General Orders

When I was inducted into the Army, we were issued what were known as General Orders.  These were standards and directives as to what we should be about if we became separated from our unit or our leadership was killed.  These were to be memorized without fail.

Common sense directives such as: stand my post.  Secure all government property.  If isolated from my unit, report to the first officer I contact.  Obey any special orders given.  If captured, use any means to escape.  All common sense. 

When we go through the waters of baptism, we all make a pledge similar to those general orders – General Orders of the Jesus Movement.  We make that pledge or the sponsors on our behalf of the baptismal candidate make that pledge.  As adults we accept those promises as our own upon the rite of confirmation.

What are they?

In part, they are our promises in the Baptismal Covenant.  They are what we pledge or our sponsors pledge on our behalf if we are infants:

It is to resist evil, and whenever we fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.

It is to continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers.

It is to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.

These are our General Orders for all of the Jesus Movement.

In short it is to be a living version of Gospel Goodness.  As one mentor said, “You may be the only version of the Gospel that another person sees.”  Be about living it!

So let me begin with the pledge to resist evil.

The devastating wildfires throughout Southern California have not only brought out the best in many of our citizens, they have also brought out the worst.

Evil is the only word I can use for those demented souls who have added to our misery by setting more fires.  Arsonists are the worst of the worst in my book. 

Right up there with them are looters and those who have over the years stolen hundreds of fire hydrants from the streets of Los Angeles.

Yet, the Orange Felon is now trash talking about the dry hydrants in Pacific Palisades.  “Here we have a president-elect mouthing off and showing his ignorance in a barrage of vindictiveness and insensitivity as thousands of people fled their lives and hundreds of homes blazed into ashes.”[1]  SHAME. SHAME. SHAME.  We resist such utter nonsense and call it out.

Hoarders and price gougers rate a third place in my book of infamy.

Resist.  Resist.  Support those arresting these perpetrators and those who would bring them to the bar of justice.  Support those who would bring therapy to these demented souls.

Resist the Orange Man, now the Orange Felon as of this Friday when Judge Merchan pronounced sentence and lowered the gavel. 

And a big NO to the Orange Felon, Hezbollah did NOT cause the January 6th riots.  You did!

Today, I open the Times to discover that according to the Orange Man, we have to get rid of all Mexicans because they are bringing disease into the country.[2]  Surprising, that they must be the only ones.  Who would’ve thunk it???

We have a far greater disease, the disease of a jaded public that has by-and-large given up on our democracy.  Certainly, given up on rational thought.  Our founders clearly stated that the fate of this republic was dependent upon an educated electorate.

Resist easy answers and platitudes.  Resist demagogy and the blame game.  No – Hilary’s emails did not cause the L.A. Inferno.

Turn to the Light.  Remain constant in the Breaking of the Bread, the prayers and the fellowship with those in the Jesus Movement.

Every morning before I throw back the covers, I grab my 3 X 5 card and ask the Spirit to lead me in what I can do for the benefit of myself, for the benefit of my community, for the benefit of the greater creation.

Within minutes that card is full on one side, and often half filled on the other side.  This is what I call the discipline of the 3 by 5 card.  It is only possible through those few moments of prayer, what I call spiritual daydreaming.

Begin the intentional discipline of that 3 by 5 card and you will be useful to the Jesus Movement.

Support those who have engaged the battle – for, my friends, we are in deep spiritual contest.  This is for all the marbles, the soul of our nation – the soul of the Jesus Movement.  The call is clear: Which side are you on?  Lackadaisical will not cut it.  Get off the couch.

Yield to your inner yearning to be part of some cause, some duty greater than yourself.  In dying to yourself you will live.

I thought of a dinner out. But now I’m sending that small amount to the Red Cross.  Won’t be much, but combined with the gifts of others also moved by the Spirit, it will add up.

The Spirit shouts, “Go and do thou likewise.”  Do something — anything.

As St. Augustine says, “Faithfulness in the little things is a BIG thing.”

Finally, prayfully join with others who have been moved by Gospel Goodness to be Cooperators with God for the thriving of the “Least of These” here on earth. 

Here’s just one example of how these baptismal General Orders work out when put into practice.  When they become a sacramental reality of a deep spirituality.

I lift up a small college in Kentucky, Berea College.  Begun by folks who may be a bit more theologically conservative than me, they, in fact, are doing the Lord’s work better than I.

Their students from rural Appalachia and around the world graduate with little or no student debt.  They draw from the most underserved, impoverished communities with poor schools and bleak futures, lifting these students out of poverty, out of lack of privilege, and often from families of violence and addiction – raising them out of dust – to be people of worth.  God’s Grace incarnate.

These people at that institution are Gospel Goodness.  They work from the beginning with applicants to make college a reality.  No matter what the starting point.  As their director of philanthropy puts it, when it comes to those woefully ill-prepared, those normally excluded from higher education, “For our students, it doesn’t matter where you start; it matters where you finish.”

The job of all at Berea College is to get every possible student across that graduation platform.  And they do it well, better than most.  Gospel Goodness, indeed.  These people are definitely following their baptismal General Orders.

Some come to me wanting a small, private ceremony to ensure that through baptism preformed as if it’s some magic act, that their child will be protected from hellfire and the evil one.

Folks, that’s not how it works.  Baptism is the initiation into a journey, a journey, which if taken with utmost seriousness, prayer and action, will lead to a life blessed with Gospel Goodness.  In the end, wrapped up in the loving arms of their maker.

You will be led beyond your comfort and convenience zones, sometimes far, far beyond.  You may end up in “good trouble, necessary trouble.”  Holy trouble!

As St. Paul puts it:

“Ever dying, here we are alive. Called nobodies, yet we are ever in the public eye.  Though we have nothing with which to bless ourselves, yet we bless many others with true riches.  Called poor, yet we possess everything worth having.”[3]

Everything of worth – that is the Gospel Goodness to which we of the Jesus Movement are drawn.  It is where the General Orders of Baptism lead.  May it be found to be true for all of us.  Amen.

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[1] George Skelton, “Trump mouths off about fire hydrants amid L.A. inferno,” Los Angeles Times, January 11, 2025.

[2] Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz, “Inside Trump’s Search for a Health Threat to Justify His Immigration Crackdown,” New York Times, January 6, 2025.

[3]The New Testament in Modern English, J.B Phillips 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. II Cor. 6:9-10.

January 12, 2025
The Baptism of Our Lord

Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29;

Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

“General Orders”