08 January 2012

“Baptism: The front door of the Church”
Baptism of our Lord
8 January 2012


Even though we began our year-long focus on Baptism back on the first Sunday in Advent, November 27, today, this Baptism of our Lord Sunday, this really feels like the Sunday we begin with this focus, this theme, in earnest. There’s so much baptismal imagery that’s before us today … from the Scripture-story about Jesus’ baptism … to the congregational affirmation of our own baptisms (and our receiving the sign of water as a remembrance of our baptism)… to the font and Paschal candle, being right here, up in front … there is, indeed, a lot going on about baptism, here, today, this Baptism of our Lord Sunday.
And so it seemed appropriate to make the message today a Catechesis, if you will … a learning time together, for some of us, a review; for others, a hearing and taking in something new about baptism.
With our renewed emphasis on baptism, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit some of those catechetical words … liberally sprinkled with the wit and wisdom of Martin Luther … once again. So here it is … “Baptism: The Front Door of the Church.”

In our shared confirmation classes which we call “Faith Thinking,” we have a Friday to Saturday weekend retreat on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism segments on Holy Baptism. I start my part of the retreat by asking, “How do we come into the church?” And, of course, you can guess the usual answer ... “through the front door.” But that’s not the answer I’m looking for. So I ask again, “What other item here in the church might be described as the ‘front door,’ the way people come into the church?" The back door? No. The windows? Uh-uh. Try the FONT. Ohhh.
The baptismal font is really the "front door" of the church, when you think about it. It's how people come into the church, become members ... it's a public marker and milestone for where the life of faith begins in us. It’s how Jesus’ public ministry began, as we hear in this morning’s Gospel reading … with his baptism. That's why the font has such a prominent place in many congregations.
I think that Martin Luther would like how our font is prominent … most of the time, right inside the front doors to the worship space … for the season of Epiphany, right here, up front, so we can see it and be reminded of our baptism. For Martin Luther loved to talk and write about baptism. To Luther, baptism was and is central to what being a Christian is all about. Hear these words of Luther, from the Large Catechism, on Holy Baptism:

You should not doubt...that baptism is of divine origin, not something devised or invented by people. As truly as I can say that the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer are not spun out of anyone's imagination but revealed and given by God himself, so I can also boast that baptism is no human plaything but is instituted by God himself. Moreover, it is solemnly and strictly commanded that we must be baptized … we are not to regard it as an indifferent matter, then, like putting on a new red coat. It is of the greatest importance that we regard baptism as excellent, glorious, and exalted.

Excellent, glorious, and exalted. That’s a very lofty setting for baptism. But that may be something new for many of us ... maybe we’ve never thought of baptism in that way before.
And why is that? Well, let’s return to that front door analogy for a moment.
Front doors have become an ornament on newer homes ... they often open onto a “non-porch,” ... most of the time we go in and out of our houses through the garage or side doors.
At our parsonage in Pennsylvania, the front door hadn't been used in over 30 years. It was in an awkward place from the driveway ... it was very pretty, a beautiful cherry wood which everyone admired, rounded at the top, opening onto a nice little alcove...but nobody ever used it. We and everyone else used to go around to the side porch, or the kitchen door.
The state of baptism among many who follow Jesus is much like that front door on our former parsonage. Baptism is often treated as a nice ornament but not central to what we do or who we are. The sacrament has lost much of the significance Luther believed it should have.
And why is that? Perhaps, because baptism is seen many times as something that we, people, do. Like the treasures of our unused front doors, we may ignore baptism, or try to control it to conform to our needs, our desires....the baby gets "done,"...or, in the case of adult baptisms, we may come to the font after we say we “chose Jesus,” rather than acknowledging that Jesus always chooses us first. In either case, we say "I was baptized," just remembering that one time event, perhaps so long ago, that event which made me a church member, so that a church name may appear after mine in the paper when I die because "I was baptized."
But that's not what baptism is. So what is baptism?
Baptism, in the words of Luther’s Small Catechism …

… is not simply plain water, but it is water used according to God's command and connected with God's word.

I can turn the water in our kitchen off and on quite easily. But according to Luther, I can't do that with baptism. Something else is connected to the water...God's Word...which commands that we go and make disciples of all nations, and BAPTIZE them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Baptism, then, is water with God's word behind it. People did not invent baptism as some sort of a silly ritual, like a club membership initiation or secret handshake that gets you "in" to the church. Uh-uh. Baptism is from God...and God alone. We don't control it.
And why do we need baptism?
Again, as Luther writes, because

… baptism gives forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the power of evil, and grants eternal salvation to all who believe, as the Word and promise of God declare in Mark’s gospel -- "The one who believes and is baptized will be saved."

Baptism can be thought of as a rescue of sorts ... again, in Luther’s words …

God rescues us through baptism from sin, death, and the devil, and promises us salvation.

The problem is, we go through life thinking we are better than those medieval guys like Luther … that hey, we’re 21st century people, we’re in pretty good shape, we don't need rescuing, we have an app for that. And when it does get rough, well, when that time comes, I'll have what it takes to get out alive. I am in control, after all.
Well, since we are talking about rescues, let's think of one that happens a lot ... a rescue from drowning. Let's just say that our life situation is like that of a drowning person. We are in the deep water and floundering. Along comes our rescuer. How wonderful! Just throw me a rope or a life preserver, and I'll grab on and everything will be fine.
OK -- let's move the scenario to the ocean … there’s an undertow … and rip currents … and now, we’re being pulled further and further away from shore, the water’s getting deeper and we’re in danger and sinking fast.
But once again, here comes our rescuer! Just tie a rope to a person on the shore, tie the other end around the rescuer, and out they come after us … I’ll grab onto that one, and I’ll be fine.
But what if there isn't any way to get anything or anyone out for you to grab onto? Then what? One of the scariest pictures I’ve seen this past year is the image from Long Beach, of the 12 year old boy who got knocked down by a rip current and pulled out to sea. He was underwater for 20 minutes until divers found him. They pulled out this limp body, all rubbery ...a boy, just like any kid...as close to death as anyone could ever be. It was awful and tore you to the heart.
But that, brothers and sisters, that boy is us. We can't grab on to anyone because, despite all our good intentions toward living, our valiant attempts and brave starts … we are in bondage to bad choices … downright wrong living … sin … whatever you choose to call it. And at the end of it all, for each and every one of us, death is as certain for us as it was for that kid.
Luther talks of that "Old Adam" in us -- the sinful, selfish part of us that is bent on destruction...

What is the old man or woman? He or she is what is born in us from (the beginning) … irascible, spiteful, envious, unchaste, greedy, lazy, proud, yes, and unbelieving; we are beset with all vices and by nature have nothing good within.

That’s me. That’s you. No matter how hard we try to live a “good life” … eventually, sometime, somewhere, one of those descriptive words on that list will convict us.
There is ONE thing that, according to Luther, we are good at … each and every one of us … and what that is, is death. Each of those words Luther used describe a death of sorts … a end to relationship … between us and others, between us and God. And life ends up having waaaay too many deaths in it … up to and including that final one, that final separation, the last in the long line of separations and endings.
That’s the bad news … that’s the reality of life for us.
But here’s the Good News.
God has given us baptism. The Prayer of the Day on Ash Wednesday puts it so well, "God, you hate nothing you have made." God wants to save what God has made -- us -- you and me. So he sent Jesus to live among us. And even though we didn't want Jesus ... God still wants us, relentlessly wants us, so Jesus is raised from the dead, so that his promises would hold true. AND GOD’S WAY OF MAKING THOSE PROMISES REAL TO US AND FOR US IS HOLY BAPTISM.
Baptism is God's way of claiming us as his own, and uniting us with Jesus, to share in his promises for us, for this life, and for all of life to come. When we are baptized...Luther called it a two-part observance, which

… consists of being dipped into the water, which covers us completely, and being drawn out again. These two parts, being dipped under the water and emerging from it, indicate the power and effect of baptism, which is simply the slaying of the old Adam and the resurrection of the new person.

This is not something we can do on our own. This is not even something we can add any of our own power to "helping out." We are helpless to do anything to aid in our own rescue ... because we are near drowning.
That's why we baptize infants. There is no person so helpless as a little baby. It pleases Christ to see babies baptized, Luther says, because it shows the power of the Holy Spirit to work faith in us, starting on a day when we are totally helpless, and continuing our whole life long.
Our whole life long? I thought baptism just meant ten minutes out of my life? Not as God intended it, Luther says.

Thus a Christian life is nothing else than a daily baptism, once begun and ever continued.

That's what the "slaying of the old Adam and the resurrection of the new person" means -- this is a daily battle. Just because I was baptized one day fifty years ago doesn't mean that I have lived a perfect life since then! Ask anyone who knows me well. And you must say the same, when you look at your own lives! We mess up -- we fall short of what God wants for us -- remember those ten little, simple commandments -- we fail to keep them perfectly, as God calls us, every day of our lives.
So, if after baptism, we are turned loose to "do" the rest of life by ourselves, all depending on us, well, we are as lost as the boy who fell into the ocean. But we can rejoice that all does not depend on us ... because we cannot shake, we cannot lose, our relentlessly loving, promising God.
Through Jesus, we are offered second, third, and many more chances in life. Jesus calls us to repentance – simply, the act of turning around, and confessing our sins to God; then, hearing the words of forgiveness once more. And when this happens, Jesus gives us the same promise that we were given at our baptism -- "your sins are forgiven." To Luther,

… if you live in repentance, therefore, you are walking in baptism, which not only announces this new life but also produces, begins, and promotes it. In baptism we are given the grace, Spirit, and power to suppress the old person so that the new may come forth and grow strong.

Every day of our lives? Every day of our lives. So it's not, "I was baptized," but, "I AM BAPTIZED!" Those words Luther said every day should be our words, too, as we live each day, struggling, falling short of what God wants and expects of us, but all the time holding onto the promise we have been given in baptism, that we have been claimed by God in this dying and rising, not for death, but for forgiveness, salvation, and life … both in the world to come, and the world in which we live NOW, with friends and family, strangers and acquaintances, neighbors who need us to be in relationship with them … serving them … living as Christ to them … you and I, called by Jesus to “walk wet” into their lives.
Holy Baptism really is the “front door of the church.” And what a beautiful front door it is. It’s not there to ignore, or hide, or to be there just for looks. It needs to be used as it was intended ... “excellent, glorious, and exalted” ... every day of our lives ... by the one who puts it there...who gives it to us...who calls us through it to come, and follow him.
Amen.