SERMON FOR 10-8-06
THE ORIGIN AND PRACTICE OF BAPTISM

THIS MORNING, BEFORE WE BAPTIZE AND SET APART 2 LITTLE BOYS, FOR GOD, I'D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF BAPTISM. WHEN WE READ OUR DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE WE SEE THE WORD BAPTIZED USED OVER AND OVER, BUT THIS WEEK IN MY RESEARCH I DISCOVERED THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL DIFFERENT HEBREW AND GREEK WORDS THAT ARE TRANSLATED INTO THE WORD BAPTIZED. MOST OF THE ORIGINAL WORDS MEAN: TO IMMERSE, TO DIP, TO MOISTEN, TO WASH, TO SUBMERGE AND TO GET WET. IN OUR MODERN WORLD DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS: IMMERSE THE WHOLE BODY, POUR WATER ON THE HEAD OR PLACE A WET FINGER ON THE FOREHEAD OF THE PERSON BEING BAPTIZED. SOME DENOMINATIONS WILL NOT ACCEPT THE TRANSFER OF YOUR BAPTISM UNLESS YOU WERE DUNKED UNDER WATER, BUT OTHERS DON'T LOOK AT THE METHOD, INSTEAD LOOKING AT THE MEANING. PERSONALLY, I BELIEVE THAT THE METHOD OF BAPTIZING IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS THE FACT THAT WE WISH TO BE BAPTIZED OR PARENTS WANT THEIR CHILD BAPTIZED. LET'S LOOK AT AN ANCIENT STORY FROM ABOUT 2,800 YEARS AGO THAT TELLS US A BIT ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF OUR MODERN BAPTISM. IT IS FOUND IN 2ND KINGS 5:1-16. I'M GOING TO DO SOME EXPLAINING AS I READ.

2 Kings 5 NAAMAN HEALED OF LEPROSY

¹ NOW NAAMAN WAS COMMANDER OF THE ARMY OF THE KING OF ARAM. HE WAS A GREAT MAN IN THE SIGHT OF HIS MASTER AND HIGHLY REGARDED, BECAUSE THROUGH HIM THE LORD HAD GIVEN VICTORY TO (THE LAND OF) ARAM. HE WAS A VALIANT SOLDIER, BUT HE HAD LEPROSY. ² NOW ARAM HAD GONE OUT AND HAD TAKEN CAPTIVE A YOUNG GIRL FROM ISRAEL, AND SHE SERVED NAAMAN'S WIFE. ³ SHE SAID TO HER MISTRESS, "IF ONLY MY MASTER WOULD SEE THE PROPHET (ELISHA) WHO IS IN SAMARIA! HE WOULD CURE HIM OF HIS LEPROSY." ⁴ NAAMAN WENT TO HIS MASTER (THE KING) AND TOLD HIM WHAT THE GIRL FROM ISRAEL HAD SAID.
⁵ "BY ALL MEANS, GO," THE KING OF ARAM REPLIED. "I WILL SEND A LETTER TO THE KING OF ISRAEL." SO NAAMAN LEFT, TAKING WITH HIM TEN TALENTS ABOUT 750 POUNDS OF SILVER, SIX THOUSAND SHEKELS ABOUT 150 POUNDS OF GOLD AND TEN SETS OF CLOTHING. 6 THE LETTER THAT HE TOOK TO THE KING OF ISRAEL READ: "WITH THIS LETTER I AM SENDING MY SERVANT NAAMAN TO YOU SO THAT YOU MAY CURE HIM OF HIS LEPROSY."

I THINK THAT THESE LAST TWO VERSES SHOW A LOT OF FAITH ON THE PART OF NAAMAN AND THE KING. ALSO, THE KING MUST HAVE REALLY THOUGHT A LOT OF HIS MILITARY COMMANDER. THE LETTER PUT A LOT OF PRESSURE ON THE KING OF ISRAEL.

⁷ AS SOON AS THE KING OF ISRAEL READ THE LETTER, HE TORE HIS ROBES AND SAID, "AM I GOD? CAN I KILL AND BRING BACK TO LIFE? WHY DOES THIS FELLOW SEND SOMEONE TO ME TO BE CURED OF HIS LEPROSY? SEE HOW HE IS TRYING TO PICK A QUARREL WITH ME!" THE NATIONS OF ISRAEL AND ARAM WERE OLD ENEMIES. AT THIS TIME, THEY WERE AT PEACE, BUT THE KING WAS WORRIED THAT SOMETHING THIS SMALL COULD BE USED AS AN EXCUSE FOR STARTING A WAR.
⁸ WHEN ELISHA THE MAN OF GOD HEARD THAT THE KING OF ISRAEL HAD TORN HIS ROBES, HE SENT HIM THIS MESSAGE: "WHY HAVE YOU TORN YOUR ROBES? HAVE THE MAN COME TO ME AND HE WILL KNOW THAT THERE IS A PROPHETS IN ISRAEL."
⁹ SO NAAMAN WENT WITH HIS HORSES AND CHARIOTS AND STOPPED AT THE DOOR OF ELISHA'S HOUSE. ¹⁰ ELISHA SENT A MESSENGER TO SAY TO NAAMAN, "GO, WASH YOURSELF SEVEN TIMES IN THE JORDAN, AND YOUR FLESH WILL BE RESTORED AND YOU WILL BE CLEANSED."


¹¹ BUT NAAMAN WENT AWAY ANGRY AND SAID, "I THOUGHT THAT ELISHA, THE PROPHET, WOULD SURELY COME OUT TO ME AND STAND AND CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD HIS GOD, WAVE HIS HANDS OVER THE SPOT AND CURE ME OF MY LEPROSY.
¹² ARE NOT ABANA AND PHARPAR, THE RIVERS OF DAMASCUS, BETTER THAN ANY OF THE WATERS OF ISRAEL? COULDN'T I WASH IN THEM AND BE CLEANSED?" SO HE TURNED AND WENT OFF IN A RAGE. ¹³ NAAMAN'S SERVANTS WENT TO HIM AND SAID, "MY FATHER, IF THE PROPHET HAD TOLD YOU TO DO SOME GREAT THING, WOULD YOU NOT HAVE DONE IT? HOW MUCH MORE, THEN, WHEN HE TELLS YOU, 'WASH AND BE CLEANSED'!" ¹⁴ SO HE WENT DOWN AND DIPPED HIMSELF IN THE JORDAN SEVEN TIMES, AS THE MAN OF GOD HAD TOLD HIM, AND HIS FLESH WAS RESTORED AND BECAME CLEAN LIKE THAT OF A YOUNG BOY. 15 THEN NAAMAN AND ALL HIS ATTENDANTS WENT BACK TO THE MAN OF GOD. HE STOOD BEFORE HIM AND SAID, "NOW I KNOW THAT THERE IS NO GOD IN ALL THE WORLD EXCEPT IN ISRAEL. PLEASE ACCEPT NOW A GIFT FROM YOUR SERVANT." 16 THE PROPHET ANSWERED, "AS SURELY AS THE LORD LIVES, WHOM I SERVE, I WILL NOT ACCEPT A THING." AND EVEN THOUGH NAAMAN URGED HIM, HE REFUSED.

I USED THIS STORY AS AN ILLUSTRATION THAT, FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, PEOPLE HAVE USED WATER FOR ALL TYPES OF CLEANSING. THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF CEREMONIAL PURIFICATIONS THAT ARE PART OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

AS WE SAY IN OUR BAPTISMAL LITURGY, WATER GIVES US LIFE. THEREFORE, WATER BECAME THE SYMBOL OF CLEANSING AND PURIFICATION IN ISRAEL AND ALSO IN OTHER CULTURES AND RELIGIONS.

BY THE TIME THAT JESUS' BECAME 30, HIS COUSIN, JOHN, WHO WAS 6 MONTHS OLDER THAN HIM, HAD BEEN BAPTIZING PEOPLE FOR A DIFFERENT REASON.

JOHN HAD BEEN GIVEN, BY GOD, THE ASSIGNMENT TO PREPARE THE JEWISH PEOPLE FOR THE ADVENT OF THE MESSIAH. FOR MANY YEARS JOHN HAD GATHERED FOLLOWERS AND TOLD THEM OF THE COMING SAVIOR.

WHEN PEOPLE ACCEPTED JOHN'S MESSAGE, HE THEN BAPTIZED THEM AS BELIEVERS. SEVERAL OF JESUS' DISCIPLES HAD BEEN FOLLOWERS OF JOHN, THE BAPTIZER, AS HE WAS KNOWN.

JUST BEFORE JESUS BEGAN HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY, HE FOUND JOHN AND HIS FOLLOWERS AT THE JORDAN RIVER. THIS RIVER RUNS FROM THE SEA OF GALILEE, IN NORTHERN ISRAEL, SOUTH TO THE DEAD SEA. IT WAS A SPECIAL RIVER TO JEWS AS GOD HAD STOPPED ITS FLOW, SOME 1500 YEARS BEFORE, TO ALLOW JOSHUA TO LEAD THEM INTO THEIR NEW LAND.

JESUS ASKED JOHN TO BAPTIZE HIM AND WE REMEMBER THAT WHEN JESUS CAME UP OUT OF THE RIVER, A DOVE FLEW OUT OF THE SKY AND LANDED ON JESUS AS THE VOICE OF GOD SAID: “THIS IS MY SON, WHOM I LOVE; WITH HIM I AM WELL PLEASED.”

JESUS HIMSELF NEVER BAPTIZED ANYONE, BUT HIS FOLLOWERS DID AND JESUS HIMSELF GAVE US ORDERS TO PERFORM THIS SACRAMENT ON ALL WHO BELIEVE.

WE DO NOT BAPTIZE IN ORDER TO SAVE ANYONE. CHILDREN ARE ALREADY PROTECTED BY GOD.

PARENTS ASK THAT WE BAPTIZE OUR CHILDREN IN ORDER TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT THEY ARE ASKING GOD TO SET APART THEIR CHILD FOR HIS SERVICE AND PROMISING GOD THAT THEY WILL RAISE THEIR CHILDREN TO KNOW HIM SO THAT SOME DAY THE CHILD WILL BE ABLE TO ACCEPT OUR FAITH AS THEIR FAITH.

WHEN OUR CHILDREN ARE RAISED IN THE FAITH, AT AN AGE OF UNDERSTANDING, THEY MAY CONFIRM THEIR BAPTISM BY A PUBLIC STATEMENT OF THEIR FAITH.

BAPTISM IS AN OUTWARD STATEMENT OF OUR DESIRE TO FOLLOW CHRIST OR TO HAVE OUR CHILDREN RAISED TO LIVE A CHRISTIAN LIFE.

TODAY WE BAPTIZE TWO TINY BOYS AND START THEM ON THEIR LIFE'S JOURNEY OF FAITH.

AS WE DO THIS, EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER BEEN BAPTIZED HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REAFFIRM OUR OWN BAPTISMS AND TELL GOD, IN SILENT PRAYER, THAT WE CONTINUE TO WANT HIM TO BE IN CHARGE OF OUR LIFE'S JOURNEY OF FAITH.

AT THIS TIME, WOULD ALL WHO ARE TO TAKE PART IN THIS HOLY SACRAMENT PLEASE COME FORWARD?

I'M GOING ASK ALLEY AND SHELBY TO POUR THE WATER INTO THE FONT.

THE CANDLE THAT HAS BEEN BURNING SYMBOLIZES THE LIGHT CHRIST BRINGS INTO OUR LIVES WHEN WE CHOOSE TO FOLLOW HIM AND IT ALSO BURNS AS A MEMORIAL TO THE MEMORY OF BILL WOOD AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FAMILIES, WHO HAVE COMPLETED THEIR LIFE'S JOURNEYS AND ARE WITH GOD.