A Meditation on Consecration
Mr. Bubble
“Mr. Bubble in the tubble will get you squeaky clean!” So sang a cartoon bubble from a 1970’s television commercial. I remember well the bright pink bottles and how bubbly the tubble would be when we children hopped in. Bubbles would cling to our arms, face, and hair, and it really did “make bathtime fun,” just like the cartoon bubble claimed. When we finally got out, the skin of our fingertips and toes would be wrinkled, evidence of having sat in the soapy water for so long. The product catchphrase was “You’ll be so clean, your mother won’t recognize you.” THAT is an effective soak!
The Vlasic Stork
“That’s the best tasting pickle I ever hoid!” So claimed a wise-cracking stork with a red bow tie and blue messenger hat, speaking in a Groucho Marx accent while holding a dill pickle like a cigar. Vlasic was among the first to market jarred pickles – cucumbers that were soaked in a brine of vinegar and spices so as to take on an entirely different texture and taste. Supposedly, the stork was chosen as a mascot as a play on the belief that pregnant women often craved pickles.
The Gettysburg Address
“In a larger sense we cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow – this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. …We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth in freedom.” -from the Gettysburg Address
My first transformative introduction (or immersion, to continue the metaphor) into American History was reading The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, a narrative of the July 1863 Civil War Battle of Gettysburg through the words and actions of its combatants. It was a bloody and terrible battle on the outskirts of a small Pennsylvania town over three days which changed the course of the War. Shaara’s description of the climactic and ill-fated Pickett’s Charge brings to life the noise, the confusion, the futility, and the unimaginable human suffering and bloodshed endured in that once-tranquil open field. Robert E. Lee and the remnants of his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia retreated into their home state that same night, and ceded the bloody field and their dead to the victorious Union Army. When Abraham Lincoln arrived a few months later to dedicate the new Gettysburg National Cemetery, he delivered a brief speech that lives on in history in which he notes how the ground beneath his feet and the Nation as a whole were forever transformed, consecrated through the blood of those that fought there.
Consecrate Them in Truth
“Consecrate them in the truth; Thy word is truth…. For their sake I consecrate myself that they also may be consecrated in truth.” -John 17:17,19
CONSECRATE (transitive verb from the Latin consecrāre – to bring together for the Sacred): to make or declare sacred; especially : to devote irrevocably to the worship of God by a solemn ceremony or to devote to a purpose with or as if with deep solemnity or dedication. -source: Webster’s Dictionary
In today’s lectionary, the Apostle Paul bids a final, tearful farewell to the presbyters of the young Ephesian church, cautioning them to be vigilant, reminding them of their three years of preparation, and commending them through the Holy Spirit to become consecrated in God’s Word (Acts 20:20-28). The subsequent gospel reading is taken from Jesus’ prayer to the Father at the Last Supper (John 17:11-19): “Consecrate them in the truth; Thy word is truth…. For their sake I consecrate myself that they also may be consecrated in truth.” Jesus looks forward to His upcoming consecration as a model for His disciples to follow.
Consecration Requires Immersion
Mr. Bubble promised that after soaking in him, “your mother won’t recognize you.” The Vlasic stork convinced us that after being saturated in his salty brine an ordinary cucumber becomes, “the best-tasting pickle I ever hoid.” The United States was transformed in “a new birth of freedom” after the fields in Gettysburg were drenched with blood. Most significantly, the consecration that Jesus speaks of was also a blood sacrifice, His blood being poured out not just for a nation, but “once and for all” (see Romans 6:10, Hebrews 10:10).
It seems to me that consecration is more deep than even sanctification, and that it requires an immersion of sorts, a drowning in God’s Word and thus, God’s Will. How much do you soak in God’s Word? Is the skin of your soul wrinkled like your toes and fingers after a bubble bath, or is it barely even wet? Get soaked. Get immersed. Get consecrated.
“I appeal to you brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” -Romans 12:1-2
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