BAPTISM OPENS HEAVEN
Epiphany 1 – January 10/13, 2013
Luke 3, various verses The people were waiting expectantly and were all
wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. John
answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I
will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his
hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” When all the people were
being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was
opened.
Dear Christian Friends:
Security at the White House is tight. The average person cannot just
walk up to the front door and waltz right in. Sure, if you take a tour, you
can see a few rooms of the White House. But you better not stray from that
tour. You better not try to get into the rooms where the first family lives.
Otherwise, secret service agents will descend on you. You will not see the
inside of the White House. You will see the inside of jail cell.
Now, just as the average person cannot walk into the White House by his
own free will, so also, sinners cannot enter into God’s House by their own
free will. And by God’s house I do not mean this building. I mean his
heavenly Kingdom—his Kingdom of faith and eternal life in heaven.
Sinners cannot enter God’s house because of sin. Sin separates us from
God. Sin is rebellion against God and puts us out of harmony with God.
And God does not need secret service agents to keep sinners out of heaven.
God’s almighty power and his unyielding holiness take care of that.
But yet, God is not simply a holy and angry judge. God is merciful. God
wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of his truth. So
God has provided a way for sinners to enter his Kingdom of Heaven.
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Now, to understand God’s way of getting into heaven, let’s again
consider getting into the White House. Let’s say that you are a fourteenyear-old girl. You attend the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC.
You have a good friend at this school. Your friend is also fourteen years
old. Her name is Malia and her last name happens to be Obama. And your
friend Malia invites you to a sleepover at her house, which happens to be
the White House. So, yes, the secret service will do a background check on
you and your family. But you get to go into the White House. You get to
go in the living quarters of the White House. You get to go where the
President lives. You have that privilege because you are friends with the
President’s daughter.
In a way, that’s how we get into God’s house, into heaven. We are
friends with God’s Son. Of course, the question is, “How did we become
friends with Jesus? What is the school that we attend together with Jesus so
that we know Jesus and have a relationship with him?”
Well, we are connected to Christ because of baptism. Jesus entered into
baptism. We entered into baptism. By the power and promises God
attaches to baptism we receive privileges and blessings through our
relationship with Jesus. So, just as being a friend of the President’s
daughter can get you into the White House, so also being baptized together
with Jesus gets us into God’s House of Heaven. That’s what God’s Word
shows us: BAPTISM OPENS HEAVEN.
That’s what happened when John baptized Jesus. Our text says, When
all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he
was praying, heaven was opened. In his Gospel Matthew also tells us
that this happened when Jesus was baptized: And a voice from heaven
said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
At Christ’s baptism God gave his approval on his Son. It’s like the
president of Harvard University saying on graduation day, “This student is
the valedictorian because she passed every test with a grade of one hundred
percent. She got an A-plus on every assignment and she never missed a
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single class period.” I am sure that no such student ever existed. Such
perfection is impossible.
But perfection was not impossible for Jesus. Jesus pleased his father
perfectly. Jesus never sinned. And so when Jesus entered the waters of the
Jordan River for baptism, it wasn’t because he needed to wash away his
sins. He didn’t have any sins.
Jesus entered into baptism for other reasons. First, he was baptized as the
official beginning of his earthly ministry. Second, he was baptized to add
himself to the sacrament of baptism so that baptism could have something
to give us. So, because Christ put himself in baptism, baptism now has real
power. Baptism transfers Christ’s holiness to all those who are baptized
into Christ’s name. That’s why baptism opens heaven for us.
When we are baptized into the name of Christ, God does the same thing
for us as he did for Jesus at his baptism. Well, he does almost the same
thing. He doesn’t physically part the clouds. He does not speak in a loud
voice from heaven. But at your baptism God opened up heaven and looked
upon you. God said, “This sinful child is now my dear Son. This sinner is
now as holy, pure, and perfect as Jesus Christ.” We know that baptism
gives us the holiness of Christ. Paul says in Galatians, for all of you who
were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
So, treasure your baptism. Remember your baptism. Thank God for your
baptism. Use your baptism. Use it especially when Satan attacks your faith
and your hope for salvation. Satan loves to whisper in your ear, “How dare
you call yourself a Christian? Sure, you go to church. But then you go
home and act like all your sinful neighbors. You are just as greedy as those
big banks you complain about. You are just as self-centered as those coworkers you gossip about. You are just as dishonest as those politicians
you criticize. You are just as filthy in your thoughts and words as those
immoral movie stars you like to read about. So, how can you call yourself a
Christian? You are just as foul as all those unbelievers you look down on.”
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And Satan speaks the truth. You and I are just as sinful as anyone else.
So Satan can easily lead us to despair and think, “Since I am such a foul
sinner, I should not go to heaven. I should not even dare to think that God
will ever let me into heaven.” Yes, when we look at all our sins, we have to
agree with Satan. God should lock us out of heaven.
But God does not lock us out of heaven. God opened heaven to us. God
accepts us. He welcomes us because Jesus was baptized and we were
baptized with Jesus. So, when Satan attacks your faith, fight back. When a
guilty conscience disturbs your soul, fight back. Do not look at your sins.
Instead, look back to your baptism and say, “I am baptized. God chose me
to be his own. God blessed me with an eternal connection to himself
through his Son, Jesus Christ. At my baptism Jesus washed away all my
sins. Now I belong to God forever. My sins cannot condemn me and Satan
cannot have me.”
That’s how you use your baptism. So, use it to defeat Satan. Use it to
comfort your conscience. Use it to rejoice in the forgiveness of salvation
that Jesus gives you. Use it to get into a place that has tighter security but
also more luxury than the White House. Use your baptism to open up
heaven. Use your baptism to get into heaven. And trust that your baptism
has this power. Trust the power of baptism because Jesus was baptized.
Jesus was baptized to be your Savior. AMEN.
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