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Baptism is a radical, counter-cultural symbol and sacrament of the decentering of the self that can only occur within identity as community and accountability to that community. No one can rightly serve the Church who seeks to serve from above Her and not with Her~and this Church is every person making up the Body, living and passed on to the heavens.
Scripture~Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?”
15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.
16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”
(Matthew 3.13-17, NLT)
Story~Sonny Baptizes Himself
In the movie "The Apostle" (1998), the preacher "Sonny" Dewey, played by Robert Duvall, is running from the law for killing a man who was having an affair with his wife. Sonny sits and reflects on his life and sins. Early in the morning he gets up. He goes, from the tent he spent the night in, down to a lake. Sonny feels he needs cleansing. He resolves to make a new start.
During the scene Sonny confesses his "great humility" at asking God that he become an Apostle of Christ. He stands waist deep in the lake. He raises his hands; he implores the favor of God. Sonny asks permission to be "baptized as an apostle of our Lord." Without witnesses present Sonny baptizes himself twice.
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Sonny emerges from the water supposedly a new man. Now he introduces himself to persons as the Apostle E.F.
Like Sonny we are sincere in making decisions of confession, cleansing, and commitment. And throughout life we may go through such a transition many times~to move deeper into our relationship with Christ, commit to a particular calling to serve, rededicate our lives to God after falling away from our commitment, ...
Sonny made one mistake in his baptism. He did it alone. Sonny, by his baptism, shows that he is not ready to be accountable to the Church. His strong ego, as the plot afterward shows, is still too much about Sonny himself and not enough about willingness to participate as an equal member and be held accountable within the Body of Christ. Sonny wants to serve the Body without submitting to the Body.
Suggested Reflection
1. Why do you think Jesus chose being baptized publicly?
2. Why is private baptism not a proper practice?
3. How does baptism apply both to our relationship with God and with the faith community?
4. In what sense is baptism a symbol? A sacrament?
5. How is our daily dying to self and being raised to newness of life an ongoing spiritual baptism?
See next page for details on OneLife Ministries, Brian's book An Ache for Union, and material pertaining to sources used in the writing.
Feel free to submit a query on how OneLife Ministries can better serve you. Thanks! Brian K. Wilcox
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