Silas Shotwell's Blog

In the circles I move in, baptism is very important.

In this blog I won't get into the theology and resultant controversies involving baptism.
I just want to share some experiences. Some of these are mine, and some happened to friends of mine. But they are all true, and in my personal experience. I do not mean to turn a sacred act into a mockery. But these things all happened unintentionally with no malice intended. So just take them for whatever they are worth. Perhaps they'll bring a laugh or two.

I want you to imagine the combination of an old man being baptized, who was hard-of-hearing, and the water in the baptistry was ice cold. It was in mid-morning, and the Ladies Bible Class was meeting in another part of the church. When they were told that a man was being baptized, they decided to watch. They all sat near the front, quietly and reverently. The minister and the man he was baptizing did not know they were there. The first thing they heard was the hard-of-hearing man shout, "You mean I have to take off all my clothes?" In a few minutes the pair came into the frigid water. The hard-of-hearing man let out an ear-piercing yell, "WOOOOOOOOO." The minister quickly said the words, "I now baptize thee, etc. etc." and put the man under the water. When he came up he said even more loudly: "WOOOOOEEEEE. I WOULDN'T DO THAT AGAIN FOR A MILLION DOLLARS!"

In a city far away from the first place, a Jewish woman had decided to become a Christian. She had read in the Bible about the value of baptism and she was eager to obey her Lord. But she had never witnessed a baptism. She had no idea what baptism even was. So her teacher told her that it was an immersion in water, and that it was a re-enactment of the burial of Christ. The woman curiously asked, "How long does it take?" She wanted to know how long she would be under the water. But her teacher thought she wanted to know how long the whole procedure would take, including changing clothes, etc. So the teacher answered "Only a few minutes." The woman's eyes teared up. She didn't think she could hold her breath for a few minutes. But she wanted to be a Christian, and if it took drowning to accomplish that, she was ready. So with the faith of Abraham, she said she was ready to be baptized immediately. As chance would have it, the Ladies Bible Class was meeting at that place too. The woman was asked if she cared if the other ladies watched. Before she had a chance to answer, the teacher told her that the ladies would sing a song while she was being baptized. Her tears came back again. She said, in her childhood faith, "I hope it's a short one."
She did survive and went on her way rejoicing.

A man decided to change churches. He had grown up in the Church of the Brethren. Because of his wife's insistance, he decided to go to the Christian Church and was told that he would need to be rebaptized. Since he was baptized as a boy, and did it primarily because his friends were doing it, he didn't mind being rebaptized. Both churches baptized by immersion, so he assumed it would be the same procedure as when he was baptized the first time. He and the Christian Church minister went down into the water of the river. In the Christian Church, they let you backwards into the water and immerse you. No one had told the man that, and no one had told the Christian Church minister that in the Church of the Brethren they lean you face-forward and immerse you face-forward. So after the minister said, "I now baptize thee . . ." he reached to pull the man backward as the man fell face-forward into the water with a big splash. The man was gasping and floundering. The Christian Church minister simply pushed him all the way under and assumed that God's will had been done.

Some churches baptize by sprinkling. A preacher for such a church called a minister of the Church of Christ and said, "There is a young man here who wants to be baptized into my church, and he insists on being immersed. We don't have a baptistry in our building, so would it be possible to come over and borrow your baptistry?" The Church of Christ minister said that would be fine and they agreed on a time. When the minister and the young man came, the Church of Christ minister showed them the dressing rooms, the clothes to change into, and the waders. Then he left and went back to his office. (I was actually with him.) As we sat in the office and talked, the local minister said, "I wonder if the Presbyterian has ever immersed anyone?" Thinking he might need some assistance we went into the church auditorium to see. We were horrified by what we saw. The two men were entering the baptistry. The minister had put the waders on the young man, rather than on himself, and had cinched them up tight with a belt under the young man's arms. Just as we entered, the young man stepped into the water. Immediately the waders inflated, and the young man shot up in the air like he had been shot out of a cannon. He actually hit the wall on the far side and fell backwards into the water, and shot up again, but not so high. We were glad he wasn't injured. We were also glad that God didn't punish my friend and I for laughing.

A church built a large beautiful baptistry in the front of the church auditorium that had glass all along the front. It was not only wide across, but wide toward the back. The minister's son asked if he could be the first person baptized in it. He was 8 or 9 years old. The minister said, "Son, this is a very important step. Can you tell me why you want to be baptized?" The son replied, (And I was there.) "Dad, I think it would be so neat if you came in on one side of the water and then I came in on the other side. I would go under the water, and swim under-water to the back of the baptistry. I would crawl out on the other side where people couldn't see me, and everyone would wonder what had happened to me. Please, Dad! That would be so neat!"
The preacher told his son he thought he should perhaps wait awhile, since this really didn't have much Biblical basis.

The church was going to have a baby shower on Sunday afternoon. The people putting on the shower had ordered a floral bouquet to put as a centerpiece on the table. The florist asked if it would be all right to deliver it early. They actually came on Saturday, and I heard the SPLASH. Afraid some child had accidentally fallen into the baptistry I ran down and looked over the side. The embarrassed florist had come through the wrong hallway and in a darkened building had opened the wrong door and ended up in the water. The flowers were a little wet, but actually were rearranged and used at the shower. The florist survived also.

Enough foolishness for now. Next time I'll write a more serious blog in memory of one of my mentors, Dr. D. James Kennedy who died last Wednesday in Florida. I need to give some thought to adequate words to say about him. He had an influence on my life like few others.

In the Shotwell household, when I was growing up, Labor Day was considered a sacred holiday. My father was a blue-collar, depression era workman, who thanked God that he had a job, and did his best to do it well. He was a carpenter by trade, had done his share of farming, but became a machinist during World War II. For the next thirty years he built airplanes, from the B-24 to the F-16. He was also a union man, a committeeman in the International Association of Machinists, the I.A.M. He challenged workmen to do their best, and he challenged management to pay fair wages and provide safe working conditions. When things didn't go well, he filed grievances. He didn't like to do that, but it was often necessary. He was a little man, but everyone knew him, some feared him, and all respected him. He thought it was his Christian duty to be a champion of diligence, and also fairness. This coming Friday, September 7, was his birthday. But Labor Day was really "his" day. He was the classic "working man."

Allen Shotwell, Machinist

My Dad's first commitment was to his Lord. I've never met a man who was a more dedicated Christian. His word was his bond, his life was pure, and he brought more people to Christ than many preachers that I know. He was firm, but loving. Committed, but not judgmental. Edna Mae said he was the kindest man she ever knew. He proved, once and for all, that other people are "called" besides clergy. He was a "tube bender," but he did it to the glory of God. Though his check came from Consolidated Vultee Aircraft, that eventually became General Dynamics, he was in "full-time Christian service." I've been a full-time preacher for fifty-two years this month, but my work has been no more "spiritual" than his.
He taught me at an early age that whatever job we have can be done to the glory of God.
We assume that Jesus was a carpenter, since Joseph was. But none of the gospel writers tell us that. They do tell us, however, what His work was. His work was seeking the lost, giving of Himself, proclaiming the truth, and relieving human suffering. My Dad did all that also.
Thank you Daddy, for living your faith in my presence. Thank you for taking on good causes, even when you didn't have to. Thank you for challenging the establishment when it was corrupt, and always showing compassion to the "little man." Your labor was not in vain, in the Lord.
Happy Labor Day!