Acts – Getting the whole picture: Baptism
There was a radio show that I still remember today, which for those of you under 20, is like a pod cast before there were pod casts. The radio announcer would walk through an interesting story of someone, which would be fine, but right near the end he would do the reveal, that this person who was the center of the story, ended up being someone famous, or part of a famous event. And it would always end with the phrase, “And now you know...the rest of the story”
Paul Harvey – The rest of the story.
It is a pretty common plot device in movies, the main character sees something, and from what they see they think they know what is going on. Maybe it`s that the person they love seems to be in love with someone else when really they are getting them a gift, or maybe it is thinking that they are going to be fired when they are about to get a raise (or the reverse), or even thinking that someone is a good guy working with them when they end up being the bad guy who was behind the whole thing all the time.
The reason it is so common is because it works so well, it changes everything when they get the whole story, the whole plot takes a turn. And the same is true about life, working on a part of the whole story can be pretty misleading when you are missing something important, and the passage we are looking at today shows that a few different ways.
It shows that not getting the whole picture – can be a pretty big deal.
19 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized into 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. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
This is at the beginning of the third of Paul`s missionary journeys, and it truly is a strange tale. We here the first part, about Paul meeting a group of Disciples, without any other information, and we assume that they are disciples of Jesus, a part of the early church. And it seems that this is what Paul thought too at first, but as he talks to them, it begins to be clear that they are not living the same life with God as Paul has experienced, that changed his life in such a profound way. So he asks them, do they have the Holy spirit...and they respond that they have not even heard that there is a Holy spirit, and Paul backs up the train a bit and asks an even more foundational question, what Baptism did you receive...to which they answer John`s.
This brings things into focus, and is the first of three pictures that become clear for us today...it is a realization that they haven`t heard the full story of Christ, they are still in the earlier story, the story of John the Baptist, coming to prepare the way for Jesus. If we read the Gospels, we hear of John as one who called the people to repentance, and he preached that one would come that would be greater, that would fill in the blanks of the picture he was speaking about, who would be not just baptizing with water but with the Holy spirit. So I think that what the disciples are meaning when they say they did not know about the Holy Spirit was not that they had never heard about it, but that they did not know it was here, they did not know about this story that we have been going through in Acts, of a Jesus after the resurrection, starting a whole new creation, and creating a new temple in us, having us living with the power and the presence of God in the Holy Spirit living within us.
So when Paul here`s they have not gotten there, but that they have been primed, and they are ready, he focuses in on Baptism. And this morning, we are going to be doing the same thing. But there is certainly something here for everyone, both those who have been through baptism and those who have not.
So what is this whole Baptism thing?
I remember back in Bible College, we were talking about baptism in a theology class, and the professor was being very challenging in looking to passages about Baptism, and the question was asked “Professor, are you saying that if you are not baptized, you are not saved? The Professor looks calmly at the class, and says “yes, that is what I am saying; now let’s take a 5 minute break...”
Well, pandemonium broke out, but after the break was over and the outrage and tears were past, he reassured people that he was not speaking in terms of eternal security, but actually the very thing we are looking at hear, it is missing out on the whole picture of what it means to be saved, the whole understanding of following the call of Christ. And I think he is right.
To get it, we are going to have to look into the passage a bit closer, starting with the word baptism itself:
Baptism is not like many of the other words we find in scripture, where you read the English word and it has been translated from the word that means something close to that from the original Greek or Hebrew. So the word for bread in Greek is translated to bread...that sort of thing. With Baptism, instead of translated it was transliterated...which means instead of telling you what the word means; you get what the word sounds like.
The reason for that is a bit complicated, but I think it will help us understand a bit more about the meaning and reason for Baptism and even why Paul specifically focused on that when speaking to these disciples.
With the word Baptism, it means to be immersed, drenched, even drowned, and there is this idea of being consumed or enveloped. It is describing a water grave. But by the time that they were doing translation work of the bible, they were no longer doing immersion, they were no longer teaching that it was a water grave to a rebirth, they were sprinkling and it took on other meanings, and so instead of translating it, they transliterated...
But the heart of what is going on here, is that it is an envelopment into the death and rebirth of Christ...that is what Baptism is about.
A physical way to say, yes God, have all of me, all my life, I want to follow you, and be a part of your people. The reason why it is a water grave is this: because the only way to life is through death, not ours, but his.
Baptism is a symbol of what happens as a marker between death and life in Christ, the spirit living in us and recreating us.
So, if it a symbol, if there is nothing magical, Why is it important to be baptized?
I think there are a few huge reasons why the very act of Baptism is important:
The first is this: it is Identification with Jesus, you see, it is less about who we are... than who Jesus is, and how we are being defined by that more than by anything else.
Second, It is an experience of Acceptance, you are forced to understand that you are about to receive something that you do not deserve. Baptism is not something you earn, it is something you receive because you can`t earn it. Saying that you do not deserve this, but I am receiving it because that is what grace is all about, that is what love is about.
Nothing inside baptism will change you...because it isn`t magic. But the decision to get baptised, to take that step in moving in the full story of following Christ`s call, does change us. There is an element of our faith, salvation experience that is brought out through that act. The grace of God can reach around that, but it is missing out on a part of the story, a part of the life God has for us, because it is about obedience.
Baptism is a conscious choice of the will; I am living my life trusting God for who he is and obeying his voice for wherever he calls me.
Baptism is one of the only places that we all meet together, entering together into new life through that water grave, that declaration that we die to the life that is ours to control, and we
This is the thing that this group were missing, a chance to step into the full story, of a God who is more than one who is demanding repentance, but instead through grace allows us to identify with him in his grace, and in his death, so that we might have new life, resurrection life.
For those here who have not experienced believers baptism, there seems to be two issues that seem to stop people.
The first is the self worth issue, the thought that we are not ready for baptism because we don’t have all the answers, our life isn’t together yet, we are not living up to the call of Christ. But when we understand that Baptism is not Jesus being identified with us, but us being identified with Jesus, and how we are accepting the grace that we do not deserve, we can’t start thinking that it is about us getting it right first, but the exact opposite. And that is why, in acts 2 when those that heard believed, they were baptized immediately, that is why the Egyptian in acts 8 heard, believed, saw some water and said, there is no reason we shouldn’t do this now, and it is why after hearing this news of Christ, that the disciples of John in this passage immediately got baptized...there was no reason to wait when you could have the whole thing.
The Second, and less admitted issue is the attitude that it is unnecessary, the understanding that if you died, you would still go to heaven without it. This is often referred to as saving faith, and it can get into some weird places that are quite far away from what God has in mind for those that are to be his disciples.
This is the realm of the part-way Christian, this is the same realm of questions as “can I commit suicide and still go to heaven, How far can I go sexually before I am married, can I be a Christian but never go to church...” the questions denote a bigger underlying question, how much do I have to commit to Christ...how much of my life can I call my own, how much am I allowed to hold back and still avoid hell. This is where we can go back to the understanding of the word Baptism, immersed, consumed, buried into baptism, because it is only through death to all that was, the rejection of our own autonomy and control, that we get this rebirth, resurrection life.
The crazy thing is that even for those of us who have been baptized, we often can miss the whole point too. There are thousands of people living their lives in church in the same mentality and reality as these disciples. Living a Christian life that only goes so far as repentance. Where church is a place where they come to feel guilty, and realize how they are missing the mark, and say sorry to God, and then go home.
This is at the end of the day, the central concern of this passage:
That of not moving into a full life in Christ (staying in the repentance, and never moving into the fullness of the Holy Spirit). This is staying on the wrong side of the cross of Christ, all about the condemnation, the guilt and the sorrow, and never getting to the new creation that God is calling us to be.
Baptism is a birthday party, a celebration of new life. Of being able to live a life empowered by the resurrected Christ into a world that is dead
If we want to live in the action of God, and not just in activity of condemnation and guilt, then we have to get this...if we are not moving into the far side of the cross, the three day after story, then we are not living in the power of God’s spirit in us. And this whole book, Acts. And the bigger book, the bible, is beyond our reach. And we can never be the kind of Church that experiences the Action of God, because it is not about the abilities of the people of the acts church that brought any of this about, but rather the power of God working through them. So let us move beyond repentance, to a life of grace and power in the Holy Spirit.
