Trinity2003 “What it Means to be Baptized”
John 3:1-17 June 15, 2003
© 2003, Rev. Robert C. Baker, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Vero Beach, Florida
You know, there are probably a thousand opinions about what it means to be baptized. Some, like our Baptist brothers and sisters, view baptism simply as a church ordinance, surely commanded by Christ, but a command with no apparent spiritual benefit. In other words, Jesus said do it, but baptism doesn’t really do anything for you. Others see baptism in societal terms, a religious ceremony much like a wedding or a funeral, helping people through certain major events in their lives. Others, when they think of baptism, think of the extras: the pretty lace gown, the burning candle, the smiling parents and the gurgling, and sometimes screaming, baby. And there is nothing wrong with gowns and candles and smiles and even screaming babies. No, not at all.
But, what does it really mean to be baptized? To answer that question I’d like to share with you a few important points.
First, to be baptized means being an active member of a Christian community. Our secular culture hammers home every single day of our lives our “ radical individuality”. Our society is rife with folks all touting their “rights,” their “opinions,” their “desires”. And technology, which was put into place in order to give us more time to spend with each other, now further separates us. Each one of us, it seems, is an island, each one of us exists for ourselves. But to be baptized in the Triune Name means that we have been baptized into a community—a community of believers, a family. When the water is poured over the head of an infant—like Rebecca and Michael this morning—or an adult, and as our Triune God’s Name is invoked, at that very instant that girl or boy, that man or woman, ceases being separated from God, and ceases being separated from the rest of us who believe in Jesus Christ and are baptized, too. To the crowd in Jerusalem, Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, everyone one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. An you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39)(1).
The community created at the baptismal font exists as a family of brothers and sisters, just as a human family consists of father, mother, son and daughter. There must be love and respect in this community, just as there must be love and respect in the family. There must be contact. There must be sharing. There must be cooperation. There must be communication. There must be sitting down at the table together and eating together. We don’t exist as Christians independent of other Christians, nor can we exist as Christians for a long time independent of the Christian congregation. Do you know what characterized the early Church? Their coming together to learn, to celebrate Holy Communion, and to mutually support each other. That’s why Luke tells us in Acts chapter two: “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…They broke bread together in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42, 46-47). Baptism means being an active member of a Christian community.
Second, to be baptized means living a Christian lifestyle. Every Tuesday morning I receive an email from the Gallup Organization. You may remember that they’re the folks who poll the nation, getting a finger on the pulse of our opinions. As part of my “Tuesday Morning Briefing” as it’s called, I was emailed the recent results of a poll conducted concerning the topic of morality in America. Interestingly, 67% of Americans think that “the state of moral values in the country as a whole” (2)is getting worse. Would you agree? Do you think morality is suffering in the US? The poll also showed that 45% of those surveyed believe that doctor-assisted suicide is morally o.k., 44% said that homosexual behavior was morally acceptable. 66% thought that there was nothing wrong with divorce, and 57%, a clear majority, thought that it was morally acceptable to have a baby out of wedlock. No wonder those polled think that morality in America is getting worse. All they have to do is look at their own answers.
I am afraid that if American churchgoers were polled, they’d probably give the same answers, and while deploring the general decline of morality in America would seek to find justification for their own immoral thoughts, words and deeds.
Interestingly enough, Paul talks about immorality, Christians and baptism in his letter to the Colossians. From chapter two: “In [Christ] you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature….having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:11-14).
Do you see what baptism does, according to St. Paul? What Christ accomplished for us by dying on the cross for our sins, and through the power of His resurrection from the dead, God gives us in, with and under the water of baptism. The nature we were conceived and born with (Ps. 51:5), our sinful nature that deserves to spend an eternity in hell, drowns in baptismal water and what emerges from the font is a newborn child of God. Perfect. Righteous. Holy. Beloved. Filled with the Holy Spirit, gifted with faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, and empowered to do good works by serving others. That’s why it cannot be that we, after baptism, go back to the way of sin, the way of death, the way of the world, the way that ultimately leads, as Scripture says…to hell. Jesus said in Matthew, chapter 7: “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt. 7:13-14).
But you might say to me “Well, Pastor, I have sinned. Is there any hope for me? I’ve done some pretty bad things since I was baptized. I can’t tell you the times I’ve really messed up…messed up my life, messed up my family’s life, my kids’ lives too. I’ve missed church, I’ve gotten drunk, I’ve used illegal drugs, I don’t read my Bible like I should, I haven’t worked as hard as I could on the job, I’ve had sex with someone who’s not my legal spouse, I’ve lied to my employer, I’ve stolen from my classmates or neighbor, I’ve coveted someone else’s spouse or their goods. My gods have become recreation and pleasure and serving myself. I know these things are wrong. What shall I do?
The answer, dear friend is this: Repent of your sins, resolve to change with the help of the Lord, and rejoice once again your baptism. Just because you have broken your promise to God made at your confirmation, doesn’t mean that He has broken His promise to you at your baptism. Listen to what Paul says to the church in Corinth, after speaking quite bluntly about the congregation’s former life of idolatry, sexual immorality, drunkenness, etc.: “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11). That promise of new life, forgiveness, the Spirit’s presence, and God’s love is something we can return to again and again and again. He is with us, He is for us, He forgives us through Jesus Christ. Baptism means being grateful for all those things and, with God’s help, living a Christian lifestyle.
Finally, baptism means a Christian outlook. I’ve mentioned to you before that I believe we’ve got the best news in the world: that Christ, true God and true Man, lived perfectly for us and satisfied God’s demands for perfection, and that He, on the cross, took our place and absorbed God’s righteous punishment for our sins. And we get off Scott free! And, instead of living our lives in depression or anger, repression or guilt, we can enjoy our lives in the freedom Christ has given us through His cross and empty tomb. Being baptized also means having a different attitude, and Christian attitude, and that attitude, that outlook, permeates every part of who we are and every aspect of our lives in a positive way. Listen to this glorious baptismal statement made by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection….Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him….In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:4-5, 8, 11).
What a wonderful promise! Resurrected bodies freed from pain, freed from sin, freed from death! And that promise is already yours through your baptism into Christ. By this Sacrament you are part of this Christian community. He gives you His Spirit and His power to live a Christian lifestyle. And He gives you not a gloomy, but a glorious Christian outlook. Forgiven, fresh, new, like a little baby. But, this time, God’s little baby, God’s special child, a child of the heavenly Father washed clean in His sacred font. That’s what it means to be baptized. Not only for Rebecca and Michael, but also for you.
(1) All Scripture references NIV.
(2) From "Poll Topics and Trends: Moral Issues," June 10, 2003. Source: http://www.gallup.com.
