I recall from boyhood how my
“sage father” a constant poser of questions dropped one of his inevitable, this
is going somewhere questions; “Johnny, how do you get money out of a
bank?”
My young mind raced for
imaginative, innovative, even a criminal response to the enquiry; but my simple
comeback was, “how dad?”
“Son, you first put it in”
. . .
- Outcome requires investment.
Its true there is no output without input.
In our pursuit of spirituality
capable of maintaining lifestyle marked by God’s abilities, strengths and
enabling in our experience of the pressures of daily life, including hauntings
of historic hurts seeking to make “re-runs” – we know we will need to make
“withdrawals on banked grace”. One of the troubles with grace (there are more than
one) is we know we don’t earn it, so how can we bank it? Is there any action we
can undertake which enable a deposit we can make drawings against? Early
Christians and those through the history of the faith have understood there is
... Christian baptism. Two summary statements (there are more) give us thought
on the perspective of baptism as action we take to deposit God’s grace in our
spirituality reserves.
- 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.” (Romans
6:4).
- “
... water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt
from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's
right hand--with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” (1 Peter 3:21-22).
Sure God can “bale-us-out” ...
no question, but who will really live well from a bale-out mentality? Better to
have baptism in the bank. I’ve been thinking how Jesus gave his people baptism
to be more than a personal milestone in spiritual pilgrimage ... been thinking
over it as living grace-currency capable of bearing ongoing renewable interest.
(JCD)
