“The Sacraments: Baptism” Acts 2: 37-42 Psalm 45

 In high school I was heavily involved in the arts. I was in orchestra and marching band. I was in the musicals that took place every other year. And I loved celebrating my colleagues and friends who could do things I was never able to do in the arts. The folks in Jazz Band (that wasn’t my instrument), chorus, and those who painted. I remember even in high school, being in awe of people who could offer their gifts in such amazing ways. 

Case in point - one of my friends singing the verses of Alison Krauss’s Down to the River to Prayer, perhaps best known from the movie Brother, Where Art Thou?, as solos, with the choir coming in behind her for each refrain. Even as I reflected on the text for this week’s sermon, I could still hear her melodic voice ringing in the auditorium saying, “As I went down in the river to pray, studying about that good ol' way, and who shall wear the starry crown. Good Lord, show me the way.”

Krause isn’t singing about just going to the river - she is penning lyrics about the transformation that can happen there. And that my friends is exactly what baptism is - an outward sign of such powerful transformation. 

In the text this week from the Book of Acts, Peter, after being touched by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, goes out to proclaim the Word of God. And all of these folks responded. As they have heard the Good News and have come to believe, they have a logical question, now what? Now, what should we do?

To which Peter answers, repent and be baptized. 

Repentance is the act of turning away from sin. Turning the complete opposite direction from who we once were before knowing Christ. But if we are not careful, we can trick ourselves into thinking that this is a work we do. That we are the one’s who make a decision to turn ourselves around and just do it. Which isn’t the case. Repentance can only come from God. We could never do it on our own, because it doesn’t strike us as necessary. It is God who brings to our hearts and minds the desire to repent and God who equips us to do so. 

The same is true of baptism. Over these eleven years in ministry, I have had the honor and privilege of baptizing folks. Babies and adults. Confirmands and new converts. And before each baptism I sit down and talk about what baptism means. If we think that baptism is something that we are choosing to do just because we think that we should, then we are missing the point. Baptism is living into the very promise of God. We are not the ones who initiates it, God is. 

Which is what Peter is getting at with his very next statement. The what is for you and your children and everyone who the Lord has called? The promise. Not our promise, though we do make some pretty important ones at baptism, but the promise of God to us. And what exactly is God promising? That nothing can go back to normal. That once you recognize and respond to the love of God - the love that God has had for you before you even recognized it - nothing will ever be the same. 

Baptism is not just a nice act, my friends, its an outward sign of an inward change. It is our response to the love of God - and that response is a new life in Christ. 

And if we need a reminder of what that new life looks like - Luke keeps writing in chapter two of Acts about what life looked like for these early followers of the Way of Jesus - they studied the Word of God, they offered what they had and themselves for service to the Kingdom, they were art of a community that cared for one another, and they prayed every chance they got. Their lives were completely focused on following Jesus. 

The problem is we don’t spend enough time really sitting with what it means that baptism changes us. We aren’t always sure we really want a new life, because there are some things we really like about our old life that we wish could stay the same. But, friends, you can’t be in the Word of God, serving the Lord with all you are, growing closer to God in prayer, and reaching out into the community with compassion and expect that everything will stay the same. It won’t. It can’t. Because our focus moves from our own selves and our desires, to the very desires of God. 

When we become a Christian, we are sometimes taught that it changes our ethics or morals - the way we approach making decisions, but it also so much more than that. It changes our daily live, because God because the center of our reality. 

Hanging in my shower is what looks like a luggage tag. I know - odd. Until you look closer at what the tag says: Lord, as I enter the water to bather, I remember my baptism. Wash me by your grace. Fill me with your Spirit. Renew my soul. I pray that I might live as your child today and honor you in all that I do. 

Baptism is powerful because it takes this human thing - water - and gives it a holy meaning - that God cleanses us. That God renews us. That God transforms us. All because of God’s grace. 

But Pastor Michelle, what does all of this have to do with Psalm 46? It doesn’t even mention baptism! I’m glad you asked. Psalm 46 is this beautiful hymn and prayer of faith and praise. It actually is what inspired Martin Luther to write the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”. And it is all about trusting God - even in the midst of challenge and change. And reminding us that we can trust God into the future because of what God has done in the past. 

Friends, baptism is not about us forcing ourselves to change. It is the work of God within us. It is the response God inspires out of us. And it is about the new identity that God clothes us in as part of the body of Christ. And all of that is rooted in the trust we have in our God. And if you ever need a way to remind yourself of why our God is truth worthy - simply stop. Be still. And remember that God is God and you are not. 

At the end of the day - we cannot transform or change ourselves in a meaningful way. It has to come to God. But we also need to make space for God to speak into our lives and stir in our hearts. 

So in the words of Allison Krauss, “O sinners, let's go down, let’s go down, come on down. O sinners, let's go down down in the river to pray.” Amen.