Lord’s Day 26-27: Q&A 69-74: A Little Something Different
The sacraments, I think, are not as understood within the church as we may want them to be. What is baptism for, really? Is being baptized a choice that one has to make or something that God does for us without our input? What of Profession of Faith? How do we communicate the importance of the promises of Baptism and the inappropriate practice of rebaptism without being too heavy-handed with our theology? All of these questions highlight the importance of having well-crafted sacramental liturgy.
Since Lord’s Day 26 and 27 both deal with the sacrament of Baptism, we thought it would be fun to combine the two of them for a couple weeks and write up some liturgical elements that incorporate themes, texts, and doctrines from all of the Q&As on baptism.
Especially since I (Matt) will be presenting a child for baptism soon, I wanted to work on writing up a fairly full liturgy for baptism, so that’s what we have today in lieu of more standard Confession and Assurance and Call to Worship material. It’s worth noting here especially that The Worship Sourcebook contains a wealth of great elements for all kinds of liturgies, but I really like how they talk about baptism (they even include some of these Q&As!).
Lord’s Day 26-27
GOD’S INVITATION AND PROMISES
In the Great Commission, Jesus instituted this sacrament of Baptism. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18b-20)
This sacrament is a sign that, as water washed our bodies clean, so our being washed with Christ’s blood and spirit washes away our sins.
We, therefore, as the body of Christ, baptize believers and our covenant children.
SCRIPTURAL PROMISES
Throughout the Bible, God Promises to us this cleansing of our inner impurity. The prophet Zechariah, foretelling the coming of the Messiah, speaks of a fountain that will be opened to God’s people to cleanse them from impurity (Zechariah 13:1). The Apostle Paul in writing to Titus declares that we have been saved, “not because of righteous things we [have] done, but because of [God’s] mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5-6).
God has always desired to be in covenant with his people, from the very beginning of human history. He has always called people to himself from out of this fallen world. He made a covenant with Abraham, sealed with circumcision of Abraham and his household, promising an everlasting covenant with him and his descendants, that all nations on earth would be blessed through them. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins, we are co-heirs to that covenant promise with Christ, our brother.
(for infant baptism)
Just as the children of the covenant were circumcised in the Old Testament as a sign of God’s promise to his people, we baptize the children of the covenant as a sign of God’s promise of deliverance from sin through Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit. This sacrament is not a celebration of personal choice, but a sign and seal of God’s grace, given freely to his people. We trust and pray that, in due time, the Holy Spirit will work in [infant’s name] to draw them to confess Christ as their Lord and Savior, and to profess that faith before the gathered Body of Christ, the church.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Our Triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit: We thank and praise you for gathering us here today to partake in this holy sacrament of baptism. God, you have been faithful to your people through all ages. You created everything out of the waters of the deep, you rescued Noah and his family from the waters of death, you have made covenant with those that you have drawn unto yourself: with Abraham, promising to bless the world through your people, with David, promising to establish your kingdom forever through his descendant, our Lord and Savior, Jesus.
Jesus, you yourself were baptized in the Jordan River to receive the Spirit. You were plunged into the death that we could never die for ourselves and raised to new life as Lord and Savior of all who call upon your name.
Jesus, through your death and resurrection you have cleansed us with your blood to cleanse us of all of our sins. By this act of grace and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are renewed and sanctified to be members of your church; your body, O Christ.
Holy Spirit, we pray, continue to cleanse us from our sins just as this water washes away outward impurity. As we celebrate this sacrament, stir in our hearts a renewed passion for this covenant community, that as we welcome [name] into this covenant family, we would be reminded of the power of our own baptism and your grace to us, that we would be empowered to live renewed lives for your Kingdom.
Glory belongs to you alone, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As your faithfulness to your people was in the beginning, it is the same now, and ever shall be. Amen.
COMMUNAL REMEMBRANCE OF BAPTISM
As [name] is baptized, let us, having professed our faith in God together as his gathered covenant community, remember the grace we have all been given by God, who has forgiven our sins because of Christ’s blood, poured out for us on the cross. Let us remember that grace that we have been given by being washed in the Holy Spirit, having been renewed and sanctified, that we are truly washed of our sins spiritually as our bodies have been washed and cleansed with water physically. Let us remember our baptism and be grateful to God for the gift of grace that has been given to us, knowing that we ourselves could never ask for it on our own. Let us be grateful to Jesus, our Savior, who has washed us with his blood. Let us praise together the Holy Spirit who works within us to draw us to God.
