Preached · May 21, 2017
Opening and announcements
Well, good afternoon, everybody. Anthony Parrott here, Community Formation Director, Transition Leader at Good News Church, and I wanted to give you this week's past sermon. Again, we had some technical difficulties — it didn't get recorded — and I didn't want anybody who missed out to miss out. So I wanted to let you in on what we preached on, what we talked about this Sunday.
A real quick announcement I want to let you all know. Typically in the summer, we haven't done a lot of opportunities for adult learning, and we're trying to change that this summer. So we've got two summer classes coming up during the month of June, two options for you to choose from, available right after the nine o'clock service. We've got childcare available. Each class is $10, or $15 per couple. That includes materials, books, all that kind of stuff.
Class number one follows our June preaching series called How to Be Rich, focusing in on the fact that most of us — 99% of us — have access to more material wealth and goods than the majority of people around the world throughout human history. And the book of 1 Timothy encourages us to be rich in good deeds — for those who are rich in this world, to be generous. So how do we do that? How do we care for our money, our material possessions, in a way that honors God?
And the second class is called The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting: Raising Children with Courage, Compassion, and Connection. It's a course offered by Brené Brown. My wife Emily and I have had the chance over the past couple of months to take this course, and it's been life-changing, life-giving. It's given us some great ideas as to how to do parenting well. And we wanted to offer that to parents here at Good News. And please know that class is not just for parents of little ones, toddlers, middle schoolers, high schoolers. It's good for parents of adults as well. Maybe your kids are already out of the house, but you're still wanting to know: how do I continue to be a good parent even for my kids who are out of the house now? This is a great class for you.
So again, each one starts in June. Childcare is available. We'd love for you to go online — gncconline.com/adults — and register, so we know how many materials to have and how many childcare workers we need. And yeah, that's available for you to continue growing in your walk with Jesus.
One Hit Wonders
Now, this week and next week, we're kind of in between preaching series. So Steve and I are doing what we're calling One Hit Wonders — some topics that we've wanted to hit on for a little while, but haven't had a chance because of The Story and some other things we've been up to. But we think they're important and worth talking about. And so this week, the title of the sermon is "There's Something in the Water: The Importance of Baptism."
When we talk about baptism, a lot of questions can come up. Like, why do we even do it? Why is it important? Is it just a symbol? Does something actually happen in baptism? What's the whole thing about?
If you know my life story at all, you know I've been through the foster system, and I was adopted pretty late, as a 14-year-old. So I have this dubious honor of being baptized three times. My biological mom was Roman Catholic, and so after I was born, I was baptized Roman Catholic. Then I moved in with my aunt and uncle, and I had to have an open-heart surgery to save my life. And so, if you know anything about Lutheran baptism, they got me baptized again, just in the off chance that I might not live — they wanted to make sure that I got to heaven. And then I moved in with the Parrotts, the family that eventually adopted me. When I was 12, I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord, and that was more of an evangelistic, revivalistic denomination, so getting re-baptized was a big deal for them. And so I made the choice to be baptized again when I was 12. And then I had my own daughter baptized here in the Reformed Church as an infant.
So what does all this mean? What happens? Why are we doing this? Why are we getting our heads wet, or being fully immersed, or all of that, in the name of some practice called baptism?
Defining terms: sacrament
Well, first of all, let's define some terms. The first term to define is the idea of a sacrament. A sacrament is an outward sign of an inward grace. So a sacrament is a physical, external, visible sign of something that's happening internally or spiritually — something invisible. I had a professor who used to say that faith needs something to taste, and faith needs something to touch.
We see this concept all throughout biblical history. When God wanted to show the Israelites his power, the fact that he would deliver them from Egypt, what did God give the Israelites? He gave them the Passover. He gave them a meal. God had the Israelites build altars all throughout the desert wanderings, as a reminder of what God had been doing, reminding them of his actions in their lives. And Jesus himself was all about giving people something to taste and to touch. When he healed the blind man, he used mud to heal this man's eyes. He spit into the dirt, made some mud, put it over the man's eyes. Did Jesus need the mud to do the healing? Of course not. Jesus is God. But maybe the blind man needed something to touch, some physical reminder of what was happening.
There's this great quote from New Testament scholar N.T. Wright. He says— [Quote not captured in transcript.]
And so we see that faith needs something to taste, it needs something to touch. And so we have sacraments. They are visible signs of invisible realities. In our belief system, we have two sacraments: the Lord's Supper (sometimes called communion or Eucharist), and baptism. And we don't see these as merely symbols. They're at least symbols, for sure, but they are definitely more than symbols. We believe that in baptism and at the Lord's Supper, something is actually happening. And that's why we call sacraments a means of grace. A means is a tool, an instrument, a vehicle by which to do something.
It's kind of like the difference between a badge and a nightstick. A police badge is a symbol of being an officer, but it's kind of only a symbol. If I stole a badge, I don't automatically become a cop. And I can't really do much with a badge — I might be able to chuck it really hard at somebody, but it's not really an instrument by which I can do a lot of police work. A nightstick, on the other hand, is not only a symbol of being a cop, because I don't know a lot of other people who carry one; it's also an instrument by which to carry out the authority that a police officer has. It's a means by which to cop. It's an instrument of copping. And so, in the same way, we believe that when we partake of communion — which is a continual thing we'll do throughout our Christian lives — and when we are baptized — which we usually receive once, unless you're like me and go through the foster system or something — they're not only badges of our Christian identity. We believe that God is actually an active participant in these sacraments, that God's bestowing on us a form of grace that we would otherwise miss out on if we refused to participate in them. And so baptism and communion are an instrument, a vehicle, a means of receiving a special amount, a special kind, of God's grace.
What happens in baptism
So what is happening in baptism? Well, so much. I had to pare down this list to just five things I wanted to highlight today.
1. Baptism identifies us with Jesus Christ
The first thing baptism does is that it identifies us with Jesus Christ. Did your parents ever tell you that old line that what you do reflects back on them? Like, if you put on some outlandish outfit and tried to get out the door, your parents would probably say, "If you go out wearing those ridiculous clothes, they're going to make us look ridiculous too." This idea that what you do reflects back on your parents. Well, baptism is kind of the same thing, but in reverse. When we are baptized, what's true of Jesus becomes true of us. What's true of Jesus, the Son of God, becomes true of us as humans. And this is really important, because we definitely would rather be known by the attributes and character of Jesus than the other way around. God's Son, Jesus — he's perfect, he's holy, he's the divine Son of God. And now that can be said of us when we enter into baptism.
In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul writes:
Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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 have a new life. For if we have been united with Jesus in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.
And this is fantastic news, because Jesus died to sin. If we are baptized, that means that we are dead to sin too, which no longer has power in us. Paul says that we are buried with Jesus just as Jesus was buried, and raised just as Jesus was raised. Because Jesus was resurrected, that means that if we are baptized in Jesus, we're going to be resurrected too. This is most dramatically shown whenever we do full-immersion adult baptism. When the person is dipped and submerged into the water, it identifies them with Jesus' death and burial. They are dead to sin, and it no longer has power over them. And when that person rises from the water, lifted out of the depths, it identifies them with Christ's resurrection, his new life, the fact that death will never touch us again. And this is why we don't just talk about baptism as a symbol. We believe that God, through baptism, is actually up to something good. He makes what is true of Jesus true of us. It's an outward sign of an inward grace, a visible sign of an invisible reality that one day will be made visible — because, brothers and sisters, we really will be resurrected when Jesus comes again.
2. Our sin is washed away
So, first, when we are baptized, we are identified with Christ. Number two: when we are baptized, our sin is washed away. Baptism physically shows us that for those who have given their lives to Jesus, they have been forgiven of their sin, that it has been cleansed, washed away. The Apostle Peter, one of the disciples of Jesus, preached his first sermon at Pentecost to thousands of Jews. And Peter said this in Acts chapter 2:
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins.
So "repent" is the idea of changing your mind, to turn from one direction and go a different direction. And notice that in baptism, it's in the name of Jesus. We are identified with him. And then after we repent, Peter says, the next thing we're supposed to do is to be baptized. It's lined up with this idea of forgiveness. The Apostle Paul, preaching to a crowd in Acts 22, says— [Quote not captured in transcript.] Again, it's in the name of Jesus. What's true of Jesus is true of us. And our sins are washed away in baptism. Those things that cause us guilt, those things that cause us shame, those things that cause us heaviness, that are a burden in our lives, the things we wish we had never done — they are washed away in baptism, in the forgiveness of Jesus.
And so, when we hear God's word about Jesus as our Savior, as our Lord, as the resurrected King of the world, and we respond, we receive God's forgiveness, we receive his grace and mercy. And so it makes sense that baptism is the right, the proper sign of that forgiveness — a cleansing away of our past, present, and future mistakes.
3. A declaration of our faith in Jesus
So, first, baptism identifies us with Jesus. Second, it's an outward sign of an inward grace that our sins have been washed away. And number three: it's a declaration of our faith in Jesus. It's a declaration that Jesus is now the Lord of our lives, and that whatever competes with Jesus is not.
The most obvious example of this is in the book of Acts. There's a church leader named Philip, and he meets this man who's identified to us as the Ethiopian eunuch. He's an important official for the region that we now call Ethiopia in Africa. And so this eunuch is traveling by caravan — he has a chariot, and a driver, and these other officials with him. And he stops Philip and says, "Philip, come over here, explain this Bible passage to me." And Philip basically presents the gospel to this Ethiopian eunuch. And then Acts chapter 8 explains what happens next:
They came to some water. And the eunuch said, "Look, here's water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?" And the eunuch gave orders to stop the chariot. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
And so, in front of all of his friends, the other officials, his chariot driver — in front of everybody this official is with — this man makes a public profession that he believes that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not, that Jesus is the resurrected Lord of everything, of all of the world, of the universe, and his Savior. And so, here at Good News, that's why we do our adult baptism each year out at West Lake. We make it public. We make it not a secret. We want the world to know what matters most to us. And so, when we are baptized, we're making a declaration that Jesus is our Savior.
4. It initiates us into God's covenant community
So, baptism, first, identifies us with Jesus. Secondly, it shows us that our sins are washed away. Thirdly, it's a public declaration of our faith. And fourth: it initiates us into God's covenant community. Baptism is an initiation rite. It's the thing that moves us out of one group, one community, into another.
The primary way by which God interacts with humans, with creation, is through covenant relationship. God is an infinite being. He's eternal, immaterial. He's all-knowing. He's all-present. And God desires to be in relationship with his creation, with us. We, on the other hand, are finite. We are bound within time. We're made of physical matter. We're present in only one place at one time. We don't know everything. We know only in part. And so that brings up this question: how does a God who's so wholly different than his creation relate to us? And we see that God does this through the bounds of covenant. God created a covenant community of grace through Abraham and anyone who put their faith in Yahweh.
Now, in the Old Testament, this covenant community was primarily through a group called Israel, known primarily through ethnic identity. And in the New Testament, on through today, that covenant community continues, but we call it the church. It's what the Apostle Paul calls the true Israel. It's for anyone who puts their faith in God's anointed one, Jesus Christ. And the initiation process to enter into the Old Testament community of grace, Israel, was through circumcision. It was a physical sign, done by blood, of an inward reality that you belonged to God's covenant community, that all the promises of God to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob applied to you. That's what circumcision was. It was a physical sign of God's covenant promises to you. In Israel, it was done to male children eight days after they were born. And it was by the very virtue of being part of God's covenant community that they had God's promises.
The thing to keep in mind, though, is that there was no guarantee that that child, as they grew into adulthood, would live into the reality of God's promises. In the end, they had to accept for themselves that God's promises were true, that God wanted all people to experience the abundant life he had in store for them, a land flowing with milk and honey. If a circumcised person grew into adulthood and rejected God's promises, it didn't make God's promises any less true. God's promises are eternal. But until that person lived into the truth of their circumcision, lived into the truth that they were part of God's covenant community, they missed out on the fullness of what God was offering to them and to all of humanity.
When my wife, Emily, was very little, she received this 20-year savings bond certificate from one of her relatives. And a savings bond is a piece of paper that promised her a certain sum of money, but she had to grow up, the savings bond had to mature. And when we got married, we actually put it in a safety deposit box, a fireproof safe, and forgot about it for a while. Now, the savings bond still had value. It never lost its value because we forgot about it, but it was pretty much ineffective in our safe. And when we came across it years later, Emily got to live into the reality of the value of that piece of paper. She got to live into the reality of all the promises that savings bond had, and they became true in her life. And so she cashed it in and got a great pair of shoes.
The same is basically true of baptism. Just as communion replaces the Israelite practice of Passover, baptism replaces the old Israelite symbol of circumcision. Baptism is the initiation rite for entering into God's family, for entering into God's covenant community of grace, what we call the church.
Listen and pay attention to this kind of dense passage from the Apostle Paul, which is going to bring together a lot of the things we've already talked about so far. This is from Colossians chapter 2. Paul writes:
So it's a circumcision, but it's not performed by human hands. Your whole, ruled-by-the-flesh self was taken off when you were circumcised by Christ — having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
So let's unpack this for a moment. First, Paul writes, "In Christ you were circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands." So here we see that baptism is compared to a new kind of circumcision, a new way of initiating you into God's family, the church. Paul continues. For Paul, that word "flesh" is his language for our fallen nature, the part of us that does things we don't want to do, that rebels against God. And, not to get too graphic, but Paul's actually having a bit of a play on words here about circumcision — circumcision is about removing literal flesh, but this new circumcision, baptism, gets rid of your whole fleshly nature of sin. You get the idea. Anyway, Paul's saying that that part of us has been removed. Through baptism, we are identified with Christ now. We are buried with him in death, raised with him in life. So just as circumcision removed one kind of flesh, baptism removes a wholly different kind of flesh.
And Paul continues: this is when you were circumcised by Christ. So baptism, it's not a work. It's not something that we do. It's something that's done to us — it's done to us by Jesus himself. When we receive the gift of baptism, yes, there's definitely a person dipping you into the water, placing water on the child's head. But baptism is primarily the work of God, not our work. Paul says, "having been buried with him in baptism." So again, we see that we are identified with Christ, into his death and into his resurrection. Baptism replaces circumcision, and it puts us firmly into God's covenant family.
And this, by the way, is why we baptize infants here at Good News. Since we see baptism as replacing circumcision as a sign of being part of God's family, and since circumcision was done to infants, and since baptism is an act of God making his promises to us, then of course we baptize infants as well. It's not about whether or not the infant has faith in Christ yet. It's about God making his promises. This is what Peter said in his Pentecost sermon back in Acts 2:
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus, for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.
So look at all those themes we've talked about: it's about repentance, it's about being in the name of Jesus, it's about forgiveness. So God's promises apply to us not because of our own actions, but because of God's grace. It's God who does the calling. It's God who makes the promises. And Peter says, "This is for you and for your children."
So when we baptize an infant, note that we only baptize infants who have parents who have already made a covenant of membership with the church. We're not going around splashing water on strangers' babies, hoping that will save them. When a family is part of God's church, God's covenant family, and God gives that family the gift of a child through childbirth or adoption, then that family has their child baptized, so that God can give them an outward sign of an inward grace — that God's covenant promises of grace are fully available to that child. Now, that child still has to respond to the preaching of the gospel, to the preaching of the word, in order for those promises to be fulfilled. And that's why we, as a church, make a promise to that family, and that family to us, that they are going to raise their child in the truth and admonition of God's word, so that one day that child may receive and accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
5. It follows the command of Jesus
So, baptism identifies us with Jesus. It shows us that our sins have been washed away. It's a public declaration of our faith. It initiates us into God's covenant community. And, finally, it follows the command of Jesus. After Jesus' resurrection, Jesus gave his disciples a commission — some would even call it a great commission. Jesus said this in Matthew 28:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
As we at Good News have said many, many times, our primary mission as a church is to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples of Jesus. And the very first thing that disciples of Jesus do is receive God's gift of baptism. It's a command of Jesus. We see in John chapter 4 that Jesus' disciples, very early on in Jesus' ministry, started to baptize disciples into Jesus' name. And throughout the book of Acts, almost without fail, if someone asked for or received salvation, they got baptized. Oftentimes they had their whole household, their whole oikos, baptized as well, and that included their children. So, if we refuse the gift of baptism, if that's something we've decided we just don't want to have any part of, we're actually refusing step one of the Christian life.
Summary
So, to summarize: baptism is a sacrament. It's an outward sign of an inward grace. It's a means of grace, a vehicle by which God gives us grace that we would otherwise miss out on if we refused to participate in it. We believe God is active in baptism and in communion. Baptism identifies us with Christ — what's true of Jesus is now true of us. It shows us that our sin is washed away, that we are forgiven, that anything that makes us feel dirty is cleansed away. Baptism declares our faith in Jesus — it's a public declaration that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not. It initiates us into God's covenant community of grace. And it follows Jesus' commands.
So we should note a couple of things. It's possible to be baptized and not know Jesus, not be saved. It's also possible to be saved and not yet be baptized. And it's possible that you are neither saved nor baptized. If you're following along, there's a good old Venn diagram of this: being baptized and unsaved, saved and unbaptized, or both saved and baptized.
You can be baptized, and that doesn't necessarily mean you're automatically a Christian. Being a Christian is not determined by whether or not you go to church. It's not determined by whether your mommy and daddy got your head wet as a baby. You can be baptized without having put your trust in Jesus, without making Jesus the most important relationship in your life. Perhaps you were an infant, or you were young, or perhaps you did it out of peer pressure. It doesn't mean that God's promises of grace weren't extended to you, or that God didn't move toward you in grace. But until you, by your own choice, your own volition, your own will, put your trust in Jesus — until you make the decision to be a disciple of Jesus, to make your relationship with him the most important relationship in your life — then God's promises are left unclaimed in your life. They're left basically in a safety deposit box, full of value and unclaimed.
It's also possible that you've put your trust in Jesus, but you've never been baptized. Which means, friends, it's time. It's time to make that public declaration. It's time to follow Jesus' command. It's time to experience God's grace as he initiates you into his covenant family. He buries your sin and resurrects your life. Baptism is step one of the Christian life.
And maybe you're here today and you've never put your faith in Jesus, and you've never been baptized. Well, if you want a new identity, if you want the promise of resurrection life, if you want forgiveness of sin, then today can be your day.
What do you do now?
So, what do you do now? Well, number one, accept Jesus as the Savior and Lord of your life. If you've never accepted Jesus, then today's your day. Believe that God loves you. Acknowledge that you are in need of a Savior, and commit to follow Jesus with your whole heart. And you can do that right now. We can do it as we sing our closing song. Or if you want someone to pray with you, we would love to do so after the service. It's a simple prayer that says, "God, I recognize you love me and that I need you. And so I commit my life to you and your Son, Jesus. God, you are the Lord of my life."
Maybe you've never received baptism, and we would love to be the ones who can offer that gift to you. So each year at Good News, we do a lakeside baptism. And this year, we've set the date: it's Sunday, July 23rd. And so if you want to be part of that, if you want to receive the gift of baptism and do step one in the Christian life, we invite you to talk to us, sign up online, and we want to make that happen for you.
It's possible that maybe you've never understood infant baptism until today. You've been part of Good News, you've had some children, and you've never been comfortable with the whole idea of infant baptism. Well, we would love to talk. And maybe what you've heard today has helped change your mind. Or maybe you want to continue that conversation. We would love to make that available to you.
Finally, maybe you have accepted Jesus, and you have received the gift of baptism — either when you were an infant, or very young, or just a long time ago. What do you do after a sermon like this? Well, also on July 23rd, we're going to have a recommitment to our baptismal vows — basically a recommitment to what we are about as God's covenant community of grace. So if you want to be a part of that, if you want to make a recommitment to Jesus, then we invite you to be part of that on Sunday, July 23rd as well. Again, let us know, and we will make that happen for you.
So, thank you for listening. Thanks for tuning in online. And we will see you this coming Sunday, as Pastor Steve talks about majors and minors. Grace and peace be with you all.
