Baptism Means Walking With God (January 9, 2022)

BAPTISM MEANS WALKING WITH GOD

Text: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Luke 3:15- 17, 21 - 22 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,  (16)  John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  (17)  His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." .....  (21)  Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,  (22)  and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (NRSV).

“A Boston minister was about to perform the sacrament of infant baptism. The proud parents came forward and presented their daughter to the minister, who took the child in his arms, turned toward the font, and suddenly realized he didn't know the child's name. He turned to the father and whispered, "What is the child's name?" The father replied in a whisper, "Spindonna." The minister thought this was a rather unusual name, but went ahead with the ritual, saying, "Spindonna, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." The father became furious and the mother burst into tears. They took their baby back and stormed out of the sanctuary. After the service, the couple was waiting in the minister's study. The father glared at the pastor, saying "How could you give our child such a ridiculous name?" The pastor looked at the man in disbelief. "I didn't make it up. You did. I asked you what her name is and you said 'Spindonna.'" The father said, "You idiot, I told you that it's pinned on her!" The father then showed the minister a small note with the name Elizabeth pinned to the baby's baptism dress.” (Steve May. The Story File. “All In The Name”. Peabody Hendrickson Publishers, 2000, pp. 57 – 58). Our identity as Christians is important. Every minister wants to get the names right when they are baptizing someone. What is even more important than that is that we remember who we are----our identity as God’s children in the world but not of the world.

Why did Jesus get Baptized if He was without sin? Jesus got baptized because He came to identify with the sinners He had come to save. In fact, it is through Baptism that sinners and the grace of God meet. As Paul put it,   Romans 6: 3 - 4: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  (4)  Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (NRSV).

How much do we identify with Jesus as Baptized believers? Are we baptized in Jesus’s Name? Do we live up to Jesus’s Name in our daily walk?

The following story is about how the grace of God came to a young man who would have given up on life without it. …

“In World War II a certain soldier’s face was horribly disfigured. When he realized his condition he said that he wanted to die. The plastic surgeon told him that he could restore his face if he had a picture to go by. The soldier didn’t have a picture, so he said, “It’s no use, Doc, just let me alone.” “But,” said the doctor, “I can do something for you. Just pick out a picture and I will make your face like that picture.” “It doesn’t matter,” said the boy, “that picture on the wall will be all right.” The soldier did not know it, but this was a picture of Jesus Christ. The doctor performed the operation and it was highly successful. The man was greatly pleased when he looked into the mirror, after he had fully recovered. Then he said to the doctor, “Whose picture was that?” And the doctor told him that it was a picture of Jesus Christ. “What kind of a man was he?” asked the soldier. The doctor gave him a New Testament and told him to read about Jesus.

When the doctor came back a few days later, the soldier said to him, “There is just one thing for me to do. Since I look like Him, I have resolved that I must try in every way to be like Him.” And from that day he was a changed man”. (W. Herschel Ford. Simple Sermons On Salvation And Service. Grand Rapids: Baked Book House, 1955, pp. 33 – 34).