A Look in the Mirror

Titus 3:4-8

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Oh, I know there’s the obvious lots of gray hair up there, a little bit too much down here. Take it deeper. When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see a success or a failure? See someone you’re proud of? Or someone you’re, oh, too often, ashamed of? Looking in the mirror can be hard, right? Because we know ourselves. We know our heads, we know our hearts. And when we look in the mirror, we know what’s going on inside in our head and in our hearts. And so sometimes looking in the mirror is just flat-out hard. Because I know what I’ve thought, I know what I’ve said, I know what I’ve done. But looking in the mirror does not have to be hard. And our text has got a whole lot to say to us about that. But to get into it, I want to give you a little bit of historical background as to how this text was used. This goes way back into the very early New Testament era. I think it’s the 300s, I didn’t double-check the dates. But it’s the time of St. Augustine. St. Augustine was a pastor in northern Africa. And St. Augustine’s congregation and this was apparently the way it was done back then, everybody was invited to worship. But when it came time for the Lord’s Supper, those who had not yet studied the Bible thoroughly and who had not yet joined the church were actually dismissed. Because it was a reminder that the Lord’s Supper is for the thoroughly instructed, that they know what it is they’re receiving. And the hope for – thought with doing that, was that it would awaken in the people who weren’t yet officially part of the congregation a desire, a desire to know more. And what is this about? And this must be really cool. I want to know more about it. And so of course they did what we would call Bible instruction classes. They did adult Christian education. And Augustine particularly liked to do his adult Christian education during the season of Lent. And during the season of Lent, he would meet regularly with those adults who wanted to know more about the Bible, wanted to know more about Jesus. And over the course of the Lenten season, he would instruct them, and it culminated on Easter Saturday. On that evening, the whole group would meet, and I think it also included members of the congregation. And Augustine and that group would pull an all-nighter. And Augustine would trace salvation history from creation all the way through. Do you think we should start that tradition? The all-nighter thinks that was kind of fun to me. I enjoy all that is once in a while. Yeah, you knew I was nuts. That’s just another confirmation of it. It would start with creation. He’d walk his way through the fall into sin, the flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, and Rebecca, until sometime in the night, he would get to the point where the Israelites were crossing the Red Sea. And Augustine connected the crossing through the Red Sea, and how God saved the Israelites through that Red Sea event, he connected it with baptism. And those adults who had not yet been baptized, this was when they were baptized. And oh, what an incredible experience it must have been. You see, they had, I guess we’ll call it a baptism pool. It wasn’t like what we have, which I much prefer, by the way, but it was a pool. And the pool had red tile as the flooring of the pool. And of course, it’s nighttime. It’s dark. And so everything is lit with torches and lamps. So you’ve got red tile floor with lamps that are burning. What color do you think that water looked? Red. Absolutely so. And the people who were being baptized were taken, and they were immersed completely into the water. And as they were immersed into the water, they were facing the West. So when they went down, they were facing West. And then when they brought them back up, they turned them so that they faced the East. And when they got out of the baptismal pool, they were doused with oil. And afterward, they were given a brand new white robe, maybe something like this, which they were to wear for the next week. And then Augustine would go on with his instruction. He’d instruct them about baptism using what had just happened. And he would say to them something like this, “When you went down, you were plunged into the blood of Christ. And you went down facing the West because the West is the land of darkness. That’s where the sun sets, where darkness comes from.” As a reminder that you were a sinful human being who deserved to go to darkness, to hell, forever and ever and ever. But when you were brought up, you were facing the East, because now God had made you a child of the light. The East is where the sun rises and where light comes from. And now because of your baptism, you are a child of the light. And you were doused with oil as you got out because oil sticks to you. You can feel it as a reminder that the blessings which God just gave you in your baptism are going to stick to you. God’s not going to jerk them away from you. They’re going to stick to you. And as the oil is healing, people who live in much more arid climates use oils a lot to keep their skin soft and moist. And as that oil was healing, so your baptism has healed you. And then you were given the white robe to wear because you are now covered with Jesus’s own perfection. That as God looks at you, the absolutely perfect life of Jesus has been credited to you. In other words, using that Red Sea picture, He was teaching them the truths of our text. That God saved you. How do I know it? Because you were baptized. He saved you through the washing of rebirth and renewal. Why does it have to be rebirth? Because when you and I were born into this world, we were born dead. I thought about pulling out Fred the cicada again, but I figured you all have seen him enough for a while. When I was born, I’m born spiritually dead. So what did I need? I needed a new birth. I needed to be born again. And in your baptism, God gave you a new birth, that you were born again by water and by the Holy Spirit. It was a baptism of renewal, that God made you to be what you weren’t. By nature, I was a sinful human being who deserved to be sent to hell. And in baptism, God makes me brand new. So of course, that’s why the pastors wear the white robes. It’s meant to be a reminder that we are covered in Jesus’ perfection. Of course, who really should be wearing the white robes? Every one of us. Make sense? Yeah, but that’d be a bit of a logistical nightmare. So we ask the preacher types to do it in our place, as a reminder that we are baptized children of the most high God, that God has taken away what we were and made us to be new. And oh, by the way, he wasn’t chintzy about it. He poured out the Holy Spirit on you in your baptism. This is how you know for sure that you have the Holy Spirit. You were baptized. It’s true. And he poured out that Holy Spirit on you richly. Richly. Is it any wonder that at the end of our text in verse 8, Paul says, “This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to hammer these things?” The Greek has that kind of a thought. “I want you to talk about this stuff, and I want you to insist on this because this is so cool. This is God’s saving love for you.” So back to North Africa. After Augustine has finished teaching them about their baptism, he went on, and he’d walk them through the fall of Jericho, the taking of the Promised Land, the time of the Judges, the Kings, the Exiles, all the way to the time of Jesus. And he’d talk them through the life of Jesus, his birth, 12-year-old Jesus at the temple. Probably talked about the flight to Egypt too, obviously. Then the 12-year-old Jesus in the temple. His miracles; changing water into wine. His being baptized as they had been. And how the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Jesus visibly, just as the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon them through that water and the word. And it would culminate with the Easter Sunday worship service. Augustine must have had some serious stamina, man. Wow, how do you do this? And those newly baptized believers would be there amongst the whole group dressed in their white robes. Can you imagine how exciting that must have been for those newly baptized children of God? To be there amongst the greater people of God and to know, “I am covered with Jesus’ own righteousness. I am covered with Jesus’ perfection.” And can you imagine what an encouragement it was for the rest of the congregation? As they too were reminded that they were the baptized children of the Most High God? And why Easter? Because baptism connects us to Easter. We used it in our opening litany, Romans chapter 6, that says we’re buried with Him through baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was raised to life through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. That in your baptism you were connected so intimately to Jesus that it was as if you were put on the cross with Jesus, you were put into the tomb with Jesus, and you were raised back up to life with Jesus. And so what better time to be baptized and to celebrate baptism than on Easter Sunday morning? And oh, by the way, what was one of the scripture readings that was used? Titus chapter 3. The Word of God that you and I are thinking about today. What do you see when you look in the mirror? This is what you really see. When you look in the mirror, you get to see someone upon whom God the Holy Spirit has been poured out. When you look in the mirror, you get to see someone who has been born anew, who has been brought to spiritual life. You get to see one who is covered with the perfection of Jesus. And if you have any doubts as to whether or not that happened and whether or not that’s really you, you go right back to your baptism. It happened. It’s real. And if you’ve been baptized, there will never be another day in your life where you aren’t baptized. And if you’ve not yet been baptized, talk to me, and let’s study it because it’s a treasure that God wants you to have. But for those of you who have, hold on to that treasure because what’s looking out of the mirror at you is a baptized child of the Most High God who is an heir of everlasting life. Winner. Amen? And amen.