She defends her beliefs. She said,
"I love Catholics, I'm a Christian, and my church does not believe that
the Pope is the Anti-Christ."
A
presidential candidate’s Christianity
has always been important. Take Thomas Jefferson running against John Adams in
the election of 1800. Jefferson, a wealthy plantation owner from Virginia, had
to defend himself against the Federalist’s accusation that he was anti-Christ.
Jefferson was a deist, professing faith in God. He prided himself on his power
to reason and think scientifically. He distrusted all organized religion. The
primary author of the Declaration of Independence was a staunch believer in the
separation of church and state. He
denied that he was anti-Christ, but refused to share more, saying one’s faith
is a private matter. He claimed his right to conscience, a right that was
protected by our laws. He won the election, without revealing his true feelings
about Christ and Christianity. A few years later, he told his friend, Dr.
Benjamin Rush, that Christianity had been corrupted by the church AND by the
gospel writers themselves. They added the miraculous stuff—the virgin birth,
angelic proclamations, healings, exorcisms, and so on. Jefferson said he was a Christian “in the
only sense that Jesus would want anyone to be,” that he was “sincerely attached
to all his doctrines, in preference to all others.” He ascribed to Christ “all human excellence”
and believed that Christ never claimed to be anything but human.
Years passed. Jefferson was moved to piece together a book that would
prove, once and for all, that he was a REAL Christian. He took out a sharp
blade, perhaps his penknife, and cut out the New Testament verses he deemed
authentic and threw away the scraps with miraculous details, including references
to the Resurrection. Then he pasted the
selected verses onto a clean, blank book. The public did not know about the
book, but his grandchildren published it after his death. The Jefferson
Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth is displayed in the
Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
Jefferson’s Bible ends abruptly with
Christ’s burial. Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus lay Jesus inside the tomb,
roll a great stone in front of the entrance, and depart.
As
you might expect, his book treats the baptism of Jesus very differently than
the gospel accounts we read today. The Jefferson Bible says of the baptism,
“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee unto John, to be baptized by him.” That’s
it. Nothing more.
In our whole, uncut New Testaments, the
baptism story with some variations is found in all four gospels. Each one tells
of the Holy Spirit descending like a dove onto Christ. Three of the gospels
speak of the voice from heaven. In Matthew, the voice says, “This is my Son,
the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” In Mark and Luke, the voice
addresses Christ, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
John
is convinced that Jesus is the Son of God because he sees the Spirit in a form
of a dove. This is the same Spirit that
moved over the face of the waters at Creation. Rabbis have long spoke of the
Spirit of God fluttering like a dove over the ancient chaos, breathing order
and beauty into it. The dove in Palestine was a sacred bird, not hunted or
eaten. The picture of the dove was one
that the Jews, including John, knew and loved.
The Hebrew word translated Spirit is ruach. It means literally wind or breath. The Spirit was
power. The Spirit was life.
The Spirit was God.
I shared the Matthew account of Jesus’
baptism this week when I was visiting Henry and Jeanette. Henry had just been
moved to the nursing home in Olivia from the hospital a day or two before. The couple that will celebrate their wedding
anniversary this week is separated, perhaps for the first time in many years, because
of Henry’s health problems. You can imagine how hard this is for them.
We reached out to God in prayer, clinging
to our hope in Christ when life is so filled with struggle, pain, and uncertainty. I thanked God for His Spirit that came upon
Jesus at His baptism, the same Spirit that comes to us at our baptism and transforms
us into new creatures in Christ. I asked
that God’s Spirit would heal Henry and bring comfort and peace to the family. I
thanked God for the Spirit that stays with us, guiding, comforting and giving
us strength, wherever we are. Because
the Spirit of God dwells within us, we are never alone.
As Christians who seek to obey God’s will
and glorify Him with our lives, we must be willing and able to publicly confess
our personal conviction in Christ our Redeemer.
The confession must come from the heart.
Contrary to what Jefferson claimed, a real
Christian knows it isn’t enough to accept Christ as an excellent man, with
admirable words and deeds. He is also the Lamb of God, as John says, who takes
away the sin of the world. Like John, I am convinced that Jesus is the Son of
God, and that the Holy Spirit descended on Him at baptism. I believe there was a voice from heaven, and
it was God, saying, “My Son, my beloved.”
And because of what God has done for us
through Christ, God sees all who trust in Christ as their Savior as His beloved. We are reconciled with God. We have peace with God, in this world and in
the world to come.
Let
us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for
speaking to us in Your Word. Thank you
for your loving Spirit that transforms us, shows us your Will, and guides our thoughts
and movements every day. Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ and the salvation
you offer to the world through belief on Him. Lord, we ask that you heal Henry.
Take away his pain. Help him to walk
again. Give him comfort and peace.
Please open a space for him, if it is Your will, in the nursing home in
Renville. So he and Jeanette can be together again. In Christ we pray. Amen.
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