LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 61

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Convention Sermon
❶ Baptized for This Moment!
Acts 2:37–41 • Opening Service

By the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison,
President, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
65th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod | July 20, 2013

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to
Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And
Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for
your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our
God calls to Himself.” And with many other words he bore witness
and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this
crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized,
and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

B

aptism is the very Gospel itself in action, and we are
baptized for witness. We are baptized for mercy. We are
baptized for life together in this Church. We are baptized
for this moment.

director of Christian education and spit her out because you won’t
spring for a few bucks to keep her on, you cry out, “Give us Barabbas!” I’m convinced if some of our congregations had Jesus as
pastor, they’d be pushing the voters to dump Him and call Barabbas.

But we—frankly, not unlike Peter’s first-century hearers—have a
problem. Luther complained about those in his day who denied
the power of Baptism, saying, “They regard Baptism as common
water, no better than a cow or dog’s bath.” In fact, when they look
at Baptism, they are “like a cow staring at a new barn door.”

When you pastors can find any excuse not to be visiting your
people and hitting the pavement in your community, being Jesus
there who “came to seek and save the lost,” you render Jesus dead
to that community. You cry out, “Crucify Him!”

And us? We might even be worse! We know and believe that
Baptism “is not just plain water.” We know that “it works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil.” We know all that
and think nothing of it. How do I know you think nothing of it?
Now, let me warn you. I’m not going preach about the Law. I’m not
going to describe the Law and how it should make you feel. I’m
not going to talk about some people in general somewhere who
aren’t following the Law. I’m not going to dole out the Law in some
innocuous dosage to irritate you so you can be even smugger about
your own holiness and look down your nose at that guy next to
you. I’m preaching to you.
Repent! The path back to Baptism is through repentance. Peter
preached in the very last verse just before our text: “Let all the
house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him
both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).
And make no mistake: Those first-century Jews crucified Christ
in your name … in your stead!
When you fail to speak Christ and His forgiveness to others as you
go about your daily vocation, is it not as though Christ were dead?
Faith cometh by hearing! You cry, “I tell you, I don’t know the man!”
When you chew up pastor after pastor or wring the life out of a
C o n v e n t io n se r m o n s

When your church is embroiled in controversy and inside you cry,
“Crucify them!” you cry, “Crucify Him!”
When your hearts are filled with lust instead of an unquenchable
thirst for God’s Word, you cry, “Crucify Him!”
When you slander your neighbor, you cry, “Crucify Him!”
When you are discontent, unhappy with your lot in life, unhappy
with your call, impatient with your congregation, even lording it
over them, you cry, “Give us Barabbas!”
And if you are sitting there thinking, “Man, I’m glad he’s taking it
to my pastor!” then you are twice as damned under the Law. And
when—after the last voters meeting—like Judas you were hiding
in the corner, talking about how to crucify your pastor, you cried
out, “Crucify Him! Let His blood be on our hands!”
“Don’t waste time denying your sins,” Luther says. “You crucified
Him.” “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). “Wretched
man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?”
(Rom. 7:24). “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever
before me” (Ps. 51:3).
“Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38). “Wash me thoroughly from
my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” (Ps. 51:2). “Truly, truly
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