| Learning to Be baptist Christians 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Dr. Doyle Sager, First Baptist Church, Jefferson City, Missouri September 20, 2009 Psychoanalyst Erich Fromm wrote that humans have such a fear of loneliness, such a desire to be with the crowd, that we will do almost anything to not be alone—including giving up our freedom by fleeing into the arms of authoritarian government or an authoritarian church, allowing others to tell us what to do, believe and think [Eric Fromm, Escape from Freedom, 1941]. You can’t talk about Baptists without discussing freedom. In an important book (in our church library), Walter Shurden wrote in The Baptist Identity of “four fragile freedoms.” BIBLE FREEDOM, SOUL FREEDOM, CHURCH FREEDOM and one we’ll take up next week, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. First, BIBLE FREEDOM. Because of what we were rebelling from, Baptists have never emphasized creeds or even regulating doctrines (you know the old saying, “the only thing two Baptists can agree on is how much a third one should put in the offering plate”). Occasionally, I’ll have a newspaper reporter call me and ask what Baptists believe about such and such. I usually tell them, “I don’t even speak for my wife on issues…do you think I’m going to speak for Baptists?” Carlyle Marney used to say, “A rabbi says, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ A Catholic might say, ‘The Church teaches…’ But a Baptist will say, ‘It seems to me…’” Does that sound too subjective? To private? Perhaps, but remember that the criterion by which all scripture is to be read is Jesus Christ. Read our text, vv. 4-5: “[God] desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth. For there is one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus…” And remember that for Baptists, this Bible is not a document for the elite or the trained clergy; it’s for all. The whole people of God work with the text (this is why small group Bible study is so important). God’s truth is never discovered in one place, with merely one person or one group. God sprinkles God’s truth among all believers! Second, SOUL FREEDOM. That means that each conscience is free. That each is born a free moral agent, with the right to choose or reject God. And when we choose God, no one, and I mean no one, comes between us except His Son (read v. 5 again: one mediator, Christ Jesus). During Abraham Lincoln’s second Inaugural, the famous black writer and activist Frederick Douglass tried to attend the gala ball at the White House. But he was manhandled by security guards and turned away. They said they had orders not to allow anyone of his color to enter the festivities. (It was later discovered Lincoln had given no such orders). As Frederick Douglass stood there, stunned. In the awkward pause, he recognized a gentleman going in and asked him to tell the President about the situation. Minutes later, the word came back. Douglass was admitted. He reported, “I walked into that spacious East Room, amid a scene of elegance…” What’s more, when Mr. Lincoln saw Mr. Douglass from across the room, he said, “There’s my friend Douglass.” Team of Rivals, Doris Kerns Goodwin, p. 700] Wow. All because he had a mediator, a go-between, Douglass was ushered into the presence of power, blessing and dignity, where his name was known. “…one mediator between God and humankind…” (v. 5). Our text declares that Jesus is not only the go-between, the mediator; he is also the ransom (v. 6). The root of the word was used in Paul’s day when a slave’s freedom was purchased. Christ has purchased our freedom. Jesus, our go-between, interceded for us. And in Christ, we walk in the spacious land of spiritual freedom. It dawned on me this week that the best phrase for explaining how Baptists come at faith is this one: “first hand.” Not second hand, not borrowed, not strained through the church’s creeds. Even the call to prayer in v. 1 (four words used for prayer) implies our own relationship with God. And by the way, this is what is at the heart of our convictions about believers’ baptism: faith is personal, voluntary, first hand and non-coerced. So that means baptism happens when we voluntarily, of our own wills, choose Christ. Did you know when that first Baptist work was established in 1609 in Amsterdam, John Smyth baptized himself—poured water on himself, and then he baptized the others. Third, CHURCH FREEDOM. I love the story about the senior citizen who had always driven cars with standard transmissions, never once choosing automatic transmissions. Finally, when the company stopped making standard shift, the man’s family said, “Dad, you’re going to have to drive an automatic.” “No,” replied the gentleman, “no one in Detroit is going to tell me when to shift gears.” A part of Baptist conviction is that the local church is headquarters. Consider the following biting irony. We Baptists are a movement that has its roots in resisting tyranny from a church hierarchy. Historically, we have insisted that no one can tell us how we can do church, that Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and humans. Those are our roots since the 1600’s, yet in the late 20th century, some of these Baptists attempted to tell us whom we could ordain with whom we could partner in mission work. But not just a congregation free from church oppression, but a congregation free from government interference. Glen Stassen says instead of “separation of church and state” he prefers the phrase, “independence of church and state.” Note that Paul encourages us to pray for the government leaders (v. 2), not to worship them. And if the early Christians could pray for Emperor Nero, or Domitian or any of the others, surely we can put our petty politics aside and pray for all in authority over us. It seems that Baptists get off track when we start emphasizing “Baptist” more than we emphasize “Christian”. The early 17th century Baptists in England preferred to be called “baptized Christians” or “baptized congregation” or “baptized believers”. It was our enemies who tagged us “Baptists” as a phrase of derision and mocking. I’m saying that “baptist” makes a better adjective than it does a noun. Note in the sermon title that it is lower case “b” (my computer kept trying to capitalize the letter on its own!). When we stress the Baptist part and leave out Christian, we get tangled up and enslaved. When we make “baptist” an adjective, we stay free. Learning to be baptist Christians, Jesus followers.
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