January 10, 2010

I love doing baptisms of babies. When young children are presented to us on their baptismal day, they are presented with such hope by their parents for the life of the child and with faith that God will keep this child safe and surrounded by loved. There is such beauty in a childhood baptism. Oftentimes children are presented in baptismal gowns that have been saved and passed down through the family for generations. I baptized my own daughter when she was five months old in a lovely baptismal gown. We will baptize Mattias Orr next Sunday and there is something fabulous about baptizing a buoyant 2 year old. My son was baptized at the age of 2 and he wiggled and waved and laughed through his baptism. I am among those people who were baptized later in childhood - at the age of 8 years. My parents moved when I was less than a year old and as the youngest of four children, they just got busy and forgot to baptize me. When I asked about it after church one day, they told me that my siblings were all baptized but that I wasn't. I asked to be baptized and remember standing up in church with the babies and answering my own questions about my faith. It was a little uncomfortable being the only older child, but I remember my baptism day very clearly. There are also different traditions about baptism. My church in Lynnfield, Massachusetts had a wall hanging that stood in the hallway of our church with various hooks on it. On each hook was a pink or blue bootie representing a child that was recently baptized. It was an honor to have your child's bootie on display and once we had too many to fit on the board, the oldest ones would be rotated off and given to the family for a memento. It was a bit awkward when an adult was baptized. No pink or blue bootie for the grown one!

The reality is that one can be baptized at any age. By all indications, Jesus was baptized as a grown adult. Luke's Gospel tells us that after he was baptized he began his work and that he was 30 year's old at the time. We know almost nothing about Jesus' childhood and early years. Evidence suggests that the infancy narratives were written in the second century and beyond them there are scant stories about his early life and upbringing. There is his presentation in the temple a few days after his birth and then almost complete silence about his childhood. Luke's gospel makes the only other mention of this portion of his early life by saying, "the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him." (Luke 2:39) The next thing we hear about Jesus is the story about his family journeying to Jerusalem for the annual Passover Festival when he was twelve. He stays behind and is found listening and talking with the religious teachers in the temple. Clearly they were impressed by his knowledge so he had been schooled in the Jewish Tradition somewhere!

There have been a few suggestions about what Jesus did between the time when he lived with his family at the age of 12 and his baptism - he traveled to India, he lived on an Ashram; he spent time in Africa; but the fact is we don't know exactly what he did or where he received his education. He received his schooling in the rabbinic tradition somewhere, studied the Hebrew Scriptures and knew them inside and out. He quoted them on several important occasions in his life: Isaiah's words in the beginning of his public ministry, Psalm 22 when he was on the cross, and many other instances in between. Whatever he was doing in those "lost years" he was preparing himself for the life and work that God had called him to.

The day of his baptism was the public beginning of his recorded historical life. When we read Luke's account of it you will notice that very little of the baptism itself is mentioned. We don't know who baptized him or where he was baptized. The emphasis for Luke is on the identity of Jesus, his mission, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Luke's Gospel seems to be closing out a previous era that ends with John the Baptist, and ushering in a new era of Jesus' ministry. John the Baptist is presented as an intense forerunner to Jesus, coming in from his desert, monastic life wearing the clothes of an ascetic and preaching a Gospel of repentance and judgment. When asked whether he is the Messiah, John answers by telling the people that his baptism is by water, but the one to come will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. He presents Jesus as the one with "the winnowing fork in his hands, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

In the next paragraph when we hear about Jesus' actual baptism, there is no fire, just a dove descending from heaven and the words, "you are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Right here we begin the shift from the fiery, judgmental words of John the Baptist to the ministry of Jesus Christ. I think John the Baptist got it wrong. Jesus came not to burn and abolish what was bad so much as he came to hold up what was good. The image of the winnowing fork is of a farmer throwing up the wheat and counting on the heavier wheat landing and the light chaff blowing away in the wind. John the Baptist had a fiery temperament and message and wanted us to know that the chaff was worthless and would be destroyed. I agree with Fred Craddock, theologian, and professor who says that the primary aim of Jesus was to save the wheat, not the burning of the chaff. The images that we hold up of Jesus are not of one with a winnowing fork but rather images of love and compassion - sitting with children, teaching the elders, instructing his disciples, preparing himself with prayer, challenging the unjust practices of his day; images of himself speaking with the marginalized and noticing the ones in society who were suffering. John the Baptist's image is of a farmer holding an ax to the root of a tree that was not bearing fruit, cutting that tree down and throwing it into the fire. Jesus presents a different way of being in the world.

In Luke's Gospel there are questions raised about where our allegiance is. Are we following the right person? Are we here at this church because we believe in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ or are we here for other reasons? Maybe we like the people or the music or the great nursery. Maybe we like the idea of attending church like we did as a child. Those are all great reasons to be here, but really, we are all ultimately invited here because of the ministry that God calls us to that is rooted in the example and person of Jesus.

When we read of Jesus' baptism, and when we baptize new people, we are called to reaffirm that. We are asked to remember the commitment we made to God through our own baptism and to re-commit ourselves to the responsibilities we have in our life as a member of Christ's church.

A little time after his own baptism Jesus stands up in the synagogue in his own town of Nazareth and unrolls a scroll from the prophet Isaiah and reads the following words:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

Because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To let the oppressed go free,

To proclaim the year of God's favor.

At first the people were impressed with this young prophet who knew the scriptures and wanted to help people. And then Jesus went on to give a few examples of people who were tended to by God and received God's help during a time when others were not. Jesus specifically mentioned widows and a Syrian named Nathan - both foreigners who fell outside the "tribe" of the Israelites. The people present began for the first time to get an inkling of who Jesus was and how radical his message of inclusivity was. They were so angry they drove him out of the synagogue on that day and wanted to hurl him off a cliff. And so Jesus' beloved and tumultuous earthly ministry had begun.

There are many images that help us understand who Jesus is as well as other aspects of Scripture. Some are more helpful and meaningful to us than others. Some images and metaphors can be troubling or puzzling to us. I recently had dinner with a friend who works as a drama teacher at an Episcopal School. She always appreciates when the chapel time is full of theatre! For Epiphany this week, the priests in the chapel really outdid themselves. They presented the story of Epiphany, replete with Wise Men and King Herod. Each of the Wise Men was dressed up as a character from a famous book or movie: Dumbledore from Harry Potter, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings and the third one was Obi Wan Kenobi from Star Wars. As each costumed "King' entered the chapel, the theme music from that movie was played. Finally, when it was time for King Herod to appear, Darth Vader from Star Wars walked in, with long black cape and light saber! It was spectacular, said my friend. The kids loved the imagery and connected easily with the "good men" and the "evil man." As a drama teacher my friend was impressed with the church's ability to connect the story with the current lives of children. However, after the chapel time was over, the Kindergarten teachers were frantic!! "Will somebody please come to our classes and explain what that all meant to our Kindergarten children!!!!!"

Different images work better for different people. So, if you come and tour our church building, you won't find statues of Jesus with a winnowing fork on display. No, we don't have pictures of Jesus with a fire waiting to burn those of us who are not productive. But you will find and hear about images of Jesus preaching and teaching a challenging and alternative view of the world: one in which there is good news to the poor, new sight for those who are blind, freedom from oppression and God's favor. Images are important to help us understand the mission of Jesus and the message of the Bible.

When we watch a baptism and re-affirm our own baptism, we are asked to look at our lives and ask ourselves how we are living out that radical and compassionate vision of life that Jesus presented to us. May the images that you hold, assist you in living out your calling. Amen.