Take the Baptism Plunge Today
Water changes things. The Bible tells us about the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1:9-11. The Bible also tells us that the waters of baptism change you! Take the Baptism Plunge Today. January 11, 2009.
Water changes things. A half inch of rain on the parking lot that turns to sheer ice changes the bumper on your car when you slide into a pole. A pot of boiling water changes pasta from crunchy sticks of starch to a staple ingredient of spaghetti. Water changes things. A dip in the hot tub changes your stress level. A summer afternoon rain shower changes your outdoor plans. Water changes you.
Though sometimes it’s not really the water that changes people as much as the circumstances surrounding the water or other components accompanying it. Take, for instance, the polar plunge, an annual New Year’s Day tradition in Milwaukee. The water itself, apart from the frigid climate, scheduled on another holiday like July 4th, and performed all by yourself on a remote lake in the northwoods, wouldn’t prove to be as effective. But when you combine freezing temperatures, New Year resolve, and friends or loved ones running into the icy waters of Lake Michigan holding hands – that changes people. Jim Stingl of the Journal Sentinel says that Milwaukeeans “frolic in the 30-something-degree water in our annual New Year’s Day ritual that says we’re tougher than winter around here and don’t you forget it” (http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/36906624.html). So the polar plunge can make you a bit tougher. It can also prove your resolve. “Now I know he’s committed if he’s doing this with me,” Nicole Reed commented on a local news report about her fiancée from the Dominican Republic who took the plunge with her. Taking the polar plunge makes a statement that you are a person who is committed, despite circumstances that might scare others away.
The Bible tells us about a similar plunge that did not take place in the frigid waters of Lake Michigan but the flowing waters of the Jordan River. The baptism of Jesus made a statement of commitment that changes your life. The Son of God committed to a mission of humble obedience and mercy for sinners when he laid aside the fiery lightning bolts of power and vengeance, and walked into the water to be baptized by a sinner who wasn’t even worthy to unlace Jesus’ dirty sandals. God the Holy Spirit committed to tearing open heaven – at Jesus’ baptism and every baptism including yours – descending with heavenly gifts that equip believers for acts of faith and love. The Heavenly Father committed to his Son and to every one of his children baptized in the name of the triune God, “I love you … With you I am well pleased.”
Therefore, the baptism of Jesus revealed both a commitment of Jesus to the divine plan of saving sinners and a commitment of the Father and the Spirit to provide Jesus with everything he needed from them to accomplish that plan. Minutes ago we sang words rejoicing in our Savior’s commitment at his baptism and beyond:
Christ, you heard the stirring summons as by Jordan’s bank you stood;
Bathed, though sinless, with your people in the river’s cleansing flood.
Son of God, the road from Jordan led at last to Calv’ry’s hill.
There upon the cross forsaken, you fulfilled the Father’s will.
(Christian Worship Supplement, Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee, 2008, #709)
Would you take the polar plunge? If not, what’s your excuse? Do you consider yourself a committed person? If so, how are your New Year’s resolutions? Have you kept the promise you made to your spouse that you’d change? Are your priorities lined up just as God wants them to be? When was the last time you turned away from a person who needed your help, your prayers, your time, or your Christian witness? We are not always as committed as we want to be. As a matter of fact, we make promises and pursue priorities that are the exact opposite of what God wants for us. That makes it hard to get up some mornings, hard to look in the mirror, hard to pray and hope. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Water changes things. Take the Baptism Plunge Today.
Christ, your footprints through the desert led to Jordan’s flowing stream.
There you heard the herald crying Israel’s old prophetic dream:
“He is coming! He is coming! He will cleanse the earth with flame!
Sinners, plunge beneath the waters! Wash away your guilt and shame” (Ibid)!
I wonder if the water the jailer at Philippi used to wash Paul and Silas’ wounds was the water Paul and Silas used in baptism that washed his wounds, hurts, and regrets of sin. He was cleansed in baptism as you were cleansed in baptism by the forgiving love of God that washes away sins in the blood of Jesus Christ. When you are feeling guilty plunge into your baptism. When you aren’t sure how God feels about you plunge into your baptism. When you don’t have the faith you need to fight temptation plunge into your baptism. Plunge into your baptism by taking your sin and weakness to Jesus and letting him drown them for you and then make you forgiven and strong. He wants you to be so certain of the power of your baptism that the Bible makes this incredible promise: you were there with him in his baptism and his death and his resurrection. “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). Water changes things. We sang it this way in our opening hymn:
God, in baptism you have made us one with Christ, our risen Lord;
Freed us, claimed us, cleansed, forgiven through the water and the Word.
Help us hear your urgent summons, calling us to serve you now.
Send us forth, your sons and daughters, with the cross upon our brow (Ibid).
According to historical records, Milwaukee’s tradition of the polar plunge in Lake Michigan was initiated by three 21-year-old men who were interested in more than an isolated incident. New Year’s Day was only one of the times they plunged into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan because they did it every Sunday throughout the winter, not just on New Year’s. Now that’s commitment! Take the Baptism Plunge Today and be refreshed by God’s commitment to you. It changes you! Then realize that because of that change you can do what may have seemed scary or uncomfortable before. Recommit to your New Year’s resolutions with the regenerative power of baptism, because God gives second chances. Use your baptism to drown your fears about making that difficult decision to do what is right, and rise out of the water again with Jesus, ready to do the Father’s will. Practice your Christian priorities with your baptism that is always dying to the principles of this sinful world and living in the promises of God, who will never leave you.
Water changes things. The waters of baptism change you. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on January 11, 2009
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