Repent
When we think about John
the Baptizer the word repent should always be first in line. John called people out of their sinful
habits. They didn’t always listen, but
he still called them. John pointed to
sinfulness and named it. John told the
people of a better way to live. John
focused people on changing who they want to be and becoming the person God sees
them to be. That is John the Baptizer.
John wanted more out of people than just remorse for sin. John wanted more than just regret. John wanted people to “bear fruit in keeping
with repentance.” In John the Baptizer I
find much in common with my favorite Bonheoffer quote: “Those who believe obey;
those who obey believe.” True repentance
is inseparable from true bearing of fruit.
True bearing of fruit is inseparable from true repentance. You don’t get one without the other. You can’t get one without the other.
What does it mean to repent?
Of course, the word literally means “turn around.” Repentance is change. But I think so often we dislike the process
of repentance that we end up glossing over it and moving on. Repentance is more than just confession and
struggling to live a new way. Repentance
is a deep process that begins with the call of God and involves a ton of
internal soul searching. Man is not
changed with a mere glossed-over thought.
Man is changed in a soul searching process.
- Repentance always begins with the call of God. God breaks into our life and desires to teach us.
- Before we do anything else, we need to make an observation. We need to realize God is speaking to us. We need to realize God has something to say. Unless we acknowledge God, we can never change. We need to see, hear, and experience that which God is speaking.
- The next step – often overlooked – is the choice to listen. We can either choose to listen to God and humble ourselves or we can choose to ignore God and put up the walls.
- Once we decide to listen, we have to ponder, contemplate, or reflect what God is doing in our life. We have to weigh consequences. We have to acknowledge consequences. We have to come to terms with what is happening by our own choices and what God is calling us to instead.
- Then we should discuss it with spiritual people around us. Often God speaks to us through other people. Even more often, God reaffirms us through other people. We need to take our reflections to those we trust and through whom God speaks to us so that we have an opportunity to hear God’s wisdom come from somewhere else besides ourselves.
- Then, we have to ask ourselves two very important questions. What is God really saying to me? What am I going to do about what God is saying?
You see? That is a process.
That is so much more than just sorrow,
regret, or remorse. That is
repentance. That is how change is born
in our lives. Anything less and we’re just
walking our own human-design shortcut rather than walking through what God
intends for us.
John’s Baptism
John’s baptism – often spoken modernly as water baptism – is a
declaration of repentance. It is a time
in the life of an individual and a congregation where the human condition of
sin and our need for repentance is lifted up.
John’s baptism is about bringing people to the point of realizing their
humanity.
John teaches us that Jesus’ baptism is a whole different thing. John teaches us that Jesus will baptize us
with the Holy Spirit. It is not a
baptism of water, but of fire. It is
clear that in John’s mind that these two baptisms are not one in the same. In fact, the symbols used for them speak to
just how they cannot be the same. One is
symbolized by water. The other is
symbolized by fire. When can fire and
water exist at the same time?
I’m going to go out on a limb that most of my traditionally liturgical
friends are simply not going to appreciate.
But I believe it is Biblical, so I’m going to take this stand. So often in liturgical churches we hear about
water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit as occurring at the same
time. I think that’s wrong – no, a
better word for it would be rare. I don’t
ever recall meeting a person or hearing a Bible story where they happened at
the same time. I’m sure God can make it
happen that way; I just don’t encounter it that way very often.
Most people I know encounter water baptism at a much younger age and
greater spiritual immaturity than they encounter the true spiritual baptism of
the Holy Spirit. {If they encounter it at all, that is.
And that is a whole different spiritual conversation.} I know I was baptized at a far younger age
than when the Holy Spirit truly entered into my life and I submitted to
God. This is true for most of the people
I talk to as well. Although, it need not
be this way. I do know some people who submitted
to and received the Holy Spirit first and then responded in water baptism to
the presence of the Holy Spirit.
In fact, in the Bible we can see the two baptisms happening at
different parts in lives all over the Bible.
Jesus’ own disciples were baptized with water first – most by John the
Baptizer – and they did not receive the Holy Spirit until after Jesus was
raised from the dead. Paul received the
Holy Spirit on the road to Damascus and wasn’t water baptized for several days
afterward. The disciples Paul meets in
Ephesus were baptized with water long before they are baptized with the
presence of the Holy Spirit when they met Paul.
When Peter is at Cornelius’ house he realizes that these Gentiles have
received the Holy Spirit already and then they are baptized with water. I can continue, but I think I’ve made my
point. There are plenty of stories in
the Bible that support not confusing water and Spirit baptism. There are plenty of stories that support not
combining those two baptisms into one experience. When we do, I believe we potentially deprive
the Holy Spirit of His power for the vast majority of people.
John the Baptizer and Jesus
I love this encounter with John the Baptizer and Jesus, because it
makes for such an incredible portrayal of what I was just saying. When Jesus comes to John to be baptized, John
flat out confesses that it is he that needs the baptism of Jesus! John knows that he needs the Holy Spirit. Jesus has no need to repent! But John has every need to receive the Holy
Spirit. Here is the man who is most associated
with water baptism confessing just how much superior the baptism of the Holy
Spirit is than water baptism.
Often when I read about John the Baptizer’s confession I read it
in a sense of humbleness. John is
submitting to the Christ. He absolutely
is. However, as I’ve worked through the
theology earlier in this blog I have come to read John’s words as words of
desperation. John is saying to Jesus, “I’ve
done all I can do, but I can’t do what you can do. I, we, need desperately what you can do.” It is submission, but it is submission
through confession. John doesn’t just
submit. John confesses his own weakness
and submits knowing his unworthiness.
That’s awesome; it’s one of the reasons I love John the Baptizer’s
witness among the people.
Jesus’ Baptism
As I close this blog, let’s take a look at Jesus’ baptism. Note that Jesus’ baptism is not about
repentance. Jesus has nothing for which
He needs to repent! Jesus’ baptism is
about affirming His call. Jesus’ baptism
is about being a witness to His ministry.
It is in some senses of the word an inauguration. This is the moment that Jesus’ public
ministry begins in earnest. This is God’s
Son, His Messiah, and the Father is pleased with the work that His Son has come
to do.
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