“St. Paul on Baptism”
A sermon by Sid Burgess for Edgewood PC, Birmingham, AL
Baptism of the Lord Sunday, January 11, 2009
Text: Acts of the Apostles 19:1-7
As most of you know, I like to joke about the Presbytery Police. Whenever one of my clergy colleagues shows up for worship here I like to point them out, as if flashing my headlights to warn on-coming cars that “Smokey” is lurking up ahead. It would never do for us to be caught skipping the prayer of confession, speeding past our scripture lessons, or singing from the Baptist hymnal. Of course, there is no such agency as Presbytery Police. Although our local Church governing body, does have certain enforcement and regulatory powers they never involve plain-clothed ‘officers’ hiding between the pews.
Now our man Paul does have a background in law enforcement. He concedes in his letters that he was a vigorous persecutor of early Christians. (See Gal. 1.13, 1.23; 1 Cor. 15.9, etc.) In today’s excerpt from the Acts of the Apostle, Paul, yet to become a saint, is making a visit to the New Testament church at Ephesus. You can just imagine how nervous the members of First Church Ephesus must have been when the famous apostle shows up on a Sunday morning, asking the questions. His first: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” To their credit, the members at First Church Ephesus answer Paul directly and candidly: “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
Clearly, there is a deficiency in the faith of these Ephesians. But note here that the great missionary does not jump on their case. Does not criticize their leadership. After all, it would take the Church centuries to articulate the doctrine of the Trinity--God defined in terms of relationship: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three-in-one. Instead of pouncing on these gentle folks, Paul probes deeper. “Into what then were you baptized?” That is a question comparable to our Session’s inquiry of new members: “Tell us about your baptism.” “Tell us about your baptism,” because baptism is the starting point for the life of faith. It is the experience common to all Christians, regardless of when or where or how we have come to faith in Jesus as Lord.
The Ephesians respond, “We were all baptized in the tradition of John the Baptist.” Once again, we might expect Paul to pounce, telling the Ephesians they’ve got it all wrong. Instead, St. Paul tells them what is all right: “John baptized with the baptism of repentance . . . .” This reference to repentance reminds me of the story Garrison Keillor tells about “Larry the Sad Boy.” “Larry the Sad Boy” was saved twelve times! And twelve conversions is an all-time record in the Lutheran Church. In the Lutheran Church there is no altar call, no invitation, no choir singing 19 verses of "Just As I Am." These are Lutherans, and like Presbyterians, “they repent the same way that they sin--discreetly and tastefully.” Keillor writes, Granted, we're born in original sin and are worthless and vile, but twelve conversions is too many. God didn't mean us to feel guilty all our lives. There comes a point when you should dry your tears and join the building committee and start grappling with the problems of the church furnace and the church roof and make church coffee and be of use.1
Well, back in Ephesus, St. Paul gently helps the faithful “see the light”--the light we learned last week that “shines in the darkness” and cannot be overcome. Paul reminds these followers of John the Baptist that they were “to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus,” God’s eternal light. Once the Word has been rightly proclaimed, the Ephesians are baptized by Paul in the name of the Risen Christ. Through this baptism, and the laying on of hands, this small band of believers experiences the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then, our narrator says, they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Now, if we all started “jabbering unintelligibly” and claiming prophetic visions we might find that the Presbytery police do, in fact, exist. So a bit of explanation is in order. “Speaking in tongues” is not to be confused with the experience of Pentecost, when the disciples spoke in foreign languages and were clearly understood. Here in Ephesus, “speaking in tongues” is Paul’s “shorthand” to signify that following their baptism in the name Jesus, the Ephesians experienced a profound worship for which words were inadequate. Says NT scholar Charlie Courser, “The lively Spirit of God produces lively worship.”2 There is nothing wrong and everything right with “lively worship,” even for Presbyterians and Lutherans!
About prophesy . . . . Professor Cousar says the narrator is making a connection to ancient Hebrew scripture--to Numbers 11.29, which reads: “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them.” In other words, would that all of God’s people would testify to God’s demands for justice, mercy, peace. Would that all of us would accept the leading of the Spirit to challenge injustice in the world, in the church, and in our own lives.
In the pursuit of “lively worship,” and in the hope that we shall be strengthened for the ministry to which God has called us, it has become our custom here at Edgewood Church to renew our baptismal vows each year on Baptism of the Lord Sunday. Some of us vividly remember taking these vows as youth or adult. Others of us know that loving parents once held us dear in their arms, and made these vows on our behalf. Still others of us must make do with only the vaguest of memories, giving thanks to God that the effectiveness of our baptism is not dependant upon the knowledge or faith or purity of heart of those involved--neither priest nor pastor, neither parent nor child nor adult--but on grace and mercy of God.
Baptism signifies the beginning of life in Christ, not it’s completion. That’s why we baptize infants. We want to show that God’s promises to us include our children. We also want to show that God’s grace is present within us from the beginning. God’s love is not something we have to go out and find, surely not something we can earn.
Someone once asked Southern humorist Roy Blount if he believed in
infant baptism.
He replied, “Believe in it! Shoot, I have even seen it!”
“Baptism is to be received only once,” according to Presbyterian understanding. As there is only one body, one Christ, one Lord, there s only one Baptism, says St. Paul (Eph 4:4-6). The Presbyterian Church USA recognizes all Baptisms with water in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, administered by other Christian Churches. Baptism is to be received only once, but there is no limit on the number of times we can- and should--renew our baptismal vows. No limit on the number of times we can hear the blessing, “Child of the covenant, claimed as Christ’s own.”
In just a few moments you will be invited to come to the baptismal font, dip your hand in the clear, pure water, and hear once more God’s blessing on you.
To Jesus Christ, who loves us
and freed us from our sins by his blood
and made us to be a kingdom,
priests of his God and Father,
to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Rev. 1: 5,6
1Garrison Keillor, “The Exiles,” Listening for God,
Paula J. Carlson and Peter S. Hawkins, eds. (Minneapolis: Augsburg
Press, 1994), p. 120.
2Cousar, Charlie, et al. TEXTS FOR PREACHING, Year B, p.
102.