The Name: Baptism as the Lord’s Commitment

The Name: Baptism as the Lord’s Commitment

Advent Midweek 1 T Matthew 28:16-20

(Based on Dr. Masaki’s Baptism Series in CPR Vol. 28, Part 3 Series B)

 

INI

God works miracles through water.

Noah was saved from unrighteousness by the flood.

The Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry ground while hard-hearted Pharoah drowned.

Naaman even washed off his leprosy in the Jordan River.

God’s action makes the waters extraordinary.

 

It’s extraordinary not because of what we bring to the table,

But because what the Lord gives and creates.

We don’t always see the benefits of such gifts –

How baptism grafts us into Christ.

How baptism gives us new life.

How baptism gives us a new family.

 

The sermon series on which this is based was written by one of my Seminary professors,

Naomichi Masaki.

He grew up in Japan,

A place where Christians were few and far between,

And Lutherans even more scarce than that.

 

Japanese culture has a strong emphasis on family,

And the respect for elders is paramount.

He once recounted a story about his sister-in-law in Japan.

In college, she was baptized.

But when she came to church to be baptized,

She carried with her two big suitcases.

Her parents told her that morning that she couldn’t come home if she was baptized.

So, they disowned her,

Hoping that would deter her from baptism.

 

Nevertheless, she was baptized by God.

Her old family abandoned her, and her ties were cut,

but she gained a new family as tears of joy for her forgiveness overwhelmed her.

 

There’s much to learn about baptism –

It does such great, powerful things for you.

It even gives you a new family,

As God places us into one body,

as a community of believers centered on Christ.

 

Luther once wrote in the Large Catechism about baptism:

“Therefore, every Christian has enough in Baptism to learn and to do all his life. […]

We have, therefore, no greater jewel in body and soul.”

 

Baptism is a weighty gift – a true treasure.

Through it, God brings abundant blessings.

This evening we read the first part of Luther’s teaching on baptism,

And it leads us to consider one most important fact:

In baptism, we receive God’s name as a gift.

II.

What is baptism?

It’s not just plain water,

but the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word.

Said simply, it’s wordy water.

What is that word that the water has?

Matthew 28:19 tells us – “the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit”.

 

When teaching baptism, Luther gets his first question right.

“What is baptism?”

Because it’s a question that only the Lord can answer.

The temptation is to confess what we believe baptism is,

And then find a few Bible verses to see how what the Lord says fits in.

 

Baptism is diminished in this era of Christianity – just as it has in the past.

It isn’t extolled very highly today, and probably for this reason.

People define their theology based on their experiences first,

Not on what God’s Word says first.

 

In the last two weeks, we had two baptisms here at Zion.

There were no lights shining down from heaven.

There was no voice that thundered from the skies.

There was just water in the hands of a man and words spoken.

It was ordinary. Seemingly mundane. Absent of the spectacular.

 

As a result, our failed reason may conclude:

“Baptism must be just a symbol of my faith or a symbol of my commitment to Christ.”

 

It took Luther most of his professional education and his theological controversies with Rome and the Anabaptists,

To realize that an important distinction lies between what God commands,

And the apostolic instructions.

That is to say, only the Lord institutes baptism.

The apostles don’t.

The apostles only received what the Lord had given them.

The epistles they wrote only expound on what they’ve been taught by Christ.

I.

The mandate and institution of baptism came in Matthew 28,

Where the Lord commands us to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching.

It would be a mistake though to think that Jesus told us to make disciples this way,

Without Him being involved in the process.

Jesus didn’t just bark orders and then leave to be with His Father in heaven.

 

Rather, Jesus promised to be with the eleven as went out–

He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age”.

In this way, the Great Commission resembles how the book of Deuteronomy ended right before the Israelites entered into the Promised Land.

Moses was about to die, and he commissioned Joshua.

But in Matthew, Jesus was about to ascend to His Father.

So, He commissioned the eleven to continue on His work.

 

When Joshua was sent, God was with him, just as God was with Moses when sent to Egypt in Joshua 1:5.

So now, just as the Eleven were sent, so Jesus is also with them.

Through their Holy Spirit-filled mouths, Jesus taught.

Through their hands, Jesus baptized.

And by baptism, He bestowed His name with water.

And as Luther identifies – “where God’s name is, there also must be life and salvation.”

 

So, if we ask what is baptism, we answer,

“It is the water comprehended in the Lord’s mandating words.”

Baptism WITH water is God’s command.

 

But if we ask what Jesus does in baptism, the answer is “He bestows His name.”

 

This is the inexpressible blessing of Holy Baptism.

Jesus puts his name on the baptized.

He commits Himself to the baptized with all that’s in His name.

THAT’S what God does in baptism.

 

All throughout the Old Testament,

God has placed His name on His people.

The Aaronic benediction places God’s name on His people – Numbers 6:27.

At the prayer at the Temple’s dedication,

Solomon took hold of God’s name that rested on the Temple – 1 Kings 8:29.

 

The Lord’s name is upon you.

Which means, the Lord is committed to you.

Not just at the moment of your baptism,

Not just at this present moment while you’re here.

He’s committed to you all the way into your future.

He loves you and cares for you,

because His name is stuck on you.

 

As Luther taught his morning prayer in the catechism,

He teaches us to begin each day even before prayer by making the sign of the cross in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

But the fact is, before we even ask the Lord’s name to be put on us each day,

He’s already doing it.

 

As the baptized, we face much tribulation in this life.

Because as creatures with God’s name,

Satan prowls around seeking the baptized,

Making an X on our backs and seeking our dismissal from faith.

So yes, we will face temptations and trials.

We’ll have frustrations, anxieties, sicknesses.

We’ll have uncertainties about our futures, and we’ll sin.

Often times, we live as if God hadn’t put His name on us,

And we willingly submit to Satan’s temptations.

But we must never forget the truth of who we are.

 

Truth is, Jesus binds Himself to wherever His name is.

And YOU are that where.

For Baptism into Jesus’ name is the Lord’s commitment to you.

And His commitment to you never changes.

It places you with a new life,

With a new family,

And a new heavenly Father.

 

The blessings of baptism take a lifetime to learn –

For it’s blessings are immeasurable and inexhaustible, no matter where you are.

INI