When Creator comes together as community memorable things happen.
That is an observation I opened a blog post with seven years ago. On January 10, 2016, Creator celebrated the Baptism of Our Lord with Pastor Dayle's retirement celebration in and outside our service on that particular Sunday.
And last year's Year In Review contained an Anaïs Nin quote "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.”, pertaining not only to how we see the world but to how we read scripture. It fits with Creator's 2022 year as well.
Creator has followed a unique path since 2016 in pastoral leadership. Seasons have changed us around as a congregation and what was presented to Creator on the meaning of baptism in the intervening seven years of sermons has changed as well.
Pastor Steve's sermon today brought together a couple of those understandings. We were reminded that all four Gospels contain an account of the baptism of Jesus. Liturgically Jesus' baptism is remembered each year during Epiphany. And so multiple understandings and reactions to the sacrament are particularly powerful and fascinating to explore.
Pastor Steve opened by placing his driver's license on the baptismal font and preached about baptism being an important part of our identity. He continued that, as a holy people, we are set apart and in Epiphany we acknowledge that God makes known that we are children of God and who Jesus is. However, there is mystery around what we collectively call the body of Christ.
The mystery comes in our understanding of sin and grace. In our confessions we declare we are born sinful and unclean. Is that a reason for baptism? Pastor Steve quoted Martin Luther's 1519 essay where the theologian articulates his vision for the purpose of the Church and the rationale for sacraments. In the essay we see Baptism reveals different sides of the theologian: one who argues with a zeal on the “necessity” of baptism to drown what is born of sin and baptism's meaningful God-mandated practice in Christian communities and a Luther who imagines God’s saving grace too expansive to be limited to any ritual. This is a common, constant tension with most Lutheran theologians, from Martin Luther to Bonhoeffer's meditations on cheap and costly grace.
The original Greek word for sin is ἁμαρτάνω, which means to miss the mark. When we affirm we are being cleansed from sin the original meaning does not seem to make sense.
Pastor Steve asked the question whether Jesus needed to be baptized since Jesus was, according to Paul, without sin. Jesus' explanation to John the Baptist as to why John should baptize Jesus was to be righteous, meaning; according to Jesus; to act in a way to preserve a right relationship to God.
Year after year I find my understanding of the sacrament of Baptism too hard to put into simple words. I have described my son's baptism and what it meant to me. I have also shared my experience as a member of the audience in the Book of Mormon musical with him which contained the song Baptize Me. The lyrics stressed how much baptism had changed the singer's life.
This year the song that is resonating with me and shimmers with ways to think about what was revealed in the baptism we affirm today. I think about Jesus (or all of us) as the you in the you are the everything in the R.E.M. song "You Are The Everything". (click on the title to listen to the song) Here are the lyrics:
I'm very scared for this world
I'm very scared for me
Eviscerate your memory
Here's a scene
You're in the back seat laying down
The windows wrap around
To sound of the travel and the engine
All you hear is time stand still in travel
And feel such peace and absolute
The stillness still that doesn't end
But slowly drifts into sleep
The stars are the greatest thing you've ever seen
And they're there for you
For you alone you are the everything
I think about this world a lot and I cry
And I've seen the films and the eyes
But I'm in this kitchen
Everything is beautiful
And she is so beautiful
She is so young and old
I look at her and I see the beauty
Of the light of music
The voices talking somewhere in the house
Late spring and you're drifting off to sleep
With your teeth in your mouth
You are here with me
You are here with me
You have been here and you are everything
Sometimes I feel like I can't even sing (say, say, the light)
I'm very scared for this world
I'm very scared for me (say, say, the light)
Eviscerate your memory
Here's a scene
You're in the back seat laying down
The windows wrap around (say, say, the light)
To sound of the travel and the engine
All you hear is time stand still in travel
And feel such peace and absolute
The stillness still that doesn't end
But slowly drifts into sleep
The greatest thing you've ever seen
And they're there for you
For you alone you are the everything
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