What can a few dribbles of water do? If guests arrive unexpectedly at suppertime, you can stretch the soup with a few dribbles of water. A few dribbles of water will moisten the lips of someone dying of thirst, but probably wouldn’t be enough to save the individual. A few dribbles of water certainly wouldn’t be sufficient to put out a house fire. What can a few dribbles of water do? Not much it seems (James Huebner). Yet King Louis IX of France once said: “The three handfuls of water with which I was once baptized are more precious to me than the crown of royalty which I now wear upon my head.” The 16th Century reformer, Martin Luther, explained how King Louis was right to feel this way. He wrote in the second part of his explanation of baptism: “Baptism works forgiveness of sin, delivers from death and the devil and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.” Yes, the few dribbles of water in baptism are special. Why? Because, explains the Apostle Peter in our text, baptism is a divine vow of allegiance.
Baptism is one of the most hotly contestanted teachings among Christians. There are those who say that baptism is nothing more than a ceremony in which we declare our allegiance to God. A vow of allegiance is made at one’s baptism, the one making the vow, however, first and formost is God. Our text will help us make sense of this. The Apostle Peter wrote: “In [the ark] only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” (1 Peter 3:20b-22).
The first thing we need to understand about baptism is that it is not play-acting. When political hopefuls in Japan campaign for office, they wear white gloves. They do this to show that their politics are pure and above reproach. Of course the wearing of white gloves doesn’t actually make these politicians pure or above reproach; it’s just a symbol, a picture these politicians want to project. Baptism is not like that. The application of water is not just a picture of what Jesus’ blood has done to cleanse our hearts from all sin. Something really happens when the water of baptism is applied, more than the removal of dirt or breakfast crumbs that might still cling to the one being baptized, says Peter. The waters of baptism literally save us just as the waters of the flood literally saved Noah and his family when it lifted the ark high above ground that was being ripped apart as the waters from the deep erupted from beneath the earth’s surface.
While the waters of the flood saved Noah from a world gone bad, from what exactly do the waters of baptism save us? Well, Peter says that baptism gives us the “pledge of a good conscience toward God” (1 Peter 3:21). In other words, baptism saves us from a guilty conscience. King David was glad to be rescued from a guilty conscience. For a year he failed to confess his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and for the murder of her husband, Uriah. Although he had kept quiet about these sins his conscience did not. David described the agony his guilty conscience caused like this: “3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer” (Psalm 32:3, 4).
Ever feel what David did? Think back to the first time you took something that wasn’t yours. Maybe it was a friend’s toy. Maybe it was a few coins from your mother’s purse. Did you have a hard time sleeping that night? Did you feel like eating breakfast the next morning? Probably not. Didn’t it seem as if an invisible weight hung from your heart?
How does one get rid of a guilty conscience? David tells us. “5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”— and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5). The only way to get rid of a guilty conscience is by confessing the sin and receiving forgiveness. Oh it’s true. Many have tried to bury their guilty conscience by denying that what they did was wrong, or saying that they had no choice in the matter. But that’s about as successful as hiding a corpse under the bed. The body might be out of sight but the odor of rotting flesh will continue to barrage your nostrils reminding you that something’s terribly wrong in your life.
What does this have to do with baptism? Baptism, says Peter, dissolves a guilty conscience. How can a few dribbles of water do this? It does this because in baptism God gives us the forgiveness of sins. Oh, we’re not earning forgiveness by being baptized. Jesus earned that forgiveness through his perfect life, his death on the cross, and his resurrection. Through baptism, however, we receive credit for Jesus’ work. That’s why Peter says that baptism saves us “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21b).
Perhaps we can think of it like this. What can you do with week-old cookies that aren’t soft and chewy anymore? You can put them in a tin with a piece of bread. The dry cookies will absorb the moisture from the bread and become soft and chewy again while the bread itself will become hard (Alan Stahlecker). Something like that happened to us with the water of baptism. We, who were hardened by sin – the sin of groaning when Mom and Dad said it was time to get ready for church; the sin of letting our mind wander during the Scripture readings; the sin of pride when we secretly hoped someone would learn about the big offering we’ve planned to give today. These sins have hardened and dried us out so that we’re no longer the delightful people God wants us to be. But in the waters of baptism we “absorbed” the righteousness that belongs to Jesus. He in turn became hard and was tossed aside by his heavenly Father at the cross for our sins.
Having been given credit for Jesus’ righteousness we are now more delightful to God then a tin full of chewy chocolate chip cookies. God actually calls us his children! In fact another good way to think of baptism is as an adoption. At the font God publicly made known his vow of allegiance to us – like parents going to court to sign the adoption papers so they can legally change the child’s last name and take her home with them.
What is God like as an adopting parent? Just look at the Parable of the Prodigal Son to find out. That was the parable in which Jesus described a father who gave his son a wonderful inheritance even though he knew his son was going to blow it. And even after his son had squandered the inheritance on sinful living, the father didn’t disown him. In fact he eagerly longed for and looked for his son’s return. And when his son did return, the father ran to meet him. He hugged his son and called for the servants to put fine clothes on him and to prepare a party to celebrate his return. Through baptism, we have been adopted into that family. We have a father who blesses us richly even though we don’t deserve it. And he continues to love us even when we stray from him. When we do return to him, he doesn’t make us grovel at his feet. He forgives us and richly blesses us.
Of course the Parable of the Prodigal Son could have ended differently. The prodigal son could have said to himself that his father would never take him back and so he could have stayed away. That wouldn’t have changed the fact that his father still loved him and considered him his son. So it is with us. The blessings of baptism remain ours forever because God made a vow of allegiance to us at the font and he never goes back on his promises. But should we continue to run away from God in impenitent living or unbelief, we will not enjoy the benefits of having been adopted into God’s family. We will instead suffer. Not just here but eternally and the fault would be our own.
That of course isn’t what God wants for us. That’s why he gave us baptism – a visible reminder of his love, like the engagement ring a guy gives the girl he has promised to marry. So when you are feeling unloved. When you are unsure of your status with God because of your sins, think of your baptism. Don’t think about how strong your faith is or what you’ve done for God lately. You won’t find any comfort there, just feelings of guilt for not having done enough. Baptism, on the other hand, frees us from a guilty conscience because it’s a vow of allegiance, God’s allegiance and promise of forgiveness. It’s no wonder that Martin Luther said that on Judgment Day he wanted to stand before God dressed in his baptismal gown.
What can a few dribbles of water do? If these dribbles of water are connected with God’s promise in baptism, they do a lot! They offer the forgiveness of sins. They save us from the devil. They give us eternal life. It’s no wonder the ancient church celebrated the sacrament by feeding milk and honey to the newly baptized. Why? Because through baptism the blessings of the heavenly Promised Land are now ours. You can bank on this because in baptism God himself made a vow of allegiance to you. Amen.
