Wade in the Water
By Caroline Dean
September 18, 2011
Mark 1: 9-11
[ Audio
(mp3, 4.3Mb) ]
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Christ Church in Summit is
affiliated with both the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the American Baptist
Churches of America (ABC), and inherits rich traditions from each. In its ABC tradition,
this Sunday Christ
Church held a full-immersion baptism for several young adult members of the
church.
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n those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. And just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.'” [Mark 1:9-11]
LET US PRAY: Loving God, tear your heavens apart in order
for each and every one of us to hear that we are your beloved children, we are
cherished by you. In this beautiful
mysterious sacrament of baptism draw us to you this day – Amen.
INTRODUCTION: Today I am tasked with the question,
“What is baptism?”
This week I explored many potential resources to find an answer –
church history, beautiful images of water in scripture, movie illustrations,
book quotes, and even current events.
(I failed to find a way to imagine “hurricane flooding” as a
positive image of baptism!)
But the most beautiful portrait of baptism for me as
I reflected this week, comes from
the actual faith journeys of today's eight baptismal candidates.
The faith journeys of these eight people are inspiring,
complicated, and real. And I have only seen glimpses of them. And yet the
glimpses of faith and the community built upon sharing in our “baptism classes”
has inspired me to use these stories as our meditation for baptism today.
FAMILY COMMUNITY:
And so let us begin with the question that we opened our classes with, “Why
do you want to get baptized and how did you “land” at Christ Church?
Dennis Irvin answered this question by
sharing a story of one moment that influenced his decision to get baptized
today. He shared that on normal car ride
a question floated up from the back seat, “Dad, what do we believe?” And I
noticed in each session that we felt compelled to talk about our families, our
families of origin and our current families. The spiritual journeys of our unique families have brought us here today
– whether it was that we were “preacher's kids” or our parents were not
church-goers – our family is our story – and some things that our family gives
us we decide to reject, and some things they give us spiritual practices that we
carry with us forever – but this journey on the way to baptism reminded us of
our roots. When we think about where we
are going spiritually – we cannot help but to look at where we have been. As you ponder this week I challenge you to
think about the spiritual gifts and the baggage that your family has given you
on your spiritual journey. (PAUSE)
CHURCH COMMUNITY:
Another huge theme that
came up when we met together was the great influence of this Christ Church
community on each person's decision to get baptized. And I was especially struck by Haley's sense of being “sold out” to
this community. You heard it on the video,
she feel in love with our Church. Haley
had the chance to go on the Nicaragua trip this summer. And one of the most moving things that Haley
shared on the trip was about halfway through – she just shared that she “was
in.” She would be back to Nicaragua, she was signed up to work on our fundraising and
projects at home. She “was in” And for me, Haley's
testimony to us today about baptism, is that we are reminded that we “are in”
this community together. We have felt
inspired and nurtured here, and we are called to reciprocate that love and service. And in the act of baptism today, our
candidates commit to be a part of a life-changing community. And so I ask what
inspires you about this church community?
ACTION:
Kristen share on the video that she has watched babies get
baptized and confirmands getting dunked and now it is her opportunity to do it
too, she is no longer watching on the sidelines. Kristen gets that church is about being
present in the community and taking our faith to the next level of ACTION –
service, role modeling, loving, sacrificing…She reminds me that Baptism is a
sign that says that “Christianity is not a spectator sport” – it is a something
that draws us in – that requires something of us – it is a faith that we
live. How does your faith draw you into
action?
INDIVIDUAL
RESPONSE: Now just as a
connection to our family and community is important so also is our individual
response in faith. Caroline, a junior at
Kent Place, reminded me that baptism is also about our willingness to stand up
alone, to go for something. You see
Caroline and her family new to our church. And they have been visiting for a while, but when I met with Caroline
for coffee to chat about youth group, baptism came up, and Caroline wanted to
do it, right then and there, with not peer or family connection. She reminded me that sometimes in life it's
you and God and that this decision to be baptized is completely hers, it is
deeply personal. What would you stand up
for alone? Without friends, or family,
or an institution to back you up?
INTEGRITY:
Just as our community can encourage us to step out in faith, so also can we
influence our community. Sara MacDonald
shared in one of our recent meeting, “if she is going to encourage her children
to do this – then she needs to do it too.” And Sara reminds me that baptism is about “having our outsides match our inside.” Sara wants her children to know that her convictions and her faith are
reflected in how she lives her life. This model of integrity reminds me of Jesus. Jesus' model “being baptized” rather than – baptizing
everyone else…For Jesus this was a move of integrity – like Sara, he wasn't
going to call a bunch of other people to do it without doing it himself. Jesus is “in it” with us. In the person of Jesus, God is with us, God
acts out physically God's love for us, God's
inner/mysterious self is congruent with the life and way of Jesus Christ. And so let us model this congruence – this
harmony of our soul and our way. What is
nagging at you in your soul that needs to be lived out?
The next three testimonies helped me remember WHAT HAPPENS IN BAPTISM:
FAITH STEP:
The first step of baptism for me is faith, the step when we “wade into the
water” and trust that God will do something. And this is such a huge step that it requires two testimonies. First, Jeanne Ferrante. Jeanne is the first to come up to me at the women's retreat and say
“Caroline, I have never been baptized, can we get coffee and talk about
it.” She is the first to have the
courage to ask. And from her tiny step,
we are here today. Her courage and faith
seem simple, but they are the catalyst for something big.
Secondly, in Mike's statement of
baptism he writes, “I don't know where this will lead … what grace or peace I
will attain – but I am willing to trust the process.” Both Mike and Jeanne have no idea where this
will “land them” and yet they have the courage to step out on faith and “trust
the process.” At the end of the day,
baptism is a mystery. And yet, it is
something important—it is marker of a day when we stepped out in faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, “faith is is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things unseen.” Jesus goes out after his
baptism and say, “come and see” “follow me”– and the disciples say okay- and
they have no idea what they are signing up for! How are you living a life where you step out in faith and “trust the
process?”
DYING TO
OURSELVES: The second step of
baptism is dying to ourselves. It is
the step when we are dunked under the sacred waters. We heard from Romans 6 earlier that baptism
is a symbol of death, burial, and resurrection. And in this way we are linked with Christ we are clothed with Christ –
says Galatians 3. Leslie writes in her
statement of baptism about giving up a life of self-reliance for a life of
vulnerability. This is a beautiful
statement of dying to our self. Leslie's
statement reminds me of dying to our sense of control and embracing the life of
faith, and the vulnerabilities that come with it. We bury ourselves in the water, and in this
act of humility we are transformed.
RESURRECTION: Lastly, the testimony of the life of Jesus,
reminds me that the third step in the ritual of baptism is resurrection transformation, this is symbolized when we rise up out
of the water. When we step out on faith,
and bury our old selves under the water, God draws us up into new life. This is the part of the Christian story that
trusts and hopes through suffering, that seeks life in the midst of death, this
is the moment when we transcend the evils of this world living in God's love
and light. When Jesus comes out of the water, God breaks the heavens open,
sends a dove and speaks over him, “You are my beloved son, you are my beloved
daughter, in you I am well pleased.” And this is the blessing of Christ that I
bestow upon these eight courageous people and upon this entire
congregation. Hear the word of the Lord,
You are God's beloved child, in you God is well pleased. Amen.
