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May 17, 2009
“The Water”
I John 5: 1-11
Sunday, May 17, 2009
It is our privilege and a joy to be able to administer the Sacrament of Baptism on and for Lizzi Kucik this morning. This momentous occasion necessitates a sermon explaining some aspect of the sacrament of Christian Baptism. Please note that I said “some aspect”. The sacraments of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism are so multi-faceted that it is impossible to touch on all of the meanings and benefits of baptism in the time we have set aside for the sermon this morning. So I have warned you, what I am about to say is not the final word on the sacrament of Christian Baptism, nor will it be a comprehensive discourse on this sacrament. But I think that this passage gives us a chance to think about Baptism in an orthodox yet creative way.
Any discussion of Baptism should place this sacrament in the context of the Christian Community. Baptism’s are normally done in a church sanctuary or in the context of public worship. Baptisms are normally done in and by the Christian Community. It is not just an individual’s event or even a family event, it is an event to be celebrated by the entire congregation with which the baptized person and their family worships.
We are reminded of this somewhat obliquely in the beginning paragraph of our passage this morning. Our passage tells us that all who believe in Jesus have been born of God. If we love God we are to love God’s children. And we are to obey His commandments.
In the sacrament of Baptism we demonstrate God’s love on those we think He has called to follow Him: Believers and the children of believers. And in this sacrament we promise to care for and support those whom we baptize.
And in doing so, we obey his command to baptize those who have been chosen by Him.
This passage also reminds us that there is something other-worldly about our faith. Our faith in Jesus gives us the power to overcome the world. We can overcome some of the sinfulness and strife that is present in this world by the power of the one who gives us freedom from death.
It is the second paragraph that gets us specifically into the area of the sacrament of Baptism. Speaking of Jesus the passage says in verses 6-8 “This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only, but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. There are three that testify, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree.”
Now it is not too difficult to understand that the Spirit of God testifies as to the truth of Jesus being the Christ or the Messiah and bringing God’s salvation. The Spirit inspired the OT prophets and the NT Apostles to write about the divinity of Jesus and the salvation he brings.
But what is the water and the blood? The blood would of course refer to the death of Jesus that supplied the sacrifice for our sins. The concept of Bloody sacrifices, or the killing of animals for the abatement of God’s wrath against our sins is found throughout the Old Testament. In the Sacrament of the Lord’s supper we celebrate the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross to pay in full for our sins.
But what about the water? This passage says that Jesus came by water. There have been conflicting opinions about what this verse means. Some think it refers to the baptism of Jesus, some think it refers to the water that flowed out of the hole in his side when he was pierced after his death on the cross. I don’t think we have to be exclusive here. I think we can think of Jesus earthly ministry beginning and ending with water. But what does it mean that Jesus came with water?
Jesus was baptized by John and Jesus authorized his apostles to baptize those who believed in Jesus during his life and after his resurrection. But where did this practice of baptism come from?
Before John and Jesus the Jews were already baptizing. They had made a practice of baptizing those Gentiles who converted to Judaism. This baptism obviously was symbolic of washing the impure practices of the gentiles from these converts, of cleaning them up for their new lives with God’s chosen people.
But when you read the Old Testament I think you will find another reason for baptism. Many of the definitive events of Jewish History involved passing through water. Noah saved the human race and the animal kingdom by passing through the waters of the flood. Moses passed through the waters of the Nile at the beginning of his life’s journey to free God’s people. The people of Israel started their journey into the promised land by marching through the sea, surrounded by the waters of the sea. They later started their lives in the promised land by crossing over the Jordan while the waters ceased flowing just long enough for them to cross.
Jesus started his ministry by being baptized and commanded that all those who believed in him should be baptized. Baptism marks the beginning of our journey with God, it marks the beginning of our living in pursuit of God’s promises. Baptism marks our becoming a part of the covenant of Salvation that was completed by the work of Jesus but began with the work of Noah in riding the ark through the flood.
In Christian Baptism we are baptized in the name of Jesus because He completed the covenant. But in Christian Baptism we are also joined with Noah, Moses, the jews of the Exhile, the Jews who crossed over the Jordan, John the Baptist and countless others who have come through the waters and have come into the covenant of God’s Salvation. Baptism is for those of us who are a part of God’s Community, those who believe in the Salvation that was predicted by the OT believers and finally accomplished by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Lizzi is too young to have expressed a faith in Jesus. But it is our plan and the intent of her family that she shall. Her parents and we will declare in a few moments that we intend to live before her and instruct her so that she will embrace the love of God and the salvation that comes from Jesus. So today we will pass her through the waters of Baptism to declare that we want her to live in and for the promises of God through Jesus Christ. We hope that this day will begin her pursuit of God’s promises.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at May 17, 2009 04:38 PM