Sermon for 05/06/07

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Sermon for 05/06/07
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The Means of Grace – WORD AND SACRAMENTS –
– Baptism –

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, AMEN

Main Theme: The three primary means of Gods grace are “Word and Sacraments”. Today we look at Baptism and how grace is brought to us through the water and Word! The water is the visible and earthly element that represents a divine and invisible gift. The amount and type of water is irrelevant. But it is the Word connected to the water that helps us see that baptism 1) connected to salvation, 2) connects us to Christ, 3) sees that our sins are forgiven and washed away, 4) brings us the Holy Spirit, 5) makes us a part of God’s family, and 6) is recruitment to the church’s gospel mission to the world. All people, including infants, need the grace found in this amazing sacrament. Our baptism is an ongoing gift that we need daily!

1) THE WORD! Last week the Lord reminded us that everything that has and will come into being, came through the breath of God; that is, His WORD! The Word is how God reveals Himself to us! His self-revelation culminated in Jesus, the Living Word, who demonstrated on the cross, the merciful and unconditional love that reflects God’s nature. But what does the Word have to do with Baptism? Everything! You see, our baptism consists of two things: water… and the Word!

2) WATER! First, let’s discuss the water. Pastor Nelson Trout once told a story about how, as a young man attending college back in the Midwest, he was already a pastor for a fundamentalist Afro-American church. Believing in total immersion – Nelson would dunked new Christians three times in a nearby river, while his whole congregation stood on the bank and sang old spirituals with joy and gusto. Until that is, she came along. The next “dunkee” happened to be as round as she was tall. And every time Nelson pushed her head under, her feet would pop up. When he pushed her feet under her head popped up. As he struggled unsuccessfully to totally immerse the young lady, he was suddenly made aware that the singing had stopped. When he looked back to the shore, his congregation had turned their backs and was walking away. They were convinced that the lack of total emersion indicated that God had turned His back on this young girl – rejecting her from his church. Later, after converting to Lutheranism, Nelson told a group of pastors that right there and then at the river’s edge, he KNEW in his heart, that God did not care about the amount of water used in baptism, just that it was used. You see it is the WORD of God connected to the water that transforms hearts, not the water.

3) SACRAMENT! So why use water at all? Well, that has something to do with the definition of a sacrament. Lutherans have two; Baptism and Holy Communion. What makes them sacraments? Sacraments 1) are commanded by Jesus. Just as He commanded us to eat the Holy Supper in remembrance of Him, Jesus also told us in Matthew 28:19 “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…” Baptism was not designed or invented by humans! Nor are you being baptized by the pastor, you are being baptized by God Himself! The human baptizing is just a tool used by God! Baptism is not something you do! God gives the gift! It is God’s own act! So a sacrament is a sacrament because Jesus commanded it for each child of God. Sacraments are divinely instituted! Secondly, sacraments 2) use “visible” or earthly elements to represent “invisible” and divine blessings. (In Communion, it’s bread and wine, and in baptism it’s what? Right - the water!) And thirdly, sacraments 3) have a promise attached concerning the available heavenly grace of God! Some how – in, under, around, and through the water, the Word of God releases the Holy Spirit to bring the miracle of God’s salvific grace into His children. So, the sacrament uses water because Jesus asked us to, making it a visible sign of His invisible grace!

4) COMMANDED? Just a side-line: The Roman Catholics have 7 sacraments; adding Reconciliation, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders (priesthood), and the Anointing of the Sick. But by our definition of “sacrament” – Jesus never commanded every Christian to get married! You confirmed bachelors can relax! He commanded us to be baptized - yes! To take Communion – yes! But to be confirmed, or become a priest, or get married – no such command of Christ exists!

5) IMMERSION? Back to the water. Why do some Christians demand total immersion? Usually these Christians are literalists! Because they read in Matthew 3:16 “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water”. They assume that coming up out of the water meant he had been totally under in order to “come up out of it”. But let me ask you; if you waded out into a river 18 or 20 inches deep, and then returned to the shore, would it be wrong to say you came up out of the river? Of course not! So sprinkling is just as valid as immersion. Literalists also claim that the definition of the word “baptism” means “to immerse” in water. Certainly there is proof that the word was used by the Hebrew to wash (or baptize) their dishes by immersing them under water, but in Mark 7 the word “baptize” was used to describe the washing of tables. Any one here wash their tables by total immersion? No, the word “baptize” can mean to dip into water, to wash with water, to sprinkle with water, to pour water onto, and to immerse in water. All amounts of water used in baptism are just as valid as immersion.

6) WHAT KIND? And while we’re discussing the water – it doesn’t matter what kind of water it is either. People have come back from the Holy Land excited to give me a purchased bottle of water from the River Jordon. I’m supposed to pour it into the baptismal water, and then afterwards refill the water bottle so as to recapture some of the River Jordon’s water for the next baptism. Please – save your money! We use good old Federal Way water – because no water is more holy than any other! You see no water by itself can perform the miracle of baptism! It isn’t the amount or kind of water, it is the Word connected to the water that brings us God’s grace!

7) SALVATION! Enough about the water! It is an important visible sign of an invisible and divine gift! So, let’s talk about the benefits of God’s all powerful and life-giving Word being attached to H2O! What are the benefits of Baptism? First, the Gospels make it very clear that Baptism 1) is connected to salvation! Mark wrote (16:16), “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” And in Titus, we read (3:5-6), “God saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” The saving power of baptism is not in a Pastor, a ceremony, or in a place. The saving power comes from the Holy Spirit mysteriously using the water to save us from sin, Satan, and death! Yet, through Baptism comes salvation.

8) LIMITED? Another sidebar; Whereas Jesus intended Baptism to be the main way salvation comes to us, God will not be limited to it. When Jesus was hung on the cross with two criminals, one of them asked Jesus to remember Him when he got to heaven. And Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) No where does it say Jesus requested water to baptize the criminal, nor was the thief likely to have been baptized previously. God is never limited by the fact that salvation is primarily given in Baptism! Rare exceptions exist. But why would any believing person or parent, not want to have God bestow this gift upon them or their child? Baptism is indubitably connected to salvation!

9) CONNECTS US TO CHRIST! Baptism also 2) connects us to Christ! Obviously if Baptism brings us Salvation, it brings us into greater contact with Jesus, the source of salvation! St. Paul told us in his letter to the Romans: “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 live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection…. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him…. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:4-5, 8, 11). Baptism and Christ are inseparable! In our baptism Jesus claims us as His own! At Jesus’ baptism God looked down and said, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." (Mark 1:11), and on the day you were baptized Christ likewise said, “You are my child, whom I love; with you I am well pleased!” Baptism forever connects us to Christ and His gift of salvation!

10) SINS FORGIVEN! Now how can God on our baptism day “be pleased” with us? (Broken Sinners? Self-centered and weak? Unable to live according to His will?) Well, because of what Jesus did for us on the cross! You see, the pure and sinless one took our sins upon Himself and paid the penalty for our sins. So God in baptism 3) forgives and washes away our sins! Do you know how unlikely this miracle is? Think about it; we were born sinful – disobedient, rebellious, self-centered, not God-centered! Even Las Vegas bookies would say the odds were against us ever being one with God. We were steeped in sin, separated from God’s love. In other words we needed saving! But the fact that we once had it good in the Garden of Eden and then ruined it for ourselves – proves we were incapable of restoring our relationship with God! Our sin separated us from God and His blessings! Everyone generation was born sinful, spiritually dead, imperfect – sinning against God and one another! We always failed and fell short of His holy requirements. It appeared so unlikely that we would ever know peace with God. It seems so unlikely to us, but then… He put His plan into action! It was a miracle of sins forgiven through Jesus that allows God to be pleased with the baptized!

11) WASHING! Peter said “Repent and be baptized, everyone one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38) Ananias told Saul shortly after his conversion, “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” (Acts 22:16). Later Paul told the Colossians, “In [Christ] you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature….having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:11-14). Baptism is the miracle of washing away our sins. The old sinful Adam and Eve within us get drown in our baptism! Our sins are remembered no more! God see us as pure, righteous, and Holy because of Jesus’ actions! And we began to receive that cleansing and washing on the day of our baptism! God’s grace makes our unlikely restoration with God possible through the washing away of sin!

12) HOLY SPIRIT! Our baptism also 4) brings us the Holy Spirit! Titus (3:5b) says “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”. The Apostle John reminds us (3:5) “Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.’” Through the miracle of Holy Baptism, the Holy Spirit comes and does the unthinkable: He enters dead hearts, (these unclean temples of ours), rolls up His sleeves and begins the miracle of washing and renewing. In our baptism the Holy Spirit comes to us and creates “saving faith” in our hearts. Remember, last week we saw how faith is a gift from God. And now through our baptism the Holy Spirit is released and free to begin the creation, maintenance and growth of our faith! Through the Holy Spirit’s work we are reborn into a new relationship with God.

13) GOD’S FAMILY! Our baptism also 5) makes us a part of God’s family! Can you grasp Paul’s words to the Galatians and us when he said, (3:26-27) “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” You and I can claim to be “God’s family” because that’s what God made us in baptism! Baptism is God’s declaration to us, not our promise to him. Is it the adopted child that takes “oaths of faithfulness” to their new family, or pays any legal fees to join the family? No! The adopting parents do those things to seal the adoption! In the same way, when we doubt our standing with God we just need to look back on our baptism and remind ourselves that it was the Holy Spirit who came to us! And God the Father declared with certainty: “You are my child!” The Father paid for our adoption, through Jesus! He adopted us! Amazingly, God’s family is world wide and even includes the saints from the past, and future members still to come! That’s why (except in emergencies) we do not do private baptisms – for if we’re coming into God’s family, the family ought to be there! Then, publicly, and on behalf of the entire Christian community, we proclaim to God and one another how we will support and love the newly adopted. Being baptized makes you a part of God’s family!

14) MISSION! Also, Baptism 6) is recruitment to the church’s gospel mission to the world. Baptism not only saves you from something (sin, Satan, and death), it saves you for something! All the baptized are commissioned to speak the Good News of Jesus Christ in and to all the world! In our baptism we received a spiritual gift that is unique and specifically given to be a productive member of the body of Christ! Christians are not designed to work alone! We are incomplete without each other! Jesus’ call in The Great Commission and The Great Commandment belong to all the baptized! We won’t go into great detail here, (we’ve preached on this countless times), other than to say that the Holy Spirit encourages, inspires, and empowers us to fulfill our part in God’s great mission to bring all His children back into a loving and growing relationship with Him! In baptism, Jesus has made His mission our own! Only by working together, can we fulfill His mission!

15) CHILDREN? Now let’s talk about WHO is to be baptized! Some Christians claim children have to have reached the “age of reasoning” and can make a “decision for Christ” in order to understand the gift being bestowed on them! First of all, we saw last week that faith in itself is a gift from God! (Ephesians 2:8) So we Lutherans baptize children because 1) Baptism is not a works – but a gift of grace! It is not our holiness, intelligence, or actions that get us into heaven – we are saved by Grace alone! That’s why we baptize children because as the Holy Spirit is released into young hearts - faith is created and sustained! Let’s face it, I’ve been studying Baptism all my life, and I still don’t understand all there is about the gift of Baptism – I am still growing into the gift! And so will our children grow into the gift with the help of the Holy Spirit! And 2) children need grace too! They are born self-centered, not God-centered – a part of a sinful race! And God’s children can be reached through God’s grace - released in Baptism! 3) No where does the bible forbid child baptism! In fact, we read Jesus said to go to all the nations. Are children a part of every nation? Do we count children in our censuses? Of course! 4) Whole households were regularly being baptized in the New Testament ( a dozen examples are given) – and the word “household” included servants, slaves, and children! 5) Adoption does not require knowledge or acceptance from a child! It is the hopeful parents who step forward to do the work, make the pledges, and pay the price of adoption. Likewise, God can adopt children without their knowledge, and they will be blessed by it then and later on! 6) Children can possess property without their knowledge. College funds and property can be legally theirs. Likewise the kingdom of God can be theirs, without their knowledge. And 7) records indicate the early church baptized infants – and these leaders had a “fresh memory” of the apostles and their teachings! Baptism is the beginning of the working of the Holy Spirit; forgiving, blessing, adopting, empowering, preparing even children for their place in the church and its mission!

16) EVERY DAY! Now some of you may wonder – “But Pastor, my baptism was decades ago – how does God still grant me grace through it? Is it not a past event?” Hardly! Martin Luther said, “Baptism is something we do in the church one day, but it takes the rest of our lives to finish. In baptism we have new life in Christ, but as babes who are brought to its waters continue to grow, we too must continue to grow, to obey, to believe, and to serve. We must continually have poured upon us love, grace, and power. We must continually find refreshment through the waters of worship, word and sacrament.” See, that old Adam and Eve keep raising up their ugly head every day! And in our baptism we are given the grace, spirit, and power to drown them – everyday! We need to be forgiven and washed clean – every day! We need to be remade “new creatures” in Christ – every day! Our baptism is an ongoing daily process! Every Christian needs a daily renewal! Every day we need the grace the ongoing gift of baptism releases within us! Therefore baptism remains forever! The Christian life is nothing other than a daily baptism once begun and continued every day!

17) GRACE! Friends, the harsh truth is, your sinful nature deserves to spend an eternity separated from God’s light and love! And yet through the gracious gift of your baptism, your sin is drown daily and what emerges is a newborn child of God! Christ wants you to know that God now sees you as “Perfect”. “Righteous”. “Holy”. “Beloved”. And so now God sends you back into the world - filled with the Holy Spirit, gifted with faith in Jesus Christ, united with God’s family, and empowered to do good works by serving others. Baptism – grace, baptism – grace, baptism – grace! Receive it, bath in it, let it pour down upon you daily – and thank God for the ongoing miracle of your baptism! Praise God! AMEN!

Opening prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we gather here this morning to continue the amazing journey that began when you adopted us as your children in our baptism! We come to praise you because when it came to being saved – it was all you! We come to worship you because when it comes to being forgiven and washed clean from our sins – it is all you! We bow our head and kneel before you, because when it comes to being healed and renewed – it is all you! You Lord immersed us in grace before we even knew what it was! You poured your unconditional love upon us before we knew it ever existed! You sent your Holy Spirit to transform our hearts before we ever though of asking for it! And you made us beloved members of your eternal family even though we deserved none of it! All this you did in our baptism! As we reflect this day upon this miracle that continues to bring us new life, draw us ever closer to you that we may reflect your grace and love to a world in need! Wash us clean, renew our spirits, and empower us to serve you and those you love according to your gracious will! In Jesus Name we pray, AMEN

Sermon/Confessional Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we have endless opportunities every day to bow our hearts before you and have the waters of our baptism wash us clean again. And yet so rarely do we come to you to do so. We so rarely reflect upon the sacrifice of your Son, who sacrificially took our sins upon His shoulders and paid our penalty, that we might stand before you now righteous and pure! Forgive us! And help us to see and praise you for the miracle that happened in our baptism!

Lord, we confess that we often walk around feeling alone and without purpose, because we forget that you have adopted us into your family, and given us a special calling to fulfill your mission! We have not always been eager to have our spiritual gifts revealed, nor take our place in the body of Christ! We have not always been eager to have the old Adam and Eve within us drown daily – and often cling to selfish desires and goals. Forgive us, and help us to offer ourselves to you every day, that we may become what you planned us to be – serving you and others according to your loving, gracious, and perfect will!

And now Lord, although you know us better than we know ourselves, listen as we share in a moment of silence, those other parts of our lives that need to be forgiven, washed clean, healed, and recommitted to you! (made anew.)

(Silence)

Lord, through the miracle of Baptism you made us your own! Continue to draw us closer to you, fill us with your Holy Spirit, teach us to join together as your faithful family, and empower us to follow and imitate you as we seek to fulfill your mission to a hurting and broken world! AMEN

Assurance of Forgiveness:

Friends, listen to the good news: The Lord, who brings you the “Water and Word” that brings you new life, …that Lord has mercifully heard your confession and eagerly forgives you all your sins. Go now, knowing that everything you seek that is life-giving is found in the Lord, who eagerly makes Himself available to you daily in the Waters of your baptism! Bath in it daily, and share the spiritual benefits with all you meet! In Jesus Name we pray! AMEN

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