ROUGHLY EDITED COPY LUTHERAN PASTORAL THEOLOGY & PRACTICE LPTP-14 Captioning Provided By: Caption First, Inc. P.O. Box 1924 Lombard, IL 60148 800-825-5234 www.captionfirst.com *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. *** >> DAVID: Let me ask a question from the opposite end of the spectrum. We're engaged in a lot of outreach in our church. And I have a fair number of unbaptized people involved in adult membership class. At what point should a prospective member be baptized? >> PROF. SENKBEIL: David, you asked a very important question. Especially since, in these times in which we live, we're very, very interested in reaching into an increasingly godless kind of environment with the saving Gospel. And this very question is going to be more and more important for each and every pastor clearly in every part of the country. So, basically, you're asking at what point then do I baptize a person who's in the process of being instructed? It might be helpful if we would take a look for a moment at the 8th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles where we see really a case study of how this was done in a unique situation. The situation is between Phillip, the evangelist and the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading, as you recall, from the Bible, from the Old Testament the scroll of Isaiah where he read these words: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter. And like a lamb before his shearers is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." And then you remember the eunuch asked Phillip a wide open question. "Was this man, this prophet, talking about himself or someone else?" And you remember how Phillip, beginning with that very scripture, taught the good news about Jesus as they were riding along in the chariot. If you will, this was the course instruction based upon the word of God. It was a catechisis (ph), that is, a unfolding, an unpacking of the faith once delivered to the saints. It centers in Christ crucified for the sins of the world. The good news about Jesus is really what we're all about in the church, isn't it? And then a very interesting thing happens as they were riding along. Verse 36. "As they were going along the road, they came to some water. And the Eunuch said, 'See here is water. What prevents me from being baptized?'" what prevents me from being baptized? So, in the case of adults, the instruction in the faith, the profession of the faith, the desire for baptism is really what's important. And so it was right then and there that Phillip and the eunuch got into the river. And there the eunuch was received in the kingdom of God by the washing, the regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit. But I haven't really answered your question, have I? It's important to remember that in the great commission Jesus said to his church that making disciples involves baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and also "teaching all things whatsoever I have commanded you." That's really a lifelong process, isn't it? Catechisis really for each and every Christian extends far beyond that course of instruction that they're given at the time they enter the church. But all of life from the cradle to the grave really is a process of constantly growing up into him who is the head even Jesus Christ our Lord. And so we can really say that the Christian is never done learning. When are they baptized? Well, in our Lutheran church, we are, as we said, a confessional church. We have in our Book of Confessions a layman's Bible, if you will, as Dr.�Luther called it, namely, the Small Catechism in which the chief parts of the Christian faith are reflected there. What are they? The Ten Commandments, that is, the law of God teaches us what is God pleasing, what we are to do and we're not to do, and indeed condemns sin. Then we have the Gospel. The Apostles' Creed, our gracious God, Father�-- the father who created us, the son who redeemed us with his blood, and the Holy Spirit who by the Gospel calls us to be his own. Then we have the Lord's Prayer in which Christians are taught to pray for all the good gifts that the father wants to give including the gift of his spirit. So we pray for those holy things that God gives to us as well as all of our needs both of body and soul. These first three parts of the catechism are really of the essence of the faith. It's important that Christians then be able to confess this faith that is given to us in God's word. And I would think that at least that plus the instruction of what baptism is�-- and now we're moving into the second part of the catechism, namely, Holy Baptism, confession, and the sacrament of the altar. That sacramental section of the catechism also belongs to the chief articles of the Christian faith. So, practically speaking, David, and what we've always done is to instruct everyone in all chief six parts before baptism, although, given the unique needs of the individual one can see as in the case of Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch that, upon the basis of instruction in God's word, both law and Gospel, the good news of Jesus, the power and efficacy of Holy Baptism, one could certainly baptize before admission to the Lord's altar, that is, the sacrament of the altar in terms of adult confirmation or reception into the faith. So the answer to your question is two-fold: Namely, one would desire to teach the whole faith, all the things that Christ has given to his church on earth. And that takes a whole lifetime. But one would want to instruct in the chief articles of the faith and then to act accordingly upon profession of faith in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; desire to be baptized, confessing this Lord Jesus and this God who sent him, the Father and the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, it's certainly appropriate to baptize those who confess this faith. *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. ***