Two Baptisms?

January 13, 2013

My brother once told me a joke about the hardest final exam in the history of the world. The exam only had one question, in two parts: Describe and explain the origins of the universe and give two examples. Because we are creatures who know and understand only one universe, we can barely conceive that there might be another or what it might be like. It is, in some ways, like asking a fish to explain water. For them, water simply is. A fish likely cannot imagine what life might be like without water or, perhaps, even that life might exist separate from it. For centuries human beings could not imagine that life might exist somewhere other than on earth or that it might one day be possible for human beings to leave the confines of the earth and explore outer space. Once that barrier was broken however, our imaginations were released and although a few visionaries, like Jules Verne got there first, fiction writers suddenly exploded with ideas of humanity exploring the stars, and races from other worlds finding their way to earth. There are several situations in scripture that mirror just this sort of confusion and many, if not most of them involve Jesus. Jesus said, You must be born again (John 3:7) and the Pharisee, Nicodemus, was very confused, saying How can someone be born when they are old? Nicodemus asked. Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mothers womb to be born! Paul spoke about circumcision of the heart, which made people stop and say, What? Not long ago I noted that John the Baptist did it too when he said that he baptized with water but the one who was coming would baptize with fire. How does someone do that? Sometimes describing something new requires a new way of thinking and the words to describe this new thing either dont exist or they dont make sense (at least at first). If you tried to explain to someone from the eighteenth century (or even much later) what it was like for Neil Armstrong to walk in the one sixth gravity of the moon, they would look at you like you were stupid. Your words would not make sense to them. The idea that gravity could be different than what everyone knew it was on earth would sound foolish or idiotic. The idea that human beings could leave the earth, or that the moon was a real place would be crazy talk. In the time of Ben Franklin and George Washington and even a hundred years later, it was common knowledge that if humans were to travel at speeds in excess of 30 miles per hour, they would die because it would be impossible to breathe. But when human beings broke through those barriers of imagination, all sorts of new language was invented and, as our minds began to wrap themselves around these new ideas, we began to think differently and new things became possible. Often, this was the same sort of message that God sent through his prophets as well. The messages of the prophets were often difficult to understand because they often described a future that was vastly different from the reality that the people lived in. God declared the destruction of Nineveh and Jericho and Sodom and Gomorrah and even Jerusalem when those cities were immensely influential and powerful. The majority of the people who heard the warnings of the prophets couldnt imagine that their cities could be destroyed by anyone. Alternatively, in times of darkness and despair, Gods prophets would bring messages of light, joy and hope. We find one example of this after Israel had been defeated by the Babylonian army and many have been carried off into captivity. Here the prophet Isaiah writes to remind the people that God loves them and will, one day reunite his people and return them to Israel. (Isaiah 43:1-7) But now, this is what the Lord says - he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. 1

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, Give them up! and to the south, Do not hold them back. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. God says, Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you, and later God speaks of his desire for all of his children to be returned to him. Through Isaiah, God speaks of redemption, of paying the ransom, for his people so that they might return to him. For many, the path to redemption will involve passing through water or through fire, but no matter the path, God promises to be with his people as they return to him. In this passage we understand that passing through water and through fire are symbolic of the trials that will be faced by the people of God, but they may also hint at the coming of the Messiah and the final redemption that is to come. In Luke 3:15-22, we once again see John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness, and here John speaks of baptism, not only of water, but also of fire
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The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.
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But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brothers wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
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When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased. Wait. First of all, we have just run headlong into one of those weird ideas that uses words that dont go together. Baptism with water was fine. Water had been associated with purification forever. If something was dirty, you washed it and it was clean again. In the time of John and Jesus it was normal and expected that before someone would enter the Temple that they would pass through a mikvah, or ritual bath (men and women were separated, of course) for purification. For John to ask people to be baptized in water as a sign of repentance and purification would not have been new or unusual, but then he throws out this new thing that makes everyones head spin. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Baptism with water was fine; people understood that, but baptism with the Holy Spirit? Baptism with fire? What was that? How could someone be purified with a spirit or with wind (spirit and wind are the same word in both Greek and Hebrew)? And for heavens sake, how could anyone be purified with fire? That worked for sacrifices in the Temple, but that sort of purification destroyed the sacrifice. How were people to be baptized with fire? Clearly, this was something new and unexpected. 2

We know that in John 3:22 Jesus baptizes his disciples and we sometimes hear of the disciples baptizing others, but in these cases we assume that they are baptizing with water, so what about the fire? In Acts 2 we find the disciples, on the day of Pentecost, and tongues of fire came down from heaven, came to rest upon each one of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. What happened to the disciples happened in two stages, there were two baptisms, one with water, and one with fire. Two baptisms. Later, in Acts 8:14-17, the disciples hear about a group of Samaritans who had come to believe in Jesus Christ. They had heard the Good News and had been baptized, but that was all
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When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Again, baptism has taken place in two parts. Two baptisms. One with water and the other with fire. One that symbolized the purification of the outside, and the other actually making a change on the inside. One that was a choice that was made by human beings, a choice to repent and come to Jesus Christ and a second that was something that only God could do. When humans purified sacrifices with fire in the Temple, they were burned up, but when God purifies his people with fire, they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Please note that Jesus is not filled with the Spirit at his baptism, we only see that the Spirit descends and is present at his baptism. Being a member of the Trinity, he was already filled with the Spirit of God. We must also note that we do not conduct two baptism services today. The separation of these two acts seems to be something unique to the time between the ministry of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. When Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritans, this seems to be a sort of clean up operation for some stragglers that got missed. Since then, and still today, we believe that in the act of baptism, both of these events happen simultaneously. We baptize with water on the outside and God, through the Holy Spirit, does what He does on the inside. This is reflected in our service of Baptism. If you were here on Christmas Eve or for another baptism, you will remember hearing me (or another pastor) say these words I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. That is followed by this prayer: The Holy Spirit work within you, that being born through the water and the Spirit you may be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. We believe that each believer is filled with the Holy Spirit at the time of baptism so while two things are happening, two baptisms, these are no longer two separate events. This is, at least in part, why our United Methodist Church does not (officially) officiate over repeat baptisms where a believer wishes to be re-baptized because they dont remember their baptism, or because they fell away and have returned to Christ, or for other reasons. Because we believe that the act of baptism is something that God does and not just something that we do, we rest assured that God got it right the first time. 3

Like the idea of being born again, or the idea of the earth being round, or the idea of men standing on the moon, or many other things, this idea of baptism was something new, so new that the old language didnt fully explain what was happening. And so, new language was used, new language that, at first didnt make sense. The people who had come to hear John speak in the wilderness wondered how someone could be baptized by the Spirit or by fire. Since then, we understand better how this is so, even if our understanding of this great mystery remains somewhat incomplete. We understand that at the moment of baptism we stand before our brothers and sisters in Christ and declare our allegiance to Jesus Christ and his church. We understand that through the sprinkling, pouring or immersing in water we demonstrate our repentance and our desire to be purified and follow a new path. And finally, we begin to understand that there are things that happen at the moment of baptism that are not our doing at all. At the moment of baptism, God chooses to be present and the fire of his Holy Spirit enters into us in a new way. That moment isnt always one in which we sense an immediate change, but it is a moment in which God is present and a moment at which he begins a change in us. No believer in Jesus Christ should ever doubt that God is with them and no one who has been baptized should ever doubt that the Holy Spirit lives within them. Even within the smallest and quietest among us lives a raging and inextinguishable fire. That is why, as followers of Jesus Christ, that we are often able to do things that others thought impossible. That is why the church can accomplish things that seem to be beyond it ability, beyond its finances, beyond its attendance and beyond its understanding. Baptism is a holy encounter with an Almighty God. We have been changed forever. We have been baptized with fire. We have been filled with the Holy Spirit and the presence of God. [pause] Our calling is to go out into the world and act like it.

You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry heights in Massillon, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at [email protected]. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.