Baptized for What?

I'm a fan of movies – I love how depending on your mood, movies can help you escape your life for two hours or can make your life even more real.  Even though Hollywood has many faults and many bad movies, there are some that really strike a cord.  Russ and I saw Marley and Me on Christmas Day.  We laughed and cried like we haven't in a long time, and when I say I cried, I mean I boo-hooed.  It was not pretty, but this movie dealt with some very real issues that we have been through, giving words and the moving picture to express times we've experienced hope, fear, joy, anger, and grief.

As I read through these passages in Acts and in Mark and tried to form visual images in my head, I immediately went to The Lion King, one of my favorite Disney movies. The opening scene gives me chills every time.  It opens with the song Circle of Life playing in the background while all of the animals – the congregation if you will, gather at the foot of the mountain to await a very special moment.  The chorus repeats, It's the Circle of Life - And it moves us all - Through despair and hope - Through faith and love - Till we find our place - On the path unwinding - In the Circle of Life.  Mufasa, the lion king has a new son to welcome into The Circle.  And Rafiki, who is a type of spiritual advisor monkey comes to the new lion cub, Simba, breaks open a fruit above his head, and dips in his thumb and makes a mark across Simba's forehead.  Then he presents the marked Simba to the animals gathered there.  And the animals cheer and bow, and welcome him into the circle.

Baptisms in the church have many similarities to this scene.  The community gathered, the parents' involvement, the minister figure, the one being welcomed into the community, and taking an ordinary, abundant substance and giving it meaning, marking someone for a life that is out of the ordinary.

In the movie, Simba was marked and would one day be king – he will have the responsibility of battling evil forces and taking care of the other animals who live in the plains so that the circle of life can continue.

            We, too, are marked at baptism, not with sticky fruit juice, but with cleansing water.  This is not a visible sign that people can see once we leave the church building, but it should leave a lasting impression on our lives.  Even for those of us who were baptized as infants, we can be told about our baptisms and know that we have been claimed by God and marked as one of God's own.  And we can remember the promise made by God to love us as well as the promises made by us or our parents to live by Christ's example as best we can at every baptism that we witness and participate in as we make new promises to guide and nurture the newly baptized in the life of discipleship.

            Baptisms are wonderful celebrations.  At times, eyes even well up with tears of joy and pride.  But the celebration shouldn't end when the worship service ends.  It's just the beginning.  As I said, we are marked: marked for a life of relationship with and service to God and love of our neighbor, a life that will not always be easy.

            If Jesus is our example, then remember with me the story of his baptism that we heard from Mark. 

John baptizes him in the Jordan River;

the heavens break open;

a dove descends;

the voice of the Lord says,

"This is my son with whom I am well pleased." 

But after where Ann stopped reading, the story continues, saying that the Holy Spirit IMMEDIATELY led Jesus into the wilderness for the 40 days of fasting and temptation by the devil.  IMMEDIATELY.  Jesus didn't have time to relax, enjoy his baptism, celebrate with his family and friends – he was immediately led by the Holy Spirit to begin his life of ministry by going into the wilderness.  Even though our lives may not be this dramatically changed at baptism, the Holy Spirit still leads us out into the world to participate in the mission of God. 

This will look different for each of us, but none of us is off the hook.  We are not to be Sunday only Christians – we cannot separate our baptisms from our day to day lives.  What are we baptized for?  What are you baptized for?  I can't answer that for you, but I know that you are baptized for something great – that as one of God's beloved children, you are equipped to go into the world, which can be like a wilderness at times, and make a difference – to love, to be kind, to work for peace and justice, to speak truth, to serve, to pray, to give, to bless, to listen, to tell of God's grace in your words and actions.

But remember that just as Jesus did not go into the wilderness alone, but accompanied by the Holy Spirit, we do not go into the world alone –the Holy Spirit goes with us – to guide us, to support us, to sustain us, to bring people into our lives who can build us up or people who need some building up.

The Holy Spirit is not often emphasized in most churches, this is certainly where Pentecostal and Holiness denominations have an advantage over us – they seek to be moved by the Holy Spirit in all areas of their worship and lives, while we have one Sunday of the year when we wear our red stoles and hang our red banners to celebrate Pentecost.  But the Holy Spirit is active in more Bible stories than the account of Pentecost in Acts, and the Holy Spirit is active in our lives all the time, not just on that one Sunday out of the year. 

The Holy Spirit is present at the baptism of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is present in our lesson from Acts.  Paul meets the followers of Christ who are gathered in Ephesus - members of the earliest churches.  He asks them if they received the Holy Spirit when they became believers.  They said that they had not heard of the Holy Spirit but had been baptized by John.  So Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they were changed; they were given another mark of their life set apart for service of God, these early Christians even spoke in tongues and prophesied because the Holy Spirit came upon them.

This ritual of laying on of hands that Paul performs is important in the life of the church even now.  We are emphasizing our connectedness, as the Holy Spirit flows through each of us.  At this church, we lay hands for the ordination and installation of elders.  Other elders and ministers lay their hands on the ones to be ordained because they are all part of this life of discipleship and leadership together.  Those who were ordained this morning have already gone through training and examination because this is not a task to be taken lightly.  They have promised to "seek to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, love their neighbors, and work for the reconciliation of the world…to further the peace, unity, and purity of the church…and watching over the people of this church, providing for your worship, nurture, and service."   But they are not alone in their leadership, they have all of the other elders and minister, and you have promised to "encourage them, respect their decisions, and to follow as they guide you."  

They need also your prayer and your support, especially this session that will be a part of the search process for this church's second installed pastor – there is certainly a challenging and exciting road ahead of them.

We also lay hands for the ordination of ministers of word and sacrament – those of you who were here a year and a half ago for my ordination remember a very similar service to the one you saw this morning – the elders and ministers laying hands on me.  I remember feeling two things: first that I was not alone, that I had the Holy Spirit with me, and I had colleagues and friends to support and guide me.  But I also felt the huge physical weight of so many hands on my head and my shoulders, reminding me of the awesome responsibility that I was accepting as a minister of word and sacrament.  I believe the same holds true for our elders.

We also lay hands on those who are traveling on mission trips, assuring them that even though they are the ones who are physically making the trip, our prayers go with them…they go as an extension of this body of Christ.  And ministers also lay their hands on those who are baptized - after they are baptized with water, receiving the mark that they are claimed as God's own, the minister lays a hand on them and asks for the Holy Spirit to always guide them as one of God's children.

We are marked through the waters of baptism and through the laying on of hands.  Even though baptism doesn't leave a visible mark, some choose other symbols to tell the world that we are different - a cross around our necks, the Dorchester Presbyterian Church sticker on our cars, or Christian bumper stickers.  We were out shopping last week, when we saw these two people yelling back and forth in the parking lot of Target, arms raised in the air, fingers waving around.  Apparently, the woman who had been driving the car and the family walking through the parking lot disagreed about who had the right of way.  The woman from the car yelled something I don't remember at the man, then the man replied back, "You should take that fish off of your car because you're setting a bad example."  And the woman didn't have a response to that.

I have also heard a story about a woman with road rage yelling and cursing and making improper hand gestures at the other drivers and gets pulled over.  After checking her license and registration, the officer comes back to her car and apologizes, saying, "I'm sorry ma'am, I saw that 'Follow me to Sunday School' bumper sticker on your car, then saw the way you were acting, and I thought the car had been stolen." 

So it's obvious that you cannot always trust these visible signs, and we cannot rely on them to let the world know of the goodness and grace of God's love.  It makes sense why the world might distrust those signs and call Christians hypocrites.  It is about how you live your life.  You know that you are called as God's own sons and daughters, you are marked as God's own.  But what are you marked for?

In this world where there is so much pain, hunger, stress, anxiety, poverty, war, and homelessness, we need to remember that we are part of God's family – which is surely a comfort, but also a charge to be God's hands in the world and show God's love to those who need hope.

In this church where there is some uncertainty, impending change, excitement, and unending possibilities, we need to remember that we are joined together as the body of Christ through baptism – we are to work together, to be kind to one another, and to seek to do what is best for the kingdom of God through our ministry and mission here at Dorchester and in our local and global communities, always guided by the Holy Spirit.

To help us all remember that we are marked through baptism, we then moved a Reaffirmation of the Baptismal Covenant.