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The Baptism of our Lord Mark 1:4-11 |
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| ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO I WENT TO MAKE MY FIRST VISIT AS A HOSPICE CHAPLAIN TO AN ELDERLY MAN WHO WAS APPROACHING THE END OF HIS LIFE DUE TO CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE. I CALLED TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT, AND ON THE DAY OF THE VISIT, HIS WIFE LET ME IN TO THE HOUSE AND LED ME TO THE PATIENT. HE WAS SITTING IN HIS RECLINER, ALERT AND WAITING FOR ME. I SAID, “GOOD MORNING, I AM CHAPLAIN GEORGE FROM HOSPICE, AND, IF IT IS AGREEABLE TO YOU, I WILL BE YOUR CHAPLAIN.” TO THIS GREETING, HE RESPONDED BY LEANING FORWARD IN HIS CHAIR, POINTING HIS FINGER AT ME AND DEMANDING, “DO YOU BELIEVE THAT A PERSON CAN BE SAVED WITHOUT BEING BAPTIZED BY IMMERSION?” TAKEN A BIT ABACK BY THIS GREETING, I THOUGHT, “WHOA, THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN.” I CALMLY REPLIED, “WELL, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO DISCUSS THE NATURE AND MEANING OF BAPTISM WITH YOU, IF THAT’S WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.” TO THIS CALM AFFIRMATION OF HIS QUESTION, HE RESPONDED BY CUPPING HIS HAND BEHIND HIS EAR AND SHOUTING, “WHAT?” HE WAS ALMOST STONE DEAF, SO I GOT TO SPEND MANY AN HOUR DISCUSSING BAPTISM BY YELLING UNTIL I WAS HOARSE.
HE WAS, OF COURSE, A MEMBER OF ONE OF THE BRANCHES OF THE CHURCH THAT MAINTAINS BAPTISM AS VALID ONLY IF A PERSONAL DECISION IS MADE, AND THEN ONLY IF A PERSON IS TOTALLY SUBMERSED IN THE WATER. HE WAS, AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT, LOOKING FOR CONFIRMATION OF HIS SALVATION IN THE LIGHT OF HIS IMPENDING DEATH, AND MY TASK WAS TO COMFORT AND REASSURE HIM, RATHER THAN CHALLENGE HIS BELIEF SYSTEM. AS TEMPTING AS IT WAS TO ME TO ASK HIM, “WHAT ABOUT THE THIEF ON THE CROSS, WHO SURELY WAS NOT BAPTIZED, TO WHOM JESUS PROMISED HE WOULD BE WITH HIM IN PARADISE,” I REFRAINED, AND ASSURED HIM, AT THE EXPENSE OF MY VOICE AND BLOOD PRESSURE, THAT SINCE HE BELIEVED AND WAS BAPTISED, HE WOULD BE SAVED. THIS PROMISE OF JESUS TO THE THIEF IS INSCRIBED AT THE FOOT OF THE ALTAR IN THIS HOUSE OF WORSHIP, SO ONE MIGHT WONDER AS TO WHAT IS BAPTISM AND WHY DO WE DO IT, AND WHY DID JESUS GET BAPTIZED. MOST OF US HERE WERE BAPTIZED AS CHILDREN, AND HAVE NO MEMORY OF THE EVENT. I AM ONE OF THOSE WHO REMEMBER MY BAPTISM. IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH, INFANTS AND TODDLERS ARE BAPTIZED BY IMMERSION IN THE FONT. I WAS A BIT OLDER THAN USUAL, BECAUSE OF AN INTERNAL FAMILY CONFLICT BETWEEN AN ORTHODOX FATHER AND CATHOLIC MOTHER, SO I WAS ABOUT TWO YEARS OLD. SECOND IN LINE FOR BAPTISM, I WAS STRIPPED NAKED AS I WATCHED THE BLACK – ROBED PRIEST WITH THE BIG BLACK HAT AND LONG GREY BEARD TRY TO DROWN THE BABY AHEAD OF ME. WHEN MY TURN CAME, I TOOK OFF RUNNING “BUCK – NAKED” DOWN THE AISLES OF THE CHURCH. MY MEMORY OF MY BAPTISM INCLUDES LOTS OF SCREAMING, AND IMAGES OF PRIESTS FLAPPING THEIR ROBES LIKE GIANT CROWS DRAGGING ME TO THE WATER. OBVIOUSLY, MY PERSONAL DECISION HAD NOTING TO DO WITH MY BEING BAPTIZED, AND JUST LOOK WHERE THAT GOT ME. BAPTISM IS SOMETHING THAT GOD DOES. HOWEVER IT IS THAT WE GET TO THE WATERS OF BAPTISM, WHETHER WE ARE BROUGHT AS INFANTS BY OUR PARENTS, COME TO THE WATERS AS AN INFORMED ADULTS, OR COME KICKING AND SCREAMING, IT IS BECAUSE THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD HAS BROUGHT US, SO THAT GOD, IN HIS UNIMAGINEABLE MERCY, MIGHT CLEANSE US OF OUR SIN AND MARK US AS HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS FOREVER. CAN ONE BE SAVED WITHOUT BEING BAPTISED? THE ANSWER IS ABSOLUTELY YES, BUT BAPTISM IS THE ACTION OF GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT THAT CHANGES US FOREVER, FREES US FROM THE POWER OF SIN, MAKES US GOD’S OWN, AND SEALS US TO HIM FOR ETERNITY. WE NEED NEVER DOUBT OUR SALVATION, FOR WE WHO HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED ARE CLAIMED AND MARKED AS GOD’S SONS AND DAUGHTERS. HOW MUCH WATER DOES GOD NEED TO DO THIS? WHETHER WE ARE BAPTIZED IN THE VAST WATERS OF THE OCEAN, A LAKE OR A RIVER, AT THE FONT IN A CHURCH, OR WITH THE WATER HELD IN A PAPER CUP, IT IS NOT THE WATER, OR THE AMOUNT THAT IS IMPORTANT, BUT THE WATER AS THE PHYSICAL SIGN OF THE ACTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD POURING OUT HIS GRACE UPON US. A GREAT GERMAN THEOLOGIAN, WHO HAD A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON THE REFORMATION OF THE CHURCH WHEN IT HAD LOST ITS WAY, WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS THIS MORNING, HAD THE MOST INSIGHTFUL UNDERSTANDING OF BAPTISM. WHEN THE CHURCH THAT HE LOVED HAD BRANDED HIM A HERITIC AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR HAD SENTENCED HIM TO DEATH, WHEN HE HAD TO LIVE IN HIDING UNDER A FALSE IDENTITY AND THINGS WERE AT THE ABSOLUTE WORST THEY COULD BE, HE WOULD REMIND HIMSELF OF ONE GREAT TRUTH: “I AM BAPTIZED!” NOT “I WAS BAPTIZED,” OR, “I HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED,” BUT ALWAYS IN THE PRESENT TENSE: “I AM BAPTIZED.” GOD HAD CLAIMED HIM AND MARKED HIM AS HIS OWN, AND NOTHING THAT THIS WORLD, THE DEVIL OR ALL HIS MINIONS COULD DO WOULD EVER CHANGE THAT SIMPLE, IMMUTABLE FACT. HE WAS A CHILD OF GOD. JESUS WAS BAPTISED IN THE WATERS OF THE RIVER JORDAN BY JOHN, AND JUST AS HE WAS COMING OUT OF THE WATER, HE SAW THE HEAVENS TORN APART AND THE SPIRIT DECENDING LIKE A DOVE ON HIM. OUT OF HEAVEN CAME A VOICE THAT SAID, “YOU ARE MY SON, THE BELOVED; WITH YOU I AM WELL PLEASED.” THE BAPTIZM OF JESUS WAS FOR US, TO TIE US IN OUR BAPTIZM TO HIS BAPTIZM IN A TIE WHICH IS BOUND ON EARTH AND BOUND IN HEAVEN. EVERY TIME A CHILD IS BROUGHT TO THE WATERS OF BAPTISM IN THE FONT OF A CHURCH, EVERY TIME A YOUNG PERSON OR ADULT STEPS FORWARD TO BE BAPTIZED, REGARDLESS OF THE AMOUNT OF WATER IN WHICH THEY ARE IMMERSED, OR HAVE POURED OR SPRINKLED ON THEM, THE HEAVENS ARE TORN APART AGAIN. IN EVERY BAPTIZM, HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE TIED TOGETHER IN THE LIFE OF THE ONE BEING BAPTIZED, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDS TO CLAIM AND MARK THE BAPTIZED AS GOD’S OWN BELOVED SON OR DAUGHTER; WITH WHOM HE IS WELL PLEASED, AND NOTHING IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH CAN CHANGE THAT IMMUTABLE FACT. THAT IRRASIBLE OLD MAN FINALLY PASSED ON, DYING AT DINNER IN HIS FAVORITE RESTAURANT AFTER FINISHING A STEAK. HE DIED HAPPY AND SECURE IN MIND ABOUT HIS SALVATION, STILL BELIEVING THAT ONE HAD TO BE BAPTIZED BY IMMERSION TO BE SAVED. SO, REGARDLESS OF HOW WRONG HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABOUT THE VOLUME OF WATER NEEDED, OR EVEN WHETHER ONE NEEDED TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION REGARDING BEING BAPTIZED, HE WAS STILL TIED IN UNBREAKABLE BONDS TO THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD. IN SPITE OF HIS EMPHASIS ON WHAT WE MUST DO, AND HOW WE MUST DO IT, I BELIEVE THAT GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT STILL CLAIMED HIM AND MARKED HIM AS GOD’S OWN BELOVED CHILD. SURELY BY NOW HE KNOWS THAT IT IS NEVER ABOUT WHAT WE KNOW, OR HOW WE DO IT, OR HOW MUCH WATER IS USED, BUT IT IS ALWAYS AND EVER ABOUT THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT COMING TO US AND CLAIMING US AS GOD’S OWN CHILDREN. AS THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED ACROSS THE FACE OF THE WATERS OF CHAOS, BRINGING LIGHT AND CREATION INTO BEING WITH A WORD, SO TOO DOES THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVE ACROSS THE WATERS OF BAPTIZM, THE HEAVENS ARE TORN APART AND, BY THE SPIRIT AND HIS WORD, WE ARE BROUGHT INTO THE LIGHT AND MADE A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST. “I AM BAPTIZED!” IT IS ALWAYS NOW, ALWAYS IN THE PRESENT, IT IS ALWAYS AND FOREVER. |
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