Jesus came and
told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have
given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew
28:18-20 (NLT)
Baptism is a major focal
point of the initiation into God’s church.
For the next few days I’d like to camp there with some of the lessons a
preacher learns as he takes part in this sacrament.
Now, the first lesson is
that, if you use the word “sacrament” my brothers and sisters in some church
brands may stop listening there. In many
denominations baptism is an “ordinance” – that which Jesus commanded as a sign
that salvation had arrived for the individual believer. To others, my denomination included, it is that
initiation too, but it is also a “sacrament” – an act conveying grace.
For some of us (me included)
baptism is both; it is sacred conveyor of grace and it is a response of faith
and obedience. As with Luther – that is
where I stand, God help me, I cannot think otherwise.
One thing baptism should NOT
be is a distraction away from worship.
It has been that in church life throughout history, as people have argued
and scrapped over the meaning, substance and form it takes.
Now there’s an initiation into
church life, eh? I had such
a distraction early on.
My first experience in
baptizing was in Chalmette, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans. I was the brand new pastor…having started just
a few weeks prior. Brother John,
confined to a wheelchair, in his 90’s, responded to the invitation to accept
Christ. We baptized John the next week by
immersion (entire body under the water), after careful preparations to
accommodate his special needs. We should
have paid some attention to the needs of John’s baptizer. I was a rookie pastor; what did I know?
As the service began I
entered the baptismal pool. When I was
in for a few seconds I had an unusual sensation that started at my feet; it
seems the waders I had on were quite old, and there were cracks in both
legs. John may have been scheduled for
immersion, but the preacher’s pants underneath those waders were in for a
soaking!
And, why, oh why, did they
not tell us in seminary to wear short-sleeved shirts when you’re
going to baptize? When I put Brother
John under, my hands, arms, and the shirt sleeves went under too. As I pulled him back up, I had an awful sinking
feeling: this was going to change the
course of the rest of today’s worship service!
And it did.
As I conducted the rest of worship,
remembering Brother John’s baptism clouded out everything else. Every time I took a step there was a squish,
squish as waterlogged socks objected.
And when I preached, whenever I made a sweeping gesture with one of my soaked
sleeves, I baptized the first three rows of members by sprinkling!
The
Point
Baptism should be remembered
– and celebrated – and lived out.
Perhaps not by a soaked preacher’s sloshing – but in ways I learned from
Brother John.
For the life of me, after 33 years, I can’t
recall Brother John’s last name, but I remember the look on a 92
year-old man’s face when he came out of that water. It was the burden of decades of guilt
released by the cleansing flow. It was
the kind of genuine joy
everyone seeks, but can’t quite catch…until Jesus catches you.
We have an annual service of
remembering
our baptismal vows. During the
liturgy the minister says to those who come near the baptismal font, Remember
your baptism and be grateful!
It’s more than a warm fuzzy
feeling; it’s a challenge to live-up to those vows.
Good Lesson!
For You, Today…
How are you doing with those
vows? Today would be a good day to
remember YOUR baptism, be grateful and rejoice!
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