Community Baptism

Acts 8:14-17 Common English Bible (CEB)

14 When word reached the apostles in Jerusalem that Samaria had accepted God’s word, they commissioned Peter and John to go to Samaria. 15 Peter and John went down to Samaria where they prayed that the new believers would receive the Holy Spirit. (16 This was because the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 So Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

“Community Baptism”

I lived in Memphis, TN for five years. During the last couple of years of living in Memphis, I was involved with Room in the Inn. RITI is a non-profit organization that assists individuals affected by homelessness find shelter during the winter months. The organization of Room in the Inn, Nashville, is much larger than Memphis. They have a larger budget and much larger facility. But, they too started with the same, much smaller, goal. 

Basically, RITI, Memphis, operates from October to March. Colonial CPC is the founding church for RITI Memphis. The first couple of years, RITI volunteers met people downtown and transported them to East Memphis (Colonial CPC). There, they served them a meal, let them shower, offered a change of clothes, and gave them a place to sleep. This is a great ministry for people in need, but one church can only do so much. The maximum number the church could accommodate was around fifteen. With that said, there were many being turned away to sleep outside in the elements. This was very difficult. The solution to this problem was to add more churches to the list. Finding more churches that would open their doors to homeless people, serve them a meal, offer a shower, fresh clothes, and a place to sleep was a difficult challenge. Many churches were not interested in helping. That has been about seven years ago. Now, due to many efforts by Colonial CPC and RITI, RITI Memphis has over forty churches partnered with them. During the winter months, people affected by homelessness are bused to churches all over the Memphis area. The number of churches increases yearly. 

RITI started with one small faith community and they quickly learned that it was going to take more than one church to accommodate their mission. Though, their heart was big enough to make the attempt, working as a single entity would only leave them heartbroken from having to turn people away. The solution was to join with others, to ask others to help carry the burden, to provide others with the same opportunity to serve, and most importantly, to strengthen the number of the serving community. It’s quite simple. One person can help a few; more people can help many.

There is an African proverb that has circulated for hundreds of years and it has been spoken in many languages. It was first spoken in tribes of West Africa. It says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” It basically means that the entire tribal village was responsible for looking after a child and taking part in its well-being. The child does not grow up in a single home. The community as a whole takes part in the child’s growth however it is necessary. It takes a village to make a difference. One person can help a few; more people can help many. Much of the time, community involvement is the key to success in making a difference. RITI continues to grow and find success because of community involvement. The village participates, so to speak.  

The fact that continues to irritate me is there are many churches that do not want to get involved. Why? Is it because those people smell bad? Is because some of them struggle with illnesses and it’s a liability? Is it because some of them have made bad choices to land them the position they are in? Is it the time and resources it requires to take on such a service? Or, perhaps it’s just that hard to care when people have their own problems? I don’t know? From what I have gathered by experience, a huge part of the reason why people don’t like to help the poor, homeless, addicted, ill, criminal, (I refer to them as "the least of these", as did Jesus in Mat 25:40) is because these people have made bad choices that they could have prevented. It is the idea that they put themselves in the undesirable position they are in. The idea that if they had only not made those decisions, they would not be in that position. That’s the common excuse. I have even heard people say, “They are being punished for the choices they have made.” My question for a person with that philosophy is, “Have you never made bad choices?” Of course, they have. We have all made bad choices. Some of them are more detrimental than others. 

Have you ever noticed how people like to tie a reason behind someone’s struggle? If a person has a heart attack or gets cancer, the first thing we ask is what did they do. They must have been unhealthy. Did they smoke? A person has a car accident; what do you ask? How fast were they going? Were they drinking? If I cut my finger with a knife, I must have been playing with a knife. If they are homeless it’s because they don’t want a job, which is far from the truth. If they are an addict it’s because they like doing drugs, also, far from the truth. People see through the single lens that says, if you play with fire, you’ll get burned. It’s true, but you’ll also get burned if you’re stuck in a house that’s on fire. Think about that. Sometimes there is no way out…unless someone helps. 

I know there are people just waiting on the first accident to my homeless ministry (delivering food to homeless people on bicycles.) I can hear it. “Well, that’s what you get.” 

I digress.

All is to say: we all make bad choices. Who can say they can look back on the life they lived thus far and never say, “I regret doing that.” I can’t. People make bad choices. If you know your bible stories, you know that the Holy Text is full of people making bad choices. From Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, the Hebrews, Moses, the Israelites, the Judges, King David and all of those after, the disciples, Paul, the apostles, the new churches, that’s just to name a few. And, all of the stories reflect their bad choices. But, here’s what you need to know through all of this, all of history, God was there, present with all people as they made bad choices. God loved them dearly before, during, and after their bad choices. God never loved them any less, regardless of the choices they made.   

Through the lens of the first century Jews, the Samaritans made a lot of bad choices. There were a lot of enemies for the Jews during this time but the Samaritans had been the enemy for a long time. They were separate from the Judean Jews and they all wanted to keep it that way. The Samaritans were the bad people that the people of Judea told their children not to associate with. They were considered impure and racially inferior to the other Jews even though they celebrated Jewish holidays and observed Moses’ Law. But, that did not keep the Jews from looking down on the Samaritans. In John, chapter 8, Jesus’ critics insult him by calling him a Samaritan. In Luke, chapter 9, Jesus has trouble in Samaritan villages. And, later Jesus instructs his disciples not to go to Samaria in Matthew, chapter 10. However, Jesus used Samaritans in his stories and parables. In some cases, he uses them as characters to escalate the plot a little more. The woman at the well was a Samaritan. It was culturally unacceptable for this rabbi to converse with a Samaritan woman. Of course, we know the story of the good Samaritan. This story was bizarre because to the Jews, there was no such as a “good” Samaritan. 

The reason the Samaritans were of such dislike was that of their reputation. Despite their inclination to worship the God of Israel and obey Law, they were neither Jew nor Gentile. However, they were charged with working both sides to their advantage. They take their side according to the circumstances. Basically, if the Jews were prospering, the Samaritans would call themselves Jews. But, if they noticed a decline for some reason, they would say they have nothing in common. They were somewhat hypocritical and not loyal. It’s like those football fans that only cheer for the team that’s winning. They don’t claim to be a fan when they are losing. You know those people. The Samaritans had a reputation of choosing the winning side, even if their faith was involved. 

In Acts, chapter 8, Philip is commissioned to go to Samaria to develop a group of Christ followers and to baptize them. After some time in this region, he converted many. And he baptized many. These Samaritans needed to cling on to something. They had faith but they were not accepted by the people of their faith. I believe this made their faith unstable. When a person came to town offering allegiance to a salvific deity, they were ready to listen and subscribe. That’s why people were ready to listen to Philip when he arrived. However, Philip struggled with his mission. The mission became difficult when some of these Samaritans wanted to believe and be baptized for the sake of gaining power. It was hard for them to understand the selflessness of Christ. They wanted the power of Christ for their own recognition. And, they assumed that with this power they could perform and be compensated. This suited their reputation. 

Word got back to the disciples in Jerusalem that people in Samaria were listening to Philip preach and they were accepting Christ. Knowing the difficulty and the reputation of the Samaritans and the struggle Jesus had with them, Peter and John went to aid Philip in his mission in Samaria. When Peter and John arrived, they met with Philip and the new Christ followers. The story tells us that Peter and John laid hands on them and the people received the Holy Spirit.  

Philip had a mission into the unknown. He was commissioned to travel to a place to mingle with people not similar to his own circles. He went to spread the news to people he was told many times to not associate with. Let me remind you, these folks were known as bad people. They were criminals, liars, cheaters, and they were people that made bad choices and they paid for their decisions. Despite, worshiping God, the Jews believed that God did not accept them because of their hypocritical nature. But, Philip goes to introduce them to God in a way they had never heard, a way that they could all be part of God’s kingdom just as Jews were. But, despite his efforts and loyalty to Christ, Philip was having a hard time. They were being baptized and they were hearing Philip, but they were not receiving him. The truth is, despite his zeal, faith, compassion, and determination, Philip could not fulfill the mission on his own. It required more than just Philip. When Peter and John arrived and assisted Philip, the mission was fulfilled.

Do you notice something here? It took more than just Philip to fulfill Philip’s mission. Now, let’s look at this through the lens that says, “Well, if God wanted these people to receive the Spirit, God would have made it happen with Philip alone.” But, that is not the way God wanted it to happen. God wanted it to take more people. Why? Because that means more would be involved for God’s glory. God wanted the whole village to be involved. When more of God’s servants are present, more people see God. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Sometimes it takes a village. When the whole village gets involved, more is accomplished. Have you ever seen a barn raised on an Amish farm? One person doesn’t do it. The whole community gets involved. Far more is accomplished when we do it together.         

We recently celebrated the liturgical occasion, The Baptism of our Lord. It is the day that we remember what baptism is for us. Yes, baptism is personal and it represents the personal relationship you have with God for eternity. It represents the acceptance of the Spirit that lives in you. However, it is also interpersonal. Our baptisms are a representation of being part of a community of believers. We are for each other. We support each other. We hold each other accountable. We server each other. And together, when we join together, despite our differences and biases, we make an impact. As individuals we are strong; together as a community, we are much stronger.   

How is God calling you to be part of the community, the church, a group, (religious, secular, civic, family, friends, etc.)? How can you make a difference for people that need you? Yes, God can do anything through any one person, but God had rather use many people. When more of God’s servants are present, more people see God.