January 11, 2009
Genesis 1.1-5; Mark 1.4-1
Water.
It is probably the natural element we most take for granted. And yet it is one of our most vital. We depend upon water. It nourishes us. It cleans us. It delights us. Even now, look around: we are surrounded by water—frozen, thick and dirty water.
Each day, as I walk my “very long trek” to the church from the Rectory through the small canyon of snow, I can’t help but be reminded of the parting of the Red Sea.
In our privileged society, we take for granted the fact that our water is clean. In other parts of the world, water isn’t so clean. In other parts of the world, water sometimes is a source of illness. In some parts of the world they have little idea of the luxury of something like cold water—or even ice for that matter.
As we’ve known here in this part of the country over the years, water can also be a destructive force when it comes to the matter of floods. Water, as vital as it is, can also destroy. It can destroy property, hopes, dreams and even lives.
For us, as Christians, water truly is the source of our spiritual lives. Throughout Scripture, we find ourselves nourished by and reminded of the importance of water. The authors of our scriptures, coming as they did from such an arid place as the Middle East, no doubt appreciated water in ways we don’t. Certainly, we find the image of water returning again and again in scripture.
In our reading from Genesis this morning, we find that beautiful verse: “…a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”
Each time Scripture references water, it does so as a source of life, as a source of renewal, as a source of God’s saving grace—even in the instance of Noah’s flood. Even in the early Church, water took on such importance. One of my favorite sayings regarding Baptiss was written by the early Church Father, Tertullian. Tertullian wrote: “Happy is our sacrament of water…We, like little fish, after the example of our great ichtus, Jesus Christ, are born in water.”
In today’s Gospel reading, we find probably the most profound expression of how important water is to us as Christians. We find that first great example being set. We find our great ichtus—our great fish—Jesus—setting the example. As Jesus comes out of those waters, as the Spirit, like a dove, descends upon him, he hears the words: “You are…my Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Here the standard is set. Here the breakthrough has happened. From now on, this is essentially what was spoken to each of us at our own baptisms:
“You are my Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
For most of us, we have no doubt taken for granted our baptisms, much as we have taken for granted water itself. We have viewed baptism as no more than a christening service for babies—a kind of dedication ceremony. Baptism is, obviously, much, much more than that. Baptism is THE defining moment in our lives as Christians. Whether we remember the event or not, it was the moment when our lives changed. It was the moment we became new. It was, truly, our second birth.
You will hear me say this again and again, but I always encourage people to celebrate the anniversary of their baptism much as they would celebrate any other important anniversary in their lives. I encourage people to find out the date of their baptism. Or, I encourage them to let me help them find out. My baptism date is February 8. I actually framed a copy of my baptismal certificate and have hung it on my wall, along with those other certificates of meaning for me—my certificates of ordination to the diaconate and priesthood, my masters degrees, my oblation certificate from when I became an Oblate of St. Benedict. In fact, my baptismal certificate is probably more meaningful in many ways that any of them because without my baptism I wouldn’t have most of those other certificates. I also celebrate the anniversary of my baptism, as well as the baptism anniversaries of my loved ones. And whenever I baptize anyone, I write down the date in my own personal ordo of dates and pray for them on the anniversary.
So, why the importance of this one single event? Well, the bond that is made at baptism is one that truly can never be broken. A few years ago, a good friend of mine, a priest, lost his son. The son had fallen away from the Church. The priest friend of mine was distraught over his son’s death and was dismayed over the son’s lack of faith. As we talked about it, I reminded him of that bond that was made at his son’s baptism and that was made at all of our baptisms.
In our current Prayer Book this bond is probably best defined. After the Baptism, when the priest traces a cross on the newly baptized person’s forehead, she or he says, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever.” This is essential to our belief of what happens at baptism. In baptism, we are marked as Christ’s own.
For ever.
It is a bond that can never be broken. We can try to break it as we please. We can struggle under that bond. We can squirm and resist it. We can try to escape it. But the simple fact is this: we can’t.
For ever is for ever.
When I reminded my priest friend of this bond, not only he was consoled by it, but so was I. No matter how much we may turn our backs on Christ, Christ never turns his back on us. No matter how much we try to turn away from Christ, to deny Christ, to pick Christ apart and make Christ something other than who he is, Christ never turns his back on us. Christ never denies us.
What Baptism shows us, more than anything else, is that we always belong to Christ. It is shows us that Christ will never deny us or turn away from us. It shows us that, no matter what we might do, we will always be Christ’s.
Always.
For ever.
In this way, Baptism is truly the great equalizer. In those waters, we are all bathed—no matter who we are and what we are. We all emerge from those waters on the same ground—as equals. And, as equals, we are not expected to just sit around, hugging ourselves and basking in the glow of the confidence that we are Christ’s own possession. As equals, made equal in the waters of baptism, we are then compelled to go out into the world and treat each others as equals. We are called to go out into the world and make a difference in it. Our baptism doesn’t set us apart as special people. It forces us out into the world to be a part of the world and, by doing so, to transform the world.
So, in those waters of baptism, something incredible happened for us. We went into those waters one person, and emerged from those waters as something else completely. It was an incredible moment in our lives, just as it was in the life of Jesus, who led the way and showed us that Baptism was an incredible outpouring of God’s love and light into our lives.
So, with this knowledge of how important it is, take the time to meditate and think about your own baptism and the implications it has in your life. Find out the date of your baptism and celebrate it. When you enter this church, and when you leave it, pay attention to the baptismal font in the narthex and the blessed water in it. Touch that water, bless yourselves with it, and when you do, remember you do so as a reminder of that wonderful event in your life which marked you forever as Christ’s very own. And as you do, listen for those words—those beautiful, lulling words—
“You are my Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Genesis 1.1-5; Mark 1.4-1
Water.
It is probably the natural element we most take for granted. And yet it is one of our most vital. We depend upon water. It nourishes us. It cleans us. It delights us. Even now, look around: we are surrounded by water—frozen, thick and dirty water.
Each day, as I walk my “very long trek” to the church from the Rectory through the small canyon of snow, I can’t help but be reminded of the parting of the Red Sea.
In our privileged society, we take for granted the fact that our water is clean. In other parts of the world, water isn’t so clean. In other parts of the world, water sometimes is a source of illness. In some parts of the world they have little idea of the luxury of something like cold water—or even ice for that matter.
As we’ve known here in this part of the country over the years, water can also be a destructive force when it comes to the matter of floods. Water, as vital as it is, can also destroy. It can destroy property, hopes, dreams and even lives.
For us, as Christians, water truly is the source of our spiritual lives. Throughout Scripture, we find ourselves nourished by and reminded of the importance of water. The authors of our scriptures, coming as they did from such an arid place as the Middle East, no doubt appreciated water in ways we don’t. Certainly, we find the image of water returning again and again in scripture.
In our reading from Genesis this morning, we find that beautiful verse: “…a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”
Each time Scripture references water, it does so as a source of life, as a source of renewal, as a source of God’s saving grace—even in the instance of Noah’s flood. Even in the early Church, water took on such importance. One of my favorite sayings regarding Baptiss was written by the early Church Father, Tertullian. Tertullian wrote: “Happy is our sacrament of water…We, like little fish, after the example of our great ichtus, Jesus Christ, are born in water.”
In today’s Gospel reading, we find probably the most profound expression of how important water is to us as Christians. We find that first great example being set. We find our great ichtus—our great fish—Jesus—setting the example. As Jesus comes out of those waters, as the Spirit, like a dove, descends upon him, he hears the words: “You are…my Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Here the standard is set. Here the breakthrough has happened. From now on, this is essentially what was spoken to each of us at our own baptisms:
“You are my Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
For most of us, we have no doubt taken for granted our baptisms, much as we have taken for granted water itself. We have viewed baptism as no more than a christening service for babies—a kind of dedication ceremony. Baptism is, obviously, much, much more than that. Baptism is THE defining moment in our lives as Christians. Whether we remember the event or not, it was the moment when our lives changed. It was the moment we became new. It was, truly, our second birth.
You will hear me say this again and again, but I always encourage people to celebrate the anniversary of their baptism much as they would celebrate any other important anniversary in their lives. I encourage people to find out the date of their baptism. Or, I encourage them to let me help them find out. My baptism date is February 8. I actually framed a copy of my baptismal certificate and have hung it on my wall, along with those other certificates of meaning for me—my certificates of ordination to the diaconate and priesthood, my masters degrees, my oblation certificate from when I became an Oblate of St. Benedict. In fact, my baptismal certificate is probably more meaningful in many ways that any of them because without my baptism I wouldn’t have most of those other certificates. I also celebrate the anniversary of my baptism, as well as the baptism anniversaries of my loved ones. And whenever I baptize anyone, I write down the date in my own personal ordo of dates and pray for them on the anniversary.
So, why the importance of this one single event? Well, the bond that is made at baptism is one that truly can never be broken. A few years ago, a good friend of mine, a priest, lost his son. The son had fallen away from the Church. The priest friend of mine was distraught over his son’s death and was dismayed over the son’s lack of faith. As we talked about it, I reminded him of that bond that was made at his son’s baptism and that was made at all of our baptisms.
In our current Prayer Book this bond is probably best defined. After the Baptism, when the priest traces a cross on the newly baptized person’s forehead, she or he says, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever.” This is essential to our belief of what happens at baptism. In baptism, we are marked as Christ’s own.
For ever.
It is a bond that can never be broken. We can try to break it as we please. We can struggle under that bond. We can squirm and resist it. We can try to escape it. But the simple fact is this: we can’t.
For ever is for ever.
When I reminded my priest friend of this bond, not only he was consoled by it, but so was I. No matter how much we may turn our backs on Christ, Christ never turns his back on us. No matter how much we try to turn away from Christ, to deny Christ, to pick Christ apart and make Christ something other than who he is, Christ never turns his back on us. Christ never denies us.
What Baptism shows us, more than anything else, is that we always belong to Christ. It is shows us that Christ will never deny us or turn away from us. It shows us that, no matter what we might do, we will always be Christ’s.
Always.
For ever.
In this way, Baptism is truly the great equalizer. In those waters, we are all bathed—no matter who we are and what we are. We all emerge from those waters on the same ground—as equals. And, as equals, we are not expected to just sit around, hugging ourselves and basking in the glow of the confidence that we are Christ’s own possession. As equals, made equal in the waters of baptism, we are then compelled to go out into the world and treat each others as equals. We are called to go out into the world and make a difference in it. Our baptism doesn’t set us apart as special people. It forces us out into the world to be a part of the world and, by doing so, to transform the world.
So, in those waters of baptism, something incredible happened for us. We went into those waters one person, and emerged from those waters as something else completely. It was an incredible moment in our lives, just as it was in the life of Jesus, who led the way and showed us that Baptism was an incredible outpouring of God’s love and light into our lives.
So, with this knowledge of how important it is, take the time to meditate and think about your own baptism and the implications it has in your life. Find out the date of your baptism and celebrate it. When you enter this church, and when you leave it, pay attention to the baptismal font in the narthex and the blessed water in it. Touch that water, bless yourselves with it, and when you do, remember you do so as a reminder of that wonderful event in your life which marked you forever as Christ’s very own. And as you do, listen for those words—those beautiful, lulling words—
“You are my Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
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