Commitment in the Water

 

we start off January with a look at the

It means "something sacred". 

There are certain practices in our Christian faith that bring us closer to the Lord in a special, holy way. There are specific actions or ways of living we have seen our Lord and Savior do himself that significance to our faith and our journey in this Christian life that we feel need to be held up as a way of divine connection. A couple of those practices we deem as Sacraments. In the United Methodist Church we focus on Baptism and Holy Communion (or the Eucharist) as those ways of being in touch with God's Grace. 

 

To take a closer look for yourself at the Sacraments in the UMC, click the banner below.

Many of us are doers by any logical sense. We want something we can do to help or make up for what we have done (or not done) in our lives. Many of us have been raised in what we would call a "believers baptism". You might be saying, "Its my decision and my right to be baptized." I was also raised in this tradition. I was baptized when i was 13 or 14. Went through church membership class. Was baptized on Palm or Easter Sunday. Then i stood down front of the congregation to declare my affirmation that I did believe in Jesus Christ. "Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?" Many of us understand our baptism through such channels of religion. But what if we looked at through another avenue? What if we looked at it through the lenses of God's Grace?

John Wesley, our theological founder and father of Methodism, would define baptism as "the initiatory sacrament that enters us into covenant with God." We should understand be now what a sacrament is, but do we understand the covenant part? What is it we are getting ourselves into? 

As United Methodists, we come to baptism through means of sprinkling water on the person. This has much to do with our beliefs of infant baptism. We do baptize little one in our tradition. We obviously cannot fully immerse a small baby. So, we have used the method of sprinkling and have given that mode of baptism to everyone. Some traditions pour water over the subject. And, many of us are familiar with the mode of full immersion. In all ways of doing baptism there is water present. Water is important. In an article from 2005 in Good News Magazine, the subject of baptism was front and center with questions about which mode was the correct way and how much water should be used. The question was answered with an interesting take. "As much water as possible." There really is no correct way. We could get all fundamental about it and say that we have do it as Jesus did it. If we come at it from that angle, we miss the point of true baptism. The Apostle Paul really hits the nail on the head here in his letter to the Romans. 

When we read the bible in our Western tradition, I would plead the case that we read to often looking for what our responsibility is. We like to be in control. We hear about God's grace, but too often look for what we are suppose to do. In our United Methodist view of baptism, we present the sacrament from the realm of God's grace for all. It is an interesting take if you have been brought to look at baptism from the view of responsibility on your part. Yes, there are duties and issues that we must confront in our Christian life. The direction is influenced by the Grace of God. That is where we should begin regardless of the subject matter. God draws us into His presence. He wants to make us a child in his family. Think of baptism as God wrapping his arm around you and making you one of his own. That is something that does not need to be repeated. Once God has made you His child, there is no need to do that over again. Which leads us into some deeper thoughts that will resonate into next week's message. 

The issues of backsliding and re-commitment will come up in the next sermon. I heard an old Nazarene revivalist preach years ago on these matters. He used the analogy of a bus trip. Lets say we are headed up I-71 toward Cleveland. Two hours into the trip, we experience a flat tire. Do we haul the bus all the way back to Columbus to fix the tire and then start the trip all over again. NO! We fix the tire where it is at and we continue heading to our destination. I have been fully immersed twice in my life. That church membership class in my early teens and then when I was 22. We were at a church service near a pond at a congregant's house. I felt I needed to do that. It is something I look back on with great fondness. But, later in life, hearing about God's Grace and becoming his child, I realize that I don't need to do that over and over. If I need reaffirm my covenant and my desire to follow, that is surely needed. We don't need to start the whole trip over again ( and again). 

God will walk with us and share with us until we reach our destination.
The journey will be a good one.