Mid-Lent 1
Acts
2:38-41
3/8/17
Water is everywhere and it is
essential for life. Seventy one percent
of the surface of the earth is covered by water. We find our locations of dwelling on that
minority of space – the twenty nine percent where there is dry land.
About sixty percent of the human
body is made out of water. And because such a large percentage of your body is
water, the continuing replenishment of water is essential to life. Without enough water, your cells cannot
function. Under the very best
conditions, you may be able to live up to a week without water. Most likely you can only make it three or
four days.
And of course, it’s not just people
who need water. Plants and animals need
it too. Without water vegetation and
crops cannot grow. Without water animals cannot live in an area. Where there is
abundant water, life flourishes. Where
water is scarce, life is barely present.
Beyond the essential needs of
sustaining life itself, water is used for washing. We use water to wash off dirt and grime from
our bodies. We use water to wash our
clothes and the items we use for cooking and eating.
It is therefore not surprising that
our Lord Jesus took up water and used it when he instituted the Sacrament of
Holy Baptism. He was not doing something
brand new. The essential character of
water for life and its use in washing had caused water to be used by many
religions. And more specifically, Yahweh
had already included water in the rites associated with the temple and in the
language of the Old Testament. He
promised through the prophet Ezekiel, “I will sprinkle
clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from
all your idols I will cleanse you.”
And of course, John the Baptist had
already used water in his baptism – a baptism of repentance. People submitted to John’s baptism confessing
their sins, and by doing so they demonstrated that they were repentant and were
looking for God’s kingdom – his reign – to arrive. In a surprising turn, Jesus himself had come
to receive this baptism. It was the
beginning of his ministry as he identified with sinners and took on the role of
the suffering Servant. Jesus stepped
into the water so that he could begin his ministry that led to the cross.
While there had been other washings
in the history of God’s people, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism was something
that was completely new. It did not
exist until Jesus instituted it after his death and resurrection. It did not exist until Jesus said, “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, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Jesus took water and added to it his word – his word to baptize “In the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He commanded his Church to do this – to make
disciples by baptizing and teaching. And so the Small Catechism explains that, “Baptism is not
just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined
with God’s word.”
Our Lord Jesus gave baptism and we
confess its most fundamental purpose every time we say in the Nicene Creed, “I
believe in one baptism for
the forgiveness of sins.” Those words are drawn from our text for
tonight.
On Pentecost the
risen and ascended Lord poured out his Spirit on the Church, just as he had
promised. Peter preached to the crowd
that had been drawn together because of the sound like a rushing wind. He confronted them with their role in the
death of Jesus. He spoke the sharpest
Law as he concluded by saying, “Let
all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both
Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you
crucified.”
The Book of
Acts tells us that they were cut to the heart.
Convicted of their sin they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles,
“Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter’s reply was direct and simple. He said,
“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your
children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to
himself.”
Repent and
be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. For there to be forgiveness, there must be
repentance. There must be confession of
sin to God – the admission that we have not loved God with all that we are;
that we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.
To this
Peter adds baptism in the name of Jesus.
Baptism does not stand on its own. Otherwise it would be plain
water. Instead through the Lord Jesus’
institution it is water that has been brought into contact with the saving
death and resurrection of Christ. It is
water that now gives and delivers what Jesus has won for us – the forgiveness
of sins.
God’s Word
compares sin to dirt or a stain. And so
Ananias said to Paul after his Damascus road experience: “And
now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on
his name.” And in the same way Paul
wrote, “Husbands,
love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that
he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the
word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot
or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
Jesus won forgiveness
for you as he died on the cross of Good Friday.
But that forgiveness must be received.
It must be applied to each person. And the Lord has instituted the
located means of water and the Word to do this.
He has attached his promise of forgiveness to the water so that it can
be received by faith.
The Church
of the first few centuries had no doubt about this. Baptism forgave sins. But some also developed
the strange idea that baptism only forgave the sins committed up to the time of baptism. For this reason, many Christians considered
the ideal practice to be baptism on one’s death bed.
Holy
Baptism is something that is done only once.
But the forgiveness it gives is not limited by its timing. Instead, it
is the promise of God that always stands ready to be grasped in faith. Through
baptism the saving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has been applied to
you. This saving work provides forgiveness for every sin. Where faith believes this promise of God, the
Christian has exactly what our text says, “the forgiveness of sins.”
The only
thing that can limit baptism … is you.
For the gift to be a blessing, it must be used. For baptism to be a comforting means of
forgiveness, it must be thought of and believed. It stands always present, always ready, with
the God’s comforting promise. Christ has
given you one baptism for the forgiveness
of sins. How do you know you are
forgiven? You’ve been baptized! How do you know you are saved? You’ve been baptized! How do you know that already now that eternal
life is yours? You’ve been
baptized! Now there is good news that
you never want to forget.
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