Marriage and Baptism

Big Idea:  Adult baptism is like marriage, but instead of making a commitment to another person, we’re making the committment to God. Marriage is the holy union of a physical relationship; baptism is a holy union of a spiritual relationship.

2 months ago, we had a series called “Hungry” and we talked about food and we said that we have two stomachs; we have a stomach that hungers to be filled with food, and we have a stomach, called our soul, that hungers to be filled with God and his love. We have a physical stomach and we have a spiritual stomach

In the first week of this series called “Born”, we said that we all had a physical birth when we were born from our mother’s womb. Jesus calls us to be born again – to be born spiritually – to be born of God. He calls us to be conceived by God’s love and filled with his Spirit.  There is physical birth and there is spiritual birth.

In the second week of this series, I shared with you a sermon entitled “What’s the big stink?” We said that we take bathes or showers regularly to remove the dirt and the smell. We said that B.O. was offensive to others and people don’t get very close to people who have odor problems. We said that!

We also said that, as far as God is concerned sin stinks to high heaven. Sin is spiritual stink and it repulses God, because sin is anything that goes counter to how God made the world to be good. Sin breaks down relationships. Sin destroys marriages. Sin affects our relationships with our children. Sin affects our relationships with our parents. Sin destroys our relationship with God and with each other, and God hates that! God thinks that stinks. God is repulsed by the odor and offense of sin, and he is repulsed by us when we don’t think sin stinks to. So, let me see if I can get this right.

There is physical stench and there is spiritual stench

There is physical birth and there is spiritual birth

There is physical hunger and there is spiritual hunger

There is physical food and there is spiritual food.

There is a physical stomach and there is a spiritual stomach.

Being created in the image of God means that everything that we see physically has a counterpart that is spiritual. We can’t see the spiritual, but we can understand it through the physical. Is that difficult for you mind to grasp? Let’s try another one.

In relationships, a guy and a girl meet. They become friends, but they’re attracted to one another. One asks the other out on a date. They go out; they have a good time. They decide to continue dating. They go out once a week for a month, a year, 5 years, and at some point they decide that once a week isn’t enough. They decide that they don’t want to be separated from each other. They want to live together always. One proposes to the other, and they get engaged. Finally the big day comes and the man and woman come together before a crowd of witnesses. They say vows of commitment and dedication to one another before a pastor or priest and he or she pronounces them husband and wife. They are bound by their oaths one to another for better or for worse.

So it is with this day. Today we are celebrating adult baptisms among other things. Adult baptism is like a wedding. The people that are getting baptized started their journey some time ago.

At one point in their life they were introduced to God. They were intrigued. Over time they got to know God a bit and they started dating God – that is, they would go to church once a week or so, but when they went home, God stayed at church. But as they continued to date God, they grew more in love with God, until they found that they didn’t want to be apart from God any longer. They wanted God to live with them and to be with them always – not just on Sundays. God’s love for them filled their heart and it changed them.

Adult baptism is like marriage, but in this case we are not making a commitment to another person, but to God.

Marriage is the holy union of a physical relationship; baptism is a holy union of a spiritual relationship.

For these people that make this commitment today, they will be entering God’s family. They are taking his name. They will forever be defined, not by their own name, but by God name.

For this reason, like a marriage, we are having a celebration after all the baptisms. We are having a big party. Today is a very special day because each of these people are confessing their love for God. They are committing to fight for love and to fight against evil. They are committing to fight against the evil in their own hearts, so that God and his love may reside there more fully.  It is a really special day.

We believe there is no better way to celebrate what God has been doing in each of these people’s lives, then for some of them to briefly tell their story.

Testimonies were shared and then many were then baptized.