Sermon - Lent, Midweek 3, 2026 - Baptism, Part 3

Healing of Naaman, Jan van Scorel, 16th Century

The Water of Baptism:

1. Washes away sin, death, and hell

2. Rebirths us as Children of God

Isn’t the interaction between Elisha and Naaman fantastic! Here’s Naaman, this great commander of the Syrian army, who is afflicted with leprosy! He had to take advice from one of his foreign born servant girls who directed him to a prophet of the little kingdom of Israel. When Naaman brings his entourage to see Elisha, Elisha doesn’t even go to the door but sends his messenger. Naaman is then told “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” Now, we don’t know the rivers of the ancient world, but Naaman does, and this instruction drives him mad! Jordan is a filthy river, and basically any other river would’ve made more sense. But in the midst of this mighty army commander’s temper tantrum, another of his servants has to calm him down and be the voice of reason, saying: “It is a great word the prophet has spoken to you.” Then sure enough, he dips himself in the dirty river and comes out clean, with his flesh restored like that of a child’s.

How does this great miracle happen? Is it because the Jordan is such special water? Should we go to the Jordan river and fill up some jugs and bring it back here for healing purposes? No, of course not. Naaman wasn’t an idiot, the Jordan river is a dirty, lousy river; it has no special powers. Thus, the power of baptism which works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation, rests not in the quality of the water, but in the power of God’s Word in and with the water.

It is just as the catechism teaches us. Let’s read it from the catechism. Go to the 3rd part of Baptism. In the hymnal it’s on page 325.

How can water do such great things?

Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus, chapter three: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying.” (Titus 3:5–8)

You see, it’s not just the water that does these wonderful things, but it is the word of God in and with the water, along with faith which trusts God’s word in the water. Naaman didn’t really understand this concept, which is why he was appalled at the idea of washing in the Jordan. But his servant understood it wasn’t so much about the river necessarily but the word that the prophet spoke. “It is a great word the prophet has spoken to you.” By the power of the word, along with the water, Naaman received a great blessing. So it is through baptism that the Word of God along with the water and faith that receives this word does such powerful things in our lives!

The water of baptism is ordinary water. We don’t need to get special water from the Jordan in which to be baptized. It doesn’t particularly matter how much water is used. And we also don’t need to use peculiar “holy water” that has been particularly blessed. The water we use is in fact ordinary water, straight out of the faucet. The only requirement for baptismal water is that it’s water. Now, after water has been used for a baptism it is appropriate to pour it out on the ground instead of into the sewer, but that’s out of reverence for the holy work this water was used for, not because this water was peculiarly blessed.

It’s good to remember that water is an essential part of baptism and plays a vital role in this holy sacrament. If there was no water, there would not be a baptism. So when the Word of God is applied to the water, that water “is a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit.” That God uses water for this sacrament is important because it teaches us what God is here doing for us. 

What does water do? What does the term baptism mean? Baptism washes. But baptism is much greater than ordinary washing which merely washes away external dirt from the body. St. Peter explains: “Baptism… now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, baptism cleanses your sins from you, baptism washes away sins. “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

When you were baptized, your sins were washed away! Indeed, “do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the king of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Through baptism, which is made new for you every day, and is particularly made new for you through Confession and Absolution which pastor Matheny will talk about next week, you are cleansed of all of your iniquities!

Though Satan constantly throws your sins in your face, telling you that you are not worthy of Christ, that God must hate you, that you are unclean and filthy, that you belong with the heathen, that you should despair of God’s grace; you have baptism as a glorious promise by which you are assured that your sins have been washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ, and all of Satan’s taunts are thus empty. The Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed you in the waters of baptism so that He may present you to Himself as His spotless bride to be welcomed into His mansion.

Along with this imagery of washing, water ought to also invoke in us images of birth. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Jesus famously explained this reality to Nicodemus, telling him you must be born again to see the kingdom of God, and Nicodemus replied with shock: “How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Of course that would be rather ridiculous. Nevertheless, man must be born again, as Jesus explains: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Baptism is a rebirth. Just as a mother’s water breaks shortly before she gives birth to her child, so is it in holy baptism that we are born again from above through the water and the word. When you’re born of your mother on earth, you are immediately nourished by her body and welcomed into her home; as a child of your father you are given his name and you receive his inheritance. In baptism you are born again of your mother the church, and your heavenly Father gives you His name. Because you are born again, you have been born into the holy family of the church, and these Christians are your new brothers and sisters.

St. Peter so beautifully explains this concept of rebirth: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Because you have been born again through the waters of baptism, God has given you an eternal and imperishable inheritance in the heavens!

In a real way, you were drowned and killed when you were baptized, and then you were born, risen to new life with Christ. For us Christians baptism means that we have already died to sin through Jesus’ death, and we have already been born again into eternal life through baptism. Thus, death for the Christian is not really a death, because we have already died with Christ, and therefore death is but the portal to bliss untold, since to live is Christ and to die is gain.

In the waters of Holy Baptism, you have been washed in the blood of Christ’s righteousness which cleanses you of all of your sins. You have been born again through those waters, and your life is now new in Jesus’ name. You go forward today as God’s children, cleansed and prepared to live holy lives to the glory of God’s name.