Acts 16:25-34 What is the Meaning of Baptism? May 28, 2006

A drunk stumbled along a baptismal service on Sunday afternoon down by the river. He proceeded to walk down into the water and stood next to the Preacher. The minister turned and noticed the old drunk and said, "Mister, Are you ready to find Jesus?" The drunk looks back and says, "Yes, Preacher. I sure am." The minister then dunked the fellow under the water and pulled him right back up. "Have you found Jesus?" the preacher asks.
"No, I didn't!" says the drunk. The preacher then dunks him under for quite a bit longer, brings him up and says, "Now, brother, have you found Jesus?" "No, I did not Preacher."
The preacher in disgust holds the man under for at least 30 seconds this time brings him out of the water and says in a harsh tone, "Friend, are you sure you haven't found Jesus yet?"
The old drunk wipes his eyes and says to the preacher..."Are you sure this is where he fell in?"

This morning, we come to the waters of baptism and we do come here to find Jesus. And I am sure this is where he fell in. To be more precise: I am sure that this is where Jesus is. These waters of baptism, just as with the table of communion, are where we are guaranteed to find Jesus because this is where he has promised to be. In these two rituals, Christ has promised to be here. We can find him if we are looking. Even in his final words to his disciples, he mentioned baptism for all the world and he promised to be with us always. But why is baptism important? What does baptism mean? And why do we baptize small children?

One great place to find some answers to these questions is in the official UM document called “By Water and the Spirit.” I have included the UM Web Site where you can find this document. I would encourage you to explore there to learn more. But what can we say briefly this morning?

First, we believe baptism is important because Jesus was baptized. Now I want to do whatever Jesus did. If he did it then I will do it. Furthermore, Jesus commanded us to be baptized. I want to be obedient to Christ's commands and so I will be baptized. And Jesus promised to meet us here in baptism and I certainly want to find Jesus. So baptism is important and is our first act of obedience to Jesus Christ.

What does baptism mean? When I talked with Julia and Dana about Baptism, I asked them what were some things that water could do for you. They told me that you could wash with it. That is exactly right. Baptism is a washing. It is a symbol for the forgiveness of our sins. In Acts 2, Peter told the people to come and be baptized and have their sins forgiven. These two girls also told me that we drink water and that we need it to live. That is also exactly right. Baptism is a symbol of new life for us. II Corinthians 5 tells us that in Christ, the old has passed away and we are made new creations. Baptism represents a forgiveness of the old and gives us a symbol for the new life to come. Finally, Baptism is a doorway, a birth, into a new family. We do not understand baptism as merely something that an individual does as a public proclamation of faith. We understand baptism as a corporate, communal, family action. Baptism brings you into the body of Christ, the church, the family of God. Baptism says, “This person belongs to us, is one of us.”

So why do we baptize such small children, even babies? Well, let me tell you an amazing thing that you can find in our official UM document “By Water and the Spirit.” Here it is: We do not baptize children. Did you hear that? The United Methodist Church does not baptize children. What we do is we baptize the children of believers. What do I mean? We recognize that in a missionary situation such as the first century church or on some mission field today, Christians would not baptize small children. Why? Because baptism is an incorporation into the body of Christ, the church. If you have no church filled with believers, then you cannot baptize children. First, you must have a church of adults who have faith and who will make vows to raise children in faith. Only when you have adult believers can you then baptize small children. “By Water and the Spirit” teaches this fact. However, once you have believing parents, then the children are also brought into the body of Christ. Why?

In the Old Testament, the children of the people of Israel were circumcised into the community of faith. At eight days of age, male babies were made a part of the faith community. God had grace in the Old Testament to receive children. Does God have less grace in the New Testament? No. God has more and more grace. And Jesus says, “Let the children come to me.”

In the New Testament, as in the story of the Philippian jailer, whole families were baptized. We see in our scripture passage today, that Paul baptized the whole family. This fits with what we know from history in the Jewish faith. In ancient times, if a pagan man converted to Judaism, several things occurred. All the males in the family were circumcised. Offerings were made to God. And everyone in the family was ritually washed, baptized, for cleansing of sin. Early Christians used a similar practice.

We know from historical sources that the early church practiced the baptism of small children. In second and third century documents we find evidence of this practice. Some Christians think that infant baptism was some sort of late, middle ages, Roman Catholic development. However, we know historically that it was very early.

Finally, almost all Christians for two thousand years and all over the world practice infant baptism. Because we live in South Carolina where the Southern Baptist Church is dominant, we feel like infant baptism is different, not widely practiced, and maybe not right. But if we look at the whole wide Christian world, we realize that almost all Christians baptize their children. Roman Catholics and Orthodox, the two largest groups in the world, do so. Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Methodists do so. I am not saying that adult believer's baptism is wrong. In fact, our United Methodist teaching is open to all forms of baptism—sprinkling, pouring, and full immersion in water. So our way of baptism is not the only one that is right. But we are not wrong. Our practice of baptism links us and this morning will link these two young girls to a world wide movement and fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ.

Baptism is a washing. Baptism is new life. Baptism is a new family. Baptism is a place where you can find Jesus Christ. You can find him here this very morning. Not just for these two who come to the waters. In your heart, you too can come to the waters. You can give thanks for your own baptism. You can again seek Jesus and find him. Amen.