Runway Approach

Here we go into the third week of advent. I am going to stay with this theme of airplane travel as a way for us to consider some of the features of advent waiting. We’ve talked in previous weeks about layovers; and we’ve talked about being rerouted. We have seen in these themes a snapshot from the life of Jesus that makes its way to connect with our world. Today we keep that going by considering the runway approach.

For those who have flown on airplanes before, you know there are a few things that always happen as the plane prepares to land. Some of those things you know about because it is announced over the loudspeaker. As the plane prepares to land, all passengers must put away portable electronic devices (such as laptop computers), make sure their chairs are in the fully upright position, flip up tray tables, and make sure seatbelts are securely fastened. Every passenger onboard does these few things as the plane prepares to land.

Then there are the things that happen as the plane prepares to land that the pilots take care of. The wing flaps are extended so that the airspeed of the plane can slow down, the landing gear is lowered so that the wheels are out (that’s pretty important for landing a plane). And I imagine there is a whole list of other items the flight crew must check off in preparation for landing which most of us know nothing about.

As the plane approaches the runway, all I know is that I have to turn off my computer, straighten my chair, and put away my tray table. But there is a whole lot more to landing an airplane than me doing those few things as one of the passengers. The flight crew takes care of what is really needed in order to prepare the plane for landing.

Today we are less than two weeks away from Christmas. We’re on final approach; prepare for landing. Kids and grandkids are all like, “you bet we’re ready, it can’t get here soon enough.” Others of us may be thinking, “I am so not ready for Christmas yet.” There is some preparation that happens during that final approach before Christmas lands. And there is preparation that happens in order for Jesus to arrive into this world. Let’s consider that for a bit today with a story from the life of Jesus that connects back to Old Testament Israel.

Exodus 14:19–22 NIV

19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

Joshua 3:14–17 NIV

14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

Matthew 3:13–17 NIV

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

English word ‘baptize’ is a transliteration from the Greek — no Old Testament Hebrew equivalent to that word, it never happens in the Old Testament

The history of baptism is a little obscure. It shows up in the New Testament gospels with this guy who is called John the Baptist. The word comes from the Greek baptizo; our English word ‘baptize’ is a pretty straight forward transliteration from the Greek. There is no Old Testament Hebrew equivalent to that word, because it never happens in the Old Testament—the practice didn’t show up in Israel’s history until John comes along in the gospels.

foundations of baptism in the events of Exodus 14 and Joshua 3

But from there, Jesus instructs his disciples to take this ritual of baptism and make it a regular practice in the life of the church to commemorate the event of a new member into the covenant community of God’s church. So, where did this strange ritual come from? Even though the word never shows up in the Hebrew Old Testament, I think we see the foundations of baptism in the events we read about today from Exodus 14 and Joshua 3. (By the way, we could also include the story in 2 Kings 2 in which Elisha is commissioned to take the place of Elijah the prophet. And don’t forget about Jonah who sinks down into the sea and is then spit back out again three days later.)

something significant is taking place whenever God uses this ritual practice for his people to go down into the water and then come back up again

These events are all connected in the Old Testament, and they all point us forward to this baptism event involving Jesus. Something significant is taking place whenever God uses this ritual practice for his people to go down into the water and then come back up again. I know we sort of lose sight of that visual in the way we do baptism with small children. But maybe you’ve seen the kind of baptism before in which there is a whole tub of water in the church and a person is completely dunked. (We wouldn’t do that to a baby.) Yet, in essence, this is what baptism visualizes in its symbolic form.

Jesus says his baptism must happen to fulfill all righteousness

If you have been with us the past few weeks for the first two messages in this advent series, maybe you have caught on that there is a pattern here. It is a pattern in which Jesus comes and takes on the experiences of of Old Testament Israel. He lives through what they lived through. It is no surprise then that when John resists Jesus’ request to receive baptism, that Jesus is insistent about it. Jesus tells John this has to happen to fulfill all righteousness. It is because Jesus came to take on and live through the experiences of his people. Just as God’s people in the Old Testament received the experience of going down into the water and coming back up again, so Jesus must receive that experience in his life as well.

baptism points ahead to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus

baptism — symbolic reminder we are united to Christ’s dying and rising

Of course, we also see the way in which Jesus takes this symbol of water and uses it to point forward. He is not only pointing back to the experience of Old Testament Israel, he is also pointing ahead to his own crucifixion and resurrection. Baptism reminds us that—just as Jesus unites himself to God’s people by going down into the water and coming back up again—baptism also reminds us that Jesus unites us to himself when he goes down into the grave and comes back up again to new resurrection life. This is why we still practice this ritual of baptism in the church today. It is the symbolic reminder we are united to Christ’s dying and rising.

So then, Exodus 14 is about more than a group of people getting from one side of the Red Sea to the other. It is about the dying away of slavery in Egypt, and the rising new life of God’s covenant people at Sinai. Joshua 3 is about more than a group of people getting from one side of the Jordan River to the other. It is about the dying away of the Sinai wilderness generation, and the rising to new life of God’s covenant people entering the promised land of Canaan.

this gospel pattern of dying and rising is still part of our world today

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul tells us that this gospel pattern of dying and rising is still part of our world today. That we are people who continually die more-and-more to sin, while being sanctified through the Holy Spirit to rise more-and-more into the new life opened to us in Jesus. The complete fulfillment of this is founded on the resurrection hope we have in Jesus. This is how Paul says it in Romans 6.

Romans 6:2–5 NIV

2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

we celebrate in the baptism in children that Jesus unites us to himself from the very beginning

This is a passage I always read at funerals. There are many in this church who are currently grieving the loss of a loved one. We know that a passage like Romans 6 is a comfort because it reminds us that being united with Christ holds us secure in both life and in death. It is a comfort for those who find their own lives to be on that final approach. But consider also how this passage from Romans speaks today as we celebrate the baptism of a life which is just starting off. For the little ones who receive baptism, it is not a final approach landing kind of moment, but a wheels-up taking off leaving the ground kind of moment. The covenant grace of God which is evident here reminds us that Jesus does not hold back and only unite us with himself at the very end, at the moment of death. What we celebrate here in baptism today is that Jesus unites us to himself from the very beginning. The baptism we see here today reminds us that Jesus has been united with you for your whole life.

semper reformada

The Thursday morning Men’s Bible study group recently covered a chapter in our book which talked about the Latin phrase semper reformada. It is a phrase that traces back to the time of the Christian reformation in Europe. Semper reformada has always been popularly translated as ‘always reforming.’ It was one of the mantras used by reformation era theologians to express the idea Christian reformation can never be tied to a single moment in history, but because the Holy Spirit is always sanctifying the people of God, the church ought to be a place in which people are constantly reforming.

There is one correction to this interpretation, however. The Latin phrase semper reformada does not actually mean ‘always reforming.’ The verb is passive, not active. It is not translated as ‘always reforming.’ It is translated as ‘always being reformed.’ In other words, you and I are not the ones who are doing the reforming; God is the one who is doing the reforming; you and I are the ones who are receiving what God is doing. We are BEING reformed.

maybe it is not so much you and I who are preparing ourselves for Jesus as it is Jesus who is preparing us for himself

Here we are today in this place, two weeks out from Christmas. We’re on final approach and it is time to prepare ourselves for the arrival of Jesus into our world. But do we have that backwards? Maybe it is not so much you and I who are preparing ourselves for Jesus as it is Jesus who is preparing us for himself. We are not the ones doing the preparing nearly as much as we are the ones BEING prepared.

I’m pretty sure when I’m on a plane that if I were to fail to straighten my seat and put up my tray table, the plane can probably still land and it will be alright. I don’t need to shout out and call off the pilot, “Wait! Abort landing! My tray table is still down!” Neither can I flip that around. It is final approach but the pilots haven’t down anything—the wing flaps are still pulled in so the plane is still going a zillion MPH; and the landing gear is still up so there are no wheels extended. But we’re still all good to land because I’ve got my chair straight and my tray table is up and my seatbelt is fastened. I’ve done my part to prepare so I’m sure we’re all good to put this plane on the ground. The truth here is obvious. What I do as a passenger to prepare for the plane landing is amazingly insignificant compared to what the pilots do to prepare the plane for landing.

the grace of God does not begin with any promises that you make to God — the grace of God begins with a covenant promise that God makes to you

Baptism reminds us of this. What you and I do to prepare ourselves for the arrival of Jesus is amazingly insignificant compared to what Jesus does to prepare us for his arrival. The grace of God does not begin with any promises that you make to God. The grace of God begins with a covenant promise that God makes to you. This is why baptism is something we can celebrate.

Maybe you are one of those people here today who does not feel all that prepared for Jesus. Maybe you’ve been pushed down by people so many times that you think you could never do what it takes to be prepared for Jesus to come into your heart. Maybe life is overwhelming and you struggle just to make it through one day. Maybe tomorrow is filled with uncertainty and you are not sure what the future will bring. Maybe you do not FEEL as though you have prepared yourself for God at all; or that you even know how to prepare yourself for Jesus. But know this: you are here in this place today; you made it to this place today. That means Jesus has prepared you to be here right now today.

God is going to keep preparing you for himself; that’s his promise

Jesus has prepared you with enough for today. And maybe that’s all the farther you can see or manage right now. That’s alright. Because God is going to keep preparing you for himself; that’s his promise. As we get closer to celebrating the arrival of Jesus at Christmas, may you find joy in knowing that God continues to prepare your heart more and more for Jesus. It is a work he began in you on day one. And it is a work he will keep doing in you for as long as you have breath. It is the reason why we can join both heaven and nature and sing, may there be joy to the world.