Monday, April 27, 2015

One Baptism

Last Sunday after church, a couple of people stopped me to ask about Baptism. Let me tell you - one of the great joys I have as a pastor is when I am asked a theological question (especially the ones I can answer!). Both of the questions had to do with the line from the Nicene Creed - "We believe in one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins." The question both of the people who approached me asked had to do with conversations they have had with friends or family members who attend other churches that require the new members to be re-baptized, or baptism by full-immersion (all the way under the water). How do we respond to someone who tells us we haven't been properly baptized, or the baptisms we received are somehow not complete or up to the standards required to join a certain church?

The simple answer I offer is this - Baptism is a gift of Grace - God's gift to us. This is God's doing, and not ours. God is the one who acts. The water, together with God's Word is all we need. The pastor, the parents and the one being baptized are all instruments in making this happen, but God is the one who acts.

So if we are told that we need to be baptized again, does that mean that God didn't do it right the first time? I am confident God doesn't make mistakes! A woman in a previous church I served used to say there is one word that is NOT in God's vocabulary - that word is "Oops!" Again, Baptism is God's doing, and God is capable of doing what God has told us God will do!

Back in 1997, the Evangelical Lutheran Church adopted for guidance and practice a document called "The Use of the Means of Grace." In it, we read these words:
Baptism is Once for All. A person is baptized once. Because of the unfailing nature of God’s promise, and because of God’s once-for-all action in Christ, Baptism is not repeated. In the Large Catechism, Martin Luther expounds on this: Baptism is a sign and testimony of God’s grace, awakening and creating faith. The faith of the one being baptized “does not constitute Baptism but receives it….” “Everything depends upon the Word and commandment of God….”(The Large Catechism, Baptism, 53.)

Re-baptism” is to be avoided since it causes doubt, focusing attention on the always-failing adequacy of our action or our faith. Baptized persons who come to new depth of conviction in faith are invited to an Affirmation of Baptism in the life of the congregation. (The Large Catechism, Baptism, 47-63.)

I have heard people say that Baptism isn't very meaningful to them because they were baptized as an infant, and I would like to be baptized again so they can remember it. My response to that is it is okay to affirm the baptism. I would even be willing to go down the river (once it warms up - or maybe we could go to the beach this summer!) and join you in the water and we can affirm your baptism - remembering what God has already done for you.

The Confirmation Service we celebrate each year is an Affirmation of Baptism service. It is an event in which the young men and women who have been in Confirmation classes for over two years stand before the church and claim the promises their parents and sponsors made at the baptismal font their own. They affirm their baptism.

So what happens if someone is not sure if he or she has been baptized? This happens more often than you might think. Again, from the Use of the Means of Grace:
There may be occasions when people are uncertain about whether or not they have been baptized. Pastors, after supportive conversation and pastoral discernment, may choose to proceed with the baptism. The practice of this church and its congregations needs to incorporate the person into the community and its ongoing catechesis and to proclaim the sure grace of God in Christ, avoiding any sense of Baptism being repeated.

In these occasions, I have invited these men and women to the font and I baptized them. What if they were already baptized? God understands. There is grace in that as well, isn't there? 

One Baptism is all we need. God acts, and we are forgiven.



If you are interested in reading more about Baptism, as well as other means of Grace, you can download the ELCA document using this link:

http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/The_Use_Of_The_Means_Of_Grace.pdf



Peace,

Pastor Charlie


1 comment: