Broadway Christian Church ·Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship ·March 6, 2005

The Fourth Sunday of Lent

Prayer of the Day

Eternal God, the life to which you call us is a life in Christ.  Let us hear again his invitation: “Come all you who thirst.  Come to the source of Living Water.  Come rest beside the still waters.  Come taste the eternal springs.  Come be plunged deep into the fresh and healing rivers of God’s love.”  We come today, O Lord, to remember our baptism and to baptize in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Scripture
Mark 1:9-11

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Message
 A Meditation on Baptism
Rick Frost

The baptism of Jesus.  Would you just try to imagine that with me for just a few moments?  Can you see this 33-year-old man walking into the River Jordan, not much wider, really, than this church and in most places much smaller?  Can you look into the face of Jesus as his cousin John baptizes him?  Can you feel something of the happiness of God in heaven as the Spirit descends and anoints Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Holy One of God, the one who the voice said is the beloved Son sent to this world to be Lord and Savior of all?  Do you understand he was sent to the world that God, who is the Creator, Sustainer, Judge, and Redeemer loves so much?  Can you hear that voice, a voice that you remember on a variety of occasions in this church, “You are my beloved.  You are mine.  You are the one with whom I am so well pleased.”

Now, as we did earlier today, and as we are going to do all morning long, I want you to think back with me for just a moment.  I want to ask you to revisit and remember your own baptism.  Can you remember where you were?  Do you remember where it was?  Maybe if you were baptized as an infant, perhaps you can remember your confirmation.  If you were baptized, do you remember if it was in a church?  Was it in a hole in the floor up here?  Was it in a river somewhere?  Maybe in a farm tank? 

I can’t personally remember my baptism, because, as many of you know, I was just six weeks of age when my parents decided it was time for me to be baptized.  They didn’t want anything to happen, you know.  I do remember being confirmed later, and I do remember a variety of occasions where I have had the privilege of being part of people’s baptisms:  A woman in a mountain stream years ago.  A friend out in the surf.  A teenager in a swimming pool.  A patient in a hospital room.  The baptism of our own children.  And the baptism of some of you.

I was looking at the insert in this morning’s order of worship.  If you haven’t looked at it yet, let me encourage you to do so.  It’s amazing.  These are the names of the persons who have been baptized in this church since we began in 1958.  My guess is that there are some names that are familiar to you there.

All Christians, in every time, in every culture, in every place, baptize.  They may do it a little differently in some places, but all Christians baptize.

Let me give you an illustration.  It’s a sunrise day on the beach near Durban, Africa.  A small group of people has gathered around the campfire, and they are praying together.  No one seems to be in any kind of hurry. 

About an hour after they’ve just enjoyed being with each other, the person who is the leader – the obvious leader of the group – clothed in ceremonial robes sort of wades out into the water and into the surf.  He then is followed by a little band of others who also have these robes on.  The leader stands waist-deep in water, and waves are splashing against him.  His hands are raised in the air, and there is a chanting and praying going on.  This goes on for a while.  Then all of a sudden he just dives into the water three times.  He comes up right where the others are standing. 

Then one by one, starting with the youngest, he baptizes them by dunking them under the water – under the waves.  The younger they are, the gentler he is with them, but by the time he reaches those grownups, the baptizing gets a little more intense.  The older they are, the more he immerses them.  It’s sort of like they have some spots on them that just won’t come clean.  They just have to work on that a little bit.

Several of the folks literally become so enthralled that they go limp.  They begin to swoon.  They raise their hands to heaven.  When the leader is satisfied that all have been properly baptized, they all come back on to the shore. 

They gather around a campfire there on the beach, and they share a feast of bread and wine.  They sing songs together.  They have a good time.  The children play in the sand and in the surf.  Everybody is smiling.  Everybody is happy.  Everybody is hugging one another.

Finally they form a circle.  They share some prayers.  They pick up their belongings, and they head back home.  The whole service that day is focused on baptism.  It lasts for two or maybe three hours.  It’s not going to happen that way here.  I just want you to know that.

But baptism is going to take place regardless.  Baptism, folks, happens all over the world, in different forms and different fashions, but the results – this is what I want you to hear – the results of what takes place is always, always the same.  The newly baptized folks don’t know it yet, but they are transformed.  They are changed persons.  They will never ever be the same again.

Baptism is the beginning of the Christian spirituality that we know.  It’s the starting point of the Christian way of life.  It marks a huge transition – a critical shift from those who have been attending church for a while to those who are going to be the church.  You see, there’s a big difference.

The doors are open here.  We have a lot of people who attend church, and that’s fine.  You’re always welcomed, but there comes a point when a person decides inside they want to be the church.  There is a huge, huge difference.  That’s the kind of beginning we are talking about today.

Just think of some of life’s beginnings.  At the moment of our birth and the cutting of our umbilical cord, we start to breath.  At the taste of our mother’s milk, we begin to eat.  In just a matter of months, we start to walk and to talk.  On our parent’s lap, or possibly at our church or Sunday School, we begin to hear about God and about Jesus from the Bible.  Somewhere along the line, we leave our house, and we start school, and we are open to a world of understanding and knowledge.  At 16, many of us start driving an automobile, and it opens up a whole new world to us.  At 18, we begin to vote, and we enter into what it means to be a citizen of a country.  All these new beginnings.  All these new ways of starting.

What I want you to hear today is baptism is the beginning of true spirituality.  It’s that starting point of the Christian way of life, that point in which everyone of these individuals are here, not because somebody is requiring them to be here, but because they want to be here.  Something inside wants them to be here.  They begin to see, and to hear, and to know, and to be transformed by the mysteries of God.  It’s that point in which these persons, regardless of age, have freely chosen to stand up before God, before you, before anyone, and to accept God’s invitation to be in a covenant, a relationship, with no one else, with nothing less, with nothing more than God.  It is a relationship with God’s self, who offers baptism to each and every person and a promise that says, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.  You are mine, and I am yours, and I will never ever let you go.”  That is baptism for us, folks. 

It is also the point at which the baptized make a life-long commitment, an eternal commitment, to be a follower of Christ, to be a full, active part of his body called the Church, to work for and support the purposes of God, not only here but throughout creation, to come to worship, and to love, and to grow in their personal relationship with God.  It’s a choice.  It’s a choice they make to enter into that kind of covenant.  It’s like what happens when two people get married.  It’s a choice they make.  They want to be in a relationship together, and without it, they can’t proceed.  They can’t go any deeper without doing that.

So, we’re here to baptize.  We’re going to use water, but as you know, God’s Spirit is here to baptize with the Holy Spirit.  We’re here for just that purpose.  It’s absolutely huge. 

What I want you to remember is when we enter this water, one of the things that happens is cleansing.  I don’t know about you, but I can go maybe two days without a shower.  I prefer every day to have a shower.  Three days out camping, and I’m crazy.  It’s just awful.  You know… we’ve had years, some of us, to build up those points that need to be cleansed from us, and so we intentionally use water for that kind of cleansing.

Also, you have to remember that water is very dangerous.  It’s fun.  It’s healthy.  It has some good qualities, but it’s also very dangerous.  “Do you know,” says St. Paul, “that all who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death?  Therefore, we have been buried with him in the baptism of his death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, so we might, too, walk someday in newness of life.  For we believe that if we have died with Christ, we will also be reunited with him in the resurrection just like his” (Romans 6).

Folks, what we’re going to enact here in just a few moments is a burial.  We’re going to experience and symbolically act out a dying.  That is why we’re not just going to sprinkle a little water on top of their heads.  That’s why we’re not just going to ask them to bend their knees and go under the water or dunk their face down in the water.  We’re going to intentionally lay them on their backs.  They’re going to be completely under water, and they will not be able to get up because they are that vulnerable, but there will be a hand – symbolic of God’s hand, that will be underneath them through the whole thing.  That hand, that strength, will raise them up.  We’re going to act out that symbol today, so precious and powerful to all of us.  Baptism is those things and nothing less. 

One last thing.  Baptism is a sign of our beginning to hear the voice from heaven, just like Jesus heard a voice from heaven.  We begin to hear the One who calls us by name.  “I have known you,” says that voice, “since the very beginning.  You are mine, and I am yours.  You are my beloved, and my favor rests on you.  I molded you in the depths of the earth.  I knit you together in your mother’s womb.  I carved you in the palms of my hand.  I’ve hidden you in the shadow of my embrace.  I look at each and every one of you with infinite tenderness.  I care for you more than a mother or father for a child.  I’ve counted every hair upon your heads, and I guide your every step.  Wherever you go, never forget I go with you.  I am your mother, your father.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, will ever be able to separate us.  You and I are one because you are my beloved.”

That is baptism, folks.  It is the Christian life in miniature, and it happens right here in this experience.  So, no matter who enacts this ritual that you’re about to see, what I want you to be sure to remember is that the Spirit of the Living Christ is the one who does the baptizing.  This is the water that’s been provided, but His Spirit is here to baptize.  For we know that it’s only His power that has the power to give life, and new life, and abundant life, and even eternal life.  So knowing this, are you ready now to do baptism?  For those who are going to be baptized, let us continue.

Benediction

Living Water, you quench our thirsting souls with the outpouring of your Spirit.  You drench us in the waves of forgiveness.  Revived and purified, let us drink in and pour out your love.  Amen.