September 11, 2016 "An Introduction To The Sacrament Of Holy Baptism"

Last week the Back of the Bulletin discussed Holy Communion, one of two sacraments observed by most Protestant denominations. Today we will get an introduction to the sacrament of Holy Baptism.

Last week we celebrated the baptism of a dear sweet lady of retirement age. You may be thinking, “I thought The United Methodist Church baptized babies. Why are we baptizing an adult?” You are correct. The United Methodist Church does baptize babies, but not exclusively. It has to do with the way that “the people called Methodists” view baptism. Our Baptismal Covenant says, “Through the Sacrament of Baptism we are initiated into Christ's holy Church. We are incorporated into God's mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit. All this is God's gift, offered to us without price.”

We believe that baptism is an outward sign of an inward claim that God has on our lives. We believe that, while we participate in Holy Baptism, that God is the one who is primarily active. Through baptism, we are responding to the grace that God has given us through Jesus Christ and the claim that God has made on our lives.

Because baptism is all about God, what God has done and what God is doing, it is a once in a lifetime sacrament. You have to admit, the odds are that God is going to get it right the first time and not need a do-over, so we do not “re-baptize” people in the UMC.

Also because baptism is primarily about God and not us, it is not required that we fully understand everything that there is to know about baptism prior to our being baptized. This is great news to me, because after years of study, I still don’t understand everything there is to know about baptism. So we baptize persons who are adults, infants and persons in between without administering a test to ensure that they understand  “enough” whatever “enough” means. Remember, it’s about God, not us.

The United Methodist Church accepts the Christian baptism of any other Christian denomination without a requirement to be “re-baptized”.  We also accept three different forms of baptism: sprinkling, pouring and immersion. The form of baptism is decided by the baptismal candidate or his or her parents. In the United Methodist Church, most persons choose sprinkling, but I have performed immersion baptisms.

The most important thing to remember is that Jesus commanded us to be baptized. Therefore to be obedient to our Lord, we practice this holy sacrament.