6th Sunday of Easter (April 27, 2008)

“The Baptism Difference”
1 Peter 3:13-22

INI

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

There are some differences between churches that really make absolutely no difference, at least spiritually. If your church has brick or siding really makes no difference at all…maybe in terms of care and upkeep there’s a difference…but eternally there is no difference at all. If the church is big or small really has no bearing on someone’s salvation. There are saved people in really, really big churches…and there are saved people in really, really small churches. Whether there are 20 people in the pews on Sunday or there are 2000 does not matter for your salvation. What sort of guy the pastor is doesn’t make a difference for your salvation. It doesn’t matter if he has brown hair or blonde hair…or even gray hair. It doesn’t matter if he’s fat or skinny or somewhere in between. It doesn’t matter if he’s loud or if he’s soft-spoken. There might be personal preferences for some people—but they don’t make a lick of difference in terms of the salvation of the people.

Some people place a lot of importance on those externals…they “major in minors,” as the saying goes. What does make all the difference in the world is what that church believes…what they confess to be the truth of God’s Word. In those matters, there are big differences. Our Epistle text today from 1 Peter 3 broaches one of those subjects on which there are quite different viewpoints within the Christian church—and that is Baptism. A couple years ago, a friend of mine from high school and his wife came into town to visit…and you have to feel sorry for guys who have friends that are pastors. They always find themselves in some sort of “theological debate.” Him and his wife attend a large non-denominational church in Wisconsin. In their church, they believe that only adults are to be baptized, when they are ready to “commit their life to Jesus.” We of course in the Lutheran church, believe that babies are to be baptized, along with all people. As we discussed it, they said that their pastor acknowledged that though there are differences between churches on Baptism, it’s not a “salvation issue.”

Here’s where it can be really annoying to have a pastor as a friend. To quite the contrary I told them, “Baptism is most definitely a salvation issue.” And to prove it, I quoted St. Peter’s words in 1 Peter 3: “Baptism…now saves you.” One thing that Scripture is very clear about is salvation—there’s only one way…through Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that it is through him that we know the Father. We don’t mess around with salvation. We don’t add things to it and we don’t take away what the Bible clearly says about it. You can change the style of your building…the size of the congregation…or the personality of your pastor…but you cannot change salvation. The only way is through Jesus Christ—that is made abundantly clear. And Peter tells us also very clearly that Baptism has something to do with our salvation. Baptism saves you.

In order to help you and me understand this, St. Peter uses the example of Noah and the ark. Now the account of Noah and his family on the ark is one of the most well-known stories in the entire Bible…known even by unbelieving people. The Lord said that he would destroy the world by means of a flood because of the wickedness and disregard for the God who made heaven and earth. Of course you know already how he commanded Noah to build an ark—a gigantic boat—and to gather animals of every kind into the ark. Once they were all gathered on the ark, along with Noah’s family, the rains came down for forty days and forty nights…and God destroyed every other living thing on the earth. Now we’re most familiar with that mental image of all the animals coming two-by-two to enter the ark, but I’d like to invite you to forget the animals for a moment and to think instead about the people in the ark. Peter reminds us that it was eight persons…and the book of Genesis tells us that it was Noah and his wife, along with their three sons and their wives. In Genesis 7, it says that Noah and his family got onto the ark and that “the Lord shut him in.”

Now let me ask you a question: what saved Noah and his family? Did the ark save Noah and his family…or did God save Noah and his family? Obviously God is the one who acted to save Noah and his family from the flood…and the ark was the means by which he sealed them in safety from the dangers of the waters that washed away the wickedness that existed on the earth. That describes precisely how God uses Baptism to save each and every one of you. You are saved only through the blood of Jesus Christ. Only his death on the cross freed you from the grasp of sin and the destruction of this world that comes on the Last Day. But in your Baptism, God sealed you to Christ and put his Triune name upon you. In your Baptism, God saved you by joining you to Jesus Christ…the one whom St. Peter says “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” As it was during the flood, God does the saving. In Baptism, God does the work. He saves you. He joins you to his Son Jesus and the blood that makes the payment for your sins.

Perhaps Baptism is the forgotten Sacrament. We have the Lord’s Supper at least twice a month…in some cases even more. Especially here in our congregation, there aren’t a whole ton of Baptisms in our services. Almost all of us don’t remember our own Baptisms…we aren’t baptized in the service like we commune in the services. So throughout the history of the Church, special things have been done to help people remember their Baptism where God has saved them. In many old cathedrals and early churches, baptismal fonts were not placed at the front of the church, but rather in the narthex…outside the door to the nave. A person could not walk into the church without passing the font that reminded him or her of the Baptism that saves. In many churches then and even today, baptismal fonts are shaped like an octagon. The eight sides are a reminder of the eight people that God saved on the ark…Noah and his family…just as you and I are saved in the floodwaters of Baptism. Now we don’t have our font in the entrance to the church…or eight sides on it…but every Sunday we begin our service remembering how God saved us in Baptism. We do that by beginning every service in the name with which we were saved: “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

That name which has been placed on us makes a world of difference for people who face certain challenges and difficulties in this world. The very first half of our text speaks of the hardships Christians will have to endure. It talks about “suffering for righteousness’ sake”…of having to “make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you”…of “being slandered”…of “suffering for doing good.” In a sense, the baptized children of God are marked men and marked women. Someone who is baptized is an enlistment for the army of God. In the early church, converts to the Christian faith thought long and hard about whether or not they wanted to be baptized. In a world where Christianity was illegal, they were being marked with the name that was hated throughout the ancient world. Though you and I might not face such life-threatening tortures as crucifixion, lions in the arena, or beheading, when you are baptized, you become an enemy of Satan and all his minions. He uses every weapon at his disposal to try to attack you and separate you from Christ.

But with your Baptism, there is a difference. Your suffering is different from the suffering of the unbeliever. Your suffering is a joy—because Christ suffered first for you. Because Christ suffered in doing his Father’s will, God bestows the same fate on those who bear Christ’s name in Baptism. And just as Christ was victorious in the face of suffering… proclaiming victory as he descended into hell after his death…so too you and I find victory in the face of suffering. Satan cannot claim you…no matter what wiles he uses…if your health is failing…if your paycheck is smaller than the stack of bills…if your marriage is tearing apart at the seams…if loved ones won’t talk to you because of the faith you have in Christ…none of those sufferings and struggles can pull you away from Jesus. Your Baptism is the difference-maker.

That places each and every one of us in a very unique position—as those who have been claimed as Christ’s own in Baptism and sealed with the floodwaters that washed away our sin, you and I are called to defend the faith. Peter says to the Church, “Have no fear (of those who persecute Christians), nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” Believe it or not, theology is not one of those topics that—along with politics—we are to never discuss with others. Rather, at all times we are to be ready to defend the Christian faith. Explain why we believe what we believe…tell others why Baptism is God’s work and not our own…that in Baptism, God saves us…“not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Though Baptism takes place with water…it is not ordinary water…is the water with the Word of God that presents us holy and blameless before God with a clear conscience…with no need to fear the enemy who stalks us. Baptism, you see, makes all the difference in the world. Baptism saves us because Jesus saves us. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.