Word of Salvation – Vol.52 No.40 – October 2007

 

The Father’s Voice – by Rev. Sjirk Bajema

Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 27c

Scripture Readings: Exodus 4:18-31; Colossians 2:6-15

 

Congregation of Jesus Christ…

The Answer to Question 74 of the Catechism is very clear! “Yes! Of course we baptise our babies! In fact, we have to!”

This is a most emphatic command. For our Father God is most definite as to how our children are also together with us in the household of faith.

Not that we have always understood this so well. But, as our Catechism faithfully sums up Scripture, we hear, first of all, the order, YOU MUST DO THIS.

You must do this

The LORD God commands the response of baptism – also with infants – because of His great love shown in His dearly loved Son. Baptism points to, and confirms the work of Jesus.

The Apostle Peter’s reply to those desperately needing God’s forgiveness in Acts 2:38 still rings out today. “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.”

Boys and girls, young people, do you remember the last time there was that certain tone in Mum or Dad’s voice, when you were told to do something? When you hear that steely tone you don’t hesitate, do you! And if you do, man, are you going to cop it!

Of course you were always trying to do the right thing, weren’t you? Yeah – right!

When my Mum would call out for me to come, I would say, “Coming Mum.” But if that wasn’t good enough, and she thought it needed some urgency, that tone would change quite distinctly. Then she would say, “Not coming – come!”

Not in a moment, not when I got round to it, not as it suited me after I had finished doing what I was doing, no…now! “Not coming – come!”

Our Heavenly Father gets angry when we don’t heed His commands. We saw that in Exodus chapter 4. Suddenly, even as Moses is en route to Egypt to perform the Lord’s will in bringing His people out of Egypt, God attacks him!

Moses had not circumcised his son. He had not done what his ancestor Abraham had been told quite specifically to do, and all those generations after him were to keep on doing. For every male child eight days old had to be circumcised.

After all, Israel was God’s chosen nation. They were His children. And as true children they had to do what they were told. Or else face the consequences! In God’s words, as He instituted circumcision in Genesis 17 verse 14, “Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

A harsh punishment. Moses found out very quickly, when he nearly died on the way to Egypt. It took his wife – someone not even a Hebrew – to realise and to respond to save his life.

Children are important in the covenant community. They are very much part of it. God’s promise is for children, too. This wonderful truth is reflected in those words of our Lord Jesus in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Congregation, what is the basis of our faith? Was it our deciding – or God’s choosing?

Please, don’t misunderstand this. It’s not that we’re robots in God’s hands. We are not fatalists of the worst kind.

But what was first of all? How could it be that we, in our deepest depravity, could see? Of course, we could not. We were dead in trespasses and sins. We were blind to the grace of God. A veil covered our hearts. But God took the initiative, and in his powerful irresistible grace drew us to himself.

But now, what about our children? Does God also call our children to himself? Does he set them apart form himself as well as us? Right through the Old Testament the sacrament of circumcision says “Yes!” The same principle runs on into the New Testament, and into our lives today.

The Catechism confirms the teaching of the Bible. With phrases like, “infants as well as adults are in God’s covenant,” and “infants too should be received into the Christian church”, the Catechism does not hesitate to explain God’s Word. For God’s Word is clear. We have to see that.

When you boys and girls hear your mum or dad with that certain steely tone in their voice, you get going! The warning’s clear. “I better get moving!”

And spiritually shouldn’t we be just as alert? YOU MUST DO THIS!

So where does God tell us in His Word to baptise babies? Could you answer?

We need to refer to a number of texts. In a sense we have to open up the whole Bible.

The command given to Abraham to circumcise the baby boys – there at the beginning of the Old Testament – wasn’t suddenly abolished in the New Testament! The covenant was the same. The difference in the New Testament is that the method of “marking” babies as belonging to the covenant community changes from circumcision to baptism.

Now girls as well as boys are involved in receiving the sacrament. Rather than take away the sacrament from baby boys, through Jesus Christ, God so fills it that it can be given as well to little girls!

So there’s this wonderful line of grace which grows from the Old Testament into the New Testament. Acts 2:39 points to this when Peter declares, “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

The various baptisms in the New Testament show God’s promises being fully realised. In Acts 16 and 17 the households of the Philippian jailer and Lydia are baptised. Salvation is not just a matter of individuals being saved. Although salvation is personal, we’re always a part of God’s covenant family. We have to be in the Church!

You see, God’s grace doesn’t work in a way that is contrary to normal life when it comes to our families. Rather, He blesses that normal life. And as we are always in a physical family, so now, in faith, He takes that family and makes it special! God doesn’t ignore what He has first given everyone by being in a family. Instead, in Jesus Christ, He makes a family what it perfectly should be!

Again Scripture is quite clear. Another apostle, Paul, says in 1 Corinthians 7:14, “For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband.”

That’s a tremendous comfort fellow believer! Particularly for those who struggle with an unbelieving spouse. And whether they are antagonistic or apathetic, listen to this Word of the Lord! He works through you! By God’s grace, through you, there is a sense in which your spouse and your children are set apart for God. That’s why Paul is able to conclude by saying, “Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.” They are holy – they are set apart for God, and so they must be baptised to acknowledge this status of being set apart. What amazing privilege!

You must believe this

Congregation, we’ve moved beyond our first point. Now it’s not YOU MUST DO THIS!

Oh, yes, this command still remains. But that’s only half the picture. For YOU MUST BELIEVE THIS. Yes, believe it! The cry has come from heaven itself in that sign and seal of baptism. The voice which says, “You are my child!” And, fellow believer, as we stand in awe at this great working of God, and such a love in Jesus, for us personally, don’t we reply in faith, “You are my Father!”

Boys and girls, crying out to God in faith is realising what should be most important! By doing this we receive the richest blessing. And to show this I want you to think back to when mum or dad spoke to you in that certain tone of voice.

You knew it was serious. You knew if you didn’t obey you were in deep trouble!

But imagine if you responded willingly, without your parents having to adopt “that” tone of voice! How would it be if mum or dad didn’t even have to call out? Things would go much better, wouldn’t they?

Now – let’s compare this eagerness to please our parents to our response to the Lord’s command YOU MUST DO THIS. We know that baptism isn’t an automatic guarantee of God’s grace and favour. Rather, it’s a sign that points to the salvation found in Jesus alone. This is something which can only be understood with the cleansing of our hearts. Without faith no one can please God.

That’s how it is with baptism. And that’s how it was with circumcision, as Deuteronomy 10:16 says. Moses cries out, “Circumcise your hearts and do not be stiff-necked any longer!” It’s in that faith that the sacrament shines the most glorious light!

And, you know, it’s really simply common sense! Or should I say sanctified sense because that is true common sense. Because then we have the true sense.

If God is who he is; and if in Christ He did what He did; then who are we, of all people, to try and kick against that? Don’t we know we’ll only get into trouble! It won’t help at all!

So, let’s get with it! The Great Ruler is dealing with a lesser vassal. That’s the type of covenant God has made with us. God has taken the initiative in saving us and in making us part of his covenant community. Our children are given this marvellous gift – set apart for the Lord by being born into that covenant community. Baptism is simply an acknowledgment of the Lord’s gracious initiative in our lives and in the lives of our children.

Church of the Lord Jesus Christ – YOU MUST BELIEVE THIS! Don’t be blown here, there, and everywhere by every changing wind of feelings and emotions. Instead, take His Word deep into your heart, and rest assured, it is true! In those words from Colossians 2:11, “In Christ you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with the circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ.”

Whatever you do, don’t look to someone else for some kind of reassurance that you are blessed. Don’t depend on the preacher to make the moment right. Do that and I will fail you, as surely as we share the same cloak of sinful humanity! Look to Jesus! With the next verse from Colossians 2:12, believe that you have “been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.”

We do not earn God’s promise. Nothing we can do can make us worthy of his blessings. The blessing comes simply from accepting what God has already wondrously done. It’s His life that needs to be lived out in ours, and that today, tomorrow, and Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on!

When a baby is baptised we have eloquent witness that God’s blessing does not derive from our work. Although so seemingly sweet, and definitely cute, there’s no understanding from the baby as to what’s going on! Perhaps there is a cry as the water’s sprinkled on his face. But spiritually there’s nothing there!

Yes, this is God’s sign. The benefit of this sign is not simply water on our skin. The benefit is in what it points to for all of our lives.

Since this is of God, its meaning goes far beyond all our human signs. Indeed, God uses this sign mightily and mercifully for promise and comfort, for warning and for calling.

So let us respond, as one of our hymns sings it so well, “I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me He has made, nor why my Lord, in seeking love, redeemed me for His own. But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.” (378:1)

Amen.

PRAYER:

Let’s pray…

O gracious covenant God, we have seen again Your goodness to us. For You chose us, and You use us, to be Your people, though that was the last thing we originally wanted to be.

And now, through the sign and seal of baptism, You remind us that it is completely Your work. We can only respond to that. And respond may we indeed do, as we prove Your hand upon us in lives that show Your grace.

In Jesus’ precious Name, we pray, Amen.