| JANUARY 10, 2009 - Year B - Baptism of the Lord |
 |
 |
 |
|
Baptism of the Lord Our two New Testament texts today have a point in common. They compare the baptism of John with the baptism of the Spirit. Our passage in Acts 19 In today’s Gospel passage, Mark tells the story about John the Baptist. “And this was John’s message:” Mark says. “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” So John’s baptism was with water, and was the baptism of repentance. Jesus was to baptize with the Holy Spirit. We dare not denigrate the preaching of John. Jesus called him “the greatest of the prophets.” His message was valid, and even critical. He preached a baptism of repentance, and repentance is a powerful idea in the Bible. Let’s think about it for a minute, and please have a look at the little handout I’ve given you. English is one of the greatest languages in the history of the world – but it’s not without its flaws: and one of them is right here. The idea of repentance is easy for us to misunderstand, because our English word “repentance” is based on a Latin root, which bears little resemblance to the Greek and Hebrew words the Bible uses. The Greek word is metanoia.. It’s composed of two parts, meta and noia.. Noia means “mind.” Meta means change, or transformation. So the Greek word behind our English word “repentance” means “transformation of mind” – change the way you think, be transformed in your mind. The Hebrew word is bwv, whose base meaning is “turn.” It calls for a change of direction, a turn. By contrast, the English word is based on the same latin root as “penance:” it tells us to be sorry for what we have done, to mentally whip ourselves for our past behavior. And this has no relationship to the Biblical words. metanoia –and bwv look forward, to what God wants you to be in the future. The English word “repentance” looks backward toward the mistakes of the past. So when John came preaching repentance, probably speaking Aramaic, he was proclaiming change. Change your behavior, your attitudes, your minds and hearts. Change everything. Become something you weren’t before. This is of first importance. We need to realize that the things that separate us from God are not the things we did in the past; it’s what we’re doing today and planning to do tomorrow. The past is not the problem. Long ago, when I was a youth pastor in Southern California Conference, I used to visit a home where three earliteens lived, with their mother and grandmother. Mother worked night and day to support the family, and Grandma managed to make life miserable for them all. Grandma used to dominate prayer meeting, with interminable rants about the wickedness of the younger generation; and I knew well how she managed to make life hell for her grandchildren. My problem was, that as soon as I entered the door, Grandma grabbed me and dragged me into the parlor, and I never got to talk to the kids. And every time, Grandma had to tell me her story. It was this: When she was a teenager, she lived with her mother and seven siblings. Her father had deserted them. The family was poor, they lived in the south, and this was about 1920. Her mother took in laundry, to support the family, and grandma as a teenager was responsible for managing the seven younger kids so her mother could work. A young man blew in to town – full of swagger and ready cash and no visible means of support. “You watch out for that young man,” her mother told her. “He’s up to no good.” The warning went unheeded, and within a few weeks, Grandma had run off with the young man, clear across the country to California, leaving her mother with the seven younger kids. Within a couple months the boyfriend had disappeared, leaving Grandma to fend for herself. She never made it home again; never knew what happened to her family. In later years she tried to find out, to no avail. And every time I came to the home to visit, Grandma dragged me into the parlor, and told me this story, with groans and tears. The first time, it was quite interesting, and I was full of sympathy. The second time it was less so, and by the third time I was becoming a little testy. I never got to talk to the earliteens, I only got to talk to Grandma. On the third visit, I tried to tell it to her straight. Her present moral problem – the thing between herself and God – was not what she had done to her mother fifty years ago; it was what she was doing to her grandchildren, today. I don’t think my message ever took. But it sure gave me a good sermon illustration, because Grandma is not the only one who needs to hear it. The things that separate us from God, are not the things we did in the past: it’s what we’re doing today, and planning to do tomorrow. God is very quick – even eager! – to forgive the past. The past is not the problem. It’s the present that’s the issue, and it needs change. “This one thing I do,” Paul said. “Forgetting what’s behind, and reaching out toward what’s ahead, I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” So John came preaching repentance. Forget about the past: change what you are now; change what you’re doing today. This is powerful preaching. The world needs change. We need change. You and I need change. We need the preaching of repentance. Not English-word repentance (sorrow over sins of the past); but Greek and Hebrew word repentance: change! Change who you are, and what your are; . . . and what you do, and what you think. Change! But the point of both of our New Testament passages today is the same: it is that John’s preaching was not enough. It was not baptism with water that was needed, but with the Holy Spirit. It was not the preaching of repentance that was needed, but the transforming power of the grace of Christ. Water baptism is only a symbol – of death and resurrection, of the gift of a new life. You can’t reform the old life, you’ve got to get a new one. And that’s got to be a gift. You didn’t give yourself life when you started out, and you can’t do it now. This is why there is something more needed than John was able to offer; something more than preaching about the need for change. There’s got to be a miracle – a miracle John could not effect, but could only point to. Humans can only do the superficial. It takes God to change the heart. There are those who think that the baptism of the Spirit is all about enthusiasm or charisma; about dynamic, electric preaching. In fact, the baptism of John and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are about the same thing – about transformation. The difference is that John’s preaching could only talk about change; but the baptism of the Holy Spirit makes it happen. The Holy Spirit can do this because He is the Spirit of Christ: he brings with Him the transforming grace of Jesus’ death for every one of us. Jesus gave His life to do what the preaching of John wanted to do, but couldn’t – to transform human lives and make them good. This takes creative power – the same creative power that was celebrated in our OT reading today – the creative power unleashed when God said, “Let there be light.” And it takes moral power. A moral authority you and I will never have, because we haven’t given our lives to redeem the world. A moral power that we can only get from the One who has it. And that’s why John’s preaching – creative and powerful and spot-on-target as it was – wasn’t enough. John had the right idea – metanoia -- – bwv – he came preaching change, transformation: but he hadn’t the power to effect what he called for. We have to be baptized by the One who does. Those who are baptized into Christ Jesus, Paul says, are baptized into His death. The transforming power is in that death: He died in my place, took the punishment for the evil in my heart, and gave me life instead. It is belief in that, that changes people. Telling people they need to change is important: but it’s not enough. They need to be changed, and only the grace of the Lord Jesus does that. |
