As we read the Book of Acts – the book that follows the beginnings of the new Church gathering around Jesus Christ, it’s interesting to note the peoples response to hearing the preaching of the apostles. In the very first sermon preached on Pentecost Sunday by Peter, the people respond: What shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you”. When Phillip met the Ethiopian eunuch on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, after having Phillip explain the Scriptures he was reading – As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized? He was immediately Baptised. When the jailer was witnessed to by Paul and Silas in prison he took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. There was no delay – no waiting until they were mature or old enough to make a decision for Christ. There were no bible classes or examinations. No, the immediacy of Baptism came once they realized their broken relationship with God through sin and the desire to have God heal that brokenness and unite them back into full relationship with him.
Last week we heard about David and Bathsheba and how David tried to fix his brokenness with God by adhering to the commandments. If he had Uriah duped into thinking Bathsheba’s child was his own then problem solved. When that didn’t work he thought – if Uriah was killed, I could marry Bathsheba – problem solved. But that would not solve the broken relationship with God. And through that realization he wrote Psalm 51 and realized the brokenness began much earlier than his adultery with Bathsheba. He writes: Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. But we hear, don’t we, how can a baby have faith to believe and be baptized. Doesn’t Mark 16;16 say – whoever believes and is baptized will be saved? David also addresses that when he continues: You desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
Paul in our 2nd reading also talks about the healing that is brought about by Baptism when he writes: 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. Baptism brings to us the gift of the Holy Spirit who unites us with God and one another. Whilst there are many divisions in the Christian Church whether it be by denomination – Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Uniting and so forth – Or whether it be through doctrine within denominations – ordination, creation, evolution, marriage. Paul address that when he wrote to a very divided Corinthian Church: He says to them: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name.
Sadly there are times when a division is necessary and can be beneficial. I think having denominations can be a healthy way of expressing our Christian faith so we focus on mission and ministry rather than conflict and differences. Hence Paul and Barnabas got to that situation when they could not agree on the inclusion of John Mark in their missionary journey. Barnabas wanted to take him but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. The believers weren’t made to choose sides or determine who was right and who was wrong. Paul went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. They didn’t let their disagreement become the focus and argue back and forth to work out who was right and who was wrong. They parted company but remained together in their missionary ventures and actually therefore covered more ground. But they remained united by their common baptism.
Likewise we remained united with other denominations who share our understanding of Baptism even though we may differ on other matters – as we confess in the Creed. I believe in ONE holy Christian church. Interestingly Paul and Barnabas were later reconciled when Paul writes to Timothy – Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. Baptism is God’s gift to the church. That’s why we only baptize once because a promise of God is just that – a promise.
Even when there has been a separation or when someone comes to faith later in life but had been baptized as an infant (like myself), because we believe Baptism is God’s work, not ours, we acknowledge that God’s gifts and promises are irrevocable, even by ourselves. As Paul says in Romans 11 when speaking about the covenant God made with Israel which also relates to the new covenant he makes with us in Baptism For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. God does not withdraw what He has given, nor does He change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call. As Jeremiah discovered – I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations. Or as Paul says earlier in Ephesians – we are God’s masterpiece created in Christ Jesus to do the good works God has planned for us long ago.
God is a God of unity. It is enshrined in the first commandment – you shall have no other Gods. God enshrined it in what the Jews call “the shema” A special prayer that Israel was taught to pray: Hear O’ Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. Jesus too was concerned about unity when he taught: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Likewise, Paul was concerned about a lack of unity when he said: Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
These are challenging times at present for our church but as King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Divisions have been a mark of the church since its creation but in Christ, and through Baptism, we are and remain one. So may you continue to look to your Baptism when you are struggling to make sense of the world around you whether it’s in the church or in the world we live.
Because God made a very special promise in your Baptism when Christ ascended on high. He said – I am with you always till the end of the age.
You may ask – how can mere water do such great things. Well, in the words of Martin Luther: It is not water that does these things but God’s Word with the water and our trust in this word which is a life giving water which by grace gives new birth by the Holy Spirit.
