Taking the Plunge: Baptism (Sermon for 1/8/12

Taking the Plunge: Baptism
Text: Mark 1:4-11
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
January 8, 2012

Several years ago I was at an ecumenical clergy meeting and one of the ministers in the group announced that he had never been Baptized.

The group was, needless to say, quite surprised. Here, after all, was an ordained minister, a man who had Baptized many people, who presided at weddings and at funerals, a man who was a leader within the Christian community.

And he had never been Baptized. His parents were not church goers and he had never gone to any kind of church until he was in college. He joined a church and became involved and no one ever asked him if he had been Baptized. As time went on he decided he wanted to attend seminary and was interviewed extensively and asked 1001 questions, but was never asked if he had been Baptized. He went to seminary and was ordained three years later, again, without anyone ever discussing Baptism with him. And, in every church he ever served, lots of questions asked, but never asking him if he had been Baptized.

So here he was, years later, the pastor of a church, and he had never been Baptized. And he shared this information with a group of clergy.

The group all decided that we had to Baptize him.

Some of us wanted to sprinkle some water on him and say the words--after all, that was a part of our tradition. The Roman Catholic priest in the group wanted to pour water, as was the Roman Catholic tradition.

There were a couple of ministers from the Church of the Brethren. They wanted to immerse him, facing forward. Two Baptist ministers in the group wanted to immerse him falling backwards, as was their tradition.

We laughed a lot and remarked on how we all had different baptismal traditions--some we somehow missed something.

Our colleague left the meeting and was not Baptized. We were too busy debating on how Baptisms should be done, that we never got around to Baptizing our colleague. I look back on this, some 27 years later and think about how we had failed our colleague and friend so badly.

Sadly, that is what Baptism is often about. Several years ago I was called by a member of the clergy in another state where a person who grew up at St. Marks was now attending. The pastor of this church wanted to know the exact wording of the Baptism performed by Rev. Trnka in 1980 would have been because if Rev. Trnka had not used the precise wording, the Baptism didn’t count and the person would have to be Baptized----correctly this time.

My thought was, really? This is all Baptism means? We have to get the method and the words exactly right in order for it to count?

We debate on how to do it and when to do it, to the point that we miss exactly what Baptism actually is all about. Let’s look at what some of these things really are about.

The first is about submission to God.

Now I say this, take a breath and a pause, because we in the United Church of Christ are not noted for being great submitters. We generally answer theological questions by starting, “Well, in my opinion….” Submission does not come easily for us but when we look at this passage, we note something that is incredibly profound. Jesus submitted to John the Baptist in order to be Baptized. It is an action of God submitting to a person. Jesus did it again when he washed the disciples’ feet. God submitted to people in order to serve people.

And God invites us to submit to His will. This, of course, requires time, patience, prayer, and study. A lot of what passes for God’s will is our own wills that we give God the credit or the blame for. Not everything that we say or anyone says is God’s will is really God’s will.

I’ve used examples like this before, but it’s worth repeating.

When we lived in Ohio there was a bakery in town with wonderful jelly doughnuts. I’d often say to myself, if it’s God’s will for me to have a couple of jelly doughnuts today, there will be a parking space open in front of the bakery. In every case I wanted jelly doughnuts there was a space open. It often took three or four trips around the block for God’s will to show forth, but it always did.

And that is often how we deal with God’s will. WE want something, WE desire something, and WE do everything we can to make it happen. And then we give God the credit….or the blame. God’s will is something we all grapple with a great deal and we need to learn to submit to it when it requires us to change and grow. Sometimes God’s will is not consistent with our own desire or our own will. Submission is something we need to learn and grow into.

The second aspect of Baptism is about cleansing. It is a time of cleansing us of our sins and our short-comings.

There’s a great story about a church, a Roman Catholic Church, where the pastor, Father Jones, was celebrating his 10 Anniversary as the pastor of the church. They planned a nice dinner and one of the speakers at the dinner was one of the state’s two Senators who was a member of the church and was flying home from Washington to help honor the pastor.

There were several people scheduled to speak with the Senator being first. However, his flight was delayed so he had not yet arrived when people began to speak. After a while, the pastor spoke. He said:

“When I arrived here one of the first things I did was listen to confessions from people. The first person who came into the confessional told me that he had cheated on his wife repeatedly during their marriage; he had embezzled money from two businesses, and double-crossed his partners in another business. I was wondering what kind of place I had come to. It turns out, whoever that first person was, turned out to be an exception and that the church was filled with wonderful people.”

Everyone applauded and it was all fine. After a little while, the Senator finally got there and was invited to speak. He stood up and said:

“I have always had a special place in my heart for Father Jones. He doesn’t know it, but he and I have always had a special bond. I was the very first person to go to confession to him although I’m sure he’s long since forgotten.”

Reality is, most of us aren’t as bad as this Senator, but we all struggle with issues, short-comings, and sins and the reality of life is that we all want and all need to be forgiven of sin.

There have been parts of church history where people waited until the end of their lives for the cleansing action of Baptism. Their aspiration was to have their sins forgiven without having to make any changes in their lives. They wanted the forgiveness aspect of Baptism without the submission-----whereas both are significant.

Baptism is a reminder that this cleansing God gives to us is not a one-time thing, but something we ought to seek over and over again. We don’t need to come to the water for forgiveness, but come to God praying for forgiveness. We don’t need to confess to any person, but we need, on occasion, simply to come before God’s presence and unburden ourselves. Baptism is an ongoing reminder that God offers us cleansing and we need to avail ourselves of this. No one is perfect and God’s grace offers us forgiveness every day.

The last thing is this. Baptism gives us a gift that most people seem to miss or ignore. Baptism gives us a family; a group of people who claim us as one of their own.

I have noticed something about myself over the years I have lived. Whenever something good happened to me, I had to talk to my family and whenever something painful or difficult took place, I had to talk to my family. Families gather for celebrations such as weddings, and heartaches such as funerals. We need people who love us around us in joyful and difficult times of life.

When we are Baptized we are Baptized into a family of faith. And it’s not just the family of faith where we are Baptized; it is a family of faith that stretches to all the ends of the earth. Baptism is a reminder that we are part of something far bigger and far greater than ourselves.

We are part of a family that has lived in this house for many years. The DNA of the people of faith, who have founded this church and whose memory and spirit live with us, is something we are bound too. It is a family that stretches into every church in every nation, both far and close by. It is a bonding to a family of faith that goes back to the apostles, and to Jesus standing in the river, submitting to John the Baptist. St. Paul says it so beautifully in Galatians when he says:

27As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”

Baptism reminds us we are not alone. We have family and nothing is more beautiful than that.

Baptism is a rare and special gift to us from God. Let’s move beyond petty debates, and celebrate it is a chance to submit to a magnificent God, be cleansed from the times we fail, and delight in being part of God’s family.