Let’s be honest… when you hear the word “baptism,” you probably think of white robes or tearful testimonies. You probably don’t think of baptism as protest. But the truth is; baptisms were never meant to be about performance or perfect.

In this sermon, Pastor Nicole flips the script and dives deep (pun intended) into the ancient Jewish practice of mikveh and the patriarchal roots that shaped it. Then she pulls the thread all they way back to Jesus in the Jordan. In a radical moment that changed everything!

The next stop in our Heroes series is baptism as protest, and maybe make you see this ritual in a whole new way.

Where the Sermon Started…

This sermon preparation took a turn, and kind of went of the rails… BUT in the best way possible.

It began with the unnamed woman at the well. Living water, check. Jesus, check. Story of redemption, check.

But the Holy Spirit took us in a different direction. One that exposed the deep injustice built into purity culture. One that called out the way ancient laws were used to Shane, isolate, and control women. And we answer the questions:

How did we go from mikveh to baptism and what does it really

mean to come up out of that water?

From Purity to Protest

In ancient Judaism, mikveh was mean to be sacred. Cleansing. Healing.

But patriarchal systems turned it into a tool of oppression and exclusion — especial for women.

We talked about how a woman, after giving birth to a daughter, had to stay in isolation twice as long as if she gave birth to a son. Women had a long list of things that made them impure and would require mikveh. And with this came separation, isolation, and shame.

That’s not holiness, it’s control. And Jesus rejected it. That is why His baptism matters.

Jesus Didn’t Need to Repent…

We all know this. We know that Jesus didn’t stand in the river because he was sinful. He stood there because we were — but not in the way you might thinking.

He stood for the ones shamed by religion
…for the misfits who’d been left out.
….against the systems that told them they didn’t belong.

His baptism was a public protest against the misuse of God’s law. It was a bold step towards a gospel that was centered on love, justice, and mercy.

We Get Baptized Too

This was the weekend that we didn’t just talk about it, we did it. For the first time at Refuge (and in her time in ministry), she baptized folks…. and she got baptized herself. Not as a checkmark on her salvation list and not for a show. But to say:

This is where God is. And this is where I choose to be.

If you’ve ever felt unworthy, excluded, or exhausted by a religion that demands more than it gives; this message is for you. If you’ve ever been told you’re too much, not enough, or too far gone, listen to this message about a God who protests all of that in love.