January 13, 2019 and January 20th - Baptism of Our Lord through the Second Sunday after Epiphany - Baptism and the Body of Christ

My wife gave me a new inspiration to work from regarding this year's blog entries which will change how they are composed and structured. Last Sunday, for example, Pastor Ray preached regarding the lectionary text about the baptism of Jesus. Last year I would have written about the ideas and insights I had gleaned from the service.

Mary suggested I try write about my emotions relating to the services this year,  This requires a new starting point to reveal any emotional thread. For example Pastor Ray preached about how scandalous the baptism of Jesus is for some. They ask why a sinless Jesus need to baptized when baptism is all about forgiveness and remission of sins? Another "scandal" revolves around who had the authority to baptize God.

Theological catnip for many considerations but no real emotional thread for me. Emotions spring from the personal so I move now instead to what baptism means for me. Personally, baptism is not about the remission of sins. Instead it is about family and interrupted recognitions of living as Christ's body in God's kingdom.

My wife and I were both from Lutheran families with strong traditions and, when we were young, both of us were heavily involved in church life until the churches we served differed from the ones we had idealized. By the time we were married we followed our spiritual path as a couple without formal ties to a particular church. When our son was born it felt like an open question or riddle as to when he would be baptized and who would make that decision.

Years later, as members of Creator, that changed. Eric was old enough to make his own commitment. Then my concern turned to the potentially awkward questions about why he had not been baptized earlier. This really would not have been questioned at Creator but I wasn't aware of that when we were first members. When our pastor suggested that he and another girl, who were of the same age, could be baptized together it felt like the stars aligned and this was the way his baptism was meant to be.

My son's baptism filled me with unexpected elation. I experienced God's presence in a personal, tangible way. The best way to put this in words was being suddenly becoming aware of living in a particularly wonderful city. An undeniable experience. It was both tangible in a way that is hard to put into words and simultaneously I knew everyone would not share that same awareness.

A new song that closed the service filled my heart, Canticle of the Turning. Every word cast more light in my heart and the answer to the question "Could the world be about to turn?" revealed a truth about the possibilities and realities inherent in every baptism.

After reflecting on my personal feelings about baptism the Gospel lesson opened an emotional connection as I thought about the baptism of Jesus. His Father's words were "This is my son with whom I am well pleased." Strong words. I understood my father affirmed this in our relationship but he never said it out loud. These are words I feel but have never said to my son as well, perhaps because the right situation never presented itself or some crazy worry the words will not be believed.

I particularly was tempted to say them when I traveled to Houston this week with my son. We visited the Rothko Chapel and saw the musical Book of Mormon.

Mark Rothko's 14 paintings, the physical building and the grounds were all revelatory. The longer I stayed the more I learned from the artist what to pay attention to regarding what I brought with me in my soul - the death of my mother, life as I'm currently experiencing it. and the mystery of baptism. What I learned went beyond the words I can use as I am here with simple metaphors. This more than met my expectations of what this Rothko work would mean on this visit.

What I did not expect was what the Book of Mormon revealed. I anticipated laughs, not the insights revealed in the strong, satirical jabs by the South Park creators. I didn't know much about the musical beforehand. Incredibly, there was a song, Baptize Me that was sung by a Mormon missionary character and someone playing an African woman. Innuendo and tension in the song built as the characters confess that this is their first time doing it. The woman uses the language of a young girl in love to describe what she is feeling and the missionary boasts about well he will baptize her.

The suggested connection resulting from all the innuendo had the potential to be more scandalous, from my perspective, than Jesus being sinless or who could baptize him. Yet, instead came another emotional connection. After the baptism the two are singing.

I'm wet with salvation
We just went all the way
Praise be to God
I'll never forget this day

This is definitely emphasizing the physical aspects of the sacrament. The theme of the musical comes to the repeated assertions in the lyrics that the Book of Mormon is important and  "This book will change your life.". This is picked up in the lyrics of this song as well  There is a freedom in using this language in this particular way. It highlights how the lives of the characters are truly changed by this baptism.

Of course there is another baptism of an individual in described in detail in the New Testament in Acts 8:26-40 telling the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Here is another story that touches me more emotionally and expands the idea of baptism being meant for everyone universally who understand the Good News.

This inclusiveness informs me, in an almost a deeper way than the baptism of Jesus, about what it means to be Christian and how transformation happens through the Good News.. 

My week of writing about my feelings around baptisms ended on Sunday the 20th with the Holy Baptism of Sadie. There was the normal Presentation, Profession of Faith, Thanksgiving at the Font, the Baptism and the Welcome sections that Creator follows. What I felt is what I always feel at baptisms at Creator. There is the openness of the community and the joy of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in the sacrament.as the Baptismal font is filled with water.

This was expressed well today in the Post Communion Canticle when we sang,

"Cup o'erflowing, life outpoured, given as a living token of your world redeemed, restored."       

Sacraments, scriptures and sacred bonds can constantly remind us to remember and recognize God's kingdom is both coming and is here.

There is a quality to life that interrupts that recognition and distances us from what gives life. That source is not containable. It changes who we are and the humanity we long to express.

A promise of baptism is a reminder that we are all named, claimed and valued by God, we are bound together as the body of Christ, and that we live in hope within God's world.