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Sermon for Sunday, January 10, 2010

“Remembering Your Baptism”

Luke 3:15-17; 21-22

Baptismal services are important to the Christian church. Some of the most sacred moments of one’s spiritual journey come in the baptismal waters. They can absolutely be awesome moments. I remember some baptisms more than I do others.

I remember my own baptism at the Port Norfolk Baptist Church in Portsmouth, VA. I was a young teenager—13 years old. I had been nurtured and loved by family and the church. Two ladies who were our Training Union teachers on Sunday evening – Betty Burch and Louisa Dickerson (they seemed ancient to young boy) talked to me about making a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.  What they shared made sense because of what had already been taught and caught. I made that decision in a Sunday evening worship and on that night my father made his decision of faith. By the time a baptismal service was scheduled, my father, sister and I shared the waters together---and that is what really made it special. Those decisions made a difference in our family life. Baptism was an outward expression of an inward decision.

I remember my first baptism in a little church in North Carolina as a pastor. I was in college. The church was a Disciples of Christ church. The pulpit was located underneath the pulpit.  A young girl made a profession of faith as did an older lady...70 plus years. First time something like that had happened in that church in a long time….it must have been due to the grand leadership they had from a long haired college student!  That day we moved the pulpit and looked at the baptistery…it was filled with cobwebs and was a gray plaster color. “This is unacceptable,” the young pastor says and declares a need to paint the baptistery before we have a service.  So it is spoken and so it will be done.  Before I came back to that church (1st and 3rd Sundays of the month), I received a call from the painter. We’ve got a problem. What?  “I painted it and when we put water in it, the paint came up with the water….”  Was it the wrong paint; had it been thinned too much? We needed to repaint and thin no more and two weeks later these two folks were baptized in clean, clear water.

A third story comes from my days in FBC Annandale.  We had a special needs class as part of our ministry.  Patricia was in that class. She wanted to be baptized. Her knowledge was limited, but her heart was in the right place. To the best of her ability, she knew that God loved her and that Jesus died for her.  It was knowledge that in Paul’s language was in a mirror dimly, because she did not understand as much as most of us do, but it was a decision based on what she did know….”Jesus loves me this I know.”  And so we waded those waters and Patricia expressed her faith to the very best of her ability and faith.

And I remember the baptism of my children. They had been nurtured in the faith and were able to make their own decisions and so in the baptismal pool in our chapel, they were baptized. It was special to us and to them. It was one of those times that make you think you are doing something right in rearing your children.                     

And I do remember some of your baptisms, here and at the river. Your faith decision was so real that you could hardly wait to express that faith in the water and when you were baptized you almost popped out of the water and there were times when the fellowship applauded.

I want you to hear another baptism story…..Eleanor Smith (8:30am), Maxey Slater (11:00am).

Powerful times, memorable times, humorous times, holy times.

For some people, baptism is “joining the Jesus club.” Everyone knows what it means to join a club like Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Kiwanis, Ruritans, Masons, Lions Club, Woman’s Club and on and on. We all have joined clubs and every club has its rules and regulations.  Baptism for some is joining the “Jesus Club” and making some kind of commitment to follow the “Jesus rules.”

For others, baptism is like “fire insurance.” Baptism is a necessity for salvation. If you don’t go there in the water, you won’t go to be with God when you die. Some times children are almost pushed into decisions just for the insurance. Baptism is however, a matter of the heart, not to get your eternal bases covered. 

Today in the greater church calendar this is called “the baptism of our Lord” Sunday. The scripture is Luke’s account of the baptism of Jesus. Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. John didn’t feel worthy to baptize Jesus. He had an understanding of who Jesus was. Jesus insisted.  Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and as he came out of the water, a voice from heaven said, “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” (v. 22).

What can we pull from this passage?  Three points…all begin with the letter “S.”  Son, Spirit and Servant.

In his baptism Jesus was declared to be the Son of God, the only Son of God. “You are my Son, the beloved.” He is the only one of His kind. All other people are adopted children of God.

But in our baptism, you and I become the adopted sons and daughters of God. We too are declared to be children of God. Our relationship with God is transformed in baptism.  Through baptism there is a new relationship, closeness and intimacy with God.

Let me use an analogy.  Pretend that you are a military officer assigned to the White House. Don’t get hung up on who the president is. That is not the point. Every day the president walks into his office and you snap to attention, click your heels and salute him. He nods. Every day, in and out, same thing. The relationship is stiff, formal, eyes never connecting with the president.  But, in this story, one day, the president stops in front of you and says, “Follow me into my office.”  You do and the door closes. He tells you to be seated and then looks you in the eye and says, “I want you to become one of my children. I want you to become a part of our family. Come to the outings, picnics, birthday parties, Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations.”  What a moment. What a miracle. In that moment the relationship between the president and the military officer is transformed. No longer stiff, formal, distant, but now close and loving. That is what happens in baptism. Our relationship is transformed. We become His children.  We are closely connected to God, so close that we are called a child, a son, a daughter, in whom God delights. We are family with God.

“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  It happens when you and I are baptized. God looks down at you and me says, “I am well pleased.”

Luke also says that when Jesus was baptized, the Spirit came from heaven upon him. This Spirit was the presence of God. The same spirit that was there when God created the world….”hovering above the waters” Genesis says.  The same spirit that spoke through the prophets. The Spirit came upon Jesus at his baptism.  “The Holy Spirit descended upon him,” says Luke.

And that Spirit gave to Jesus the power to fight the evil and to face the challenges around him. In our baptism that same Spirit lives in our hearts and in the hearts of our community. That Spirit is what makes us different from every other organization that we may be members of. The same Spirit that filled Jesus is the same spirit that fills us as well.

It is this spirit that gives you and me power and gentleness to meet life, day by day. To face the challenges within our marriages, to face the challenges of your children who may be driving you crazy right now…to face the challenge with aging parents…to face the challenges of your aging and your eventual death. To face the challenges of evil that confront us every where we turn. To face the challenge of being a follower and not compromising ourselves like the world does so often. When the Spirit is inside of you and the people of God around you, there is power, spiritual power and a spiritual gentleness.

There is a third thing happening in the baptism of Jesus. The voice of God identified Jesus as being the Suffering Servant. It doesn’t say that in that passage, but if you check some of the little side notes and annotations it will reference you to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42 is about the Suffering Servant and Jesus is identified as being the Suffering Servant in Isaiah.

In Isaiah the Suffering Servant is the one who carries the sins of the world on his back. In the New Testament, the Suffering Servant carries the whole world of sin on the cross. When Jesus went to the cross, he carried the sins of the whole world with him. That is what it means that Jesus is the Suffering Servant from Isaiah 42 who carries the sins of the world.

Through our baptism we can talk about having our sins washed away…having a new start. I do not have to carry my past sins with me, my failures, my imperfections, or my guilt. Jesus is the one who carries the weight of my sin.  Through baptism I have an opportunity to begin again and know that through Jesus Christ I have a way to deal with the sins that I now commit.

I read a story of a pastor who was preaching at a downtown mission. In order for homeless people to stay at the mission, they had to endure a worship which included a sermon. The preacher for that night felt like he was a pretty good orator. As part of his sermon he quoted Kipling’s poem, “If.” He did it with great gusto.

“If you can keep your heads when all about you, are losing theirs and blaming it on you…if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, and makes allowances for their doubting too…if you men can wait and not be tired of waiting…or being lied about, not deal in lies…or being hated and not give way to hating. Yet don’t look too good nor talk too wise…if you men can dream and not make dreams your master…If you can think but not make thoughts your aim….yours is the earth and everything in it. And what is more, you will be a man, my son.”

As he quoted that poem, he became choked up with his own ability. Then there came a long pause and a voice piped up from the back,

“What if you can’t?”

What if you can’t? Can’t master your dreams? What if you lose your head when everybody else around you is keeping theirs? What if you can’t trust yourself? What if you can’t wait? What if you are tired of waiting? What if you are a lousy parent? What if you have failed…What then?

Then hear the words of hope that come from baptism…all your burdens, all your imperfections, all your disappointments, all your sins can be given to him who is the Suffering Servant. “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29)

Today you have heard stories of baptism. Today we have remembered through scripture the baptism of our Lord.  It may have triggered in you memories of your own baptism. I want to give you an opportunity to remember your baptism today in a very tangible, visible way. This is not a re-baptism…it is remembering, very possibly an event that you don’t remember so today you can renew your baptismal commitments.

There is nothing magical or even spiritual about this water. It is water and a reminder that waters cleanses, purifies, sustains. It is reminder of Jesus, the Living Water.

Contact Us

Address
First Baptist Church, Ashland
800 Thompson Street
Ashland, VA 23005

Phone
(804) 798-9014

Fax
(804) 798-9043

E-mail
fbcashland@verizon.net

Sunday Worship

  8:30 a.m. -  Worship Service
  9:45 a.m. -  Sunday School
11:00 a.m. -  Worship Service