April 3: Baptized into Christ’s Death
♫ Music:
Wednesday, April 3
Baptized into Christ’s Death
Scripture: Romans 6:3-6
“Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
Poetry:
The Ballad of God-Makers
by G. K. Chesterton
A bird flew out at the break of day
From the nest where it had curled,
And ere the eve the bird had set
Fear on the kings of the world.
The first tree it lit upon
Was green with leaves unshed;
The second tree it lit upon
Was red with apples red;
The third tree it lit upon
Was barren and was brown,
Save for a dead man nailed thereon
On a hill above a town.
That night the kings of the earth were gay
And filled the cup and can;
Last night the kings of the earth were chill
For dread of a naked man.
‘If he speak two more words,’ they said,
‘The slave is more than the free;
If he speak three more words,’ they said,
‘The stars are under the sea.’
Said the King of the East to the King of the West,
I wot his frown was set,
‘Lo, let us slay him and make him as dung,
It is well that the world forget.’
Said the King of the West to the King of the East,
I wot his smile was dread,
‘Nay, let us slay him and make him a god,
It is well that our god be dead.’
They set the young man on a hill,
They nailed him to a rod;
And there in darkness and in blood
They made themselves a god.
And the mightiest word was left unsaid,
And the world had never a mark,
And the strongest man of the sons of men
Went dumb into the dark.
Then hymns and harps of praise they brought,
Incense and gold and myrrh,
And they thronged above the seraphim,
The poor dead carpenter.
‘Thou art the prince of all,’ they sang,
‘Ocean and earth and air.’
Then the bird flew on to the cruel cross,
And hid in the dead man’s hair.
‘Thou art the son of the world.’ they cried, `
‘Speak if our prayers be heard.’
And the brown bird stirred in the dead man’s hair
And it seemed that the dead man stirred.
Then a shriek went up like the world’s last cry
From all nations under heaven,
And a master fell before a slave
And begged to be forgiven.
They cowered, for dread in his wakened eyes
The ancient wrath to see;
And a bird flew out of the dead Christ’s hair,
And lit on a lemon tree.
PLANTED TOGETHER
The man in the still that accompanies this devotional is plunging down into the water, but the artwork is still called Ascension.
We go down in baptism, as Christ went down to death. As the song says, “Sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.”
We go down into the waters of baptism, and yet that way down is still the way up.
Christ walked into death with His eyes wide open, and He walked there for us.
He did not have to walk into death.
We do.
But because He chose to go before us, we have a choice of how we will walk into death.
“You must die before you die,” said Lewis. “There is no chance after.”
“If we have been planted together in the likeness of [Christ’s] death,” says the apostle, “we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection.”
You must die.
You might (you may) die like Jesus.
Like because He lends you His likeness.
You want His likeness. Because He is the one that even Hell could not contain.
You are going to die anyway. There is nothing better for you than to take the death of baptism, the death of a Christian—this death-with-a-promise.
Our good brother and Lord was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father—the fountain of life that pours out from Him is the fountain that drowns our old selves, so that our new selves might live.
We deserve a worse death than this. We deserve real death. Physical death. Spiritual death. Eternal death.
Whereas, this death-with-a-promise—this life, then death, then life again—is a death so far from the normal, terrifying experience of death that He who offers it can say, “He who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
Because you will wake to see His face.
This is a death only like waking up is a death: waking up is the death of sleep. So, waking to see the face of your Lord is the death of your bad-dream-of-a-life, the life where you watched your loved ones suffer, where you weren’t loved enough and did not love enough, where you suffered yourself.
If you are the Lord’s, you will never suffer death as He Himself suffered it. And the fear suffered by His enemies will never be your fear. We will not “[cower], for dread in his wakened eyes/The ancient wrath to see.”
We fear death, and should.
But may we fear God more, so that we die before we die.
So that our fear of Him drives the fear of death away, because the fear of death pales before His face.
May we die to our sins, but live to the Lord.
May we repent and be saved.
May we wake to see His face.
Prayer:
Grant, Lord God, to all who have been baptized into the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, that, as we have put away the old life of sin, so we may be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and live in righteousness and true holiness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
-from The Book of Common Prayer
Jessica Snell
Biola Class of 2003
Freelance Editor and Writer
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Ascension (Still from the video Ascension), 2000
Bill Viola
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Hartford, Conn.
This still image from a video work by artist Bill Viola can be viewed as a profound illustration of baptism. For Viola it is based on a childhood experience of believing he was going to drown. Viola explains: “For me, water is death and life. It is drowning and re-emerging, moving from one form of existence to another. Water is a primordial element, but not only. It is related to my memory. I was six; I was on vacation with my family near a lake. We went by boat; I suddenly slipped and fell down. I remember that I went deeper and deeper, with my eyes open. But I was not scared. I felt that I was going from this life into another life. I was calm. My uncle, who no longer saw me, dived and came to pick me up. As if it were a saving angel. I remember that when he let me out of the water to breathe, I burst into tears.”
About the Artist:
Bill Viola (b. 1951) is a contemporary video artist whose artistic expression derives from the image technology found in new media. He has been instrumental in the establishment of video as a vital form of contemporary art and, in doing so, has helped to greatly expand its scope in terms of technology, content, and historical reach. For 40 years he has created videotapes, architectural video installations, sound environments, electronic music performances, flat panel video pieces, and works for television broadcast. His work focuses on the ideas behind fundamental central themes of human consciousness and experience - birth, death, love, emotion, and spirituality. Throughout his career he has drawn meaning and inspiration from his deep interest in the mystical traditions of Zen Buddhism, Christian mysticism, and Islamic Sufism, evident in the transcendental quality of his work. The subject matter and manner of Western Medieval and Renaissance devotional art have equally informed his aesthetic. Viola's work often exhibits a painterly quality while his use of ultra-slow motion video encourages the viewer to contemplate the imagery and connect deeply to the inherent themes and meanings. An ongoing theme that Viola explores is dualism, the idea that comprehension of a subject is impossible unless its opposite is known.
About the Music:
“There is a Fountain” from the album Hymns EP
Lyrics:
There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains:
Lose all their guilty stains,
Lose all their guilty stains;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in His day;
And there have I, though vile as he,
Washed all my sins away:
Washed all my sins away,
Washed all my sins away;
And there have I, though vile as he,
Washed all my sins away.
Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its pow’r,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are safe, to sin no more:
Are safe, to sin no more,
Are safe, to sin no more;
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are safe, to sin no more.
E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die:
And shall be till I die,
And shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
When this poor, lisping, stamm’ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save:
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save,
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save;
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save.
About the Lyricist:
William Cowper (1731-1800) was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century poetry by writing about everyday life and scenes in the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him "the best modern poet." It was during a time of deep depression that Cowper wrote one of his most beloved hymns, “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” which is based on Zechariah 13:1, “On that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” The hymn is a meditation on the saving power of the blood of Christ.
About the Composer:
The hymn “There is a Fountain Filled With Blood” is typically sung to the early American Melody, “Cleansing Fountain,” arranged by famed hymnist Lowell Mason. However, today’s performance is a gritty reimagining of the tune and chords by Noah James Mitchell. The driving rhythms, minor chords, and raw vocals capture the tension within the lyrics: Christ’s sacrifice is simultaneously gruesome and salvific; through baptism we enter into His death and are cleansed by His blood. It is only in dying that we can have life.
About the Performers:
Noah James Mitchell is an established singer/songwriter with a passion for storytelling throughout his body of work. An Arkansas native, Noah allows the transparency of his life experiences to flow through his music in a way that resonates with people at almost every stage of life. Mitchell is worship pastor at FiveStone Community Church in Garland, Texas. The Executives is a worship band comprised of Mitchell on guitar and vocals, Zach Zuka on percussion, Taylor Lamb on guitar, and Michael Curtis on bass and keyboards. Curtis also did all of the recording, mixing, and producing for the Hymns EP. The band used record sales from the album to raise funds for Mitchell’s mission trip to South Africa.
About the Poet:
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English writer, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, lay theologian, biographer, and literary and art critic. Chesterton was one of the dominating figures of the London literary scene in the early twentieth century and today is well known for his fictional mystery series about Father Brown, a Catholic priest and amateur detective. He was also respected for his reasoned apologetics and concern over social issues and questions about religion and morality. Even those who disagreed with him recognized the wide appeal of such works as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. Using literary devices such as parable and allegory; he sought to bring about social changes that embodied his religious and political beliefs. Chesterton routinely referred to himself as an "orthodox" Christian. But he came to identify his theological positions more and more with Catholicism and eventually converted to Catholicism from High Church Anglicanism. He frequently got into lively discussions with anyone who would debate him, including his friend and noted Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. He wrote about seemingly every topic, in every genre, from journalism to plays, poetry to crime novels. George Bernard Shaw, his "friendly enemy," said of him, "He was a man of colossal genius."
About the Devotional Writer:
Jessica Snell
Biola Class of 2003
Freelance Editor and Writer
Jessica is a freelance editor and writer. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Focus on the Family, Christ and Pop Culture, For the Churchand more. She lives in sunny Southern California with her husband and four children.