Genesis1:15 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11 Psalm 29
Most religious cultures have some type of ritual cleansing practice. Removing "impurity" and sin is a human need before entering the presence of the Holy. Such rituals are visible expressions of spiritual realities which are invisible. Insincerity can empty the ritual of its power. To just be "going through the motions" disconnects the person's heart from the liturgical behavior rendering it meaningless. This is also true of Christian sacraments.
Water is ambiguous. We cannot live without it, but can be destructive. Water is connected to life and death, blessing and curse. The great waters of Genesis 1 are described as chaos which God must put into order. These same waters return as the flood in Noah's story. In Exodus water saves Israel but destroys Pharaoh's army. In both cases, those who belong to God 'pass through the waters' and are saved, while those opposed to God are swept away and perish. Yet, the story indicates that Noah's family and Israel do not leave sin and struggle behind. We, like them, must constantly repent and return to God our Savior.
The symbolic waters of baptism are also ambiguous. We are plunged into these waters to die--die to self, die to sin. We often down play the death part of baptism. It is also true that we emerge, a new creation in Christ, with the promise of life everlasting. Baptism cleanses us of sin and death; yet we continue to sin and we all die. The waters set us right with God, making us His holy children; yet too often we are alienated from God and one another.
Baptism is not magic. We still live in this world of light and darkness, a world where chaos is a constant threat and people, even good Christian people, are not perfect. Union with God is a work in progress. Repentance, confession and penance are the daily remedy for what is broken and incomplete. The Holy Spirit uses them to renew our baptismal purity. We are born again in baptism, but each day we battle to cling to the new life. We must pray, we must learn the Scriptures and we must love and serve the Lord and one another. This is the work of the Holy Spirit within us, but too many of us are like the people in Acts who had no experience of the Holy Spirit. The fullness of the Spirit's power is dormant within us, because we fail to understand and we do not believe. We cannot believe we are holy or that God is using us to save the world in Jesus Name. Perhaps, right now, we need to hear God say to each of us, "you are my beloved son, my beloved daughter." Hear it and believe. We need to trust that Abba Father is well pleased with us and loves us beyond our imaging. Hear it and believe it. We need to trust the Holy Spirit is already in us ready to do amazing things.
Baptism opens the door to eternity, but our baptism into Jesus happens in this finite world. We must cooperate with God as He divides the light from darkness in our own lives. As I said last week, we are in the process of becoming what we already are---one with the Triune God by grace.
The Father calls Jesus His beloved Son. Through faithful baptism, we receive the same designation. Beloved Son. Beloved daughters. So let us open our hearts to receive the power of baptism. Let us purify our minds and hearts, let us pray and study, so we can understand what God's Word and Spirit are telling us. Let us love and serve others as if creation depended upon it! Baptism is the beginning of an amazing journey deeper into the heart of God. It is not always an easy journey, it is actually very difficult, yet fear not, the journey's end is already within us, for God dwells in the heart of the baptized.
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