Mark 1:9-15
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved;* with you I am well pleased.’
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news* of God,* and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;* repent, and believe in the good news.
I don’t remember my baptism. It was thirty years ago at the church my parents still go to; same baptismal font my brother and his daughters were baptized in. Water was poured on our heads from a little bowl in a sanctuary filled with red carpet. As you can see, I had on a white gown, a banner hung with my name on it. I’m sure there was a little reception after in the parlor. As far as Lutheran baptisms go, it was pretty standard.
To some folks though, my baptism might seem pretty strange; I mean why baptize an infant? Why not wait till the person is older, knows what's happening, chooses for themselves? Or why sprinkle only a little water? Why not full immersion in a river or lake or a huge, heated pool right here on the altar? Baptism is so ubiquitous in the church that we rarely stop to ask the hard questions: What makes a baptism, a baptism? Does a little bit of water really make a difference? What does it really do?
I read an article in the New York Times that talked about all the different ways baptisms happen these days. In South Florida, one church does their baptisms in the Atlantic ocean, amid the waves and keeping an eye out for sharks. At Creekwood Church in Texas, they rent out a waterpark and baptize with huge slides overhead. Nowadays, instead of white robes or gowns, people get custom t-shirts with mottos on them like #washed, best day ever, no turning back.
Now I’m not saying these practices are wrong, except for the waterpark… that I've got some questions about. Still they aren’t wrong. They have all the things necessary for a baptism, which really is only two things: first you need water, and really any water will do. Tap water, distilled water, chlorine filled water, salt water, it doesn’t matter what kind of water; because what really matters, at least for Lutheran Christians, is that the water is joined together with the Word, (with a capital W) of God, meaning the water is joined together with the real presence of Jesus and all the promises he gives.
Just as we believe Jesus is truly present in, with, and under the bread and wine at communion, we too believe Jesus is in, with, and joined to the water at a baptism. So these other forms or settings (oceans, waterparks, t-shirts) don’t make it any more or less of a baptism. But they do make baptism more of an experience.
A pastor in Linwood Kansas says in that NYT article, “We live in an age where people like experiences. It’s not that it looks better, but it feels better. It feels more authentic, it feels more real.”
Now I don’t know about you, but I didn’t feel much at my baptism… does that mean it was less authentic? There wasn’t much of an experience either, for me and anyone else there. Does that mean it was less real? It’s not the experience that matters, or the feeling you get coming out of the water. Truth be told, baptism isn't about you…
by that I mean its not about the decision you make, or even about giving your life to Christ. Because its not you who's doing the work. It’s not you choosing to get closer to God. If all it took was one decision by us to be put in God’s good graces, there would be no need for Jesus’ own baptism nor his death and resurrection. Christ has already given his life for you, suffered once for all as Peter tells us. Why do we try to make it obsolete?
Baptism then isn’t about what you do, it’s about what God does for you, to you. It’s God getting closer to you on account of Christ; because through the water and Word, we are joined to the death and resurrection of Jesus.
I like how one baptist preacher describes this. He said: “we Baptists believe in water. So when it comes to baptizing, we don’t mess around with a few sprinkles. We put people under until they bubble. We want them to feel just a moment of panic, so they can appreciate the resurrection.” And while I think that is terrifying and fits the description of torture, I like the symbolism.
Because more than anything else, baptism is death and resurrection. Luther describes it as the drowning of the old, sinful self (which is a rather good swimmer) and rising to new life. It’s not simply “a removal of dirt, but an appeal to God so that once we are covered with that water, God no longer remembers our sin, but looks upon us with steadfast love, just as God did with Jesus at his baptism.
To be clear, being baptized doesn’t mean that you’ll never sin again. You remain a sinful person. But it does mean that God’s grace and forgiveness abound all the more, working on you each day to put to death that old self and live as one who reflects the love and goodness received from God.
Being baptized also doesn’t mean life gets any easier. If anything, baptism means life will get harder! Notice that the same spirit Jesus received at his baptism immediately put him into the wilderness.
Rachel Held Evans puts it this way,
“baptism declares that God is in the business of bringing dead things back to life, so if you want in on God’s business, you better prepare to follow God to all the rock-bottom, scorched-earth, dead-on-arrival corners of this world, including the ones in your own heart - because thats where God works.”
Which is why its a courageous statement, dangerous even, we make when baptizing babies.
We are acknowledging that this spirit you receive will call you, drive you into places you wouldn’t otherwise go; its saying this beautiful, seemingly perfect little baby is in fact not so perfect and needs God’s grace just like the rest of us; And that it is God’s desire for this child to be a member of God’s holy, loving, struggling family. That’s why we baptize infants.
That’s why we don’t make it much of an experience, like at a waterpark or with t-shirts. And that’s why we say it’s not about you, but about what God does, says, and works in you through the waters of baptism.
It’s less about us declaring something to God, and more about God declaring to us and to all the world, This is my beloved child, forgiven, grace-filled, and ready for the journey.
Held-Evans again: “It is death and resurrection, over and over again, day after day, as God reaches down into our deepest graves and with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead [pulls] us out of that dirt, bringing us into the light of a new day, every day.
If you’ve been baptized, put your hand in the font today, remember your baptism, remember what God has done, is doing, and will do every day and live as baptized people, proclaiming the good news of Jesus in both word and deed and with as many people as we can.
But if you haven’t been baptized and want to be, please talk with me or Pastor Mark. There is no test to see if you’re ready; you don’t need to feel holy enough or ready enough, or like you’ve got it all together in life and in faith. That’s not how this works. The decision is made and God has chosen you. You are already God’s beloved, so let God declare it to you and all the world,
in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen
