Baptism: A Significant Ceremony

During a recent morning devotional, my wife and I encountered this question: “What significance does baptism have in your life?”

I responded, “Baptism marked the beginning of my public stand as a Christian (or to use a less culturally-loaded term: a follower of Christ).”

It’s been more than 43 years and yet I can remember the occasion like it took place last week.

Our church then customarily performed baptisms at Sunday night services. That afternoon, my wife and I had gone to south Denver for a dinner hosted by a former coworker. Another friend who also used to work with us came too.

For reasons unknown, we drove my wife’s car, a 1967 Plymouth Fury. I used to joke that her old beater could take on coal trucks and come out a winner. But it turned out to be a poor choice over our other, newer car.

Dead Battery

Evening services started at 7 o’clock. But when we went out to start the Fury about 6:15, it was as dead as a doornail. With a 30-minute drive ahead, things didn’t look good.

We didn’t have any jumper cables. Nor did my friends. Frantic that we would miss the ceremony, my wife called the church to let our pastor know. She promised we would get there even if we were late.

By the time we arrived, thanks to the friend who came to the rescue with a ride, Bible study had ended. Some people had drifted away, but others who were aware of the reason for our tardiness had remained.

“Boy, I bet you old Slewfoot (the devil) was sitting on the hood of your car laughing,” our pastor grinned when we finally walked through the door.

As we donned our baptismal gowns behind the curtain, another couple got ready alongside us.

The young man was brimming with excitement, nearly jumping up and down as he grinned, hugged me, and said, “We’re going to be brothers!”

A Conscious Decision

I still remember my brief remarks that night. I recalled being baptized as a three-month-old. That is, I recalled the certificate my mother had saved that showed I had been.

“It’s hard to put into words how I feel,” I said that night. “But now I’m doing this as my conscious choice.”

Sadly, the young man who was so gleeful that evening soon vanished from our midst.

We have no idea why he and his wife stopped coming, but about six months after our baptism we went to their house a couple blocks from the church. We hoped to see if something had happened that had turned them away and encourage them to return.

Now, I am not the brightest bulb in the drawer when it comes to sensitivity and “reading the room,” but even I could tell they didn’t want us there.

Not only did we not discover why they had left, our visit ended in a few minutes. To this day, I have no idea what happened. I pray that they found their way back to a church home.

After all, there’s a reason Hebrews 10:25 tells us to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.” In Romans 12:5, Paul calls us a “body of Christ.” A body needs all its members.

We get baptized as a sign of obedience to God. But then we have to walk down the road called life, fraught with its setbacks, disappointments, losses, and frustration.

Trying to do that without the mutual support of Christ’s body is a prescription for disaster. And that support is one of many reasons to be thankful at this time of year.