“A Shotgun Baptism”

Matthew 3:13-17

January 13, 2008

Baptism of the Lord Sunday

St. Paul United Methodist Church

Rev. John Fleming

We’ve all heard of a shotgun wedding. Most of us know what happens in such a ceremony. I wonder, have any of you heard of a shotgun baptism?

The story that I’m about to share comes out of the life and the ministry of our beloved former Associate Pastor, Rev. Al Hawkins. Let me thank Sue for helping me remember the details of this wonderful story and for filling in the gaps. It seems that Al was working late one night at a church he served in Indianapolis. He was packing up his things and was about to leave for home when he noticed a lady walking toward the building from the parking lot. Al did not seem to know her. As she approached the door, he opened it for her and asked if he could help her in some way. She proceeded to tell him that she wanted to be baptized. She mentioned that she was getting on up there in years and was likely to die soon and so she wanted to be baptized.

Al, of course, tried his best to explore her faith with her. He already knew what her motivation for the sacrament was. He soon discovered that she wasn’t interested in answering any questions about her relationship with God. She didn’t care to know the ins and outs of baptism and what it really means. She just wanted to be baptized.

Al asked her when and where she wanted the baptism to happen. She answered, “Right here and right now.” Al suggested using the chapel, but that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to use, as she put it, the real church. Al walked her into the Sanctuary. They walked the aisle to the front of the church. He asked her to sit on one of the front pews while he got things ready. My guess is that he had to put the baptismal font in place. For sure he had to secure some water for her baptism.

When he returned, Al escorted the baptismal candidate to the altar rail. She was wearing a heavy fur coat, so Al asked her if she wanted to take the coat off. She did not want to do that. With everything in place, Al began her baptism. He said the words of the liturgy. He asked her if she repented of her sins. He prayed over the water and then he reached down deep into the baptismal waters and placed the waters and his hand on her head. When he was finished, a smile appeared on the woman’s face. Then she said, “That was great! It made me feel so good. Let’s do it again!”

Al must have smiled with her. I know he explained to her that in the United Methodist Church, one baptism is all that is needed and all that is necessary and all, really that he could do. She took a step back, lowered her head, opened up her fur coat that revealed a shotgun she had been concealing there. She smiled, looked up at Al again and said, “I really want to be baptized again.”

What choice did he have? She had a firearm! So Al baptized her again. After the second time, she smiled sweetly, thanked Al for his time, and walked out the door and towards her car. It was a shotgun baptism!

Jesus’ baptism was not like that. It was not forced upon him. It was something he willingly did. Just like in the story I just shared with you, the hesitation came not from the one being baptized but from the one doing the baptizing.

If our lesson sounds familiar to you, it should. Just a few weeks ago we looked at it. We talked about how John was out there on the banks of the Jordan River telling people that the Messiah was coming and that they had better get ready. He told them that what they needed to do was to repent of their sins and to be baptized.

That was his sermon and he preached it as loudly as he could. You will recall that people came out by the droves to do just that, to repent and to be baptized. And now picture it, there, standing in line with everyone else, is Jesus. You have to wonder what he was doing there. After all, He was the Son of God. What did he need repenting of? Some has noticed that he stood there and this baptism acted like an initiation of sorts for the beginning of his ministry. For sure Jesus’ ministry begins with baptism. It ends with it, too, in this gospel. Jesus’ final words to his disciples have him telling them to go out into the entire world preaching and teaching and baptizing.

Others have said that he is baptized because he wants to connect with us. You know, stand with us in our sin. I’m not sure about that. What I am sure about are four things. First, John didn’t think baptizing Jesus was altogether a good idea. He protested. He said, “I don’t need to baptize you. You need to baptize me.” Second, Jesus says that his baptism is a part of God’s plan. Listen to the words Matthew records, “Let it be so now; for it is proper, it is right, for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Third, as Jesus was coming up from his baptismal waters, the heavens opened. He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove. It landed on him. You might say that for Jesus, this isn’t just his baptism. It is also his ordination. Fourth and finally, here is what the text tells us, that the voice of God spoke from the clouds. Matthew would have us to believe everyone being baptized heard it. The voice simply said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” I don’t know about you, but I long to hear that God is well pleased with me.”

With all of that and with his hair still wet with baptismal waters, Jesus and the Spirit head to the wilderness where he will be tempted three times. We will get to that sermon in four weeks, when the season of Lent begins.

For now, this is all there is. There is nothing more. There is no explanation of why He was baptized (other than it being God’s plan). There is no explanation of how baptism is to happen. Should we be immersed in the water or is a little water from the font enough? There are no details of when we are to be baptized. Are we baptized when we’re babies, something we call infant baptism, or are we supposed to do it later in life, something we call believer’s baptism?

What I know is this; these baptismal waters make a claim on our lives. I also know this, whenever we are baptized, we spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out what it means and how to live it out.

So here is my question for us today. What do we really believe about baptism? Let me offer three things I believe about baptism. First, I believe that baptism gives us a good beginning. It is an initiation of sorts. Our ritual says, “Through the sacrament of baptism, we are initiated into Christ’s holy church.”

When I was ordained as an elder, I was asked if I believe in and if I would practice infant baptism. Our church baptizes babies. I said that I did and that I would. It’s a deal breaker if you say no. It will keep you from being ordained.

I do believe in it because I know that baptism, like infants who come to receive it, is a gift from God. I believe in it because I know there is something called prevenient grace. As United Methodist Christians we believe in grace in three stages. The first stage is called prevenient grace. Simply put, it is the grace that comes before we know who we are or who anyone around us is. It is this grace that helps God to say to the prophet Jeremiah, “Before you were born, I knew you…” Being baptized as a baby is the first step in a life with God.

I head of a pastor who does what I do following a baptism. He walked the aisle of the church and spoke to the child. His words were intended for the baby, but also for his congregation. He said, “Little sister, by this act of baptism, we welcome you on a journey that will take your whole life. This isn’t the end. This is the beginning of God’s experiment with your life. What God will make of you, we do not know. Where God will take you, we do not know. Where God will surprise you, we cannot say. This we do know and this we do say, God is with you.” And now I know this, too. God is with us as we live out our baptisms.

Here’s the second thing I want you to know. Baptism is a commitment for all involved. What are we promising in baptism? If you are a parent who brings your baby, you are promising that you will nurture your child in the church and that you will do it not only by your teaching. You will also do it by your example. We have to be careful; our baptized children are watching us! When the baby is older, when it is time for them to join the church and to be confirmed in our church, it is a decision they will make for themselves. A preacher I know once boldly said this in a sermon, “What difference does it make if the baptismal gown is pretty is we don’t see the child for months and months, sometimes year. Our children learn about Jesus even in the nursery!”

Parents make a commitment. You do, too. This is what we promise to do. Listen again to our ritual. We are asked, “Will you nurture one another in the faith and life and include this infant in your care?” We promise to surround them. We promise to pray for them. We promise to nurture them so that one day they’ll be faithful disciples. I thank God every day that my home church took that promise seriously. I hope you’ll take it seriously, too.

And finally, let me say that baptism isn’t a one time ritual. It’s not something we do once and check it off our list. As I said a little earlier, we spend our entire lives living out our baptisms. Susie always asks me what I mean when I tell people to remember their baptisms. She says that there is no way many of us can do that. And she is right. But what we are to remember is that we are baptized and that we are to be about God’s business. We are to remember that we’ve been given the Spirit and as far as I can tell, you’re using that Spirit for good. I have seen you at work in the choir room and in the Sunday school room. I have seen you at work in the sick room and in the board room and in the classroom. I have seen you asking what you can do to help and then helping.

Let me close with that preacher’s prayer with the infant in his arms and see if it speaks to you again, “What God will make of you, we do not know. Where God will take you, we do not know. Where God will surprise you, we cannot say. But this we know and this we do say, God is with you.” Let us pray.