Title: R&B (Repentance & Baptism)
Purpose: To look at repentance, baptism and the Holy Spirit
Reading: Acts 2v14a&36-41
Prayer
Father, may these spoken words be true to the written word and lead us to the living word – Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Scary Movie
Anyone a fan of the Scary Movie Franchise?
Picture the scene. There’s a young woman running through dark streets (it always a young woman). Every so often she sees a bright sign, it says something like:
Go back
Turn
around,
Don’t go on
Return
run the other way
She couldn’t possibly miss them, but she ignores them and runs straight on into the even darker night. Maybe it starts to rain, or becomes a little foggy, but she runs on. Eventually, she is in front of a creepy house. She pauses, looks back, and you think just for a minute she won’t approach the house. Of course, she does, and goes up the steps to the heavy blackened wooden door. On the door, there is a flashing neon sign that says “Certain death to all who enter”. The door is ajar. Ignoring the sign, she pushes the door, that creaks, long and low and moves just enough for her to squeeze through. Making absolutely no attempt to switch on the lights, she starts to look around, although it’s way too dark to really see anything. Suddenly there is a bang, now she turns around to see the large wooden door is firmly closed, and try as she might, it will not budge. Her only hope, if there is any, is to be rescued.
Well, what do you think? Has it been done, or would it make a good opening for "Scary Movie 6"?
Fantasy
That’s a little piece of fantasy, but it illustrates where the Israelites have got to in our reading today. In the Gospel of Luke, and in the preceding Old Testament, there has been warning after warning (sign after sign) that the Israelites are headed in the wrong direction. They do not look after the poor, they do not look after those with other needs, they do not readily admit foreigners, and they are not proclaiming the word of God to the surrounding nations. Worse, they regularly mistreat God’s messengers, the prophets. They have kept God for themselves, and refuse to let others near.
All hope is gone
Now, in their misguided zeal – accusing Jesus of blasphemy – they have killed the son of God – the longed for Messiah, who was going to save the nation. The door is firmly closed, but they are locked out of God’s presence. Their hope is gone, and they have just realised it. They have been listening to Peter’s sermon (Which I suspect was a lot longer than the record we have of it.), and suddenly it is all clear to them. They were “cut to the heart”. Now comes the question – “Brothers, what should we do?”
The answer is quite straight forward – “repent and be baptized”. It’s not simple, though. The Hebrew word for repent originally meant “an afterthought, a change of mind”. We change our minds all the time – about what we will do and when we will do it. That’s not quite what repent is getting at. In Jewish thought the person is considered as a single entity, whereas in Greek thought, our inner life is separated from how we behave in front of others. The Greek word for repent means to turn around, just as our young lady needed to do before she entered the house.
Change of Actions
Perhaps we should say that repent means a change of actions. That we regret our former actions and are intent on not repeating what we now see as a mistake. That would certainly include turning back in many situations.
Here, Peter is asking them to accept the one who they have so recently decided was a blasphemer, and deserved the death penalty. He asks each one of them to:
“Repent and be baptized,
... in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
That means joining the Apostles – Peter and his crew. It’s a real turn around.
Baptism
Baptism was usually reserved for proselytes (converts to Judaism), and would have been seen as unnecessary because those born into a Jewish family were by nature Jewish and therefore loved and protected by God. But now, having killed His son, they can see that they are completely separated from God.
Christ’s Baptism
Some of them will have heard the message “repent and be baptized” before, that is what John’s baptism was all about. Baptism is a sign of repentance. This baptism though is different, this baptism is in the name of Jesus, who forgives our sin, once and for all, and puts us right with God – it is also a sign of our repentance.
Promise of the Holy Spirit
The other difference about this baptism is that it comes with a promise of the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit which connects us to God and lives in us. This is what Paul says when he writes to Timothy:
2Tim 1:13 What you heard
from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love
in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was
entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who
lives in us.
Normal Order of conversion
Peter has described the normal order of events when someone accepts Jesus as their saviour.
- Repent
- Be baptized
- Receive the Holy Spirit
Of course, God can and does do it in other orders, but all three elements are always present.
3000
What an amazing offer the 3000 accepted. A way back to God, not only that but a permanent connection with God, and, of course, an escape from certain death.
Whose Offer?
It is not Peter’s offer. It’s a promise that comes from God via the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the whole story can be viewed as a work of the Holy Spirit, but that’s another sermon. Peter is just the messenger.
Offer to all
The offer (the promise) isn’t just to those Israelites either, it is made to their children, so their descendants and those who are far away, geographically or spiritually.
Christians
The offer has been accepted by many here. We now rely on that promise, it becomes an important part of our lives, perhaps the most important part. Even so, we are still capable of running away, ignoring all the signs, and entering the creepy house, but now the door can never lock us inside.
So, I thought I would end with a prayer of repentance. Yes, I know we’ve already said the confession, but sometimes our liturgy just becomes one of those signs that gets ignored.
I’d like you to join with me in saying this prayer, I’ll read it through first.
[The prayer]
Heavenly Father, thank you for everything you do for me. I come before You to repent of my sins. Please help me turn away from my sins and turn toward you, Through your Holy Spirit, give me the power and strength to follow you faithfully. I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen
If you think that this is something you’d like to join in with, please say it together with me now.
[Say prayer together]
Amen.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/6JkFGRc1bW0
References
https://prayforeverything.com/repentance-prayers/
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