Water and Spirit

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 1/11/14



Read Acts 19:1-7

Image Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library

Baptism is an interesting thing in the life of the church. It is something so crucial, so central to our beliefs, so much so that certain denominations have even named themselves after their beliefs about baptism. Most of us recognize the importance of baptism, most of us want more than anything else in the life of the Church for those who have never been baptized to be washed by those cleansing waters. Baptism is funny however because for how crucial it is in the life of our church, for how much we yearn to  follow Jesus’s command to “Go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;” we also really don’t talk that much about baptism in the Church. Maybe this is something that our Baptist brothers and sisters have done a better job of, but how often to you think, or read, or listen to something about our United Methodist belief on baptism.  How often do we really talk about what Baptism really means for us and for the church?

            Today in the Christian Calendar is a day known as the Baptism of the Lord Sunday. It is a day in which traditionally churches read about Jesus as he is baptized in the Jordan river by John. We typically hear about the skies opening and the Spirit descending like a dove upon Jesus. We usually hear those words from God the Father crying out, “This is my Son with whom I am well pleased.”  At our Lambs revival this year we even envisioned God saying to us that we are his beloved with whom he is well pleased. This text of Jesus’s baptism is central to the life of the Church, it in a way marks the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, and certainly marks a revelation to those present that this is the Son of God. This revelation is after all why this Sunday falls in the season after Epiphany. You may have noticed though, that though I am talking about the baptism of Jesus know, that wasn’t our scripture for this morning. This is because, though this story of Jesus’s baptism is so central to our faith, often we get so caught up in the spectacular aspects of the story,that we forget about what baptism means for us.

            Our scripture instead comes from the book of Acts.  Unlike the dramatic scene of Jesus’s baptism, the scene here in Acts depicts a rather mundane scene, yet one that is still important for us as Christians today. Our scripture takes place in the city of Ephesus. Just prior to our scene, the great orator Apollos had been in this city. Apollos was a new and talented speaker who proclaimed a lot about Jesus, and while what he said was correct, except he had an incomplete understanding of this new Christian movement, having been baptized by John the Baptist and following the teachings of those followers. Apollos was then taken and taught by some members of the Church, and from there he went on to be one of the great evangelists of the movement.

            After Apollos had left Ephesus, there were still many in the city who were in the same position that he was in. They had even probably heard Apollos preach and teach prior to his meeting with the church leaders. Like Apollos, these people earnestly wanted to follow Jesus, but had not really been shown the way. Paul stumbled upon these “believers” and asked them a very important question. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you were baptized?” The people were obviously dumbfounded at this question, saying they had never even heard of the Holy Spirit.  “What then were you baptized into?” Paul asks, you can almost hear some disbelief in his voice. We were baptized into John’s baptism.  And here once again we see the incomplete attitude of the believers for even John himself said,  “ I baptize you with water, but one is coming after me who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

            Paul questions these believers and basically puts out the question, what good is baptism without the Spirit? What would it mean to baptize only with water? The United Methodist Church has put out at short book/Bible Study called “By Water and the Spirit” that looks into our understanding of this sacrament of Baptism. This book discusses our understanding of a sacrament, and the best description we have for sacraments is that they are “outward signs of an inward grace.” This means that there is something tangible, physical that we have and that we do, that represents the grace we experience. So just as in Communion where the bread and juice becomes for us signs of God’s grace, water in the same way for baptism becomes that sign of God’s grace with us. But without God’s presence with, without Holy Spirit descending upon us as it did for Jesus, what is water other than just the chemical compound H2O?  The water is an important sign and element of Baptism, but as Paul points out, without the Spirit, without God’s presence in our lives, baptism is incomplete.

            When we talk about water and when we talk about Spirit in baptism, each has its own significance and its own connotation. Water is so helpful when talking about Baptism because it helps the idea of washing or being washed hit home. In our everyday life we use water to wash our clothes, our dishes, even our own bodies. Water in baptism helps us to recognize the grace that washes away our guilt of sin, because we actually feel the water, feel that sign of cleansing. This is what John the Baptist preached, even Paul points out that John preached about repentance and the forgiveness of sins; but Paul’s words make us to believe that there is still more, that this isn’t the end of the conversation.

            And it isn’t really. How many of you have taken a shower or bath in the past week? Are you good? Do you still plan to take a shower next week? This sounds like a no brainer of a question, but often it’s how we approach Baptism. Just because we have been forgiven of our sins, we act like we never get dirty again, like all sin has been eradicated and we are all now such perfect creatures, but we know this isn’t true. We are all sinners, the filth of sin piles upon every day, every hour, every minute; and to be cleanses we would need to be in those waters ever hour of our lives. But thank God we don’t have to, for in baptism we have received the power of the Spirit. In baptism we have been washed and forgiven of our sins, but we have also been given the Spirit that walks with us and guides us away from this life of sin and towards the grace of God. We receive the Spirit, reminding us that this baptism is not the culmination of Christian life, but is only the beginning of our new life with Christ. We still sin, we still fall away, but the Spirit intercedes for us, and connects us with the Almighty in prayer when at times all we have to offer are “wordless groans.” Baptism without spirit is incomplete, because baptism is only the beginning of a life of being perfected in love through the power of the Holy Spirit.

            Though in order to teach about Baptism this morning I have separated water and Spirit and talked about the significance of each; but the truth is that these two are inseparable.  As Paul points out to the followers in our text, baptism is and always shall be by water and the Spirit. The water should always be a tangible sign of the cleansing of our souls but also a reminder of the grace we receive through the power of the Holy Spirit. A reminder that Baptism is only the beginning of our new life in Christ, a life in which sin is still ever present, but a life now being perfected through the Holy Spirit. And from now on water can continue to serve as a reminder of the Holy Spirit’s presence with us. When you wash your hands, remember that the Spirit is with you. When you hop in the shower dreading the day that is ahead of you or recollecting on the hardships of the day that is past, remember the Holy Spirit is with you. And as you come and touch the waters this morning as we remember our baptism, know that the Spirit is with you; remember your Baptism and be thankful.