Baptismal meditation, October 23

Acts 9:15-19: But the Lord said to Ananias, Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake. And Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me to that you may regain your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he arose and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened.

We usually think of baptism as a matter of “getting in.” Baptism is the boundary between the hostile world outside, the world under the judgment of God, and the safe confines of the church. As I just prayed in what is called Luther’s great flood prayer, baptism separates the baptized from the unfaithful and preserves him in the “holy ark of Christendom, dry and safe.”

That is true, and has plenty of biblical support. We are baptized into union with Christ, and incorporated into His body by the Spirit. Baptism is a matter of “getting in.” But if that is all we see in baptism, we have missed a key element of the meaning of the rite. Baptism incorporates the baptized person into the church, but the church is an army as well as a fortress. Baptism clothes us with Christ, but Christ Himself is the Warrior of God, who goes out conquering and to conquer. If we are clothed in Christ, we are clothed in the armor of God.

That is what happens in Acts 9 with the conversion and baptism of Saul. Paul’s ministry is unique, of course. He was called as an apostle to the Gentiles, and had a unique role in the development of the church. Yet, his baptism is instructive for us too. His conversion is inseparable from his call to mission. When Ananias baptized him, Paul was being deputized for mission. His baptism was a sign of his calling to bear Jesus’ name before Gentiles, a sign of the many things he would suffer for Jesus’ sake.

That is what is happening this morning with your child this morning. He is being brought in, but he is being brought in to be sent out. Just as he was brought into your family to be trained up in the nurture and discipline of the Lord, so he is brought into the church to be nurtured and trained to that he will one day leave to serve Jesus and pursue His kingdom.

Put this at the center of your child-rearing. I’m not saying that you must prepare him to go on the mission field. But you must prepare him to be going out. Baptism is a sign that Lewis does not belong to you, but to Jesus, and because of that it is a reminder that your training must be training for service to his Lord.