The Presbyterian Family Reunion

General Assembly. Some people love it. Others run away from it like the plague. I happen to be someone who loves General Assemblies having attended five of them (although my last one was ten years ago). The pulse of the denomination runs through each assembly. Every other year thousands of Presbyterians gather to worship, pray, make connections, discuss, argue, and make decisions together. There's an energy like no other. And I feel the Holy Spirit at work in my denomination.

This year I will have a different perspective on General Assembly since it is my first year as a commissioner. As a commissioner I am assigned a committee: Theological Issues and Institutions. I work with all the business that relates to our Presbyterian Seminaries as well as the Book of Confessions and the Directory of Worship. Some of the items are a bit mundane (although still important) such as approving seminaries to serve communion, approving the new president at Princeton Theological Seminary, and approving the trustees of our theological institutions. Other items are much more controversial such as a proposal to revise the Directory for Worship and adding the Belhar Confession to our Book of Confessions, something which hasn't been done since the 1980's. I look forward to discerning God's will on these issues and adding my voice to the discussion.

Of course, there are hot button issues: whether or not to redefine marriage as between two people instead of a man and a woman, allowing Presbyterian clergy to perform same sex marriages in states where it is legal, and whether or not to divest our investments from American companies that are making a profit from the violence in Israel and Palestine. These will be discussed on the floor of our plenary sessions after the appropriate committee brings its recommendation to the body.

The General Assembly is the Presbyterian family reunion. Like all family reunions, there will be parts of the family that don't see eye to eye and get into heated arguments. There will be parts of the family that try to bring peace and compromise. There will be parts of the family that bring humor and laughter. There will be parts of the family that remind us God is in charge, not us. Maybe that's why I love General Assemblies. It reminds me that I am part of a family and while we are not perfect, or always in agreement, or even make the "right" decisions, we are family nevertheless.

I look forward to blogging everyday from the General Assembly starting June 13 to share my perspective on each day's events. I know our Transitional General Presbyter Rev. Betty Meadows will be as well. I'm sure many other people will be sharing their insights. If you want to keep up with all that's going on, you will want to visit www.pc-biz.org.

For now I ask for your prayers as thousands of Presbyterians descend upon Detroit for one week to discern God's will for the future of our denomination and the various issues we face. We need a Pentecost moment. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us and bring us together. We need God's presence to be palpable as we gather. Please join me in prayer. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer...

Baptism: Jesus' Coming Out Party

Have you ever thought about why Jesus was baptized?  I mean, if baptism is about forgiving sin then Jesus didn't need to be baptized since he never sinned.  If baptism is about joining the church, Jesus didn't need to be baptized since there was no church to join at that point, at least not an organized one.  So why was Jesus baptized?

Part of the answer has to do with the scene at his baptism.  Mark records in the fifth verse of the first chapter, "And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him (John), and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins."  Imagine hundreds and hundreds of people all gathered along the river bank, some in the water, some lined up to be next, some just observing as spectators.  Then comes Jesus.  Jesus wasn't baptized because he needed to be.  He was baptized because WE needed him to be.

Baptism was Jesus' coming out party.  He came out to humanity as God's Son, publicly announced by God's own voice and the descending of the Holy Spirit.  After living 30 years on this earth, it was time for multitudes of people to know who he really was.  It was time for humanity, then and now, to experience Jesus, not just as a good guy or even a good prophet, but as the Son of the Living God. 

Jesus plunged into the same muddy river Jordan as hundreds of others that John baptized, uniting in solidarity with them and with us.  Identifying himself with humanity, broken and struggling, Jesus joined the masses in order to reveal who he was.  Now they knew.  Now they could follow.  Now they caught a glimpse, not of Jesus of Nazareth, but of Jesus the Christ.

May we too catch a glimpse of Jesus the Christ as we remember his baptism this Sunday.  May we participate in his coming out party as we rejoice that he is Son of the Living God, Lord of all creation, and Savior of humanity.  At Christmas we believed, we hoped, we kept the faith that the Savior was born.  Now we know for sure, for we too are invited to be witnesses to Jesus at his coming out party.