Baptism - Romans 6:1-5

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So what happens when we get baptised? What happens to someone when they go through that experience?  

To address that question, I want to first define a couple of words: sacrament and ordinance. 

When Christians use the word sacrament, they’re describing something that we do, and that is endowed by God with transformative power. Our spiritual condition—our spiritual state—is changed simply by doing it. 

An ordinance is something that Jesus commanded us to do, and when we do it, it is an expressive act. We act in response to Jesus’ command. In doing it, we open ourselves not to a transformative power of the act itself, but to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. 

For example, some church traditions see eucharist as a sacrament; the bread and wine themselves are imbued with power to impact us spiritually. In Baptist churches we believe that the elements themselves have no power. We do not doubt for a moment that when we come to the table to share the bread and the cup as Jesus has ordained, that He meets us there. Or that the Holy Spirit is working within and among those who come to the table. 

The bread and the wine themselves are emblems. They hold our focus. They turn our thoughts toward Jesus. They represent the power that is present. They do not hold the power themselves. There is nothing special in the bread or the wine. What is special is that Jesus meets us in that moment when we share the cup and the bread.  

Same idea with baptism. Baptism is an ordinance. The water and the words have no power to change us, but we have no doubt that when the water floods our skin, the Holy Spirit meets us in that moment. Meets us in our decision to become ourselves an emblem of what God is doing: a point of focus for our brothers and sisters who witness our baptism. Because when we're baptised, we are acting out the story of the work that God is doing in us, among us, through us.  

So what happens to us when we get baptised? Well, in one sense—nothing. Nothing happens to you because you are baptised.

What happens in us when we are baptised? That is the power of God meeting a believer in a moment of surrender.  

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Why do we do get baptised? To begin with, we do it as an act of obedience, following in Jesus’ footsteps because He Himself was baptised in water.  

[John the Baptiser] went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins...  Luke 3:3 

John the Baptiser was the first prophet that the nation had seen for centuries. Prophets had a reputation for being dramatic. John did not disappoint.  His prophetic ‘performance art’ was acting out what God had done when Israel came out of slavery in Egypt. John reminded them of the way they were led into the wilderness, down into the waters of the Red Sea, up out again, and on into what God had for them on the other side. John’s message to his people was, ‘This is who you are. This is your story. This is what you need to live. Because the King is coming and the Kingdom is here.’ 

Much to John's surprise, Jesus came to be baptised and John was like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, wrong way around. Jesus, You should be baptising me. You are the baptiser. You are the one who's going to flood us with the Spirit and with fire.’ 

Jesus disagrees. He doesn't get into a lot of explanations or theology. He just says to John, 

“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted him.    As soon as Jesus was Baptised, he went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased!”  Matthew 3:15-17 

So why do we get baptised? We get baptised because Jesus got baptised.  

Why did Jesus get baptised?  

For reasons that go back as far as those ancient days in the wilderness.  

The people had come out of slavery. They had built the first Tabernacle, a first place of worship in wilderness. The people would bring their offerings to the Tabernacle, and hand their offerings to the priests. The priests would sacrifice the offerings to Yahweh God. But the priests were commanded over and over again, in no uncertain terms, ‘Every time you come into the Tabernacle to represent your people, every time you come to stand before Yahweh God as a priest, every time... first wash yourself.’ They washed their hands and feet. Sometimes they washed their clothing and their entire bodies. People saw their priests cleansing themeselves over and over and over. Every single time, every day, every year, every generation, the priests washed themselves to prepare themselves for the work that only the priests could do.  

When it was time for Jesus to begin to take His stand as the greatest priest, as the ultimate and final High Priest, even though He was already perfectly clean within Himself, the people needed to see Him wash. Just like Israel went through the waters of the Red Sea and then up and out into their life of becoming who God was making them, in the same way Jesus went through the waters, then up and out into His ministry. He humbled Himself. He surrendered Himself to the hands of John the Baptiser: the imperfect, probably dirt-under-his-fingernails John. And Jesus received that priestly cleansing, that anointing, that initiation, that letting go of the past and moving into His future as both sacrifice and High Priest.  

So how can we not? How could we not follow Jesus’example and take that same journey. Have that same experience. Share that same experience. See each other have that same sensory experience: that representation of leaving behind what we have been and entering into what we are becoming.  

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The meanings of baptism are laid out for us by the writers of the New Testament. 

“...but I have a baptism to be baptised, and I am under so much pressure, so compelled until it is accomplished!” Luke 12:50   

Jesus spoke of His crucifixion as a baptism—His death and resurrection. 

In Romans 6:3-4, baptism is held as emblematic of dying to sin, and rising again to life in Christ. 

Baptism is...

Going down into the waters of sin ...

dying there ...

rising up again to breathe the air of freedom from slavery. 

In Acts 2:37-41, baptism is held as the natural response—the logical next step—to believing in Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit. 

1 Corinthians 12:13 speaks of being baptised into the body of Christ as we become part of His Church.

Baptism is...

Going down into the waters of pride and dysfunctional individualism ...

dying there ...

rising up again to breathe the air of belonging. 

 

In Galatians 3:26, baptism is compared to taking off old clothes, and putting on Christ. 

Baptism is...

Going down into the waters of self-sufficiency...

dying there ...

rising up again to breathe the air of our true identity: the image of God. 

 

In Ephesians 4, baptism is discussed in the context of finding new life, and being “sealed for the day of redemption:” not just our promise to God, but the stamp of His promise to us.   

Baptism is...

Going down into the waters of every kind of death ...

dying there ...

rising up again one day to breathe deep the eternal air of heaven. 

Baptism is emblematic. It's not just a box we tick, but a representation: not just of our faith, not just what He has done in us. It is also emblematic of Jesus’ greatest and final baptism: what He did for us on the cross, in the grave, and beyond. It is emblematic of what He will do for us one day when these bodies sink into the dark waters of death and are raised again into His ultimate life. 

When we are baptised, when we see each other baptised, that is the story we are telling each other. That is the promise we are repeating to each other—that we enter into death, He meets us there, and He brings us back into life. 

Why should you get baptised? Not just because it's an act of obedience (although sometimes we need to buckle down and do what we're told). The reasons for getting baptised are deep and rich and powerful. To be part of Christ's family. To be part of Christ's work. To tell that story to other believers. To give other believers the chance to rejoice with you in your journey.  

The life of Christian faith is not just intellectual assent to a set of propositions: this is true, and that is not. 

The life of Christian faith is not just a lifestyle: what music you listen to, what movies you watch, what words you use when you're angry.  

The life of Christian faith is not just an identity: a box to tick on the census form.  

The life of Christian faith is an adventure. It’s a journey. I know we use that word a lot and maybe it sounds like a cliche, but it’s true. The life of Christian faith is the terrain that we pass through as we follow Jesus on roads that are rough, and roads that are smooth. Sometimes climbing mountains, sometimes sliding down muddy slopes. Finding ourselves opened up to great, clear vistas of distance and perspective, and sometimes encountering waypoints and rest stops. Places that have been visited by generations before us. Finding there the graffiti, the footprints, the inukshuk that they have left behind for us. Places where we pause to look around and wonder at the beauty, or shudder at the devastation, and shake our heads at just how far we have come.  

Baptism is one of those moments when we stand still and allow our holy imagination to deepen and expand our understanding of who we are, of who He is, of what He has done for us, and what He calls us to do in response. 

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