Westside church of Christ - Irving, Texas

Baptizing Sara

Mark Roberts

“I want to go to heaven. I need to be baptized because I want to go to heaven.” The words instantly arrested my attention. They expressed in short and succinct fashion much of the essence of Christianity. But more than anything, those words grabbed me because they were spoken to me by my daughter, Sara.

On July 14, 2004 I baptized Sara Anne Roberts into Christ Jesus. It is the second time that I have been in the waters of baptism with a child of mine, and of course, will be the last time such happens. Every baptism is unique and marvelous, but there is something truly remarkable at seeing one that you have given physical life to receive the greatest gift of all, spiritual life. It was an amazing evening that Sara and Dena and I will never, ever forget. As I look back on that night a couple of things stand out from that wonderful moment.

Heaven is the greatest motivator of all. July 14 found our entire family at Florida College summer camp. Becca was working in the kitchen during junior camp, Sara was a camper, and Dena and I were counselors. It was Wednesday night and I was asked to speak to the campers in the devotional service. What do you talk to 185 kids about that will hold their attention and motivate them to serve Christ? I just couldn’t think of anything better than heaven. So I spent some time pointing out what the Bible tells us about the greatness and wonder and glories of our eternal home because sometimes we forget just how great heaven really is. In truth, much of what the world says about heaven and how the world characterizes it is not very appealing. Who wants to float on a cloud and play a harp forever? But the Bible’s grand pictures of heaven not only destroy such falsehoods about our eternal home, they are anything but dull, drab or dreary. When we see heaven as it is portrayed in Scripture it motivates us to do everything possible to be sure and be there. That is why those verses are given to us! When good and honest hearts hear about heaven they will say, like Sara, “I want to go there.” That is not, as they say “rocket science,” but sometimes we forget it. Sara’s baptism reminded me afresh of the power of heaven to draw us to the Lord.

Christianity makes one part of a big family. I really appreciate the way baptisms are handled at camp. To avoid any kind of en masse emotional response baptisms are taken very seriously and made a private affair. No child is baptized without parents being called first. A child can take some friends down to the river to witness the baptism, but not non-Christians and only a few friends at that. There’s no rush of the entire camp down to the river where some attention- starved kid might decide to get baptized just for the attention or because everyone else was doing it. Most kids have no idea a camper was baptized. It is not even announced until Saturday morning when everyone is going home.

So there we were, standing on the beach of a winding river – my family and a few friends. I’m counting those friends now and thinking of them and most of them were people Sara really didn’t know very long at all. They were just people, some young and some not so young, that had made a mark on Sara’s heart by living as disciples of Christ. Some of them she had known for only four days, but they were terribly important to her and she asked them to come see her do the most important thing any human can do. Peter talks about people of “like precious faith” and underscores that bond that makes us one in Christ. Do you know what that is about? Isn’t it neat how with fellow Christians you can be with them for only a few minutes and feel close to them and like you’ve known them forever? We share the most important thing and the most important bond, so everything else just naturally follows. Being a Christian makes one part of family that stretches around the globe and one day will be permanently united with the Father never to be separated again. Laurie and Kelly and Jim and David and Ryan and Brad and Chanel and Anita and all of Becca’s kitchen help friends live all over this country, but they will never forget that gathering that evening because they knew the family of God was being increased by one precious soul. And they wouldn’t have missed being there for anything. Someone once said “It’s a small world.” No, we just have a big family.

It was very quiet down by the river. The sun was setting and twilight’s long evening shadows made things seem very still. The water was as clear as glass and absolutely flat smooth and calm. Our good friends grouped around us and I asked Sara the most important question she’d ever been asked: “Do you believe Jesus is the Christ the Son of God?” Without hesitation, and through not a few tears, she said “I do.” Together we waded down into the still water and I looked around for a moment. The scene around made me catch my breath - it seemed like we were standing in the Jordan. So I made that ancient pronouncement of baptism’s purposes and authority and then I plunged Sara under the clear water, bringing her up as a new creature in Jesus Christ. It was amazing and incredible and wonderful. A friend later told me that he and some others were working across the river unnoticed by us, and that they got quiet for the baptism. As Sara and I went down into the water and I baptized her one of them said “Don’t you know it looked just like that in the New Testament times?” He was exactly right. It did.

On the long walk back up to my cabin I thought about a lot of things. My mind thought of godly grandparents who helped Sara value the Bible and of a great church that has been an enormous help in her learning the Word of God and seeing what real Christianity is about. I am profoundly grateful to my wife for her incredible godliness and patience, and to Sara’s big sister, Rebecca, who also serves the Lord and many times has been the trailblazer for Sara. I’m thankful to FC for providing that camp and being such a big part of my life. But over and over again I thought of the Lord who loved us so much that He came here so we could some day live with Him. I was the happiest any father can be in those moments, and yet I knew my Father was even happier. What an evening! The attention of heaven was resting on a small creek at an out of the way camp in Texas because there my daughter, Sara, had become a Christian.