Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Sermon - Lent Midweek 5 - Holy Baptism


Holy Baptism
Matthew 28:16-20
“To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord” (LSB 407)


We’ve been considering, during this midweek series, the Small Catechism of Martin Luther along with some of his “catechism hymns”.  Luther wrote many hymns, hymn texts, hymn tunes and updated old tunes to align their theology with Scripture.  He wrote hymns for his German Mass – to take the place of the Kyrie, Gloria, Creed, Sanctus, etc.  He wrote hymns that were metrical paraphrases of the Psalms.  And he also wrote hymns specifically to teach the doctrine of the Catechism – and this one is one of those.  It bore an original heading, “A spiritual song of our Holy Baptism, which is a fine summary of what it is, who established it, and what its benefits are”  Luther involved many others in his production of hymns, poets, theologians and musicians, and none more prominent than Johan Sebastian Bach. 

This particular hymn was written late in Luther’s career, sometime in 1540 or 1541, in conjunction with a couple of sermons on the topic of Holy Baptism.  But it wasn’t until 1962 that it was translated into English and heard on the radio – as part of the Lutheran Hour program.  Then, in 2004 a new tune was written to go with it – the tune our congregation has become familiar with.  So we have quite a little history wrapped up in this little hymn.

But beyond that, just on its own terms, the hymn is an excellent sermon on the doctrine of Baptism. 
Verse 1 tells us about Christ’s baptism, which Luther then uses as a springboard to teach about our own baptism.  Jesus comes to baptism to do his Father’s will, or pleasure.  In His baptism, Jesus the “Father’s Word” is given us to treasure.  It is, as it were, his ordination as Messiah – God sets him aside as the one appointed to do his will – the one Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.  Luther doesn’t wait till verse two, but immediately connects Jesus’ baptism to the cross.  Of course, Jesus does the same when he tells James and John that he indeed has a cup to drink and a baptism to undergo.  Luther refers to it this way: “And by his blood and agony release from death’s oppression”
You see, Jesus’ baptism is part and parcel of his death on the cross.  They go together.  They may be separated by three years but they are all bound up together and inseparable, indivisible.  But so too is Jesus’ baptism and your baptism.  And so too therefore, Jesus’ cross and your baptism.  Paul says, “we were buried with Christ, by baptism, into death”.  These waters run deep, and drip with blessings.

Verse 2 begins rehearsing the main teachings of the Catechism about Holy Baptism.  Here we have the question, “What is baptism?” which Luther answers, “[it’s] not just plain water, but the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word”  or sung in the hymn, “Our Lord here with His Word endows pure water freely flowing”.  It is the word of God that makes baptism baptism.  It’s not some power of the pastor, or magic incantation.  It’s not some special process our mystical ritual done to the water.  But rather the word takes center stage, and the promises that word holds out to us in baptism.  It is Christ’ own charge to “Go and make disciples of all nations… baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  And here, in baptism, the Holy Spirit our kinship here avows.  That is, baptized into the name of God, we are incorporated into him, made one with him, as close as family.

Verse 3 and 4 return to Jesus’ baptism and the voice of the Father which commands and invites our trust in Christ, and in the word he has spoken.  The Trine God was present that day and on full display – the Father’s voice, the Spirit’s descent, the Son standing in the water.  So, also in our baptism, we receive the name of the Trine God “assuring us with promises compelling”.

Verse 5 re-tells the “Great Commission” of Matthew 28, the chief passage in the New Testament concerning baptism (also my own confirmation verse).  There Jesus commands the 12, as they go, to make disciples of all nations.  And the making of disciples has two verbs – to things to do – baptize and teach.  Here Luther also shows that baptism incorporates repentance – that is that we would “abandon sin and come in true contrition”.  In the catechism he expounds that baptism, for the Christian, is a daily event, drowning the Old Adam by repentance and faith. 

Baptism is, in this way, very much what the Christian life is all about.  A daily renewal, an ongoing cycle of sin and grace, law and gospel, repentance and forgiveness. 

Verse 6 is a stern warning that Baptism is a gift that can be thrown away, cast aside.  Just as faith itself can be.  Apart from the grace of God, the gifts of God – given in Word and Sacrament. People, of course, try to do this – through works (that must fail), through striving, that can’t succeed, and by pious acts that may look very religious on the outside, but have no power to save.  There is no other way of salvation than that comes by the blood of Christ, the gift of God’s free grace, and all that comes to us, through the waters of baptism.  With Christ we have everything.  Apart from Christ we have nothing, and worse.

And verse 7 shows us that Baptism hold far more gifts and blessings than the eye can see.  Only the perception of faith can unfold the power of baptism.  It is the power of Jesus blood – that brings healing to all our ills.  It reveals the love of God, and assures us of pardon. 

We can hardly say enough about the blessed gift of Holy Baptism.  We can scarcely do it justice.  We can sing of it, teach it to our children, confess it, and live it.  We can remember this divine flood of blessings every day. 

And what a better reminder of it than that common everyday thing – water.  Luther said, “when you wash your face, remember your baptism”.  In these days of everyone trying to stay clear of a nasty virus, washing our hands perhaps like never before – what a good time to remember your baptism!  With every squirt of hand sanitizer (if you still have any), why not give thanks for the sanitization of our soul?  With every trip to the sink to wash your hands – why not sing a hymn, say the Lord’s Prayer, and give thanks to the one who has saved us through the waters. 

Dear Christian, you are baptized.  Your baptism connects you with Jesus, who by his baptism united himself with you.  And if we have been united in baptism, then we are also united with him in a death like his, and we will also be united with him in a resurrection like his.  Yes, baptism is the seal that marks you as one destined for resurrection, and life in heaven forever.

All that, packed into a little water and some simple but powerful words. 

As we inch ever closer to Holy Week and Easter, we consider all that Christ has done for us.  How he suffered and died for the sins of the world.  Of course that includes you and me, and all people.  But in Holy Baptism, he gets personal.  He calls you by name, and makes you his own, and bestows a flood of blessings.  Thanks be to God that you and I are baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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