Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
January 13, 2013
Water. cool and refreshing; a necessary element of
life. Somewhere around 60-70% of our
total body weight is water. A typical
person can only live 3-5 days without water, we use between 2 and 3 liters a
day. We also depend on water for
washing – our bodies, our clothing, our dishes, our cars. How good it feels when we have been doing
something that made our bodies sticky and grimy, to wash it all of and emerge
clean and refreshed.
In Isaiah 44 God’s
Spirit is said to be poured out like water.
In Ezekiel sprinkling water cleanses sin and leaves a clean heart. In
Noah’s time the waters of the flood purified the sinful world. Crossing the waters of the red sea meant
leaving behind an old life of slavery and entering into the promised land of
life the way God always intended it to be.
Our baptism liturgy reminds us that Jesus, like all of us, was nurtured
in the waters of a womb. Water is an
important symbol of life, deep and rich with meaning.
Water also is the
primary symbol of baptism.
On July 16, 2010 Nightline
featured a story about Edwin Kagin, a leading atheist who was present at the
annual American Atheist Convention meeting in Cincinnati. Wielding a blow-dryer, Kagin invited fellow
non-believers who had once been baptized to come forward as he symbolically
dried up the waters that were sprinkled on their foreheads as young children. A young woman named Cambridge Boxterman is
reported to have said, "According to my mother I screamed like a banshee,
and those are her words, so you can see that even as a young child I didn't
want to be baptized. It's not fair. I was born atheist and they were forcing me
to become Catholic."
But as Kagin used
this modern piece of equipment in an attempt to undo Cambridge’s baptism, they
are showing some confusion about what the waters of baptism mean.
What they have
right is that in baptism we mark our identities. Identity has become
increasingly important in our world when so many of us change jobs or even
careers often, many people end up living in multiple homes, towns and even
states or countries. Add all of this change to the instability of families and
lots of folks are left wondering who we are, exactly.
The celebration of
Epiphany marks the revelation of Jesus’ identity. In the early church Epiphany was the winter holiday long before
Christmas was developed. And originally
Epiphany was not just about the magi visiting baby Jesus, but also included Jesus’
baptism and his first miracle of turning water into wine. This year we will be looking at each of
these events on separate Sundays.
In Luke’s telling
of Jesus’ baptism we see that the people who were listening to John preach were
wondering about his identity. Maybe he
was the Messiah. John clarified for
them that the Messiah was still coming.
And a few verses later we are introduced to Jesus, who is in prayer
after his own baptism, when the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit came
down like a dove and God’s voice said “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I
am well pleased.” Jesus was identified
as a result of his baptism. And as we
read further in Luke Jesus’ identity as the Messiah become crystal clear.
But this message
of God is not reserved only for Christ.
As the primary right of initiation into the church each baptized person
is given the identity of a Christian.
One who belongs to Christ. For
us in the church the answer to who we are is all tied up into whose we
are. We belong to Christ, and to his
church. Baptism is a symbol of this.
Now when a person
is old enough to make choices for themselves, and she has heard God tell her
“You are my beloved daughter,” with her own “yes” baptism is like a marriage,
where both parties freely enter into a covenant of life together. And like a marriage we would expect a newly
baptized adult to have first spent time with the members of the church in
worship, fellowship, prayer and service, just as a couple spends time together
for a while, getting to know one another well.
The change in identity happens gradually, and usually has taken place by
the time a date for the formal union is set.
In a marriage the Wedding is a symbol of the union that has already
occurred. So to, in an adult baptism we
celebrate the work the Holy Spirit has done in uniting a person to Christ and
his church.
But what about
identity when we baptize a child who cannot choose for herself weather she
wants to belong to Christ, like Cambridge Boxterman? Is she right in thinking it is not fair to force infants to
become Christians by baptizing them?
Cambridge is thinking of the question of identity as “who she is.” And
she currently identifies herself as an atheist, not a follower of Christ, not
part of the Catholic church where she was baptized. So she allowed Edwin Kagan to blowdry her forehead to
symbolically remove an identity she didn’t choose for herself.
But if baptism is
primarily about whose we are I would argue that baptism of infants and children
is like adoption. An adopted child
doesn’t choose which family to join.
None of us choose our relatives. Yet the family we are part of and the
way we are raised has a profound effect on who we become. And the family who adopts a child claims
that child as theirs, even when the child screams like a banshee. Even if that child grows up and decides to
distance himself from the church. This
is why churches keep baptismal records forever. Baptism can’t be undone – even
with a blow-dryer. It is like a
watermark, permanently imbedded into the fabric of the paper.
But the greater
mistake Edwin Kagin and his followers are making in their thinking is
this. By choosing a blowdryer to
symbolically attempt to remove a baptism by water with hot air, they reveal
that they think that there is something in the water itself that makes a
baptism. They have not been listening
to the voice of John the Baptist that the water bath is only the work of God’s
servants. The real heart of baptism is something God does by the Holy
Spirit. When we read Luke’s version of
Jesus baptism we see that John has already been taken to prison before Jesus is
baptized with water. And Luke doesn’t
think it important to tell us who baptized him, or to describe the baptism at
all. Luke says, “when Jesus also had
been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit
descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven,
“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Luke is showing us that the Holy Spirit of
God is the primary actor in baptism.
Because baptism is wholly God’s work, one preacher* claims, “we may have
confidence that no matter how often we fall short or fail, nothing that we do,
or fail to do, can remove the identity that God conveys as a gift. Our
relationship with God, that is, is the one relationship in life we can’t
screw up precisely because we did not establish it. We can neglect this
relationship, we can deny it, run away from it, ignore it, but we cannot
destroy it, for God loves us too deeply and completely to ever let us go.”
It is true that
baptism is primarily God’s work in us no matter what age we are baptized, but
it is even more evident when we baptize infants and children. God claims them,
sends the Spirit into their lives to help them live as fully as possible as the
image of God. And God surrounds
baptized children and adults with a congregation who is charged to do
everything in our power to help them grow in trust of God’s love, and become
faithful in serving others and following Christ on the path of life.
Having the baby
“done” and never returning to church is like a couple going through a wedding
only to each return home to live with their parents instead of living with each
other after the celebration. Just as
the covenant of marriage entails constant living together that impacts each
person’s identity as they live and grow, so the covenant of baptism rightly
entails becoming part of the Body of Christ serving and being served by the
other members.
Today we have the
opportunity to remember our baptisms, to reaffirm them and be thankful that God
has never let us go, but has called us “beloved” even at the times when we
scream like a banshee, or turn away.
While those of us who were baptized as infants or young children don’t
remember the event, we can still remember that we have been baptized and be
thankful for all God has done in our lives since then. Some churches keep bowls of water near the
doors to the sanctuary, so that members can dip their fingers in, trace the
sign of the cross – the watermark – on themselves, and be thankful for their
baptisms. Martin Luther suggested that
we remember our baptisms every time we wash our hands, or clean our bodies with
water. I have been helping the children
of our church remember they belong to Christ by sending cards on the
anniversary of their baptism. I think
it would be nice to extend this practice to the adults of our congregation as
well, or at least list baptismal anniversaries on our prayer list. But I need your help in this matter because
our records of members’ baptisms, especially those who were baptized somewhere
else, are incomplete.
Remembering our
baptism and place in the church is extra special today because in reaffirming
his baptismal covenant and profession of faith Rob Belcher will be rejoining
this church as a professing member. Rob
did some of his growing up in this church and was confirmed here on April 11,
1974. The records show that he withdrew
his membership in 1988. As a new pastor
one of the “Saints” of this church whom I met within days of by arrival is
Rob’s dad, who died in 2003. Captain Belcher is spoken of
frequently with fondness, his fingerprints are on our church history, his
family’s contribution to many Christmas Eve services is legend. Because Rob is part of the Belcher family
this congregation never really stopped thinking of him as “ours” regardless of
what the records officially say. It has
felt good, very good, that Rob has resumed regular worship with us. And Rob has
been happy to share his gift of music with us occasionally in worship and at
the Ice Cream Social last fall. Before we reaffirm our baptismal vows Rob would
like to share a few thoughts with us.
Welcome home!
*Quote from David Lose in the Working Preacher
No comments:
Post a Comment