We are familiar with the phrase “baptism by fire”. Although it has Biblical origins—since baptism itself does--we are most likely more familiar with its other uses. For example, in military parlance “baptism by fire” refers to a soldier’s first time in battle, where there is likely enemy “fire” involved and much more is at stake than is true in any training exercises. From that usage the phrase has come to mean the first time in any challenging situation, or leadership role, or difficulty requiring decisive action with much responsibility involved.
There doesn’t need to be actual fire involved in a “baptism by fire”—it could just as well involve actual water, as when a flood overwhelms everything. But baptism itself, as practiced in the Christian church, does involve water, and the overwhelming water of a flood—or the parting of the sea, as happened in Exodus—even in all its destructive potential, is still a place where God promises to be present with us.
In Isaiah 43, the prophet is proclaiming to the people in exile that God hasn’t abandoned them. In the previous chapter, Isaiah comes down pretty hard on the people, reminding them that their failings, their not living up to what God would have them do, is why their land has been conquered and the Temple destroyed, and that they have been captured and taken away from their homes and their land. But this horrible, devastating, demoralizing situation is not God’s final answers: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:1b-3a)
Both the baptism by fire and the baptism by water are redemptive. Both will help restore then to their rightful position as forgiven and righteous people; both will help return them to their homes and their land. And yet it is through those “baptisms” that they are reminded not just of their place as those whom God loves, but of their need for God, and their need to live as God calls them to live.
Baptism reminds us of that, too. In it, God affirms we are loved and chosen as God’s, and that “when you pass through the waters, I will be with you”—just as Jesus was baptized, to be with us (GOD with us) in the day-to-day reality of our human lives. And yet, baptism is also, as we are reminded in the passage from Luke, an act of repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, as we acknowledge that we don’t always manage to live up to what God would prefer we do. And Jesus is with us in that, too. We know we mess up, and yet God reminds us that God is with us even in that.
OLD TESTAMENT Isaiah 43:1-7
1 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my sight,
and honored, and I love you,
I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,
and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.’
GOSPEL Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’