Jan 17th
Acts 19:1-7
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers.[a] 2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.
“No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked.
And they replied, “The baptism of John.”
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”
5 As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues[b] and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
Today’s scripture teaches us something that is against what they taught me in seminary. At least I think so.
In seminary we learned that there was no such thing as being “re-baptized.” Because to say that means that God wasn’t present in your first baptism making you the main contributor of the baptism act. To say that your first baptism didn’t count was to say that God wasn’t there. And because baptism is not about you, it’s about God, seminary teaches that your first baptism counts. Even if you were a baby. You can then “re-affirm” your baptism later in life but you are not being baptized.
Theologically it’s very complicated.
In today’s scripture we see that there are two kinds of baptism. John’s baptism and Jesus’ baptism. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. Jesus’ was a baptism where you received the Holy Spirit. Without delving into the theologically complications I came up with this idea.
First, it doesn’t matter how many times you have been baptized. It’s fine if you are baptized every day. Especially if you really mean it each time. We can talk about this later if you’d like.
Second, and lastly, when we are baptized (or re-affirm our baptism) we should keep in mind the two different kinds of baptism in today’s scripture.
When we are baptized it’s about repentance. When we are baptized we look at all the mistakes we have made in the past, all the people we have hurt, all of the ways we have sinned and we turn from it all and make a promise to do better.
It’s also very important to know that when we are baptized is not just about repentance it’s also about receiving the Holy Spirit.
What does that mean?
Well for me it can be summed up by the common phrase, “joyful obedience.”When we are baptized not only should we repent but we should have this deep feeling of wanting to serve God, love people, and bring hope into the world, with the church universal.
It’s a feeling that the Holy Spirit can only give you. It’s like a well that springs up in you to commit yourself to the church and to a live of servitude. That’s what it means to receive the Holy Spirit to me. So this is why we re-affirm our baptism and I don’t think it matter how many times we are baptized. We tend to lose track. We forget to repent. We lose joyful obedience. Then something hits us that we have been stagnant, and we experience a revival after the initial conviction. That revival needs a party, a ceremony, a celebration, and a community to share that transformation.
That’s baptism.
So pray about being baptized if that’s what God is calling you to do. Or re-affirming your baptism. Our sacraments are just the way that our culture, and people we call Christians, enhances your life. Sacraments are little parties that celebrates new life.
We need more parties!!!