The theme of Acts 19:1-7 is Paul meeting the disciples of John at Ephesus. It will raise the question of baptism, connecting it with the personal and communal experience of the Holy Spirit. Baptism has become a ritual in the church of today. Although the ritual may say it has a connection with the Spirit, many congregations are unaware of the connection. If they were aware, they are unsure of what it means in their personal or corporate life. My hope is that we can gain some insight into both baptism and the work of the Holy Spirit within the experience of the church today.
In one sense, baptism acknowledges the work of the Holy Spirit that is already there. At its best, as Martin Luther often noted, baptism is a lifelong process of conversion and nurture that begins at the font and does not end until death. One of the issues raised in this passage is a disconnection between baptism and experience. John Wesley had a sermon on the new birth based on this passage. He thinks of baptism as a sign of an experience of new birth and regeneration. This means they are not the same thing. He even makes the point that the new birth and baptism do not constantly go together. One can receive baptism with water and yet not experience the new birth through the Spirit. This simply means that one may receive the outward sign or ritual but not experience the inward grace.[1] Baptism is not magic in the sense that if you do it, it requires God or the human recipient to act in certain ways.
1While Apollos (mentioned in 18:24-28) was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions (Turkey today) and came to Ephesus. Luke carefully avoids an encounter between Apollos and Paul. Paul found some disciples in Ephesus. It seems their theological training was not sufficient. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” What led Paul to ask this question? I suspect there was something missing from this little community of faith. How would we answer Paul if he could ask us that question? They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” They did not receive baptism in the name of John, of course. We learned in 18:25b that Apollos knew only the baptism of John. He needed Priscilla and Aquila to explain the way of God to him more accurately. Several disciples of Jesus experienced only the baptism of John, but they were also with Jesus, in the Spirit was present. My point is that had they approached all of this ritualistically, even the disciples would have needed re-baptism. They did not need it because through their contact with Jesus they also experienced the work of the Spirit in their lives. The appearance of the risen Lord and Pentecost sealed the work of the Spirit in them. Thus, the early church is still sorting out the meaning of baptism. 4 Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” Paul identifies the meaning of the baptism they have received. The parallel connection between 18:24-28 and 19:1-7 is that both cases involve those who knew only the baptism of John. In both cases, the baptism of John needed to move to the next level, either with further instruction or with the reception of the Holy Spirit. It also suggests that forms of Christianity needed the sanction of Jerusalem and Paul. 5 On hearing this, Paul baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus. We have the only account of re-baptism in the Bible. Baptism in the name of Jesus was the early formula for baptism out of which the Trinitarian form would later arise. Next, Luke informs us that 6Paul laid his hands on them. Whether one person lays hands on many or many people lay hands on the few, the laying on of hands embodies the kind of unity that baptism intends to foster among the communion of saints. This is more than symbolic. It is a profound reminder that baptism brings us into contact with the risen Christ, contact with the power of the Holy Spirit, contact with humankind in and beyond the community of faith. Then, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. In 2:4, tongues and prophecy are part of the manifestation of the Spirit as well. Paul has clarified the reason the baptism of John is insufficient. It did not include reception of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit distinguished Christian baptism from other forms, especially that of John.[2] Several of the disciples would have experienced the baptism of John as well, as far as we know, that is all they received. The uniqueness among these disciples of John is the absence of the presence of the Holy Spirit, the test of genuine discipleship. The proof that baptism of the Spirit has happened is the speaking in tongues and prophecy. Luke portrays the conversion of Paul as one of Ananias laying his hands on Paul, baptism, reception of the Holy Spirit, and Paul immediately preaching Jesus as the Son of God (Acts 9:17-20). If one can make arguments that the development of doctrine is already underway by the time Luke writes Acts, then this passage indicates that doctrinal formulations about baptism are intersecting with, if not emerging from, accounts of first-century Christians who are actually experiencing baptism. Baptism inaugurates a new reality in the Holy Spirit for all who believe and act in the name of Jesus. The New Testament connects baptism and the new reality in the Holy Spirit. The baptism of Jesus includes the view that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. Baptism is genuine, not based upon the name used, but on the power it evokes. We then learn that 7altogether there were about twelve of them. For Luke, the dynamics of authentic discipleship surface on numerous occasions where he links the bolstering presence of the Holy Spirit with professing faith or taking action in the name of Jesus.
I am not sure what was missing in these disciples. In this case, the evidence was tongues and prophecy, similar to Acts 2. Paul did not have the evidence of tongues in Acts 9. If we broaden our perspective, we can think of many evidence of the work of the Spirit in individual and corporate life. We might go to the discussion of Paul concerning the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. Rather than focus upon the spectacular, I want to focus on the quiet ways the Spirit may be at work in the life of persons and communities. The reason is that in our time, people within the Christian community can often focus on the miraculous as evidence of the presence of the Spirit. Such a view assumes a far too narrow understanding of the miraculous. It focuses on the moment. I want to focus on what happens after the moment, which is the rest of our lives. Some of us, if we took the time to reflect, would be surprised at the work the Spirit has accomplished in us over the years.
I am going to suggest that the work of the Spirit in individual and corporate ways may show itself in the way people experience the inevitable brokenness of life. A friend hurts us deeply, and we retreat inside ourselves. We lose a job or suffer a pay cut, and pretend as if everything is okay. A spouse abuses us, but we never speak up. We sense that we have a drinking problem, but feel too embarrassed to ask for help. A marriage begins with intimacy and anticipation, and ends with alienation and anger. Life breaks us, in a variety of painful ways. Unfortunately, we often deny it. We would rather disguise the places life has broken us. In fact, everyone has gaps and breaks in their lives. Some destructive experience eventually shatters everyone. As the English writer G.K. Chesterton said, "We are all in the same boat, in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty." Many authors have noted the wonderful quote from the end of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms: “The world breaks everyone, then some become strong at the broken places.” "Forget your perfect offering," says the poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen. "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Several decades ago, just 10 days after his son was killed in a car accident, the Reverend William Sloane Coffin delivered a sermon to his congregation at Riverside Church in New York City. He said, "As almost all of you know, a week ago last Monday night, driving in a terrible storm ... my 24-year-old son Alexander, who enjoyed beating his old man at every game and in every race, beat his father to the grave." "My own broken heart is mending," said Coffin, "and largely thanks to so many of you, my dear parishioners; for if in the last week I have relearned one lesson, it is that love not only begets love, it transmits strength." William Sloane Coffin discovered for himself that when a terrible tragedy broke him, then the Christian community stepped in to fill him with love and strength. And he no doubt became a better pastor after experiencing that golden repair.
Most of us realize that the strongest and most beautiful people around us are those who have breaks filled that have become strong. The parents of an autistic child give valuable guidance to others in the same situation. The AA sponsor who patiently helps a fellow alcoholic to remain sober. The survivor of abuse provides a lifeline to those who suffer abuse. The wife of an Alzheimer's patient offers support to families dealing with various types of dementia.
Like the concept of the Spirit at work in our everyday lives I think we miss that and it probably needs to be expanded to more of our everyday lives and the church as a whole. Not only does He heal, but He fights the work of Satan. Luke 4:14 quoting Isiah says the spirit of the Lord is on me and then lists the work of Jesus. BUT the spirit also is presence today in tongues and prophecy. No as the focus of His work but as a part of it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I do not hear you talk much about Satan, tongues, and prophecy. I am sure we all think of such things in ways that reflect our experiences.
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