Why We Baptize

Genesis 1:1-5; Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11

This second Sunday of Epiphany we celebrate the baptism of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We celebrate the humbleness of our God, who emptied Himself of power and insisted that He undergo the same humbling ritual that He asks each of us to undergo. Later, our same God would allow Himself to be humiliated, stripped, beaten, and executed that we might have an eternal relationship with Him.

Yet, in France this week, there are those who have killed other men and women, because they made fun, not even of their god, but of a man who wrote about their god. I prefer the God who was powerful enough to come back from the dead to the god whose followers are fearful that a few cartoons will injure their god.

Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. He submitted to a mildly uncomfortable ceremony of humbleness so that, as Matthew wrote, “all righteousness might be fulfilled”. Of course, to many Christian believers, the real question is why Jesus had to be baptized at all. And an even deeper question we need to explore is what the purpose of baptism is, why we baptize in the first place, and of critical importance to us, what difference does baptism make in our lives?

We’ve all heard various teachings about baptism.

“Baptism is how you join the church” – that’s nice, but why don’t we simply raise our right hand and swear – like we do when we become a witness or join the army, or perhaps memorize a particular part of the Bible – the Boy Scouts have you recite certain things. Why did we decide to use baptism as our way to join the church?

We’ve also heard that “baptism is an outward sign of an inward change.” That’s not very clear, is it?

We’re never quite sure whether baptism is right for the very young, and we’re never quite sure if baptism is ok unless it involves a complete dunking in a creek. And we just are never quite sure whether baptism is really required by God – or is our “belief” good enough?

Let me see if I can clear up these issues.

First of all, here’s a bit about the word itself.

The first usage of the Greek word that became “baptism” is used to refer to the process of making a cucumber into a pickle. The word refers to that essential change of condition that happens when the cucumber becomes a pickle. The cucumber has been baptized and become something different – a pickle. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to eat cucumbers, yet I love to eat many different types of pickles. There is something about the pickling process – the baptism – of the cucumber that improves the taste of the cucumber. Baptism essentially changes a person and improves their “taste”.

The first time we find the word is around the year 150 BC, a century and a half before Christ.

Later, the word became applied to the cloth industry, and adopted a second meaning, the meaning of “changing color”. Cloth could be dyed to give it a fantastic color in several ways. You could take the cloth and stick it into a vat of dye; you could pour the dye over and through the cloth; or you could sprinkle the cloth with dye, which would give it a very fancy appearance. You could even take your hand, fill it with the dye and lap it onto the cloth. Sometimes, people even used large seashells to pick up the dye and pour it on the cloth in specific places. It all depended upon the effect you wanted on the cloth.

But baptism is also related to washing. In Jewish culture, the tradition of washing goes back to Leviticus 14:8

8 “The person to be cleansed must wash their clothes, shave off all their hair and bathe with water; then they will be ceremonially clean. After this they may come into the camp, but they must stay outside their tent for seven days.
In fact, the entire three chapters of Leviticus 13-15 discuss washing to become ritually clean under various conditions.

Sprinkling with water also made people clean. In Numbers 8:5, we find when the Levitical priesthood was to be established:

5 The Lord said to Moses: 6 “Take the Levites from among all the Israelites and make them ceremonially clean. 7 To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing on them; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. And so they will purify themselves.
God established the pattern that when a person becomes a member of God’s priesthood, he should be cleaned with water.

In Numbers 19:17, we find this:

17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. 18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death.

Notice the way those who have touched a dead body are sprinkled. In some way, sprinkling removes death from us.

Over the centuries, the washing ritual had developed into even more different ways. By the time of Christ, Jews commonly built large pools in or beside their synagogues. Water was taken from these pools and used to wash hands before meals – a uniquely Jewish custom, as most other groups did not bother. A pitcher of water was poured upon the hands by a servant before each meal. Were the Jews aware that this washed germs from their hands? Of course not – germs were not discovered until after the microscope was invented in the 1600’s. No, they were trying to stay ritually pure – free from sin.

And so we find in a document called “The Teaching of the Apostles”, which dates from around the year 75 AD, the point made that baptism may be through sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. It also notes that “if cold water can not be found, warm water is acceptable.”

So we notice that in our reading John is baptizing people in the Jordan River. And why is he baptizing people? To clean them from sin. People confessed that they had sin – perhaps even listed their sins to John – and then were baptized to show they regretted their sins and wanted to start a new life free and purified from sin.

And Jesus came to be baptized. But a key tenet of Christian belief is that Jesus was already free from sin. So there must be something more to baptism.

There are several positions about baptism that our modern Christians have adopted.

One position is the Catholic position. Officially, Catholic doctrine is that salvation comes through belief in and participation in the seven sacraments of the Church. A sacrament is a ritual of the Church through which God operates in some sacred manner. According to the Catholic Church, the only way to receive the sacraments is to be a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and baptism is how you become a member of the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, baptism, in an indirect way, is necessary for salvation. But the method of baptism is not critical – sprinkling, pouring, or immersion.

The Church of Christ states explicitly that salvation is gained through belief, stating that belief to others, and being baptized by immersion. Thus, baptism is a necessary item in salvation. I once attended a “Christian Church”, which is a southern Church of Christ which allows instrumental music. They felt so strongly about baptism that they would open the bapistry up at 2 AM for someone to be baptized. The water might be a bit cold, but they’d come down to the church and do it.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have the beliefs of many Baptist groups. These groups do not have sacraments as such – only ordinances. An ordinance is a command by God or Christ. Most Baptist groups consider baptism and communion to be ordinances. In other words, they baptize solely because they believe that baptism was patterned and commanded by Jesus and the apostles. For many Baptists, there is no real purpose to baptism except an announcement that the person has decided to follow Jesus. Yet what is interesting is that these same people who declare that there is no real purpose for baptism also put the most rules on baptism – “It must be by immersion”, “You must be eleven years old or older”, “you must wear a white robe”, etc.

The more I read John Wesley’s writings, the more I understand that Wesley had a very rigorous and methodical mind. Wesley came to several conclusions about baptism.

First of all, all people are born with a desire to avoid God and prefer sin. We call this “original sin”, which is inherited from Adam and passed along through a spiritual contagion because we are born. You will remember that Adam was not born, but was created. Because of that “original sin”, any good we do is from sinful reasons – we want prestige, money, or power.

Baptism is a point where God reaches into your heart and turns it from the inborn sinfulness, the “original sin” that it naturally has, and changes your heart to desire good. God does this action – the water does not, and the pastor does not. All we do is give God permission to do this by coming to the font for baptism.

But do not underestimate that permission-giving. Submitting to a mildly uncomfortable ceremony in front of many people is the first real test that a believer has. For you see, if you are not willing to do something mildly uncomfortable such as getting some water sprinkled on your forehead in front of people, how much do you actually follow Jesus Christ as your Lord, your God? Or instead, how much do you simply choose to walk near Jesus because at this moment you feel it is a good thing for you to do, a choice you can change at any time if a better option comes along, sort of like choosing to eat at Ruby Tuesday’s this week and Ryan’s next week? And so, when we choose to follow the Lord, we give permission for our hearts to be changed through baptism, a permission which God then acts upon.

Because we are simply permission givers, adults can give permission for their children to be baptized. There is nothing different here than the age-old parental right – and responsibility – to make decisions for children who are too young to decide for themselves.

Let us assume that you can decide at any time whether your child is to attend WVU or Marshall. You would probably be right in delaying the decision until your child was able to contribute to the discussion, right? This is what the Baptist position on infant baptism translates as – according to the Baptist, the only real issue at question with Baptism is which church the child will attend as an adult.

But if your physician could give your child a shot which would give him or her a lifelong immunity to heart disease, wouldn’t you want your child to have that shot? Their very quality of life would depend upon your decision, wouldn’t it? And this is the position on Baptism that such great church leaders as John Wesley, Martin Luther, and Jean Calvin taught.

You see, either baptism means something and is a deep and meaningful interaction with God – or it is simply writing your name on some church’s registry book.

I don’t think that our Lord would have bothered with something essentially meaningless.

For the Lord was baptized. Jesus Christ was baptized.

In Matthew 3, the text gives us the reason the Lord was baptized.

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Even though Jesus was sinless, even through Jesus was divine, even though Jesus was the Son of God Himself, Jesus followed the rules. And the rules from Numbers 8:4 said that when a person became a member of God’s priesthood, when a person was going to represent God on earth, he must be baptized with water.

And today, we continue that pattern.

The Apostle Peter made it clear in his writings (I Peter 2:9) by saying to the followers of Christ:

9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. “

Just as Jesus Christ was baptized “to fulfill all righteousness”, so must we. Baptism isn’t just a quaint Christian custom. It has a deep meaning.

And there is more, as Mark wrote:

10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
The Holy Spirit came down from Heaven and God the Father spoke that day, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

In our baptism ritual, I lay hands upon the person being baptized and pray for the Holy Spirit to come into them. Where does this come from?

It dates back to the early church.

When Paul was traveling around, he arrived at the city of Ephesus, a major Greek city in what is today Western Turkey. There he met a group of people who had been baptized by John’s baptism for the repentance of sins. They knew that a great One was to come soon, but had not yet heard about Jesus. Paul told them of Jesus and asked them if they had heard of the Holy Spirit. They had not. So Paul explained the Holy Spirit to them, the spirit of God that communicates and directs and guides people to do what God wills.

Acts 19:5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
And so to this day, most Christian baptisms include a prayer for the Holy Spirit to come into newly baptized person, that he or she may never again lack the guidance of God in their lives – if they will just listen for the Spirit to speak.

Jason Vickers is a professor at United Theological Seminary, where I graduated from. He’s kind of odd – he belongs to both the Sierra Club and the National Rifle Association, which tells you he is a very interesting guy. This past fall he spoke at the WV Clergy School where Saundra and I attended, along with many other clergy, including my former district superintendent, Ken Krimmel of the Little Kanawha district.

Dr Vickers told of the first time he spoke in front of a large African-American congregation in North Carolina. Dr Vickers did not grow up in the African-American church and this church was different for him. There were three of them on sitting on the platform – the regular pastor, Dr Vickers, and another guy who looked like he used to play defensive lineman for the Steelers. The service began and went on and on and on. The third guy didn’t say a word through the whole thing - he just sat there with his arms crossed.

Finally, after 90 minutes or so, it was time for Dr Vickers to preach. So he got up in front of the crowd of a thousand or so, and began. And you know, there are times when you know that you are NOT connecting with the audience. After a few minutes of this spiritually dry sermon, suddenly, from behind Dr Vickers on the platform comes this deep, but very loud rumble from the third guy: SPEAK! Which just about sent Dr Vickers into orbit.

He returned to his preaching. A minute or two later, here it comes again. “SPEAK!”

After a couple more times of this, Dr Vickers suddenly realized that this guy was not talking to him, but was praying loudly for the Holy Spirit to speak through Dr Vickers.

My friends, there is nothing like it when the Holy Spirit speaks through you. It has happened to me many times. What should be a relatively easy job – I only have to stand up here and talk for a half hour, right? – turns into something that completely uses up any energy I have as God uses me to help someone else.

You have probably noticed sometimes when a sermon that is merely interesting turns into something that hits you deep in your heart.

You have probably felt something move in your heart when God speaks through me or another preacher directly to your life.

But it is something truly amazing when the Holy Spirit takes over you and begins to SPEAK through you and you see that words you could not have put together naturally are dragging someone else to face our Holy God!

It can happen to you. If you have been baptized, you have the Holy Spirit inside of you.

If you will pray for the Holy Spirit to take over, you will find that you give the wisest advice you’ve ever heard to people who ask you for it

If you will pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you and listen, you will hear that still, small voice inside you say, “Don’t go to that register, go to register number 8” and when you get there you will find someone who desperately needs to hear what the Spirit will have you say to them.

When you pray for the Holy Spirit to use you, you will find the greatest joy that you have ever encountered as people open up to you and ask you how to know God and the Spirit opens you mouth and you pray with them and ten minutes later you look up and they are bawling their eyes out and asking you “where do you go to church! Can I come, too?”

The sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross brought us back into a relationship with God, and we-who-believe have access to the power of God Himself through the Holy Spirit, that Spirit which is within us, that Spirit which was given to us long ago, that Spirit which came to us a couple of minutes after God worked through our baptism to change our hearts from evil to good, to make our hearts acceptable to receive that Spirit, a Spirit which could not go into our hearts while we were still under the influence of sin, but which was now open and available to the excellent, good, and holy guidance of the Holy Spirit of God.

And we must understand this as well:

When the Holy Spirit finds a home in our heart, just as Jesus, we are sons and daughters of God, whom He loves; with whom He is well pleased.

Make our Father proud. Listen to the Spirit. Ask for the Spirit’s guidance. Do what the Spirit tells you.

Come forward today, all of you. Reach into the water, apply it to your forehead and remember your baptism. Remember your baptism even if you were an infant, for God remembers that day so very well. And He smiles upon it.

And as you remember your baptism, pray for the Holy Spirit to fill you and use you to further God’s purposes. Submit in all humbleness to His will. Trust in His love.