Getting in the Spirit: Luke 3:15-17, 21-23
Over the years, several people have asked me if they could be rebaptized. They typically ask for one of three reasons: they want to rededicate their lives to Christ after having drifted away; they were baptized in another church and wish to be baptized in this one; or they were baptized as an infant and what to experience God’s gift firsthand.
The Church, however, does not rebaptize. The reason is
because God keeps the promises God made when you were baptized, and no human
being can undo what God did.
Still, these people ask out of a deep spiritual need which cannot
be satisfied by my recitation of church doctrine. The people of God want
baptism and need baptism, and to understand why it’s so important, we must look
to Jesus’s baptism in today’s Gospel.
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| Chapel Fog by Hermann Steurer from Pixabay |
Jesus was baptized at the age of thirty in the Jordan River.
What’s striking about Jesus’s baptism is the fact that he
did not need it. John was proclaiming “a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins,” yet Jesus didn’t need to be cleansed or purified of
anything. He was God’s Son. Even still, when he is baptized, the Holy Spirit
descends like a dove upon him, and a voice from heaven declares him “my beloved
Son.”
This is a transformative moment for Jesus, even though he
was God’s Son before he was baptized. The Holy Spirit, the divine life force
which brought all things into being now dwells in Jesus. The Spirit will be the
power not only to perform miracles but to radically transform the people who
will hear his teachings, see his signs, and who commit to following him.
John the Baptist declares, “Jesus baptizes you with the Holy
Spirit and with fire.” I hesitate to say it this way, but the Spirit ignites
divine life in people. This is why, when we think about the Christian life, we
need to think bigger than it being just doctrines, beliefs, and rituals. To be
baptized is to have God’s Spirit living within you. It’s the Spirit who illuminates
God’s activity in your life. It’s the Spirit who empowers you to do God-sized
works. It’s the Spirit that radically transforms you like a refiner’s fire.
This kind of transformational experience is what I believe
people are looking for when they ask about or talk about rebaptism. They speak
out of the longing that’s in all of us for God’s presence to fill our emptiness
and our pain. It comes from our need for assurance that God is real, that his
kingdom will come, and that evil and suffering will end.
Even though faith gives your life meaning and hope, faith is
also a struggle. We see this struggle in Jesus, who devotes a huge amount of
time to prayer, who sorrows over the human suffering and pain he witnesses, and
who asks God to take away from him the cup of suffering, which God does not do.
From Jesus we learn that faith won’t get you everything you
want from God. Nor will faith yield a problem-free life. Faith means going back
to God over and over again even when you don’t get what you want from
God. You keep doing good works even when you don’t get good outcomes. You do
justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God even when the costs of doing
so are high.
All too often, though, we resist the struggle. With more
than enough other struggles in life, we subconsciously decide that faith is a
struggle to avoid. This is why it’s so easy to set church and faith practices
aside for sports, TV shows, shopping, social media, and other activities. They
bring gratification without struggle. But they will only take you so
far.
Your challenge and everyone’s challenge is to recognize that
spiritual hunger is real, and the things of the world are not going to satisfy.
The only way to grow in spirit is to dwell in the spirit. If you haven’t come
to bible study, volunteered at the clothing closet / pot love meals, or reading
the devotional materials we offer, you’re missing out. We have a Quiet Retreat
coming up on Saturday, January 25; a mission trip happening this spring;
Vacation Bible School this summer; homebound members who would love a card,
phone call, or visit.
I also believe our congregations are being challenged to be
open to new and different ways for you to experience the transforming power of
the spirit. There’s beautiful and powerful music we can include in our worship.
We can share faith testimonies. Our children and youth are eager to serve and
grow in their faith, if only we will take the time to teach and mentor them.
I know it’s frustrating when we work hard planning
ministries and hardly anyone shows up. I know it’s frustrating to come to
church or open your bible with a hungry spirit, only to go away unsatisfied. But
remember: Christ is struggling with you.
And even if your soul is sick with doubt, even if you’ve
wandered so far from God that you have no idea how you’ll ever get back, even
if you’ve lost all reasons to believe and trust in him, remember this: you are
baptized. God has named you beloved. You have the Holy Spirit already. And the
Spirit will sustain you through the struggle until you can eat, drink, and be
satisfied; until your despair turns to hope and your pain turns to joy.
The gifts of God’s Spirit are yours to claim.
This is why, when we think about the Christian life, we need
to think bigger than it being just doctrines, beliefs, and rituals.
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