...there shouldn't be emergency baptisms...then again, there shouldn't be infants dying in their parents arms...sometimes you do the wrong thing for the right reasons...theology, in such circumstances, is like trying to fight a dragon with marshmallows...I remind you now of these words of comfort:Hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: (Matt. 28:18-20)
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Hear also these words from Holy Scripture: (Eph. 4:4-6)
There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called
to the one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is above all and through all and in all.
Obeying the word of our Lord Jesus,
and confident of his promises,
we baptize those whom God has called.
In baptism God claims us,
and seals us to show that we belong to God.
God frees us from sin and death,
uniting us with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection.
By water and the Holy Spirit,
we are made members of the church, the body of Christ,
and joined to Christ's ministry of love, peace, and justice.
Baptism is serious business...deadly serious. I thank God for this sacrament and the power it had to heal our spirits in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
1 comment:
This reminds me of when Andrew and I were baptized upon returning from South Africa. We understood that we had both been baptized as babies, but this was a new us, this was a us that had encountered God in a major way, and in that new us we wanted a wedding ring ... a public declaration of that love for the God that revealed Himself to us on the other side of the world.
There were other reasons for our adult baptism, too. Very clearly we felt that our public declaration of faith was more about those who would witness it than it was about us. This absolutely proved to be true.
Andrew's buisness partner came to the baptism. THey brought their 7 year old, Caroline to the service. It was the first time that little girl had ever stepped into a church. She had been asking her parents to take her to church for two years.
That night, the mom overheard Caroline on the front porch with a friend.
Caroline: Did you go to church today?
Friend: Yes.
Caroline: Was it exciting?
Friend: No, it was boring like always.
Caroline: Well, at my church today it was so exciting we barely sat down. At MY church today people died and came back to life.
The mom pulled Caroline aside later that night. She said, "Caroline, you understand that people didn't really die today in church, right?"
Caroline, "Uh, yes mom ... they died to their old self, and when they came out of the water they were a new self with Jesus."
Amazing, considering in her 7 years on earth, she had never been to a church before. She and her parents have been coming every Sunday since. All of this out of our public declaration ... beautiful.
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