There must be something better

The New Year has arrived – did you celebrate its arrival? For many it was a time of deciding whether to get your glad rags on or wrap up in your dressing gown in the living room. We were isolating. It was a time of not mingling, away from relationship with others. That’s not how life should be, I hope you’d agree. Even for an introvert like me, there must be something better.

Watch out John the Baptist is about

Just before this passage (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22) we would have heard of John the Baptist arriving on the scene. He’s angry. He is passionate that people take notice of the one who is to follow him. Stop looking at me but watch, I’m pointing to the one that matters. People started to ask John what shall we do? John responds by telling them that for everyone who received two presents should share one of them with the person who had none, share the food that you have. To the officials he said don’t take more tax than you need, be content with the wallpaper that is on the walls, be satisfied with what you have – no corruption.  This only started the ball rolling, more questions flooded in. Was John the Messiah they had all been hoping for? 

Chaff?

In Glasgow there is so much history related to the grain silo’s along the Rivers Kelvin and Clyde. In the fields the Farmer would need to pour the wheat from one container to another on a windy day, so it would separate the wheat from the chaff. They might toss the wheat high up into the air, so that the wind would get amongst it. Why? Well on those dry days – we don’t get too many in Glasgow it would seem – chaff lying amongst the wheat would make the field a tinderbox. Any resulting fire would never be contained or even controlled. They need to save the wheat. 

So is Baptism the card for Heaven?

So when John uses this metaphor to explain the baptism of Jesus as one with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3: 16) is he saying that he is separating us out into two piles: one of which will flourish and one of which will be burned in hell? First and foremost, Jesus and in general the philosophy of the day had little consideration of the hell we might be envisaging. The word hell seen in many of our translations speaks of the Valley of Hinnom, Gehenna, a place where the fires would burn night and day. Dante might push that location deep below us, but not Jesus. No John is saying that through Jesus there is an opportunity of flourishing as the chaff is removed and burned – that element of our lives which prevents us from seeing all that God has done, will do in our lives and in the lives of others. 

And note that although Matthew writes of Jesus’ baptism by John, both Mark and Luke are careful not to attribute the baptism directly to John. There is mention of the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descending upon Jesus as Jesus comes out of the water.  In fact Luke is the only Gospel writer who adds that the dove was in bodily form, not merely a metaphor. We might discuss whether Jesus would need to be baptised for his sins, given that he is the Son of God, later perhaps. Our text finishes with “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased”

What does Baptism mean then?

So what does the baptismal font signify? Typically they are eight sided, highlighting that it is a new life, going beyond one week and starting on the first day of a new week. If that doesn’t encourage you on a Monday morning, nothing will. It also highlights that Jesus’ resurrection was on the 8th day. In some older churches you might well see a lid on the font – to stop people siphoning off the holy water to sell. But it isn’t magic. Baptism is a sacrament, an inward transformation by an outward sign. Just as the dove indicates God’s blessing, being an intrinsic part of Jesus, the baptism is an outward sign of our openness to God in our lives, and God’s desire to allow our lives to flourish, that we are also called beloved.

Baptism is usually a time when family gather – it could be our biological family but also our church family. Baptism is a tangible sign of being in relationship, with God and with others. It’s freely given to all who seek it.

In the passage from Acts (Acts 8: 14-17) the first part starts to give us some understanding where exactly we are in the world. Just prior to this, Stephen, one of the first deacons in the Bible, has just been killed (described here about 20 minutes in) all of which was approved by Saul – soon to be known as Paul. Another of those deacons – those who were released from the admin of the ‘church’ (Acts 6) and sent out to proclaim the good news – Philip has been chasing Ethiopian eunuchs and baptising them. It’s freely given to all who seek it.

Did you say Magic?

Simon is mentioned, that’s not Simon Peter, but Simon the magician. He’s keen initially but possibly not for the right motives. We also hear that Samaria had accepted the word of God, Jesus, not the Bible. Remember that Samaria was a land not well reviewed by Jews. That whole parable of the Good Samaritan was a story playing on that theme that nothing good comes out of Samaria. Jesus speaks of this when John compares Jesus speaking with a Jew called Nicodemus (John 3) and the woman at the well (John 4). If Samaria had accepted God, things are changing on a big scale. When there’s talk of there must be something better, God says no actually we can change this from within. The Good News is starting to catch on, like a fire in a field even. As mentioned at the start of Acts (Acts 1:8) preach the message to “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Ah so no magic is involved…

But let’s go back to that magician, Simon. He doesn’t want anything to do with God, just the power, the razzamatazz that goes along with it. He wants the power to do magical stuff. He’s also willing to buy it!

In this passage we have a direct comparison with being open to God and just wanting something for ourself. Simon has even accepted that wants to be baptised, an outward sign, but just so that he can get his hands on the inwards power stuff, to enhance his own image. 

But “the Gospel is not magic nor is it for sale”

Willimon, William., Acts: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, (Westminster John Knox Press, 2010)

Yet if we say the right thing, if we do right we think that God will love us more? Also do we, as some might wish, that the Gospel might keep us from being ill, or make us prosperous? It’s not some elixir, but one that gives life which is entwined with our creator. It takes an inward desire to live as God would wants us to do. It’s all about what drives us: is it God or us?

Baptisms – plural?

Baptism can be seen through the Book of Acts, as the Church explodes from Jerusalem outwards, into two separate entities:

• The baptism of water is an initial sign of grace, that gift of God to all of us.

• The baptism of the spirit is the assurance in our heart of being with God (salvation) and that onward walk with God every day (sanctification).

We may see here that baptism is a pivotal moment in our lives but it not the destination. We are all on a journey of faith. Baptism is not a once for all inoculation, a vaccination, but one that starts us on the journey with God. Just as Simon the magician saw something so deep and powerful in God, but only later (Acts 8: 24) saw what he was really missing; just as Philip saw that baptism was a way of encouraging believers onto that path of flourishing: we may also see that we may need to be open to God moving in our lives. It’s not magic, it’s an open invitation to allow God to speak to us in our every day situation, for us to engage in a dialogue with our loving God. It’s about being, and from all that our doing is driven comes from God.

What’s next?

 You may have thought yes well I have been baptised but I have never really taken all that on board. There are no set prayers needed, so special magical words. It’s just offering ourselves to God.

Holy God, may we be open to you in all that we are and all that we do. Speak to us afresh. I offer myself to your Spirit, cast out those areas that need to be winnowed, that the chaff is separated from the wheat, and may our lives flourish as we walk with you. Amen