“LET’S HAVE A PARTY



“LET’S HAVE A PARTY!”

(A sermon preached at a baptismal service on May 5, 1991 at Braeside Evangelical Mennonite Church in Winnipeg, MB)

Text: Luke 15:1-32

Today we are celebrating that those who were lost are found, that those who could be squandering their inheritance in the world have instead chosen to come home to the family of God.

If we think of these parables, it would have been rather odd and inappropriate had the shepherd invited all his friends and neighbors together and then lectured them on the fine points of shepherding and how not to lose a sheep! Or suppose the woman who found the lost coin invited her friends over only to scold them about how they shouldn’t be careless with their money. Or what if the father had greeted his prodigal son with the words, “I told you, you’d be back. If you would have listened to me in the first place you could have been spared a lot of pain and agony. I hope that you’ve learned your lesson now. If you plan to live in this household you’ll have to abide by the rules from now on. Now let’s hop to it, there’s work to be done around here…”

It just doesn’t seem right! This is not the way these stories are told. And this is not how things are in the commonwealth of God and it certainly doesn’t reflect the character of our Sovereign!

At the end of each of these parables is a party. Verses 7 and 10 describe all the angels in heaven rejoicing over one sinner who repents while verses 22-24 describe the father preparing a dinner party for his one son who has returned home. They haul out their best clothes and jewelry and dine in fine style. Today twelve people are publicly announcing their repentance and commitment to Jesus. The angels must be going wild with partying! If heaven is rejoicing with vigor today, why not make things on earth as they are in heaven?

You may find the idea of parties, eating, drinking, dancing and revelry rather offensive. Well, so did the Pharisees as we see in verse 2. In fact that is what elicits this series of parables in the first place. The party parables of Jesus respond directly to the prudish and narrow-minded theology of the Pharisees. “The kingdom of God is a party!” as Tony Campolo has declared in his book title.[i] Jesus gained quite a reputation as a “party animal” with the stuffy and overly polite Pharisees. He was known as a “glutton and a drunkard.”

“Just wait a minute here,” you say, “What about the practical and ethical side of living out the Christian life? Life is not just one big party.”

No, it isn’t, but there is a time to celebrate. The Christian life is a serious commitment to a daily lifestyle of discipleship, but it is lived in a spirit of joy and freedom. When a woman broke a jar of expensive perfume as an act of worship (in a story told in a few places in the Gospels), a Pharisee was again offended by this extravagant, impractical act. But Jesus honors it. Jesus doesn’t say that it is not important to care for the poor or to be good stewards, but that there is a time to simply pause in worship and adoration. And today is such a day. A day to celebrate! In the midst of daily struggles, pain and worldwide suffering, we need brief interludes of celebration to bring relief and to restore joy. There has been and will be time to preach and teach, serve and work, but today is a day to party.

It is a party for everyone. All are invited and included. “Jews or Greeks, slave or free, male or female…” there is no discrimination. Each one of the people baptized today is different from the others, but they are all baptized into ONE body. Categories of persons are irrelevant at a Christian party. Everyone is invited to participate.

Baptism involves an individual decision and commitment that displays the inner transformation that has been taking place in the lives of these people before us. Baptism also joins each one to the partying people of God. It is the initiation rite into a new family, into a new relationship with others. Pierson in his commentary on Acts says, “Jesus did not come to save disembodied souls or merely to form a conglomeration of redeemed individuals, each primarily concerned with their own salvation and needs.”[ii] He came to form a new humanity whose pattern of life is described in the New Testament. It is called the church!

Now, the church is not perfect. It is made up of imperfect people. But that is also its beauty! The twelve of you here are representative of this. You are a “motley crew” like the original twelve disciples! You are of different personalities, ages and backgrounds and yet you are making the same commitment to live in the way of Jesus and to join yourself with each other and this local body at Braeside. Each one with their uniqueness is invited and accepted in the church. We are like parts of the body, all different with different functions, but working together as one body.

Today, the twelve of you are publicly aligning and identifying yourself with this body, this new humanity, this faith community and spiritual family. We are gathered as a community of parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors and relatives to rejoice with you in your new commitments. And be assured that the party “down here” is only an echo of what’s going on “up there!” Today we are tasting just a tiny bit of what we will someday enjoy in the presence of God and the angels, forever!

We welcome you with the love of Jesus. It is this love that binds us together and makes us one. It is this love that brings healing and hope to the world and glory to God. May the party here today spill over into your lives on a daily basis as each one of you brings joy and love to the places and people on your path.

COMMENTARY ON THE SERMON

Although times have changed culturally and I have changed theologically in the twelve years since this sermon was preached, I believe it illustrates some important theological and cultural aspects surrounding baptism, especially baptism of youth and young adults who have grown up in a postmodern culture and may or may not have been raised in the church. My commentary will focus primarily on the aspects of the present culture of the emerging generations since the theology has been well articulated in other places.

The brief sermon affirms the strong Anabaptist/Mennonite emphasis on baptism as a sign, not only of a covenant with God, but also of incorporation into Christ’s body, the church.[iii] The sermon also challenges us to see baptism as an important experiential ritual that is marked and celebrated with vigor. Its weakness however is in under emphasizing baptism as part of a longer journey of faith.

BAPTISM AS A SIGN OF BELONGING

Although the sermon predates my encounter with the label of “postmodernism” it does address the postmodern condition of alienation and “lostness” that many youth feel. Emerging generations, raised in a fragmenting culture, have a deep need for a sense of “rootedness” and belonging in a meaningful community.[iv] The lyrics of one of the top rock hits of 2003 illustrates this desire:

I want to heal

I want to feel

Like I’m close to something real

I want to find something I’ve wanted all along

Somewhere I belong[v]

Postmodernism has alerted us anew to the value of community. Descartes’ idea that “I think therefore I am” trumpets modernism’s emphasis on the importance of the individual. Evangelical theology often followed suit with a focus on an individualistic “me and Jesus” view of the Christian life. Young people growing up in the postmodern milieu are now realizing their profound disconnectedness from others. This has resulted in part from the individualism of the modern era. Youth and young adults yearn for meaningful relationships and significant human connections. “I belong therefore I am” is a truer statement of meaningful identity today. The sermon invites the variety of baptismal candidates into a community of belonging.

I believe that Anabaptist/Mennonite theology and practice scratches where the emerging generations are itching. Since the 16th century Mennonites have articulated and valued a strong theology and practice of community. Water baptism was crucial in establishing the visible Body of Christ on earth. It is a public commitment to the church as well as to God.[vi] The sermon fits solidly in this theological tradition. A recent study conference on baptism and church membership asked the question whether baptism and church membership should be separated.[vii] Absolutely not! This question would have been inconceivable to Paul and the early church.[viii] Belonging was an essential part of the early church catechumenate practice.[ix] For postmodern youth, identity comes from belonging and baptism is about a new identity in a new community of belonging.

The local church offers a safe place (physically and spiritually) of belonging that alienated postmodern youth are longing for. Baptism is “the initiation rite into a new family, into a new relationship with others,” into a new community of belonging. When youth and young adults are baptized they become part of a unique intergenerational community that cares for them and “looks out” for them. This is especially meaningful for those young people who do not have biological family ties in a congregation. It gives them “somewhere to belong.” The best way to help youth grow in their faith is to facilitate their membership in a community of faith through the sign of baptism. It is a symbol of covenant that has two inseparable dimensions: a mysterious “vertical” dimension as well as an earthy, practical and tangible “horizontal” dimension.

BAPTISM AS A PARTY

The sermon is couched in experiential “party” language. Experience is also high on the list of postmodern cultural values. For something to be true, i.e. authentic and “real”, spiritually, it must be experienced bodily and emotionally as well as intellectually. “Truth happens.”[x] The sermon sees the ritual of baptism as an experience of celebration and inclusion. It is a party. The symbol and the ritual itself, although not seen as efficacious, is imbibed with significance and emotion.

Emerging generations, marinated in the postmodern culture, place high value, significance, sacredness and power on religious symbols of various kinds. There is a trend among emerging generations toward more liturgical symbolic forms of worship. Symbols, rituals, icons, bodily movements, smells and sensual experiences are all part of this experiential encounter of the transcendent. Ancient forms of worship such as the “labyrinth”, “lectio divina”, the use of icons and incense, etc. are being rediscovered by the younger generation.[xi] Clothing, fashion and bodily adornments such as the wearing of tattoos, body piercing and jewelry have had a decidedly religious nature of late.[xii] Young postmodern scholar, Tom Beaudoin calls them “sacramentals” and explains that bodily adornment is a source of religious meaning for one’s life. He goes on to explain that this preoccupation with bodily rituals and symbols is “partly because religious institutions today are unable to provide for deeply marking, profoundly experiential encounters.”[xiii]

How does this valuing of symbols and sensual experiences relate to a baptismal service in a Mennonite church? Should baptism perhaps be one of those “deeply marking, profoundly experiential encounters”? This seems to be a direct challenge to a tradition that had as part of its beginning, a rejection of the transforming power of the sacraments. But by saying that baptism is “merely” an outward symbol of an inner reality are we dividing too sharply the symbol from its meaning? To say that there is no connection, removes its meaning and significance.

Baptism is an important experiential ritual. This point is well made in a recent article by Michelle Hershberger.

“Rituals are also important because they are participatory. Youth know, on the one level, that the water used in baptism is just that – water. But unlike their modern counterparts, Postmoderns sense that, in the act of baptism, something does happen that is mysterious and scientifically unexplainable. And without needing to dissect or analyze this mystery, they long to experience it.” [xiv]

Baptism is a significant “marking experience” along the journey of discipleship. The sermon illustrates that the baptism ritual should be “more than just a five-minute addendum to the sermon.”[xv] It should be a memorable and joyous occasion.

BAPTISM AS PART OF A LONGER JOURNEY OF DISCIPLESHIP

The sermon acknowledges that the baptismal event is but an interlude in a longer and sometimes difficult journey of faithfulness, but it could have made this point much more forcefully. Discipleship is a life-long pilgrimage. “We are not converted only once in our lives, but many times; and this endless series of large and small conversions, inner revolutions, leads to our transformation in Christ.”[xvi] It is important that the church not communicate that the faith journey is somehow completed by baptism and church membership.[xvii] Baptism is an important marker on this journey, not a matter of a chronological “once you were out and now you are in” experience.

Postmoderns will be suspicious of anything that seeks to define or package the spiritual and the mysterious. The chronological model (evangelize – convert – baptize – disciple) is a reflection of the modern predilection toward linear simplicity. “But in a postmodern world, the process of making disciples must be seen as more holistic, or at least less quantifiable and more organic.”[xviii] In the modern, corporate western world we wanted everything to be neatly packaged and prescribed so separate packages for conversion and discipleship were created, with baptism in between. This is a false dichotomy. Evangelism is not a call to a one-time decision of faith but an invitation into a community of journeyers who are daily letting Christ take them in new directions of faithfulness.[xix] Baptism is not a “closing of the deal,” rather a marker on the journey.

Christian formational experiences, whatever label they are given, are not one-time definitive experiences but are part of a process of inward and outward changes. Both the early church and the sixteenth century Anabaptists understood this and emphasized the importance of a change in behavior as well as a change of belief and belonging.[xx] In the early church demanding formational activities before and after the ritual of baptism were very much a part of the transformational process. The early church no doubt performed their rituals with care but wrote relatively little about the importance of experience.[xxi] The emphasis was on transformed living. This has been one of the pillars of the Anabaptist vision.[xxii] The danger in over emphasizing the “moment in time” celebratory experience of baptism is that we will have a church of baptized people whose lives remain socially and ethically unchanged.

CONCLUSION

Baptism celebrates the belonging of persons in the Christian faith community- a community that is visibly alternative to the prevailing social order. The reading of Tony Campolo’s book, mentioned in the sermon, no doubt inspired the imagery in the title, “Let’s have a Party!” In the book Campolo makes the case for “party” as a new word to describe the kingdom of God and the biblical concepts of Shalom and Jubilee which the average reader or listener might not understand.[xxiii] If “party” is used as a metaphor, not only for the occasion of baptism, but for the infectious and ongoing life of the church, then indeed it might be an appropriate and inviting image for emerging generations in the postmodern era. “Let’s have a party!” is then not merely an invitation to a baptismal celebration but a declaration of a continually transforming individual and congregational life.

NOTES

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[i] Tony Campolo, The Kingdom of God is a Party (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1990)

[ii] Paul E. Pierson, Themes from Acts (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1982), 39.

[iii] See article 11 of Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (Waterloo, ON: Herald Press, 1995), 46-49.

[iv] This has been documented in numerous articles and chapters in books. Just a sampling: Kenda Creasy Dean, “The Sacrament of One Another: Fidelity through Holy Friendship” in The 1999 Princeton Lectures on Youth, Church and Culture (Princeton Theological Seminary, 2000): 15-32; Patricia Hersch, A Tribe Apart (New York: Ballantine Books, 1998); chapter 3 in Tony Jones, Postmodern Youth Ministry (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001); chapter 7 in Dawson McAllister, Saving the Millennial Generation (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999); chapter 2 in L. David Overholt and James Penner, Soul Searching the Millennial Generation (Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 2002)

[v] Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda, “Somewhere I Belong,” Meteora, Linkin Park, Warner Brothers, 2003.

[vi] See chapters 5 & 8 in Anabaptism in Outline, edited by Walter Klassen (Waterloo, ON: Herald Press, 1981); C. A. Snyder, From Anabaptist Seed (Kitchener, ON: Pandora Press, 1999): 25-26.

[vii] The Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches held a study conference in Winnipeg, MB from May 22-24, 2003 where one of the main questions for discussion was whether baptism and church membership should be separated.

[viii] Jon Isaak, “Baptism among the Early Christians,” (Paper presented to Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches): 9. .

[ix] Alan Kreider, The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press, 1999): 22.

[x] Kenda Creasy Dean, “X-Files and Unknown Gods: The Search for Truth with Postmodern Adolescents,” American Baptist Quarterly 49.1 (March 2000): 11.

[xi] The plethora of youth and young adult ministry resources being published in this vein recently is evidence of this. Some examples: Steven L. Case, The Uncommon Book of Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002); Tony Jones, Soul Shaper: Exploring Spirituality and Contemplative Practices in Youth Ministry (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003); The Prayer Path: A Christ-Centred Labyrinth Experience (Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2001); Amy Simpson, Diving Deep: Experiencing God through Spiritual Disciplines (Loveland, CO: Group Books, 2001). See also James Martin, “Contemporary Catholics on Traditional Devotions,” America 188:7 (March 3, 2003): 8-14 and Daniel M. Harrell, “Post-Contemporary Worship,” Leadership (Spring 1999): 38.

[xii] Kevin Heinrichs, “Tattoos no Longer Taboo?” Christianity Today (May 24, 1999): 17. “Tattoos as Evangelical Chic,” The Christian Century (Dec 23-Dec 30, 1998): 1240-1241. Tom Beaudoin, Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spirituality of Generation X. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998): 75-80, 100-101.

[xiii] Beaudoin, 77-78.

[xiv] Michelle Hershberger, “The Baptism Ritual in a Postmodern World,” Direction 31:2 (Fall 2002): 143.

[xv] Ibid., 145.

[xvi] A quote from Thomas Merton, in Stephen D. Jones, Faith Shaping: Youth and the Experience of Faith (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1987): 27.

[xvii] Stephen D. Jones, 67.

[xviii] Tony Jones, 155.

[xix] Stephen D. Jones, 27 and Tony Jones, 133.

[xx] Kreider, 21-22.

[xxi] Ibid., 103.

[xxii] In modern times this was articulated best in the “The Anabaptist Vision” written by Harold S. Bender in 1944. An excellent recent publication is J. Nelson Kraybill’s On Pilgrims’ Way: Conversations on Christian discipleship during a twelve-day walk across England (Waterloo: Herald Press, 1999)

[xxiii] Campolo, 21.

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