Eastern Washington-Idaho Synod

God’s Beloved People,

AND SO, we enter a New Year on the calendar, a year the church entered with the first Sunday of Advent, 2011.  The world thinks it has caught up with us!

For those of who suffer from any form of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) these are brightening days.  The winter solstice is behind us and the days, ever so slowly, begin to lengthen.  We’ve once again celebrated the singular glory of God becoming human flesh in the birth of Jesus.  It is time to look forward in anticipation of more time, more grace, more future in God’s Kingdom of chronological time!

One of my favorite early celebrations is the Baptism of Jesus, celebrated this year on January 8, 2012.  Do confirmation students still ask the question:  “If Jesus is perfect, how come he has to be baptized?”  I have a theory about that and can’t for the life of me remember whether I’ve written about it before.  For those of you for whom this is repeated news, press on to more important things.  For those who still ask the confirmation question, stay with me.

The question, of course, has to do with our notion (and the Jewish notion:  See Mark 1:5) that baptism is a washing of and for regeneration from sin.  What was old and past is left behind in the water and what is new is Holy Spirit, swallowed in the air we breathe arising from that cleansing water.  It is a kind of spiritual molting by which we leave behind the old self and take on the gift of Jesus’ life for our own.  We will return again and again to this concrete memory of a time and place where we were claimed and washed and made new.

But why would Jesus seek John’s baptism since Jesus is God in human flesh, and sinless according to tradition?  Here’s the image for me.  As with our calendar, we live in a stream of time, passing.  In baptism our sin is swept away, carried away to … where?  Today’s environmental crisis warns us that this toxic soup is somewhere and must be dealt with.

The way I see it Jesus is downstream being baptized into our sin, as if all that is swept off and away from us then adheres to Jesus.  As we are baptized and freed from sin, Jesus becomes heavier and heavier, his cloak and flesh layered with the waste of our lives.  Jesus bears this encrusted flesh to the cross where in God’s wisdom it is destroyed forever.  Christ’s resurrection confirms that sin is conquered, once for all, and that the new river of life is once again pure and spotless, the source of new life  (Rev 22:1).

In John 1: 26 (Advent 3, 2011) John the Baptist says “among you stands one you do not know.”  I’ve always been curious about where Jesus was during that encounter.  Perhaps we should look downstream.  Jesus is downstream in time as well, waiting for us in this New Year.

Pastor Martin Wells
Bishop
msmmwells@aol.com

Copyright © 2011 Eastern Washington-Idaho Synod, ELCA.

Each congregation received a mailing in December 2007 on the Guiding Princles of the Synod.  The following items were included in that mailing:
-- a large poster containing the Guiding Principles of the synod (we hope you have found a place to display this)
-- a brief description of these principles to post nearby as an aid to understanding and, we hope, a "hook" to stimulate interest (click here to download the description)
-- a six-part study of these principles prepared by Bishop Wells. (click here to download the study)
-- lesson aids so that the study might be used with children and youth prepared by Pr. Helga Jansons (click here to download the aids)

It is our prayer that these materials will encourage you and assist you in the constant work of revitalization for ministry.

To the Priesthood of Believers in the Eastern Washington and Idaho Synod,

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus, the Savior of the world!

As you review this page you’ll see the Synod’s Guiding Principles listed on the right.  I hope this looks familiar to you from the poster your congregation received.  Let me take this opportunity to put those principles into prose text:

Our clearest purpose as a Church is to declare Jesus as the true and trusted center of all life.  Because we have found such hope, we are now free and empowered to live life in Jesus’ name.  This is our response of gratitude and we intend that it set us apart from those who live from fear, anxiety, anger, or entitlement.  We are simply not going to be afraid and we are open to the way God will transform us from this trust in Jesus.  We expect to see miracles flow from this trust and we will not let fear of this power cause us to shrink!  In fact we’re going to open up to life and live this Good News 360 degrees!  Jesus has come to address, befriend, and love every person we meet, so yes, everybody come to the Kingdom of God celebration!  And when we fail, when we forget to trust God, when we forget the mercy that inspires our lives, when we’re more afraid of life than excited about it, when we close down, well then, we beg forgiveness and remember that it was never our mission.  It was and is God’s mission we’re drawn to and we’re confident, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, that God will see it through.  It is our joy to tag along and have a part!  Thanks be to God!

Pr. Martin Wells, Bishop