Means of Grace, Part I: Baptism

13 January 2019 – Baptism of The Lord

Isaiah 43:1-7; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Aside from that disheartening, perplexing, infuriating, confusing issue that threatens the unity of the United Methodist Church (yes, that issue) is another issue which has divided Catholics from Protestants and even some Protestants from other Protestants.  This issue is a Sacrament of the Church – but it is also a means of grace; a way of experiencing The Lord and His mercy. 

Baptism.  As a Sacrament, we define it as evidence of The Lord’s self-giving; a sacred moment. Thus it is not something we do; it is something offered and freely given to which we respond.  Yet as fundamental as baptism is to the Christian life and the beginning of discipleship, we split even further when we dispute the means of delivery (i.e., sprinkling, pouring, or immersion) even though the Bible offers no prescription.  Then there is the issue of appropriate age, whether a few words must be spoken by the candidate before getting wet (like a profession of faith or the ‘sinner’s prayer’), ‘getting saved’, etc.  There are even disputes about whether one needs to be baptized at all. 

In short, we place a lot of man-made conditions and preconditions upon the Sacrament in spite of centuries of consistently taught doctrine, and we work most diligently to make the ritual as aesthetically pleasing for ourselves as we possibly can without realizing we are virtually tying The Lord’s Hands behind His back!  What is worse is we make the Sacrament more about “me” than about The Lord.

If there is a “bottom line” to baptism in the United Methodist Church, it is this: one cannot become a member of the United Methodist Church without having been baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  This is the biblical prescription from the mouth of our Lord.  This, of course, means adults coming from another denomination who have been so baptized – regardless of the means of delivery - are not required to be baptized again.  In fact, rebaptism in the UMC is prohibited.  For the tradition of baptizing infants, that infant becomes a preparatory member and then becomes a full member after instruction leading to Confirmation – when the child can profess and reasonably articulate his or her own faith.

Even in that light, however, there must be one thing we have to agree on for the sake of sound biblical doctrine: baptism ends nothing.  We have not “arrived” at glory merely by baptism.  Baptism is the beginning, a means to a much Greater End.  For the sake of numbers, it can make a pastor look very effective if he or she reports a great number of professions of faith; but if, after baptism, the person disengages from the life of the Church, refusing Scripture study and/or worship, something has gone wrong.  This is the reasoning behind our Lord’s “Great Commission” to the Holy Church to baptize AND make disciples.  It is not an either/or proposition.  If we baptize but do not make disciples, we’ve accomplished very little.  In a manner of speaking, we have disputed our Lord’s Word and His Commission to the Church.

Baptism is foundational for the whole of the Church universal, yet we stand divided even within our Wesleyan Methodist tradition.  The contemporary church has been a little too accommodating to individual tastes and preferences to responsibly teach what baptism really means and why it is important. 

It is our long-held belief, predating the Methodist Episcopal Church in America, and predating John Wesley, that baptism is initiation into the Church and into the Holy Covenant.  It is also the long-held belief that something much more profound than getting wet happens in this sacramental moment regardless of one’s age – and that, based in no small measure on what is written in the Scriptures.

Our sins, our past, our inclinations are symbolically washed away, but there is much more than mere symbolism.  Symbolism appeases us.  Symbolism is what we do for ourselves.  Yet in understanding the sacramental nature of baptism, something is done for us.  In the symbolic washing away of our sins, original or otherwise, we are substantially freed from the things of this world that have – and certainly will – interfere with our relationship with our truest self.

That True Self is the Divine Image in which we are created.  Thus it must be understood and believed that baptism – as a Sacrament, a means of grace – is ultimately an act of The Father.  When we present ourselves and our children to Him through His Holy Covenant in faith, He responds faithfully. 

However, it must also be understood that as we are adopted into the Holy Family as heirs to the Eternal Kingdom, it is no magic trick.  This is to say our Father does not take away our capacity to think and act independently.  From that moment, for young and old alike, instruction in the Word and the doctrines of the Church – Christian Education – is essential.  The relationship which begins in that moment must be developed and lived into, for it is that relationship which will enter into Eternity – not our relationship to US History or Algebra.

Getting baptized as a mere ritual, doing it because it was expected, and then walking away as though nothing happened almost literally means “nothing happened”.  Something was offered, but that Something was left hanging and unclaimed.  That Something is the Holy Spirit of the Living God.  That Something is the True Image in which we are created – and to which we must be restored.

This is the Gift which must be not only acknowledged and received but also fully embraced.  That Gift does not follow us around to be handy and available should we think we need it – sort of like a lucky rabbit’s foot.  Rather, that Gift is what we must become so that Gift may be conveyed to others in an unmistakable way.  And that can happen only if it becomes not just a part of us but the Whole Self; heart, mind, soul, and strength.

If baptism, then, is to serve the Church as a genuine and heaven-sent means of grace, it must be received as grace, as Divine Mercy, as a new beginning of a life we will never regret.  For it is the heart of our Holy Father we receive, and His Gift of Life.  Amen.