REMEMBER YOUR BAPTISM AND BE THANKFUL
Several weeks ago, I told you about how our oldest son was heading back to college in Iowa and we were taking our daughter to college for the very first time in Pittsburgh. My wife and I were having a very difficult time with that. Our youngest son, Travis, however, put a somewhat different spin on things. He said to his sister, “Mariah, you’re lucky. You’re going away to college. I’m going to be stuck in the house with Mom and Dad all by myself!” In thinking about his statement, it occurred to me that he’s going to be going away to college in about two years. Two years from now my wife will likely be saying to him, “Travis, you’re lucky. You’re going away to college. I’m going to be stuck in the house with your father all by myself!”
Since my daughter’s gone away to college, I’ve been a bit unnerved by some of the stories she’s told us. She’s at Point Park University in downtown Pittsburgh, and she has a boyfriend at the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland. Apparently, she rides the bus from Pittsburgh to Oakland all the time. As parents, don’t we wish we could somehow get inside our kids’ heads to help them make decisions? You know, “Don’t go to that party!” “Stay away from that guy!” “Don’t ride the bus by yourself at night!” Don’t we wish we could get inside our kids’ heads to help them make decisions? We might be able to keep them from making a few mistakes.
God found a way in the passage we read from the gospel according to Matthew. There we see Jesus going to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. After John immersed him in the river, and Jesus was walking out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove. We know God the Father as God over and above us. We know God the Son as God with us and for us. We know God the Holy Spirit as God in us. The sacrament of baptism is meant to symbolize three important things. One, we are admitted into the church universal. Two, we are symbolically cleansed of sin. Yet perhaps most of all, baptism also symbolizes our reception of the Holy Spirit. God has found a way to dwell within us, perhaps to keep us from making so many mistakes. This was part and parcel to our early vision in this church. We talked about how we’re raising a generation of young people apart from the church. Thus, we’re raising a generation of young people absent the sacrament of baptism. Can we not thus infer that we’re raising a generation of young people who are bereft of the Holy Spirit? That, my friends, should scare the bejeebers out of all of us. For without the Holy Spirit, human beings are capable of anything.
The church thought this baptism thing was so important that they made it a sacrament. A sacrament is an outward and physical act, instituted by Christ, with an inward and spiritual meaning. The outward and physical act of baptism is the placement of water on the head. To be instituted by Christ means that Jesus told us to do it. And the inward and spiritual meaning has to do cleansing from sin, the church universal, and the reception of the Holy Spirit. The church thought it was so important that they made it a sacrament. Jesus thought it was so important that it was a part of the last thing he ever said to his disciples. He said, “Go therefore into all the world, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have told you; and lo, I am with you always to the close of the age.” Jesus told us to baptize and transform the world. It seems to me there is a sincere need.
For example, did you know that there’s a new movement afoot advocated by a group called the National Secular Society? It’s called “de-baptism.” What is de-baptism? De-baptism is where you actually take part in a rite to undo your baptism. Suppose you were baptized as an infant. Obviously, you were baptized against your will. Then as an adult you choose to reject belief in God. Since you don’t want to be counted in any statistics that might identify you as a Christian, you go through the rite of de-baptism. I’m not making this up. Then, just the other day, I was in the Robinson Mall in Pittsburgh. I saw a young man – he couldn’t have been any more than 22 – with a young woman. She looked to be about 18. They were pushing a baby stroller with a baby in it. The young man was wearing a t-shirt. I’m going to try to draw it for you. I apologize for the fact that I’m not much of an artist. But here was the t-shirt. On it, it said, “No Religion.” Then there was a big circle, and inside the circle there was a cross, and over the cross was drawn a line. I was grossly offended! I wanted to say something to that young man, but I stopped myself lest I say something I might regret. But it made me realize how a Muslim might react to an International Burn-a-Quran Day. If we feel called to evangelize the Muslims – if we feel called to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and to teach them all that Christ commanded – then maybe making them angry right off the bat is not the way to go.
Where did the church go wrong? Let me tell you a parable. Once upon a time there was a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occurred. There was a little lighthouse there that was really nothing more than a hut. When a shipwreck would occur, the lighthouse crew would jump into a little boat and go out to rescue the survivors. Many of those who were rescued were very grateful, and they joined the little lighthouse crew. Pretty soon, they outgrew their crude little hut. So they built a much bigger lighthouse and added carpeting and stained glass windows. Then they bought bigger boats and hired a crew to do the rescuing for them. It soon became more of a clubhouse than a lighthouse. Then one day, a great big ship was wrecked off the coast there. All the boats went out to rescue the survivors. But when they brought them back, many of them were dirty, they spoke a different language, and their skin was a different color. It really made a mess of their lighthouse, so some of the lighthouse crew decided not to do the rescues any more. Others objected, saying that that was their mission. Yet they were outvoted and were told that if they still wanted to rescue shipwreck survivors, they could build another lighthouse further down the coast. So that’s what they did. Yet after a while, the new lighthouse got big and fancy and didn’t want to rescue people anymore, so they stopped as well. Then another lighthouse was built and the same thing happened again. If you go to that shoreline now, you see lots of great big clubhouses. Shipwrecks still occur, but now most of the people just drown.
Has the same thing happened to the church? Have we forgotten who and what we’re supposed to be? Perhaps this would be a good time to reaffirm our baptismal vows. There is a rather lengthy litany in your bulletins this morning. In a few moments, we’re going to go through it. Then you’ll be invited to come forward where you will have to opportunity to be anointed with oil. Kate and I will make the sign of the cross on your forehead and say the words, “Remember your baptism and be thankful.” You don’t have to come forward, but I really hope you will. Let’s not let what happened to that lighthouse happen to us. Amen.
