When you boil it down to its most basic
simplest explanation, there are two kinds of Christians – those who remember
their baptisms and those who do not. Many of those who remember their baptisms came
to the water of their own choosing. Some traditions call it making a decision
for Christ. You choose Jesus, and the symbol or sign of that choice is the act
of baptism. For many traditions that promote so-called “believer’s baptism,” a
sense of personal repentance is a necessary component of the baptismal process.
Almost all of those who don’t remember
come from traditions that support and encourage the baptisms of infants and
young children. These traditions, many of which are represented here today,
work from the premise that God chooses us first, and baptism is the sign or
symbol of our response to what God is already doing in our lives. In these
traditions, baptism is a singular event. It happens once in our lives, and then
we spend future opportunities remembering and reflecting on what our baptisms
mean to us.
Each takes their theological rationale
from scripture, weaving together the gospel stories of Jesus’ baptism with
Jesus’ instruction as his ascension to “go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20 CEB).
But baptism didn’t start with Christians.
Long before Jesus, people were using water to ceremonially cleanse themselves
and their worship spaces. John the Baptist was preaching quite famously about
how much the world needed to change – about how much the people needed to turn
back to God – about how this would get them ready for the really big thing that
God was getting ready to do, and the One who was coming to do it.
For John, the big word was
repentance. For most of us, this means
feeling bad about the mistakes we’ve made and trying to do better. For John, repentance
was so much more – much more radical and dangerous. For John, repentance was
about rejecting their brokenness and becoming ready to bring in a new world
order, which in light of the cruelty of the ruling Roman government was very
dangerous indeed.[i]
People were literally choosing God over the country, and Caesar and his little
minions didn’t like that one bit.
Yes, John’s message was dangerous, but it
was also one of hope and action. He wasn’t just calling for people to reject
the status quo. He was also preparing them to follow someone who would come and
turn the world upside-down.
Jesus came to John to be publicly
recognized as a pivotal leader in the march toward this new world order. His
presence with them, the things he taught through word and deed, laid a
foundation for the Church we have today. But the real miracle of Jesus’
ministry was not just that he was God who came in human form to live and teach
among us, but that when he left the world at his ascension, the Holy Spirit
remained with us to lead, guide, and comfort us through all the joys and messes
of our lives.[ii]
And still today, 2000 years later, we also
come to the water to reclaim our lives for God. Today I want us to look at this
passage from Luke and see at least two ways that our baptisms are a reflection
of his baptism.
First, Jesus came to be baptized in public.
It was his debut to the world, so to speak. And as we look back on the day, we
see that he was identifying himself with John and his followers, who were
already in hot water with Herod, the local ruler. Here, Jesus found the
beginnings of community. He didn’t go to John in the darkness of night, or in a
quiet out-of-the-way place to step out on the stage. He did it surrounded by
people, as a witness to the power of God. [iii]
When we come for baptism, it is also a
public and community event. It is a time of celebration, and promises are made.
Questions are asked of those people baptized, or of their sponsors, about who
God and Jesus are, and of their willingness to reject sin and evil and turn
fully on the path to God. The gathered community reaffirms their own baptisms
and makes promises to support the newly baptized in their life in Christ. Every
time we come to the water, we are remembering and promising again to renew our
relationship with God and Jesus Christ.
Secondly, in Jesus’ baptism, we encounter
head-on the power and person of the Holy Spirit. According to Jewish tradition,
the Holy Spirit has been around since creation, but at this moment, we
encounter the Spirit in a whole new way. The Spirit is no longer hovering over
the world, but descending in the form of a dove, that everyone could see, and
speaking in a voice that everyone could hear – “You are my Son, the Beloved –
with you, I am well pleased.”
This is true for us, too. Too many times I
have heard people speak as if baptism is a magical rite that protects their
children from harm or the golden ticket for admission to heaven. It is neither.
Nor is it about membership in a particular denomination or congregation - it is
so much more.
Baptism is a sacrament that claims and
names people into the Kingdom of God. In its waters, we are cleansed from the
sin we have committed, and the ones we have not even thought of yet. In its
grace, we are healed from the brokenness of the world and prepared to spend
eternity with God. Through baptism, God is at work, in us and in the
church. And in return, God expects
something from us. He expects us to take our baptisms seriously. Through baptism, we are empowered by the Holy
Spirit, not just to become a part of a movement towards God’s new creation, but
also to embody that same spirit in the way we live our lives every day.[iv]
So what does this look like? Water plays
an integral place in our lives. We need it for sustenance. Given the ubiquitous
role that water plays in our lives, we shouldn’t be surprised that the Reformers
insisted that every time we wash our hands is an opportunity to remember our
baptism and the promises God made to us in it. Baptism, though conducted only
once, was never intended to be a one-and-done event, but rather something we
remember and renew daily.[v]
Last week, we talked about how the
Greatest Commandment calls us to love God and love others – but it doesn’t stop
there… we are called to love others as we love ourselves. But many of us have
trouble loving others exactly because we don’t practice self-love. We don’t always
believe that God loves us more than we can ever imagine. I imagine that our own
self-worth would grow if we claimed God’s love for us daily. It might be as
simple as saying and believing, “I am God’s beloved child, called and sent to
make a difference in the world.”
Each Sunday after the sermon, we rise
together and say the Apostles or Nicene Creed. Creed – from the Latin word Credo means “believe”. I’ve known many
people who don’t like the creeds because they aren’t sure whether or not they
believe all that it has to say. I tell them it’s OK because the creeds are
something we grow into, just like our baptisms. And they are not perfect.
Saying or praying the creed each week is one way to be reminded of the unique
nature of our relationship with God and with one another. The creeds give us a
foundation on which to build the personal and communal relationships that God
seeks to have with us. They are the foundation of our baptismal and
confirmation celebrations. But our commitment to Christ and the Church does not
stop there.
Our faith is built on the promise that God
is always with us… in good and bad times, and in ways that we never imagined
God would be present. In our baptisms and confirmations, we promise to love and
serve God, to resist evil and injustice in whatever ways they present
themselves, and to trust the promises that have been made to us. One way to do
that is to occasionally retake our baptismal vows, which we have done several
times in the last few years. But we can also remember our baptisms as we pray a
prayer for the renewal of the covenant made between us when we take up the
mantle of Christ.
In 1775, John Wesley introduced a covenant service as an important part of spiritual life in the Methodist Societies of the Anglican Church. This renewal service was a time for the participants to gather annually in a time of self-examination, reflection, and dedication, wholly giving up themselves and renewing covenant with God. Repentance through confession and commitment was a key focus of the service, demanding humility from those willing to submit themselves to the dynamic words stated within the liturgy.
According to Wesley’s journal, though the
covenant renewal service was held on various occasions throughout the year, by
the end of his life, the service was observed typically on or the Sunday
nearest January 1st. The covenant renewal service is a practice that continues
in churches and Christian communities today, often near the beginning of the
new year. It has undergone many revisions and adaptations, but its purpose as
an evocative ceremony of commitment to ongoing discipleship and Christ-like
character has always remained intact. We are going to pray the closing prayer
from this service as we end the sermon today.
This offers us another reminder that our commitment to life in Christ
does not rest in the actions of one day, but in the ways that we live out our
faith in everything we do.
Do you know the date of your baptism? If
not, find out, and on that day for each person in your family, light a candle
and say a prayer of thanksgiving for the gift baptism has brought to your life.
Use this as an opportunity to serve others, as a reminder that baptism calls us
to a life of service in Christ’s name.
So today and every day, remember your
baptism and be thankful… that God has worked in you through your baptism and
continues to work through you in the world. Remember that your baptism is a
part of your identity as a child of God and member of the family with those who
follow Jesus Christ. Remember your
baptism and be faithful to the promises made and the work that you are called
to do in his name. You are beloved!
Amen.
[i]
Ron Allen, Preach this Week, January 10, 2016, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2709
[ii]
Ibid.
[iii]
Ibld.
[iv]
Ibid.
[v]
David Lose, “Preaching a More Meaningful Baptism,” January 6, 2013, https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/preaching-a-more-meaningful-baptism
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