"Baptized In Spirit"
Acts 8:14-17
Who are the people who would be the most difficult for you to accept as believers in Jesus Christ? Would it be
That is exactly what the apostles did. They heard that the hated Samaritans were responding to the good news of Jesus so they appointed Peter and John to see what was going on. What they found was that the Samaritans were forerunners of Presbyterians. They were being baptized but they were not full of the Spirit. They showed no evidence that the Spirit was in them.
What were the visible signs that someone had the Spirit. Powerful preaching, performing acts of healing, and being full of the joy of Christ are among them but probably the one that was the most obvious was the gift of speaking in tongues. It was obvious that the Samaritans were lacking in these spiritual gifts until Peter and John prayed for them and laid their hands on them. Then they were full of the Holy Spirit.
One of the things the New Testament is unclear on is when a person receives the Spirit. Jesus received the Spirit at his baptism. According to Acts 2 at Pentecost the Spirit was poured out on all flesh. But then we find later accounts of people who are baptized but do not receive the Spirit until hands are laid upon them. It appears that a second baptism is necessary to allow someone to fully participate in the life of the community of believers.
When we baptize a child we talk about the hand on the head as a sign of the Spirit entering the child's life. And yet when they go through confirmation we have the yoking ceremony which is a sign of the Spirit entering their lives and then if they are chosen to be an elder, a deacon or a minister they again have hands laid on them as a sign of the Spirit entering their lives.
It is interesting that the one we seem to put the most emphasis on is the water baptism. We want to be sure our children are baptized. We want the seal of God placed on our children as a sign that they are protected by God. But in the New Testament the more important baptism is the baptism of the Spirit. It is the baptism that unites us even with those who used to be our worst enemies. It brings us together for the purpose of serving Jesus Christ.
This has become especially significant for Jean and me as two weeks from today our son, Adam, will be ordained as an elder in the Westminster Presbyterian Church in South Bend. He will have the hands of ministers and elders laid on him as a sign of the Holy Spirit at work in his life. We were proud parents on the day of his baptism, even though he was entertaining the crowd as he was baptized. I didn't realize until now that we will be even prouder on the day he is ordained.
Yes, the sign of God's seal being put on us a baptism is important. But isn't it also important that we grow and mature in the faith showing evidence that we are full of the Spirit of God.
What seems to be significant is not the moment that it happens but the evidence of the Spirit in the person's life. When people enter the sanctuary can they sense that we are full of the Holy Spirit? When people enter our lives can they feel that the Spirit is a part of us? We may not have the gift of speaking in tongues but when we are full of the Spirit there is a certain joy that lives in us knowing that no matter what, we are the Lord's.
Yes we need to continue to baptize with water. It is important that we are reminded that God's seal is on us and that we are part of God's family. But we need to remember that is just the first step in the growth of this individual and that our responsibilities to nurture this person in the faith are just beginning.
Frederick Buechner writes that the Latin word spiritus originally meant breath. Breath is what we have when we are alive. Spirit equals breath equals life. To be full of the Spirit is to be alive in Christ. Last week Paul in Colossians called upon us to clothes ourselves in Christ. Today Luke is suggesting that there should be evidence in our lives that we are alive in Christ.
Take eat, this is my body broken for you. I will live in you if you will live in me.