Session 2: Baptized into the Reign of God

SEPTEMBER 11 ANNIVERSARY STUDIES Session 2: Baptized into the Reign of God by Joshua Brockway Focus Baptism, as a movement from death into life, is also a change of citizenship which changes the allegiances of the Christian. Texts Alexander Mack s Letter to Count August Colossians 3:1-17 Commentary In August of 1708 the first Brethren entered the waters of the Eder River in Germany and commenced on a journey that would outlast their own lives. The decision to baptize adults based on a confession of faith was an act of both civil disobedience and obedience to God. Though the Schwarzenau Eight did not suffer the same consequences as the 16th century Anabaptists, they were often forced to leave home and family for their faith. Their actions of obedience to Christ directly confronted the social and political norms of the day, costing them, as Mack penned later, wealth, body, possessions and honor (Count Well the Cost: Complete Writings of Alexander Mack, 110). To our modern ears, this seems a bit extreme. Not only do we baptize young and old alike freely and openly, but our buildings have baptistries as an everpresent witness to our belief and practice. In the days of the 18th century, the act of believers baptism made clear to the larger society that those entering the water were changing their citizenship by proclaiming ultimate allegiance to the reign of God. In 1711 Alexander Mack composed a letter to the count of the area in which he had performed an adult baptism. As was the custom, and law, the local leader defined the religious practices of the tenants. In some cases this opened safe spaces for dissenting groups such as the Mennonites and the Brethren. Other territories, however, were clear that only the religion of the leader could be practiced openly. By baptizing a young woman, Mack had broken the law of this territory. He rose to the defense of the woman and her mother after the count expelled all three from the region. Mack s letter appeals to the count to reconsider the punishment. Yet rather than argue his case based on local law, Mack turns to the same resource that prompted his action the scriptures themselves. I was not even examined, let alone asked what my faith was. This oversight, he states, is counter to Jewish law and Gentile justice. Even so, Mack is clear that his actions were blameless. I will freely and publicly confess that my crime is that Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, desired that we do what we are doing. Regardless of the laws of the Session 2: Baptized into the Reign of God Page 1

land, Mack makes it is clear that the legal authority is based in the reign of Christ. In any land such a comment is treasonous. Just as the first Christians faced the persecution of the Roman Empire for their allegiance, so Mack and the early Brethren knew their baptisms were actions against the political order. When the laws conflicted with their understanding of following Jesus, the only option was to follow the ultimate authority. To call Christ King of kings and Lord of lords is to explicitly set the earthly ruler under the kingdom of God. Though we might find such beliefs too rigid or irrelevant in the democratic age of freedom of religion, Mack was simply living into the transformation that was enacted in his baptism. In essence he was living by faith rather than by the civic law. As he says, true baptism bring[s] with it all sorts of contempt, and one cannot be a friend of the world at the same time. In other words, those who submit to the true baptism upon a confession of faith take a stance against those in the world who continue to baptize infants, making them part of the world order. In a day such as ours, when patriotism is the one test for people of all faith, baptism has once again returned to the realm of the unimportant. Or as Mack remarked of learned theologians, it is now an outward work not essential for salvation. We rarely recognize that our covenant in the waters of baptism is truly a rebirth into the kingdom of God, shifting our allegiance from flag and nation to cross and resurrection. There are echoes of this in Paul s exhortation in Colossians to make Christ all in all. He goes on telling the readers to clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Col 3:12). This image echoes other occasions where Paul speaks of the Christian as putting on Christ (see Romans 13:14 and Galatians 3:27). It is hard to ignore the connections to baptism within this image of clothing. In the first centuries of the church, baptism was a practice that included leaving old clothing on one side of the water and receiving new on the other. The new believer often took off all clothing and entered the water naked. Once the rite was finished, he or she would exit the waters and receive a new white robe in place of old clothing. In the culture of the early church, clothing depicted the rank and status of an individual to the wider public. The receiving of such garment was a tangible and visible sign that one s status had changed. No longer could individuals consider themselves a soldier, senator, or elite citizen. The white robe made plain that the one baptized was now a follower of Christ, a citizen of heaven. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the country reacted with a surge of nationalistic fervor. Flags flew on homes and in worship centers. When attacked, it is hard not to find solace in a likeminded community, and unquestioned patriotism served as a means to connect and strengthen a now vulnerable population. During this time around the anniversary of the attacks, we have an opportunity to explore our ultimate allegiances. Are we to continue in a path of unquestioned nationalism, or will be reclaim our baptismal covenant? Will we put on Christ and the virtues of the reign of God compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and love? Session 2: Baptized into the Reign of God Page 2

Format Have copies of Alexander Mack s Letter to Count August (reprinted on next page) available for everyone. Ask one person to read Colossians 3:1-17. Then have one or all read the three bold sections of Mack s letter. To begin the conversation, start with questions that are more subjective. These are the questions that ask for personal reflections or memories. Encourage everyone to speak from their experience and ask them to avoid making generalizations about others. As the conversation continues, begin to ask questions that point toward actions or the future. Again, encourage people to speak as they feel comfortable. At the close of the conversation pray together in unison: Almighty God, who wills the restoration of all things in Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that all peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved, may be freed and brought together under Christ s most gracious rule, for it is in his name we gather and pray. Amen. (Collect of the Reign of Christ, adapted, Book of Common Prayer) Questions for discussion 1) What were your reactions in the days and months following September 11, 2001? 2) Looking back, do you notice what things gave you peace or strength? 3) Do you now see any contradiction between your actions and your convictions of faith? 4) Now 10 years later, what would you tell your 2001 self after the attacks? 5) Thinking back to your own baptism, what stands out to you the most? Did you feel it was a change in status like the change in citizenship described in the commentary? 6) We often forget that the peace witness was rooted in this change of citizenship. In what ways do you see Mack witnessing to his faith and confronting the actions of the culture? 7) As you read the scripture text from Colossians, what ways can you imagine living out the virtues Paul names? In what ways do these challenge the cultural and political expectations after 9/11? 8) How does this change your understanding of the peace testimony of the Church of the Brethren? Session 2: Baptized into the Reign of God Page 3

Letter to Count Charles August Gracious Lord and Count: An order has been published by the chancery of the lord count, first, that Eva Liz [Eva Elizabeth Hoffmann], a poor widow, must leave the territory together with her daughter, and that I too must leave the territory of the gracious lord, anyone sheltering me overnight to be fined five florins. I find myself impelled, therefore, to write these few lines to the lord count, to ask him to reconsider seriously before God, the judge of the living and the dead, whether this proceeding is according to the will of God, who established the authorities to punish the wicked and protect the good. In the first place, Eva Liz was indeed at the chancery and was examined; however, she was not found guilty of any misdeed for which the authorities and justice had the right to persecute her. In the second place, I was not even examined, let alone asked what my faith was, much less found guilty of any misdeed. Such a procedure, firstly, is counter to the Jewish law, John 7:51, where Nicodemus says: Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? Yes, it is also counter to the Gentile justice, Acts 25:16, where Festus says it was not the custom of the Romans to give up any one before the accused met the accusers face to face, and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. Yes, I will not mention anything about Christendom, that a Christian could, through the spirit of Christ, do such a thing. Now I will freely and publicly confess that my crime is that Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, desired that we do what we are doing-that the sinner shall repent and believe in the Lord Jesus and should be baptized in water upon his confession of faith. He should then seek to carry out everything Jesus has commanded and publicly bequeathed in His Testament. If we are doing wrong herein against the revealed word of the Holy Scriptures, be it in teaching, way of life, or conduct, we would gladly receive instruction. If, however no one can prove this on the basis of the Holy Scripture, and yet persecutes us despite this, we would gladly suffer and bear it for the sake of the teaching of Jesus Christ. Therefore we would only appeal to the Supreme Judge, Jesus Christ, who will judge rightly on the day of revelation, and repay everyone according to his works, without regard to persons. Then Jesus will say, Matthew 25 [verse 41], to those on the left, Depart from me, you cursed, because they had not fed His flock, and as the text continues, Oh, what will He say to those who have persecuted unjustly and without giving a hearing! They will Session 2: Baptized into the Reign of God Page 4

have to say, Oh, mountains, fall on us, and, hill, cover us, because we cannot stand before Him who sits on the throne, Therefore, I am making my humble appeal to the gracious lord that he might test according to the Holy Scriptures and investigate thoroughly everything that now goes on in his territory. For he, too, has an immortal soul, and will have to give account one day before Jesus, the supreme liege lord, by whom he was placed in authority in his territory, about the way he governed his territorywhether it was according to sacred order or not. The whole earth is the Lord Jesus. He has final power over all the elements. He who molests His members molests Jesus Himself. How can it be justified when members of the Lord Jesus are prevented in their wish to baptize themselves in water after confession of faith, and to testify that Jesus is the true prophet to whose teachings they willingly submit; this, when they reject and abjure the devil, the world, and all evil, and lead exemplary lives before God and man. How can the poor Baptists help it that it is such an unusual performance, and that because of the harmful and [later-]introduced infant baptism, the true baptism of repentant sinners after their confession of faith commanded by Jesus has become so strange and obscure that even the chosen ones are almost offended and repelled by it? It is probably not unknown to the lord count that for some time infant baptism was testified against publicly and in books, and that it is still being testified against in his territory from the public pulpit. Should there then be no baptism, because infant baptism is invalid? Far be it, for Jesus commanded it very earnestly, Matthew, chapter 28, and Mark, chapter 16 [verse16], and said: He who believes and is baptized will be saved. What Jesus has ordained cannot be intentionally changed or broken by any person without loss of eternal salvation. If, however true baptism brought no cross with it, but rather a good life, honor, and comfort as does infant baptism, the learned theologians would undoubtedly know how to support it from the Holy Scripture. As, however, true baptism brings with it all sorts of contempt, and one cannot be a friend of the world at the same time, they say, against their own consciences, that it is an outward work not essential for salvation. Meanwhile, they allow the poor Christians to proceed under great difficulty, while they follow along living very comfortably with a doctrine which indeed keeps them from and avoids the cross. I do not wish to annoy through writing too much, but rather close herewith, and leave it to the judgment of the lord count. As far as I am concerned, however, I do not complain at all about having to leave the territory, because I had planned to leave anyway. But because of Eva Liz, who is a poor widow, I humbly ask again that a little more consideration be given her. Should I, nevertheless, enter the territory again, I offer to defend my faith, if it is desired. If I can be shown by the learned theologians to be in Session 2: Baptized into the Reign of God Page 5

error in some points, I will be happy to be instructed. If it is not possible, I ask again for understanding, for there has otherwise been much disorder in this county already. I wish, meanwhile, for the lord count blessings from God and grace and divine light for his government, that he, too, may attain a good standing under the Kingdom of Christ. I heartily wish this for him, and remain his humble, Written the fifth of the Fallmonth [September], 1711. Alexander Mack, a member of Jesus Christ. From Complete Writings of Alexander Mack, ed William R. Eberly, BMH Books; Winona Lake, IN 1991. Used by permission. Session 2: Baptized into the Reign of God Page 6