Believer's Baptism
Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3 has nothing to do with his salvation; it has nothing to do with soul’s resting place. It’s rather a sign: a roaring symbol that has stood the test of 2000 years of debate, criticism, and skepticism. Jesus’ baptism is not a desperate, salvific attempt to catch a piece of the divine but rather an announcement, a holy summons, a proclamation that there is a God over this universe that loves all humankind and Jesus is choosing to abide with that love.
Jesus is claiming that which God tells us in scripture, “I am a child of God.”
Jesus’ didn’t get baptized to save his soul. We already knew that Jesus was the son of God. We were told in Matthew 1 with the Genealogy, we were told in Matthew 2 with the fulfillment of scripture, being born in Bethlehem, being visited by the angel, being visited by the Magi. Time and time again the readers of Matthew knew Jesus was divine, holy, set apart, a child of God . . . and so for Jesus to go into the murky waters of the Jordan River to claim salvation is silly . . . we know better . . . so why did he do it?
Jesus needed to claim his identity, his divinity, for himself.
It’s not enough to know we are children of God. We have to claim it. We have to accept it. We have to walk into the river of life and choose to lay your life down for another, for a better one, for a more blessed one.
Baptism for Jesus is a rite of passage. Jesus steps out of the wilderness and into the water. He walks down into the Jordan as a testimony of faith. He looks out across time and says, “This is so righteousness will be revealed.”
Baptism showcases for us a new order is at hand. The old way of doing life is radically changing. A new way of life is being claimed.
When we claim this new way of life for ourselves, I believe the heavens open and a dove like spirit descends down and we hear, maybe for the first time, our heavenly God say into our hearts, “You are my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.”
We just got back from our Fall Retreat where one of my students made a profession of faith. I’m so excited. It’s evident that his life is beginning to change towards carrying a sense of purpose, a longing, an excitement about the kingdom of God.
We meet with the pastor.
We meet with the pastor.
We meet with the parents.
Collectively we move forward in the pursuit of believers’ baptism by coming down front that Sunday. The boy stood before the church and said, “I want to (and these were his words) actively participate in the kingdom of God. I want to be a child of God. Jesus is my savior.”
The next Sunday comes. We dress in our cotton, white robes and process to the back of the church behind the alter ready for the occasion . . . ready for the miracle . . . ready to encounter . . . ready to be swept away into a space where time is irrelevant and all that matters is grace.
The choir stops singing but the piano keeps playing. It’s my turn to enter the baptismal pool.
I help the boy into the water with my right hand. He stands next to me with worry and excitement in his face. I place my hand on the small of his back, raise my right hand, look up to the God of the universe and say,
For one, no one told me waders loose the oxygen in the legs when they become submerged under water and suction to you, and two, because I had my hands touching the garments of a sinner, I had my hands submerged in the pool of living water, and I helped resurrect not a sinner but rather someone who was finally claiming his identity as a child of God.
With tears in my eyes I looked out across the sanctuary and said, “Alan’s testimony this morning is a testimony of faith. Faith in that for the rest of Alan’s life he will know that he too has claimed his identity as a child of God.”
The next Sunday comes. We dress in our cotton, white robes and process to the back of the church behind the alter ready for the occasion . . . ready for the miracle . . . ready to encounter . . . ready to be swept away into a space where time is irrelevant and all that matters is grace.
The choir stops singing but the piano keeps playing. It’s my turn to enter the baptismal pool.
I help the boy into the water with my right hand. He stands next to me with worry and excitement in his face. I place my hand on the small of his back, raise my right hand, look up to the God of the universe and say,
It is in obedience to the command of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that we baptize Alan, our brother in the Lord. . . in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.This was my first baptism as a minister. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.
For one, no one told me waders loose the oxygen in the legs when they become submerged under water and suction to you, and two, because I had my hands touching the garments of a sinner, I had my hands submerged in the pool of living water, and I helped resurrect not a sinner but rather someone who was finally claiming his identity as a child of God.
With tears in my eyes I looked out across the sanctuary and said, “Alan’s testimony this morning is a testimony of faith. Faith in that for the rest of Alan’s life he will know that he too has claimed his identity as a child of God.”
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