January 19, 2024

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4.1-6)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

We can look at many uses of the word “baptism” and ask ourselves what was Paul alluding to. Even if we focus our “baptism” attention to aspersion (sprinkling), affusion (pouring water on the head, akin to anointing) and immersion (being lowered beneath the surface of the water), we cannot ignore the centrality of faith in Jesus Christ by which one is called to be baptized. Many cultures practice forms of baptism reflecting their own beliefs about the purposes of it. There is ceremonial washing. There is declaring an allegiance to a person, idea or affiliation. There is the sense of being overwhelmed in a life changing experience. And in some manner of speaking, those ideas are a part of Christian baptism regardless of the mode practiced. Regardless, we cannot ignore that the “one baptism” of which Paul speaks is that which is done in the name of Jesus as the Christ. It is symbolic of His baptism by John in the Jordan River done to “fulfill all righteousness.” In that recorded moment of Jesus’ “anointing” into the ministry of the gospel ordained by God, we are introduced to the two elements essential to Christian baptism. By that I mean, the elements of water and wind.

Water signifies the “washing away of the world” and becoming ceremonially clean and undefiled. It is an act of submission where one’s sinfulness is recognized as a detriment while purity is the goal and objective. Moreover, to be “ritually,” or ceremonially, clean alludes to one’s relationship with Almighty God. Such cleanliness allows one to be presented as worthy in God’s presence. Water is also seen as the fountain of life which nurtures the earth from which we gain sustenance for our lives. It is emblematic of our birth into our existence on earth. We ourselves are made of approximately 60% water (our heart and brain of nearly 75%). Water is life. Clean water is better life. Pure water is better than that. Ah, the pursuit of pure water. Is that what “holy water” really is?

In the baptism of Jesus, water is obviously present in the River Jordan. It was not in a stagnant pool that John conducted his baptisms. Those who heeded his preaching came to be baptized for the washing away of their sins and simultaneously anointed then into a newness of life. The baptism was an expression of God’s forgiveness of those sins and a blessing into a new order of living not confined by that which was promoted in the local synagogues and the Temple in Jerusalem. There was no call for animal sacrifice needed in such baptismal practice. There was no exchange of money to purchase indulgences or absolution. The real sacrifice was of one’s will in confession of sin and profession of faith. The new order which John heralded was the Messianic kingdom of God on earth. It was a kingdom of righteousness invoked by the very word of the Messiah of God. The Messiah was the true king of Israel as one descended from the House of David. It was upon David that Israel actualized the presence of the spirit of God as manifested in “prophet, priest, shepherd and king.”

But, you will ask me, if you have not already, where “wind” comes in as an essential element of the baptismal experience. The wind, ruach or “the breath of God,” is present when Jesus rises up out of the water. Hovering over the face of the deep was the Spirit of God descending as a dove from Heaven. It was not the fluttering of wings which John heard but the very word of God which said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I AM well pleased.” (Matthew 3.17) John remembers and declares the baptismal experience this way: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. The One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’  I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” (John 1.32-34) It is the same “wind” which God breathed into His created people that they might have life. It is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit which brings His created people to have life, have it more abundantly and for all eternity. It is that same wind, the Holy Spirit, which fanned the flames of consecration in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost. It anointed those in that room for the ministry of reconciliation to which they were trained, called and then empowered. It happened as well in the life of Jesus as He was then led by that same Spirit into the wilderness to sojourn for 40 days and to wrestle mightily with Satan. He was able to accomplish the “overcoming” of the flesh by the Spirit breathing into the fray the “Word of God…thus says the word…” With that “wind” He pushed away the Tempter, the Father of Lies, The Purveyor of False Hopes and Dreams and was Himself ministered to by the angels of Heaven. In that, we are then instructed and empowered to achieve the same as we walk and serve in “the way, the truth and the life” which is Jesus the Christ.

This is our “one baptism” to which the apostle Paul alludes in his exhortation to the Christ community of faith in Ephesus. There are many baptisms but there is only one that makes the difference in this world. It is as the command of God was etched in stone and delivered to Moses which said “There shall be no other gods to come before Me.” God recognizes the reality of those who think of themselves as “gods” but there can only be One God. His name is Yahweh Elohim, the God over all others. Seek, mighty ones of God in Christ Jesus, and instruct others to seek as well the “one baptism” which comes by the water and the wind of God.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit spoke us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.