Adapted from my sermon the day Brad, age 29, was baptized.
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Do you remember your baptism? If you are a Lutheran, like me, you probably don’t. If you are a Baptist, you probably do.
Lutherans, like many Christian denominations, baptize infants; infants, who are sinners from their mother’s womb (Psalm 51:5), and therefore, in immediate need of forgiveness. Baptists, like many other Christian denominations, do not baptize babies, but wait for the little sinners to repent of their sins, declare their faith in Jesus, and ask to be baptized.
Infant baptism has some big advantages. First of all, I believe it is consistent with what the Bible teaches, has long historical precedent, and has a sound theological foundation. God can and does give his promises even to those who cannot yet fully comprehend them. Nobody fully comprehends the love of God, yet God is generous with his love and promises, even to infants. The Bible nowhere forbids infant baptism, and it is completely consistent with the Biblical portrayal of the grace of God. Baptists have their reasons for disagreeing, but I do not find those reasons convincing.
Infant baptism also has the advantage of that child becoming a full member of God’s family right from the beginning. That is how it usually happens in our human families. Parents begin to love and care for and commit themselves to their child right from the beginning, even before the child asks for their love, or even acknowledges them.
Baptists have their Biblical and theological reasons for not baptizing babies, and they too can make a good case for their understanding of it. I do not feel like getting into a fight with anyone about this. There are many ways to be a Christian, and many ways to become a Christian. God says we can come to him at any time in our life. The door is always open. The invitation is always there.
I will admit, adult baptism also has its advantages. I am speaking in human terms here, because either way, at whatever age we are baptized, we receive the same blessings and promises from God. But humanly speaking, an advantage of adult baptism is that faith and grace cannot as easily be taken for granted. Faith and grace should never be taken for granted, but that may be more of a problem when one is baptized as an infant, and has always been a Christian. There is something very nice about that, and I am grateful for how it worked for me. But there is the danger that we will come to think of faith as easy, always there, with no need for thought, obedience, or discipline. That should not happen, but it sometimes does for those baptized as infants. I don’t think it happens as much with adult baptisms. These often come after a great deal of soul searching, questioning, and thought.
That was certainly the case for Brad. I have his permission to tell you a little bit of what brought him to this day. You might find it interesting and helpful, as I did. This day is the fulfillment of a process that began at least eight years ago.
Brad had some exposure to the church as a child, but not much. As a young man, religion was to him something like politics or literature; an area that might be interesting to read about and discuss, but not something to have faith in, base your life on, or believe in.
In the summer of 1997, Brad met Sheila at work. They started dating, and had many long conversations about many things, including religion. Brad was intrigued by the faith of this Catholic girl, who at the time was attending a Lutheran college. He was curious and open to discussing God and faith. But he was not convinced any of it was true, and he felt no need to be convinced.
Brad and Sheila were married in June of 2001. Three months later came the 9-11 attacks on America. Brad said something changed in him that day. The evil, the violence, the sudden death of so many people, and the resulting chaos and uncertainty; all made him realize that he wanted his life to be based on something more than just living and working day to day. He said that for the first time, he really wanted to have faith.
But Brad wondered how that worked. Faith means believing in something, and that something has to be true, doesn’t it? You can’t just have faith in faith. You can’t just believe for the sake of believing. Brad needed to know that what he wanted to believe in was true. He was unwilling to just jump on board and believe it because a lot of people in this part of the world happen to believe in it. He could not just accept something that he knew so little about, and had no reason to believe was true.
Brad is a smart guy. He was asking all the right questions, and he wasn’t about to accept any easy answers. This part of Brad’s journey began almost four years ago, and he has been digging in deep. He was not going to take faith for granted.
Brad is a reader and started reading many books to find answers to his questions. He was working part time at a bookstore, and was exposed to all kinds of books. He showed me what he had been reading, and I believe the Holy Spirit was in that bookstore with Brad, leading him to all the right shelves. I was amazed at his reading list. Brad had stumbled on to all the very best writers, and he began to find the answers he was looking for. The initial barriers to faith began to be overcome, and he became a believer. (continued…)
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