Christian comedian, Mike Warnke, tells a story about a man who came to him following a revival service where he was preaching. This particular man was obviously high on drugs and smelled of alcohol mixed with the various body odors that accumulate after many days without a bath and constantly living in the same ragged clothes. The man wanted to ask this preacher about becoming a Christian.
As Warnkey had said in his sermon and was now re-telling this man, you don’t have to do anything to become a Christian, except ask Jesus into your heart. The homeless man, in a drunken voice said, "I don’t think you understand my question. Do I have to give up doing drugs to become a Christian?"
Warnkey replies, "No, you don’t have to give up drugs to become a Christian." The man seems very confused and staggers over his words, "Doyu... Do you mean I don’t have to stop smoking marijuana to become a Christian?" Warnkey says, "No."
Now the man is very tipsy, dizzily wafting back and forth in his effort to remain upright. He grabs onto the evangelist and with his right hand pulls out a very large joint. He stumbles in his speech, "Sir, I don’t think you understand, do I have to stop smoking these to become a Christian?"
Warnkey sees that his answers haven’t been clear enough so he says to this homeless, drunken, high, staggering man, "Let me ask you this. Before you can get into a shower do you have to take a bath first?" The man replies, "No." Warnkey says, "In the very same way, you don’t have to get yourself cleaned up before you can become a Christian. You come to Jesus with all the dirt of a sin-filled life caked upon your body. When you give your life to Jesus the Holy Spirit begins to do a work in you. As time goes along He begins to minister to the needs in your life removing your need for drugs. The blood of the Lamb of God washes over you and cleanses you from all unrighteousness."
The man finally understood....
As we explore where God is taking us this morning, let’s turn to...
Scripture
1 Peter 3:18-2218 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand-with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Prayer
Main Thoughts
In these few lines of text Peter gives us the very essence of our salvation. It isn’t about bathing... it isn’t about getting physically clean... it isn’t about washing dirt off our bodies. It gets a little confusing, but before we get to that, let me tell you about the Jewish practice of baptism...
Let’s turn to Exodus 30:17-21, "17 Then the LORD said to Moses, 18 "Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. 20 Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the LORD by fire, 21 they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.""
A lasting ordinance for the generations to come... a ceremonial cleansing before approaching the Tabernacle. There are a number of Scriptures that repeat this admonition from the Lord; throughout Exodus, Leviticus, the Psalms, Daniel and even Malachi. It is clear that God wanted people to be physically clean before serving Him.
Over the years, as most often happens, the people take what God intended to be so simple and turn it into complicated. 900 years before Jesus it had become a requirement to be cleansed before entering the temple. Every worshiper had to go through this cleansing before they could enter the holy places. Baptism had become a religious ritual that everyone engaged in on a very regular basis. There were rules and regulations that dictated the when and how baptism was to take place. People began to be criticized for their adherence, or lack thereof, to temple baptisms.
It wasn’t until John’s baptism that it moved from ritual to meaningful. Of course John encouraged people to be baptized for repentance. Instead of the physical cleansing it was now a spiritual cleansing. It was an act that signaled a change in one’s direction in life. It indicated that a candidate had made the commitment to change the way they were living... to leave the evil of their lives behind and begin anew upon the road to Heaven. With John came an understanding of the need for inner cleansing.
Now we jump back to Peter’s description of the necessity of baptism. As he says in verse 21, it isn’t about removing the dirt from one’s body but about the pledge of a good conscience toward God. Even though Peter talks about being saved by the water, as Noah and his family were, it isn’t about the water at all. Baptism itself is not magic that ushers us into Heaven, it is symbolic of that change in our lives... that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and have made a commitment to live our lives for Him. Accepting Jesus is the way to salvation. Jesus told us that He is the only way to God; that He is the Door, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus is our salvation... baptism is only the way we indicate to the world that we have made that decision in our lives.
Just a little while ago we witnessed Kaden’s baptism. You might note that there wasn’t any soap or washcloth involved, as there was in Old Testament times. We did not make any effort to physically clean Kaden’s body. As we have accepted the symbol, we stood witness to Kaden’s death to self... his burial into the water, and, as Jesus makes possible, his resurrection into new life in Jesus Christ. We have played an incredibly important part in this event. Turn to Matthew 10:32-33, "32 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."
Kaden has come, before us, as witnesses of his acknowledgment. Without us his effort would be in vain. Witnesses are critical to the process. Over the years I have had a number of requests to do private baptisms... in a person’s home or pond or even at church at a time when no one else is present. I have always declined such requests as witnesses are critical to the process. Not only that, but baptisms are a church family celebration. We are mandated by God to tell the Good News and to baptize believers. When we have a baptism it is a fulfilment of that mandate and we should celebrate together. Jesus says that there is more rejoicing in Heaven when one person comes to the Lord than for all the righteous people who have gone before.
Conclusion
Baptism is not about bathing our bodies it is about cleansing our souls. It is about declaring before witnesses that we have made a change in our lives, to live for Jesus, to walk in His ways, to serve Him as Lord and to accept Him as Savior.
We do not need to get ourselves right with God BEFORE we can come to Him, we come to him with all the dirt of our sin caked upon us and He ministers to us, cleaning us from the inside out; preparing us for that great day when we shall see Jesus face-to-face. We come knowing we are filthy with the slime and the sludge of evil dripping off of us... and He welcomes us with open arms.
We do not need to change who we are or change our behavior to come to the Lord. He wants us to come, just as we are; dirty, slimy, covered with filth; then He will begin a good work in us and we will be cleansed as only God can cleanse us... from the inside out.
What a great day for our church. Amen.
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