Mosasaurus

I have a Mosasaurus in my office.  In case you don’t know, a Mosasaurus is a large aquatic reptile.  Imagine, if you will, a 30 foot monitor lizard with flippers instead of legs and you will be pretty close.  Now mine is not that large, only a few inches across at most.  Its coloring seems off to me - though really who can say what an extinct dinosaur should look like - with a mottled mixture of blues both light and dark across its body and perhaps a yellow patina of mud across its back.  Yet it sits by the window in my office as a gift from my son.  My Mosasaurus is part of a paint by number sheet that Basil excitedly worked on while distracting Cameron from her work one day.  Following the directions of which paints go with which numbers seems to be less important to him than how the paint gets applied to the image.  Along the top of the page are blocks of color, water color pigments, waiting for the gentle application - or enthusiastic jab - of a wet brush to bring our watery lizard to life.

This past Sunday, the first Sunday after Epiphany, has historically been the Sunday that the church calendar celebrates the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan river.  It also happened to be a communion Sunday at Highland Hills.  The convergence of these two sacred rituals - Ordinances in Baptist life and Sacraments for many others - has me thinking about their significance in our faith.  Catholics recognize 7 Sacraments, but the reformer Martin Luther whittled that number down to two.  By his count only Baptism and Communion held both a promise from God in scripture and a physical sign - something tangible and visible - commanded alongside that promise.  The visibility of Baptism and Communion mattered to Luther and it should matter to us as well.  While many denominations see a special reception of God’s grace happening in the participation in the Sacraments, Baptists have tended to view these practices as symbols and metaphors, but that is not to deny their power in our lives.

Perhaps Communion and Baptism are like the blocks of color on my Mosasaurus page.  When viewed through the lens of faith these seemingly ordinary actions paint color across our lives.  As we participate in baptism and share in communion we place our lives within the biblical story.  These moments repeated again and again in the life of our community help us to see the full spectrum of color that is life in Christ.  Perhaps there are other actions that bring this life into the full vibrancy of awareness of God’s presence?  Luther nearly included confession in his list of sacraments.  Some Baptists have held footwashing up as the sacramental example of service from Jesus.  Certainly, I think, potlucks fall somewhere on the page as well for nothing is more colorful than the life shared around a table together.  What would you add?  How has the experience of your own baptism or the communion meal shaped your view of the life of faith?  Even if it is a bit wonky like my Mosasaurus, I pray that in each of these actions and in so many more may you experience the fullness of God in every detail of this life together.