Whenever we think of baptism, we most likely think of water. Thank you, Captain Obvious! It’s kind of hard to have a baptism without water.
This reminds me of the joke about local church leaders who got together to do their part to conserve water in their community during a severe drought. The Baptists decided to only baptize by sprinkling. The Methodists agreed to baptize by just using wet-wipes. The Episcopalians announced they would issue rain checks. And the Catholics began to pray for the wine to turn back into water.
That’s your religious humor for the day.
In our Gospel reading for today, John the Baptist told the crowd, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
So, which is it. Water or Spirit? And the answer is, “yes.” It’s both.
There’s a book that is required for new pastors to read on the meaning of Holy Baptism. The title is appropriately called, “By Water and the Spirit.” This book lays out a theological understanding of the meaning of baptism.
One of the key understandings of baptism is related to the title of that book. Baptism involves water AND Spirit. It involves water because water is a symbol of being cleansed.
Water also reminds us of so many stories in the Bible like the water that was present when God created the world, the story of the flood and how God saved Noah and his family through the building of an ark, the story of when God freed the Hebrews who were slaves in Egypt by parting the Red Sea, God then provided them with water from a rock as they traveled for forty years in the wilderness, and then they crossed the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. Like the parting of the Red Sea, it was by crossing through the water of the Jordan River that led them to freedom and a new life as God’s people.
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul talks about when someone is immersed in water, it reminds us of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We are submerged into the water symbolizing when Jesus’ died on the cross and our need to die to ourselves, but then we come out of the water symbolizing Jesus’ being raised from the dead and the new life we now have through the Risen Christ.
And so, water is a really big deal in the Bible and when we think of baptism, we have all of these biblical stories and references in how water leads to freedom, cleansing, and new life.
Just as water is an important part of the meaning of baptism, the Spirit is equally important. In almost every reference to someone being baptized in the New Testament, it also refers to the presence of the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus was baptized with water, we are told that the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove. Water and Spirit. The scriptures emphasize how they both are essential in our understanding of baptism. They are inseparable.
We often only think of water when we think of baptism, but the Holy Spirit is equally important.
Luke’s Gospel in known for how it is very descriptive of the role of the Holy Spirit in baptism. The Greek word for Spirit that is used here is pneuma. So, when we couple water with spirit in referring to baptism, we can just as easily say that baptism is about water and wind. And just like water is an important part of the creation story in the Book of Genesis, so is wind.
The first verse of Genesis says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit or wind of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Water and wind. Water and spirit.
Luke who is describing baptism by coupling water and wind or spirit does so in such a very descriptive way by using the analogy of how a farmer separates grain from the stalk during harvest time. The last part of that process is winnowing in which the grain is thrown into the air by hand or by a shovel and the wind is what removes the inedible covering over the grain.
By using this analogy, Luke is describing the role of the Holy Spirit or the wind in removing all that would keep us from being who God has called us to be. Baptism is a sign of how we are to allow God’s Spirit to blow away the sin and brokenness in our lives. The Spirit is what enables us to bear fruit for God and to live in such a way that we reflect God’s goodness and love.
Luke is wanting us to know that the water and spirit of baptism is a powerful sign of God’s desire to cleanse us from our sins and become more like Jesus in all that we do and say. This cleansing dimension of baptism is also why we always have a prayer of confession and words of assurance during our worship services. Our baptism leads us to be cleansed by water and to allow the sin of our lives to be blown away by the Spirit.
Speaking of baptism, I drove up to a car wash one day. It was the kind of car wash where a couple of the workers first scrub down your vehicle and then it takes your car through the rest of the car wash. Car washes always remind me of baptism.
I love the look of my car after it gets baptized, especially after a week of snowy and salty roads. And like baptism, it douses us with water throughout the car wash and when you get to the end, that super powerful air blower shakes the car to get rid of the excessive water. There you have it, water and wind!
When we lived in Ohio, there was always that first sunny day after the roads had been cleared from all the snow and slush, that you would often see a long, long line of cars waiting to go through the car wash. Everybody wanted to get their cars baptized at the same time!
So, I drove up to this car wash to put in my credit card and I laughed because of a sign they had next to the entrance. The sign read, “No vehicles with excessive mud allowed in the car wash!”
That’s where my analogy of a car wash and baptism breaks down. When we come to be baptized or to renew our baptism, there is no sign by the baptismal font that says, “No persons with excessive sin allowed to be baptized!”
Luke’s description of baptism reminds us that there is no excessive mud that is too great for God’s cleansing water and Spirit to clean in our lives. We all come as we are. Broken, sinful, vulnerable, empty but open to what God wants to do in and through us.
Baptism is not only about drawing us into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Baptism is also about being cleansed by God’s water and spirit. Both are needed to free us from our sins so that we can be the people who God has called us to be. When we go through God’s car wash, we are made new again.
Water and Spirit. Water and Spirit.
Patrick Shannon was invited by someone to attend a United Methodist Church. Patrick, who is a young adult, had made some really bad decisions in his life and he didn’t know what to expect when he started attending that church.
The people of that church welcomed him with open arms and included him in their fellowship. For the first time in his life, he felt that God loved him, and he started experiencing a sense of peace and joy in his life.
He decided that he wanted to be baptized in that church. I love how Patrick described his baptism by saying that “It was like all the muck and mire and nastiness was rinsed off and laid at the bottom of that pool.”
Wow! When we approach the baptismal font to be baptized or to renew our baptism, there is nothing that God can’t cleanse from our lives and make new again. Patrick was experiencing transformation and newness of life.
In our Gospel reading, John the Baptist says, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire!”
Water and Spirit. What a powerful combination!
On this Baptism of our Lord Sunday, may each one of us allow the cleansing water of baptism and the blowing wind of the Holy Spirit to lead us to be the people that God has called us to be. Remember your baptism and be thankful!
