Sidney UMC - Baptism of the Lord Sunday - 01/12/2020 - Sermon - “Sprinkle or Dunk?”

Sunday 01/12/20 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title:             “Sprinkle or Dunk?”

Old Testament Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-9

                                           

New Testament Scripture: Acts 10:34-43

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 3:13-17

          Welcome again friends, on this our Baptism of the Lord Sunday. As we know, about two and a half weeks ago, we celebrated Christmas on December 25th. Jesus was a newborn baby in a manger. Joseph and Mary then fled to Egypt with Jesus. Last Sunday, on Epiphany Sunday, we celebrated the visit of the Wise Men or Magi. With them they brought gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.  Mary and Joseph then bring Jesus back to Israel from Egypt and raise him in Nazareth.

          Today however, is Baptism of the Lord Sunday. This means that today, Jesus is now thirty-years old, and is going to get baptized by his cousin John the Baptist, in the Jordan River. Pretty amazing if you ask me. Two and half weeks ago, Jesus is born on Christmas, and today he is thirty-years old and getting baptized. Wow!

          The Christian Church calendar is set up this way, because after Joseph and Mary bring young Jesus to be raised in Nazareth, we hear really nothing about Jesus until he is thirty-years old. There is one exception though. In the gospel of Luke 2:41-52, Jesus who is twelve-years old, goes to Jerusalem with his parents for the Jewish Passover holiday. While there, Jesus goes into the temple, and Joseph and Mary lose him. They eventually find him in the temple and see his great wisdom and holiness (Lk. 2:41-52, NRSV).

          So how do we get from baby Jesus on Christmas, to Jesus being thirty-years old and getting baptized by his cousin John the Baptist today? Well since we only have one story of Jesus as a child, being twelve in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and since we have nothing else, the church decided to speed up the calendar. This means after we celebrate the visit from the Wise Men or the Magi, we go right into Jesus starting his public ministry at the age of thirty. Pretty fast if you ask me!

          There is a non-official and heretical gospel of Thomas that discusses Jesus’ childhood, but this gospel has never been accepted as a fully inspired work of God. This means that there might be some nuggets of truth in the gospel of Thomas, but it has never been accepted by the church as an authentic and trustworthy gospel.

          Since we now understand why so quickly after Christ’s birth on Christmas, we celebrate this Baptism of the Lord Sunday, I want to talk about baptism.

          First off, to move into this topic, we are given a reading once again from the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah for this morning, predicting Jesus’ baptism and ministry on earth. In Isaiah 42:1-4 is says once again:

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching”

(Isa. 42:1-4, NRSV).

          Interesting that Jesus’ first called disciples were called from the shore or coastline of the Sea of Galilee. This scripture from the Prophet Isaiah then continues and concludes talking about Jesus’ nature, what he will do, and his significance.

          In our reading for this morning once again from the Book of Acts 10, the Apostle Peter is speaking. Peter tells us who Jesus is, about his baptism, and about his ministry on earth. Peter then tells us about Jesus death, resurrection, and the forgiveness of sins through Jesus (Act. 10:34-43, NRSV).

          This leads us to talking about baptism, and our gospel lesson from Matthew for this morning. The baptism of Jesus is discussed in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and indirectly in the gospel of John.

          So, the gospel of Matthew account for this morning once again says:

^“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:13-17, NRSV).

          So, in this gospel lesson, which is in part where I got my sermon title for this morning from, Jesus is baptized by immersion. Some people call this getting “dunked.” John the Baptist when he baptizes Jesus, pushes him under the water, and then lifts him back up.

          Interestingly to, our gospel reading for this morning ends once with:

“And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased”

(Mt. 3:13-17, NRSV).

          In this scene of Jesus coming up from the waters of baptism, we have the Father in heaven speaking, the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove, and Jesus himself. In this baptism scene, we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The word “Trinity” isn’t in the bible, but scriptures like this clearly show that God is a Trinity. In this scripture all three persons of the one true God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are present.

          In what we commonly call “The Great Commission,” Jesus instructs the disciples and us how to baptize. Jesus says once again:

“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:16-20, NRSV).

          The mission of the United Methodist Church is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ, for the transformation of the world”. Jesus tells us in his “Great Commission” in the gospel of Matthew to make disciples everywhere, and when we do, to baptize them in the name of Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We are then to teach them the gospel that Jesus taught to his disciples.

          We do baptisms in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit therefore, because Jesus himself told us to do so.

          The question is though, as my sermon title says for this morning, should we “sprinkle or dunk”? Should we only baptize people by immersion under the water, or by sprinkling water on there heads. Further, should we baptize babies, like we do in the United Methodist Church, or should we only baptize people that are old enough to make a profession of faith in Christ before the whole church?

          This is not as big of an issue as it once was, but whether we baptize babies or not, was once a large dividing wedge in the church.

          The Baptist movement of Christian Churches is named after John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus by immersion. The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4:4-6:

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:4-6, NRSV).

          So, one God, and one baptism. Yet in some Christian Churches if you were baptized as a baby, that baptism doesn’t count. These Christian Churches would argue that you need to be re-baptized. Historically Baptists were called “Anabaptists,” which means re-baptizers.

          In Christian Churches that hold that you must be old enough to profess your faith in Christ, and then be baptized, there is the idea of the age of accountability. This means, if you aren’t old enough to understand faith in Christ, then you are not old enough to accept Christ. Upon accepting Christ, they argue, then baptism occurs. After all Jesus was baptized by immersion, as was the Ethiopian Eunuch in the Book of Acts. Many of the baptisms in the bible though didn’t specify the method of baptism though. Further in some stories of the bible, entire families, of all ages were baptized.

          If a baby, a child cannot understand and declare their faith in Jesus Christ though, then why would we baptize them? I mean, what if they grow up and reject Christ? Why as United Methodists do, we baptize babies? Is it just a holdover from the Roman Catholic Church?

          The answer is original sin and covenant. Since Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden by eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. From this point on, humanity was and is afflicted with a sickness, an illness. This illness is sin, and we are all afflicted with it. We are born into sin, and the world is full of it. Further, we cannot be righteous before God with sin, so we baptize babies in part to call upon the Holy Spirit to remove this stain of sin that we all have. Further, in the Jewish faith, boys were and sometimes still are circumcised at eight-days old, as a sign of God’s covenant. We baptize babies as a sign of our covenant with God through Jesus Christ. We also baptize babies, because we are grafting them to Christ and the Christian faith. Historically, you are not a member of the Universal Christian Church until you are baptized. In the United Methodist Church, when you are baptized you become a baptized member. When you profess your faith in Christ later, you become a professing member.

          In the United Methodist Church, we as a church, and the baby or child’s family, also makes a covenant to raise this child to know Christ. We promise to love and nurture this child in the Christian faith.

          One day, we then hope that this child will be confirmed in the church. Through doing this, the child, who is now of the age of accountability, can then profess faith in Christ for themselves.

          Christian Churches that support believer baptism though would argue that in being immersed in the baptism waters, we die to ourselves, and our raised to new life in Christ.

          I have often said that if you baptize a baby or a child, and if that child gets confirmed one day, it is the opposite of what churches with believer baptism do. These churches often have baby dedications in the church, but on the day of the teenager’s baptism, they first profess their faith in Christ. So before being baptized, they profess to the church their faith in Christ, and then they are baptized. I call this pulling the car into the garage or backing the car into the garage. Either way, the car gets into the garage. We profess and are baptized, or we are baptized and profess.

          Further, as United Methodists we are not opposed to baptizing by immersion, as I love baptism by immersion. The real divide here has been, is the person being baptized able to profess their faith in Christ? Baptism is an act of the Holy Spirit, and our profession of faith in Christ is our salvation. Baptism by itself does not give us eternal life. Eternal life is granted by having faith in Christ alone If we believe in Christ as our Lord and Savior, and if we repent of our sins to him, then we are saved.

          So, do we “sprinkle or dunk” for baptism. I find value in both. If families don’t want to baptize their baby or child, then I baptize the child when they are ready. Jesus did command us to spread the gospel and baptize all people. The Apostle Paul also told us Ephesians, that there is one baptism. Do I think infant baptisms and believer baptisms both fulfill this? Absolutely! If we baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and call upon the Holy Spirit, then they are then part of the universal and Apostolic Christian Church.

          So, do we “sprinkle or dunk?” If we dunk, how long and how deep do we dunk? If we sprinkle, how much do we sprinkle? I think that baptism is act of God through the Holy Spirit, and since we are all born into sin, why not call upon God to cleanse and renew us? According to the scriptures, we need to have faith in Jesus in our hearts, and baptism is the universal entry point into the Christian Church.

          So, “sprinkle or dunk?” I doubt that we will ever universally agree on this, and indeed Jesus was baptized by immersion. I think we can make strong arguments for sprinkling or dunking. What matters though, what is essential though, is that we know Jesus Christ. So “sprinkle or dunk?” Amen.