Sermon 1-20-08

Old Testament – Isaiah 43:1-5 But now, this is what the LORD says-he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you’ I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.”

Epistle – Acts 2:36-39 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And 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.”

Gospel – (One may wonder why in the world Jesus was baptized. He was God, why did He need baptism? Remember that when Jesus came into this world He emptied Himself of His God qualities and faced life in this world as a human being just as you and I do [Philippians 2]. He had to, because some human being needed to obey God’s Law perfectly in our place and be our substitute. He faced human life just as you and I do. Consequently He needed the power of the Holy Spirit, the power comes at baptism. Right after His baptism, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where He was tempted [Matthew 4 and Luke 4]. Just as you and I need to be led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus also needed to be led by the Holy Spirit.) Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Sermon –

In social situations we’re taught that there are two things we don’t talk about – religion and politics. If you talk about those topics, you’re going to get into trouble. But this morning we’re going to live dangerously; we’re going to talk religion and we’re going to talk about something that really causes division and fights in the Christian Church – baptism. If you want to cause division and fights among Christians, talk about baptism. So, throwing caution to the wind, this morning we are going to talk about baptism. There are lots of preconceived notions about baptism. Let’s get rid of all of them. So close your eyes and take a deep breath and let all those preconceived notions you have about baptism go flying out the window so we can have an empty mind in regard to baptism. Let’s go to the Bible and see what it says about baptism.

In Matthew 28:19, a great passage on baptism. Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very the end of the age.” Now, let’s narrow it down a bit and get some more information on baptism. We always follow the SIS principle here; “Scripture Interprets Scripture” So let’s look at Acts 2:38, the Epistle lesson from today. The context is the Day of Pentecost, there were big crowd of people; maybe equate this to the crowds at the Pumpkin Festival. The people are hearing about Jesus and asked what they must do. Peter replies, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children”

Let’s take this passage apart and look at it word by word. The first thing we are told to do is repent. What does repentance mean? Literally from the Greek it means to change your mind; going in one direction, changing your mind and turning in the other direction. We are by nature opposed to God; that’s why, in a social setting, when the topics of God and religion are brought up, people will argue and leave the room. Things have become confusing because in many respects the Christian Church has added more to the word “repent” than is actually there. Repentance means “turn around”, but the broader definition we’ve put upon it is “a change in behavior”. As we discussed in Bible Class, a change in behavior is called Sanctification. In Matthew 3:8 people were going out to be baptized by John, and John assumed repentance, that people had already turned toward God. John said to the people, “You have repented, now produce fruits in keeping with repentance”; he tells them to shape up. There is a difference between repentance and shaping up your life.

The same idea is in Revelation 2:5; the church in Ephesus had fallen away from God and we read “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent (change your mind) and do the things you did at first (shape up)”. First you repent and then you shape up (Sanctification). But a lot of times people lump these two words together and talk about repentance only in terms of shaping up If you lump them together essentially the Bible becomes redundant and Matthew 3:8 would be saying “OK, you’ve shaped up your life, now shape up your life” and Revelation 2:5 would be saying to the church at Ephesus, “Shape up your life and shape up your life.” Repentance is turning and shaping up your life is Sanctification. This thought becomes very important as we look at repentance.

The next thing we are told to do in Acts 2:38 is “Be baptized.” Baptized simply is to apply water in a ceremonial sense; and the ceremonial sense God intends is applying water in the Name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Baptism can mean dunking, immersion, sprinkling, or pouring. When the Bible talks about being “baptized by the Holy Spirit”, the literal translation from the Greek is “pour on, pour over you the Holy Spirit”. So Acts 2:38 is saying, “Turn and apply water in a ceremonial sense, every one of you.” Every one of you - no exceptions! And apply water in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Remember this key point-baptism is never apart from the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. If you are talking about baptism and not using the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, the baptism is a bunch of baloney. Baptism is always “in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Gifts are unearned. If you have to earn something, it’s a wage. The Bible doesn’t say you will receive your wages, the Bible says you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit coming in baptism. And it says the promise is for you and your children.

Then why can’t you bring this subject up in a group of Christians without getting into a fight? I’ll tell you what some of the arguments are against this. Twenty years ago when I was in vicarage in Minnesota someone said to me, “Well, Vicar Berry, you’re saying there are two ways to be saved; baptism for the forgiveness of sins and faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. But there are not two ways to be saved. You are only saved by faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. So answer that one.” It took me twenty years, but I now have an answer for that one. Again, baptism is never apart from Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin. Let me give you some examples. Ephesians 2:8 says, “You are saved by faith”. Well, what do I have faith in? I have faith that the sun is going to come up tomorrow. Does that save me? You say, “Pastor, don’t be ridiculous! When you’re talking faith you’re talking about Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. That’s what it means to be saved by faith.” Let’s take another example. Matthew 24:13 says “He who stands firm to the end will be saved.” OK, let’s stand firm till the end - feet wide apart, knees bent – I’m standing firm. Is this saving me? You say “Pastor, don’t be ridiculous! Standing firm till the end means faith in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” And another example; Acts 2:21 says “All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” When I was fifteen years old and working at Condura Construction Company in Wisconsin there were about 70 other guys I worked with who regularly called upon the name of the Lord during the course of the day, but it usually happened when they hit their thumb with a hammer. Is that going to save them? You say, “Pastor, don’t be ridiculous! Calling upon the Name of the Lord means to call upon the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. That’s just a compact way of saying it.” And 1 Peter 3:21 says “Baptism now saves you.” Oh-Oh!!! Time Out!!! False Doctrine!!! You can’t say that!!! But???... God says it! And God says it because baptism is never apart from the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. You can’t separate them .

One of our favorite writers, Max Lucado, hasn’t grasped this concept yet. The Wings Group is going through his book, “In the Grip of Grace” on Tuesday nights. There is also a copy in our library and I put some notes in the book so if you borrow it, you will know what’s going on. Max is a great writer and there is some good stuff in his book, but on page 49 Max strips baptism of its power; he calls what God has instituted a meaningless symbol. The book reads “Take this as an example: “God I know I never think about you. I know I hate people and cheat my friends; I abuse my body and lie to my spouse. But you don’t mind, do you? After all, I was baptized at a Christian Camp when I was ten years old.’” Max continues, “Do you think God would say, “You’re right, you don’t think of me and you do all these bad things but since you were baptized I will overlook your rebellion and evil ways”? Let’s reword this sentence to say, “God I know I don’t think about you as I should….BUT I was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins at a Christian Camp when I was ten years old.” God will not overlook evil just because we have been baptized. But if we are confessing our baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, then our sins are forgiven, God overlooks them and declares us not guilty and that’s called grace! The book is titled “In the Grip of Grace”, but Max unfortunately misses the grace in baptism. Baptism is never apart from Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism is very similar to the Bible. The Bible is the power of the Holy Spirit to point you towards Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism gives us the power of the Holy Spirit and points us to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Don’t rob baptism of its power.

The next argument is against the effectiveness of baptism. For the past twenty years I’ve heard people say again and again, “Well, Pastor, not everyone who is baptized is saved. Not everyone who is baptized knows Jesus Christ as Savior.” That’s a good argument and it’s absolutely true; not everyone who is baptized is saved. Then let’s stop the abuse of baptism. Let’s make sure that if we’re going to baptize someone they have confessed their sins, they have made a testimony of Jesus Christ as Savior and they know they are saved by faith in Christ. These people can be baptized and there’s nothing wrong with it. In fact, Lenny was saying at the Wings Group the other night that he came to faith through the Bible and then wanted to be baptized. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if we’re going to make people confess their sins and make a statement of faith in Jesus Christ to stop the abuse of baptism, then we should be consistent and do the same with the Bible, stop the abuse of the Bible, because not everyone who has a Bible is saved.

When we did the gift wrapping at the Colony Mill we gave out many Bibles but not everyone that got a Bible was saved. So maybe we should not give out Bibles anymore because sometimes people think they’re saved just because they’ve got a Bible sitting on the coffee table at home. Does that mean we should stop handing out Bibles? Of course not, but that’s what people think about baptism. Rephrasing Max Lucado’s example, you could say, “Alright God, I do all these bad things but when I was ten years old at a Christian Camp I received a Bible so I’m saved.” You are not necessarily saved just because you received a Bible. But if you say, “You know, God, I do all these bad things but when I was ten years old at a Christian Camp I got a Bible, and know that Jesus Christ paid for my sins.”, you are saved. Just because people misuse it, abuse it, and just because not everyone is saved, doesn’t means you shouldn’t give out Bibles or baptized people when God tells you to do it. The purpose of the Bible and the purpose of baptism is to point people to Jesus Christ as Savior.

The next argument against baptism I first heard from my cousin in the summer of 1988 in the middle of my parents’ driveway. I still remember it. He said, “Look, infants shouldn’t be baptized because infants can’t repent.” If you define repentance in the broad sense where it means the confession of sin, trusting in Jesus as Savior and shaping up your life (Sanctification) then we should not be baptizing infants. But if repentance is the act of turning toward Jesus Christ as Savior through a means that God tells us to do, then we should baptize infants. We are not in favor of parents saying to their kids, “Well I’m not going to give my kids any religious instruction, let them grow up, let them make their own decisions about God. I don’t want to do anything to influence them.” That is not what the Bible tells us to do. Proverbs 22:6 says,” Train up a child in the way he should go.” The parents’ responsibility is to turn their kids to God. And remember, turning toward God is repentance. Turn your kids toward God, baptize them in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and give them Holy Spirit.

But as you know, I‘m much smarter than God and I have a better way. We know that God is Spirit and we can’t see Him and that He attaches Himself to earthly things to become real to us. In Old Testament times God’s presence was shown as He attached Himself to the burning bush, to the pillar of fire and the cloud that led the Israelites through the desert, and the cloud in the temple over the Ark of the Covenant. Nothing much has changed because today God attaches Himself to the bread and wine in Holy Communion, and to water in baptism by the power of God’s word. Well, I have a better idea; I think God should attach Himself to post-it notes. Wouldn’t it be great if you could attach God the Holy Spirit to people with a post-it note? Here’s a baby, sound asleep. This is interesting. The baby’s name is Aubry. What if I could say, “OK, the Holy Spirit has attached Himself to my post-it note and I’m going to stick it on Aubry.” Wouldn’t that be great? The gift of the Holy Spirit given. So I said to God, “God, why didn’t you come up with this great idea?” He said, “Because two thousand years ago post it notes weren’t invented and not everyone has post-it notes. I have a better idea; I’m way ahead of you. One thing that’s always around is water so I’m going to attach myself to water. When you pour water on someone, dunk, immerse, sprinkle or whatever in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, I will give that person the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Baptism is sticking the Holy Spirit on someone; it’s the means by which the Holy Spirit comes into their life. And the Holy Spirit is there to point towards Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sin. Isn’t that great? What a deal! How many of you have kids who don’t live with you, who are halfway around the world? Wouldn’t it be great to know that you’ve stuck the Holy Spirit on your child? Or when you send your kids off to school in the morning, isn’t it great to know that you’ve stuck the Holy Spirit on them? You know what’s going to happen with my post-it notes, they’re going to get old and fall off but he Holy Spirit will never get old and fall off, that’s God’s pledge to you.

Thinking about the abortion controversy, we know that children are living, breathing, thinking human beings and we are against abortion. But when it comes to baptism, we say children are not living, breathing, thinking human beings and therefore can’t receive. A child can receive; Aubry is receiving the love of her parents. If a child can receive a parents’ love and a post-it note from me, they can certainly receive the Holy Spirit from God. I gave Aubry a post-it note; it’s sitting right there on top of her head. It’s attached to her. She’s sound asleep and she received my post-it note. If she can receive a post-it note from me, she can certainly receive the Holy Spirit from God through some means like water. Simple. And great. And wonderful. Because a child can receive. What a great God we have.

I thank God for giving me the opportunity and I urge everyone who is able to go to Israel. Go to where Jesus, Peter, James, and John did their ministries. Go to the churches where the apostles taught; they’re still there. You can go to church in Capernaum and all around the Sea of Galilee. When you walk up to those churches, before you enter, there is a baptismal area and a baptismal font about the size of a soup bowl for babies. Infants were baptized there before they entered the church. Isn’t that interesting? The historic Christian church at the time of the apostles and the people who had actual contact with Jesus, baptized infants because they knew it was sticking the Holy Spirit on their kids. They understood how important it was.

Rejoice that you have the Holy Spirit stuck on you and don’t let Max Lucado’s doubts and fears suck baptismal joy out of you. Rejoice in baptism. God, the Holy Spirit, has come into your life and what could be better than that?….Not much!

Heavenly Father, thank you for what you have done for us in baptism. We know, like the Bible, baptism is misused, it’s abused, it’s talked down, it’s shredded apart and is forgotten about. But that doesn’t change what You say about baptism. Help us to rejoice and remind our kids that in baptism you stuck the Holy Spirit on us pointing us to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin and that we belong to you. Thank you Lord. And we pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen

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