Jordan River

34 The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

--Acts 8:34-39

On Sunday we had wonderful worship services remembering Jesus’ baptism and celebrating our own.  It was powerful for me to see so many people  come forward to touch the water and renew their baptismal vows and commitment to Christ.   

When it comes to baptism in the Christian tradition, there is quite a variety of thought.  What happens in baptism?  Who should be baptized?  And, how much water should be used?  These are all questions about which faithful Christians have disagreed.  

When it comes to how much water should be used, some of our Christian brothers and sisters from other denominations teach and practice only immersion.  For these Christians, baptism is only baptism if it is by immersion.  So, it takes a lot of water, because you literally have to  go under the water and come back up.  A little dab won’t do you.  You need a lot.  

In the United Methodist Church, we will actually baptize by any method.  We will immerse--I have baptized folks in a swimming pool before--but we also baptize by pouring and by sprinkling.  We believe that God is working in this sacrament of baptism regardless of the amount of water.  

Another big area where Christians disagree on baptism.  Some of our Christian brothers and sisters practice only a believer’s baptism (these are the folks who consider baptism an ordinance as opposed to a sacrament).  The way that they read and interpret Scripture leads them to contend that you should only be baptized after you place your faith and trust in Christ.  That’s what believer’s baptism means--that you have already become a believer and baptism is just a public symbol of something that has happened already.  

According to Christians who teach believer’s baptism, you shouldn’t be baptized until you intellectually understand salvation and baptism.  

When we’re discussing this, I always like to ask my believer’s baptism friends: Well, what about the severely mentally handicapped?  Should they never be baptized because they are intellectually unable to understand what’s going on with salvation and baptism?  And, who among us completely understands what God has done for us through Jesus Christ our Lord?  Doesn’t that understanding evolve over time for all of us?  At what point of that evolution should we be baptized?

As United Methodists, we believe that we’re always growing in our understanding of salvation and our life of faith.  We have never arrived.  If waiting until a certain level of understanding or faithfulness is achieved must be a prerequisite for baptism, then some of us would be waiting a very long time.

That’s why, in the United Methodist Church (along with Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Catholic, etc.), we baptize infants as well as adults.  In the Book of Acts, we learn that when people would hear the good news of the Gospel, they would be baptized along with their entire households--including infants and small children.

So, we do baptize babies.  In fact, we think that there’s not a better sign of our position before God.  A baby is completely helpless, utterly dependent upon her parents to do everything for her.  When it comes to our salvation, we are completely helpless to earn it.  We are utterly dependent upon God.  Salvation is a free gift of grace that we can do nothing to earn.  We can only receive it.  

Make no mistake: We always baptize people on faith.  In the case of an infant, we baptize him or her on the faith of the parents and the faith of the local congregation promising to help raise the child in the faith.  We claim the faith for the child until that time when the child grows up and can claim the faith for him or herself.  Eventually, every person must profess the faith as his or her personal faith. 

Trying To Live As One Marked,

Pastor Michael