BAPTIZING THE WORLD [M, 11-14-22]

 

REFLECTIONS ON FAITH & LIFE FOR THE YEARS OF WINTER

Our daughter, Katie Kennedy, the author [1], emailed me to say that she had to do a 3 or 4 minute devotional to start a meeting at her church, and that she could think of nothing, and had looked online without anything appealing to her. Did I have any ideas? I’ve been thinking about the meaning and efficacy of baptism recently, so, I wrote the following…

When the great Reformer, Martin Luther, was tempted to give in, to take the easy way, to say that sin was too strong for grace, he would shout, “But I was BAPTIZED!”

All of us here could say that. “I was baptized.” But what does it mean?

Did Luther think his baptism was magic, that if he reminded the world and himself that he was baptized, he would automatically do the right thing? Hardly. He still made plenty of mistakes.

John, the Baptizer, said the baptism he gave people was “for the forgiveness of sins.” Putting water on folks was a good symbol for that. Water makes us clean. Did that mean that the people washed with baptism sinned no more? Not likely. It certainly does not seem that those of us in this church who are baptized manage to get by without sin.

In Methodism, we recognize two sacraments—communion and baptism. We say that a sacrament is “a means of grace.” Apparently, a “means of grace” is a work of the Holy Spirit. But does the Holy Spirit automatically appear when we commune, regardless of how distracted we are, or stays on us when we are baptized any more than the water does? Isn’t it arrogant to think we can summon the Holy Spirit with our rituals?

Methodists tend to say that the sacraments are “symbols.” They remind us of a reality that can’t be expressed easily or completely in words. Yes, but it feels like there’s something more than just a symbol…

At least at its base, baptism is a reminder that we belong to God. And as God’s people, we have the joyful responsibility of being the baptizers of the world, of pouring the water of grace upon the world. Or, as Methodists, maybe just sprinkling it.

Baptism isn’t just grace we receive, but grace we give. Whenever we share the bread with the hungry and give drink to the thirsty, we are baptizing the world. Whenever we visit the sick and imprisoned, we are baptizing the world. Whenever we share the good news, we are baptizing the world. Whenever we sprinkle the baptism of grace, we remind the world that it belongs to God.

We already know these things. We already do these things. But the world is so abrasive, and original sin is so insidious. We get worn down pretty quickly. So whenever we come together, we are reminded, “Yes, we are baptized.” Whenever two or three of us are gathered together in Christ’s name, he is with us, and our baptism is renewed, that we might baptize the world.

As the writer of II Corinthians put it, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, and he has given us this message of reconciliation.” [5:19]

John Robert McFarland

1] The Constitution Decoded; Learning to Swear in America; What Goes Up.