Evangelism from The Baptismal Covenant

Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

Jesus and his first followers made a unique claim that was different from other religions of the day. They claimed that God embodied in Jesus alone was for all people across ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic divisions. People from all backgrounds could follow Jesus and have a relationship with God but not have to change their cultural heritages. This made them both exclusive and universal. They were exclusive in that Jesus was the only way to God, and they were universal in that anyone could come to Jesus.

This exclusive/universal dynamic led early Christians to evangelize and share the good news about Jesus with all kinds of people—the poor, the rich, the powerful, the enslaved, speakers of Aramaic, speakers of Latin, and on and on. We are inheritors of this faith and this claim that Jesus is, in fact, good news for all people. Regardless of who you are or what you have done, you can come to God through Jesus.

In this Evangelism question of The Baptismal Covenant, we commit to make the message of Jesus known in the world in two principal ways: word and example.

“By word” means that we will talk with others about Jesus. We will listen to their needs and concerns, share about how Jesus is good news for them in their lives today, and speak to how Jesus has been good news in our own lives. We do this with all the creativity that language affords us-humor, song, logic, silence, etc.

“By example” means that our actions communicate the story of God as well. We cannot tell people that God loves them and then engage in hateful behavior. At least we cannot do that and expect them to believe our words. If the story about Jesus we are telling is true, then our lives should align with that truth in how we treat others.

In this question, we covenant with God to do both actions. It is not by word or example but “by word and example.” As we do both actions, we make a statement to the world about who God is and invite everyone to join us in following Jesus.

Repentance from The Baptismal Covenant

Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

Part of being a Christian is recognizing that we sin, we do evil, and we hurt people around us. Through our baptisms in Christ Jesus, we have been cleansed from our sins, but we still struggle with sin in our daily life. The Repentance question from The Baptismal Covenant gives us three specific actions for how we are to respond to sin in our lives.

The first action asks us to “persevere in resisting evil.” Our initial response to sin is to not engage in it. This is the best response to sin; stay away from it. The word persevere reminds us that this is an ongoing effort for us, not a one-time event. We will need to actively work, spending our time and energy day after day going against evil and sin. To be faithful to this question, we cannot think, “Oh, I’ll try to not sin sometimes when I’m in the mood,” but must actively say, “No!” to sin on a regular basis. We must consider which of our environments make us more prone to sin and stay away from such situations. Go instead to the places that lead us into holiness.

The second half of our question talks about the actions we are to do when we have been unable to resist evil. Our question reminds us that our baptisms do not keep us from sinning; we are still capable of great evil and will probably do evil after we have been baptized. The two actions Christians are to do after sinning is repent and return.

To repent means acknowledging to God the wrongness of what we have done or are doing. We do not hide or ignore the sin in hopes that everyone else will also hide or ignore our wrongdoing. We do not make excuses or justify our sin. Instead, as Christians we take responsibility for our words and actions and how they have brought harm and destruction into the world. We say to God, “This is not how you want me to live.” This acknowledgement then leads back to a recommitment to “persevere in resisting evil.”

The last action mentioned in our question is return. Returning to the Lord reminds us that God is always ready to receive us regardless of the sins we have committed. God loves us and wants to be in relationship with us. After sinning, we should not tarry or loiter but run quickly to the Lord who graciously awaits us. We were created to be with the Lord, not apart. Come home.

As you consider your life and fulfilling the promises of this baptismal question, know that you do not have to respond to your sin alone. Christian community can support you. Seek out a trusted follower of Jesus or come see one of your priests. Tony and I would always be glad to meet with you and assist you so that you may persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.

Growth from The Baptismal Covenant

Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?

In our baptisms, we celebrate God’s love, forgiveness, and grace toward us. We give thanks that we can now call God Father and be part of God’s family. While this is true, we also recognize that we still have much to learn about being part of God’s family. The Growth question in The Baptismal Covenant reminds us of four principal disciplines that allow us to grow in our knowledge, understanding, and practice of being Christians. These words in this question come from Acts 2:42 that describes the basic activities that the first Christians were doing.

The apostles’ teaching refers to studying the Bible, specifically the New Testament, as well as learning how the Church over the centuries since Jesus has interpreted and read the Bible. Every time we attend a Bible study, listen to a sermon, or read a book about Christian theology, we are continuing in the Apostles’ teaching. This is the basis for our faith and allows us to know the Story of God.

Fellowship refers to being in relationship with other Christians to share the joys and sorrows of life with one another. Our relationships help us to better understand who God is and who we are called to be. Often other people can encourage us when we are being faithful and challenge us when we are coming up short of God’s desires for our lives. Coming to church, participating in small groups, and having others over to your home are some of the ways that you can engage in fellowship.

Breaking bread means sharing meals with other Christians and most importantly partaking in communion. Communion is a sacrament—a Jesus empowered physical thing that connects to an inward and spiritual grace. The physical thing reassures and makes us certain that we have received inward and spiritual grace. In communion, the physical bread and wine helps us to receive God’s grace. Jesus is God coming to meet us in our physical world.

Prayers refer to our times in private and with others of speaking and listening to God. Through this communication with God, we can have constant communion with God. In our prayers we offer to God our needs and concerns while expressing praise and thanks. We also listen for God’s voice to direct our lives and actions. Prayer is the simple foundation for so many of our other spiritual practices.

According to The Baptismal Covenant, every Christian should be engaged in these four practices on a regular basis. Be quick to order your life with these practices so that you can grow in your relationship with God!

Story from The Baptismal Covenant

The author Paula Fox wrote, “To be human is to be in a story.” We are consistently constructing, unearthing, and rediscovering narratives for our lives. Over time we find some of these narratives to be less true than others; these stories make less sense of reality and take us away from the good life, and also over time we find some of these narratives to be truer than others; these stories make more sense of reality and bring us towards the good life.

As Christians, we have an overarching story that we claim guides us into all truth and goodness, this story makes the most sense of reality. It has been revealed to us in the Bible and summarized in the creeds of the Church. The Baptismal Covenant in its first three questions and answers recalls one of these ancient creeds, the Apostles’ Creed. At every baptism, we repeat this summary of the grand story of God so that we might be encouraged and challenged by its truth as well as grow in our understanding both about God and ourselves.

With concern to God, these core beliefs speak about a triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—who acts. We worship a god who creates, incarnates, forgives, resurrects, communes with, and so much more! These actions inform us about the character of God, what matters to God, and God’s purposes for reality. Without these actions by God, we would not know God; we would be in the dark and lost.

However, God has acted and allows us to know God. Because of this, we can know ourselves and understand our place in reality. We can act and speak to align our lives with God’s purposes and develop character that is consistent with God. We cannot be holy people of God if we do not understand who God is and what God wants. We must know, learn, and habituate the story of God in our lives.

Knowing the story and making it more a part of our lives is crucial to our discipleship, so I invite you to engage with God’s story by coming to church, reading your Bible, and coming to our various discipleship offerings. Also come on August 31 for our dedicated day to story as we begin of a year of focused attention on God’s story!

May God’s Story become more substantive and transformative in your life day by day so that you may know the love of God and share that love with others!