Baptism
I am so excited about today’s service because today we are celebrating baptisms.
It’s one of our most powerful reminders of the life change that Jesus makes possible. It’s always a highlight for me.
However, my guess is that many of us celebrate baptisms without really knowing what it’s actually all about. What does baptism symbolize? Does it actually accomplish something spiritually when you go under the water? And why at Grace do we do it the way we do it?
Well, today I want to try to answer some of those questions. And my hope is that by going a bit deeper we will all be even more astounded by what we’re about to experience.
Before we begin, let me pray for us.
THE GREAT COMMISSION
Alright, let’s start with a simple fact. Like Communion (or the Eucharist), Baptism is something that all Christ followers share in common. And for a very simple reason. Because Jesus told us, directly, to do it.
At the very end of Matthew’s gospel, after Jesus has risen from the grave, he gathers his disciples together and gives them their marching orders. It’s a statement often referred to as “The Great Commission”
Matthew 28:18-20
“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.”
As you can see, baptizing new followers of Jesus is a part of what we are here to do. Which is why the Church has been doing it for 2000 years.
However, this is not to say that we all do it the same way. For example, at Grace we baptize people by fully immersing them in water. But there are other traditions which baptize by pouring or sprinkling water.
We baptize inside, but some traditions insist on baptizing in rivers or lakes.
At Grace we do baptize children, but only those old enough to understand the decision they’re making. Many denominations, however, baptize infants.
The Roman Catholics usually do this by pouring, while Eastern Orthodox churches do full immersion (leading to some rather startled babies!).
My point is, There are many ways to fulfill the command of Jesus to baptize, but it’s a practice all Christians share in common.
But why dunk people in water at all? How did this practice begin?
HISTORY OF BAPTISM
Phenomenal questions. First, let’s talk about the history of baptism. Then we’ll talk about what it means.
The roots of this practice actually go back way earlier than the Great Commission.
In the centuries before Jesus’ birth, Jewish communities paid close attention to their ritual purity. A big part of the Law of Moses involved washing yourself with water so that you could worship God appropriately. This act is called
mikveh - Jewish ritual immersion
A person would perform mikveh, for example, after touching a dead body or after a woman’s menstrual period or when converting to Judaism. I know we don’t think in terms of ritual purity like this today, but in their religious worldview, this was the way to be made right with God.
Then, in the 1st c. A.D., a man named John the Baptist appeared on the scene with a new twist on this ancient practice.
John was a bit of an oddball, living in the wilderness and inviting people to come be “baptized” by him. We get this term from the Greek word,
baptizō - lit. to dip, immerse; to cleanse or purify by washing
Baptism was a similar concept to mikveh, but John’s baptism was also unique.
John claimed that the world was about to change. That the Kingdom of God was near. And if the people wanted to be ready for it, they needed to repent. To confess their sins and change the course of their lives.
They needed a whole-life mikveh. So, to purify people in this way and to symbolize their readiness for God’s kingdom, John immersed people in the Jorden River.
This included a man named Jesus of Nazareth. Now, Jesus didn’t have any sins to repent of. But his baptism by John was a way to demonstrate his wholehearted commitment to the inauguration of this world-changing kingdom.
Ok, so that brings us up to Jesus, who, like I said, commanded his disciples to baptize as well, which they did. Baptism became a core practice in the early Church.
Now, here’s where things get a little hazy in the historical record. Because, while it’s clear that baptism was universal, the way the early Church actually baptized people seemed to vary quite a bit from place to place.
Some of the differences still exist today: indoors, outdoors, infants, adults… But within the historical record are some practices which have mostly been lost.
For example, it seems likely that many early Christians were expected to be baptized entirely naked. Anybody here glad that tradition faded away? Yeah.
There were also practices like doing a pre-baptism exorcism, having the feet of the baptized kissed and washed, and a practice of drinking from three cups - water, milk mixed with honey, and wine.
There’s even a verse in 1 Corinthians which makes it seem like some people were being baptized for the dead.
For the first three centuries of the Church, at least, being baptized often required a lot of self-sacrifice: up to three years of training and preparation (called Catechesis), followed by several days of fasting and prayer before finally being baptized.
In the fourth century the practice of infant baptism began. If you want to hear more about that, listen to our podcast Between Sundays this week and we’ll get into it.
Suffice it to say, there have been many different approaches to baptism within Church history. But it’s crystal clear that Baptism has been central to the life of the Church since the very beginning.
BIG TENT
Now, obviously, with so many varied traditions and practices in the Church surrounding baptism, there’s a very logical question to ask at this point. What is the right way to baptize?
And here I’m probably going to disappoint you. Because the answer is, “I don’t know.” With billions of Christians alive today doing it differently, I’m not going to claim to have the right answer.
What we do at Grace, though, is try and replicate the baptisms we see in Scripture. John’s baptism. The baptisms of the apostles. We say the words of Jesus from the Great Commission (“I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”).
But beyond that, we hold many of the other details more loosely.
We are a big tent church. What that means is we have people from all kinds of different denominational backgrounds and traditions worshipping together under one roof.
Rather than following strict protocols, we have a much more open-handed posture. For example, if someone is moved by the Spirit to be baptized in the moment, then we baptize them. We don’t put them through three years of rigorous training first.
If someone was baptized as an infant but wants to do it again as an adult to demonstrate the decision they’ve made with their faith, then we baptize them!
Maybe we’re doing it all wrong. Maybe in the resurrection Jesus will tell us, “Guys, you were supposed to do it naked!”
We could be wrong. All we know for sure is that Jesus told us to baptize, so we simply say “come. Come to the waters.”
Now I want to be clear about something here. Yes, as a big tent church we hold our practices loosely. However, when it comes to the significance and theology of baptism, those we hold very tightly.
So let’s get into it. What does baptism actually accomplish? What does it mean?
DEATH
We’ll start with this: The first thing that baptism represents is Death.
When we immerse someone in the baptismal waters it is symbolic of the grave. The Apostle Paul put it this way in his letter to the church in Rome:
Romans 6:3-4
Have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism…
In other words, when we go under the water it represents the fact that something that was no longer is. When we give our lives to Jesus, something dies.
So what is it? Obviously we’re still living and breathing. Well, the answer is that it is our old selves that have died.
The old versions of ourselves, wrapped in sin and shame and brokenness. Addicted to our impulses. Trapped by our mistakes. Utterly incapable of breaking free of generational trauma and chaos and sin.
You know the person I’m talking about. When you give your life to Jesus, that old self dies. Paul goes on.
Romans 6:6-7
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
You see, Jesus led the way. By giving his life on the cross for our sin, the chains of our slavery fell away. We are no longer who we used to be.
That’s what we represent by going into the waters. Our old self is going down into the grave.
NEW LIFE
Which brings us to the second thing baptism represents. Our old self is no more. Our new self has begun.
Baptism represents New Life. Resurrection.
When we bring people back out of the water it symbolizes the fact that because of Christ a new version of ourselves has been born. Again, Jesus leads the way in this. Paul continues:
Romans 6:4
For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
Emerging from the water represents our resurrection. Both our spiritual resurrection now and our physical resurrection which will happen in New Creation.
We are alive again as new people. In Jesus we can now learn how to live free of the shackles of our sin. Here’s how Paul puts it in another of his letters:
Titus 3:5-7
[God] saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.
Notice Paul says “he made us right in God’s sight.” This reminds me of the Jewish purification ritual of mikveh - the washing people had to do to be able to worship God.
Except this kind of washing doesn’t have to happen again and again and again for us to be made right with God. When we surrender our lives to Christ, we are made pure. Full stop. And we can enter right into the presence of God with no shame at all.
In baptism we reveal the truth that Our new selves are coming out of the grave.
But what about the fact that these bodies are still going to die someday? What about the fact that we still sin even after becoming Christians?
Well, this is why I love that the biblical authors also use the language of birth and infancy to describe our new lives in Christ. The gospel of John depicts the baptismal waters as a kind of womb.
When we emerge from the waters of death and chaos, it’s also as if we are being born. Jesus himself says,
John 3:7
You must be born again.
This is what he’s talking about. Our new life has begun.
Here’s why I love this. Because babies have a lot of learning and growing to do! And so do we.
Yeah, we still sin, because we are still learning the fine motor skills of obedience to Jesus’ teachings.
Yes, we are still confused and unclear on some things, because we are still learning how to eat the solid food of God’s Word.
And yes, loving others is a challenge! To paraphrase the New Testament scholar N.T. Wright, it’s like, as babies we are still learning how to speak the language of love. In the New Creation - when we are fully grown - we’ll be singing in it.
I say all this because it’s easy to think of giving your life to Jesus or being baptized as the end of the story. But the Bible makes it clear that it is just the beginning.
The beginning of your new life, where you learn how to crawl and walk and run in the Spirit so that when you do pass through the doorway of physical death, you will be ready for the eternal life of your resurrection.
Going into the waters represents the death of your old self. Emerging from the waters represents the birth of your new self. In short, Baptism tells the story of what Christ made possible for you.
INITIATION
Finally, there is one more purpose behind baptism which I think is deeply important to consider. And it’s a reminder that we are not meant to live our new lives in Christ alone.
The third purpose is this: Baptism is an Initiation.
If you remember, I described John the Baptist’s form of baptism as a way for people to prepare for the in-breaking kingdom of God. A way of saying, “I’ve repented of my sin. I’m ready to be a part of this new movement.”
Well, Christian baptism does the exact same thing. It gives people an opportunity to be initiated into a new kind of community. A new family.
To lose the labels and identities which used to divide us in our old lives and to instead become one as the Church - the body of Christ. Here’s how Paul describes this initiation:
1 Corinthians 12:13
Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
He says it like this elsewhere:
Galatians 3:26-28
You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
So you see, baptism is way to initiate new believers into the body. It is an outward act which demonstrates to the world that you are a new creation in Christ.
This is why we do it publicly. In front of the whole community. Because Baptism is an initiation into the family of God.
When you come out of those waters you are declaring to the word that you are now one with Christ and one with all who follow him.
And while this initiation may not seem like a particularly bold statement to make in a country where Christianity is so normal, in the early Church this was a major step to take.
For many, being baptized as a Christian meant being rejected by your family and community. It meant being ridiculed and persecuted for your faith.
Remember I said that some early Christians had to do three years of training before they could be baptized? It’s because baptism was a public act which put a target on your back. Many initiates were destined for public execution.
And yet, even though today the risk of becoming a Christian may be pretty low, the profound calling and deep significance of baptism couldn’t be higher.
We are about to witness new brothers and sisters in Christ making a commitment with their bodies that they are now a part of the renewal of all things.
This is their initiation into the family of God and the beginning of their new lives in Christ.
CONCLUSION
So there you have it. Baptism. This isn’t just some quirky thing Christians do. It is a sacred act that binds us together and tells the story of God’s salvation in our broken world.
Before we begin, I want to make three invitations in light of what I’ve just shared.
First, for those of you who have already been baptized, let this moment be a reminder of how far you’ve come in your journey with Jesus. Let yourself be overwhelmed again by the grace of a God who didn’t leave you in the grave.
Don’t just clap politely. Celebrate with joy as you remember what Christ has done for you and what you are witnessing him doing for them.
Or maybe you’ve been baptized but you feel stuck in your faith these days, like you haven’t grown in years. If that’s you, let this moment be an inspiration to you to keep on growing. To keep on working to become the child of God that he already sees you to be.
Don’t be discouraged to see these new believers so on fire for their faith. Be encouraged to keep fanning the flames of your own.
Finally, if you have not been baptized, or if you haven’t yet given your life to Jesus, but you’re feeling some kind of tug on your heart right now… My friend, that is the Spirit of God inviting you to come to the waters.
You weren’t ready for this today but we were. We have everything you’re going to need to get baptized right now.
Let your old self die. With all your sin and shame and guilt and brokenness. Put it in the grave.
And let your new self be born. Start living the life of New Creation right now.
Be initiated into this 2000-year-old, globe-spanning community as we do our best to follow Jesus and join him in healing this broken world.
The renewal of all things has begun. It’s time for you to be a part of it.
I’m going to pray, and then I invite all who are ready to head backstage through the doors over there to get ready. We’ve got staff and volunteers to help.
Come to the water, and we’re going to celebrate what God has done.