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Baptism of Our LordMathew 3:13-17Year AJan 12, 2020Mary BarnettI’ve got to confessI’ve struggled with baptismIt was something that was hard for me to understandWhich maybe explains why even though I grew up in a churchI didn’t decide to get baptized until I was way into my 30’s.Something about the symbolism of baptism worried me.I figured I either didn’t understand it or I did understand it and didn’t like what I understood.It seemed like it was about having to be made good because you’d been born sinful Or having to be made clean because you were dirty. I mean: What with the water and everything.And even though many people said that wasn’t it at allSome of the words sure sounded like that,To me.And I also worried about renouncing Satan. What could that possibly mean?Did the church really think that some bad guy...like the Joker or something from Warner Brothers or Disney...was wandering around the earth in the chill of the evening,Looking to create mischief for me?I DIDN’T believe that.And I didn’t think Jesus would believe that.Life wasn’t as simple as a Marvel movie with good guys and bad guys.But there was certainly evil to be resisted.But, it seemed sometimes like the church’s understanding of baptism was still about separating the good people from the bad people,Or the in people from the out people, Or the saved from the damned, Or the people who could have communion from the people who couldn’t, None of which sounded like Jesus to me.And although sometimes the church and the words of the prayer book helped me sort things out,Sometimes they didn’t.And I stayed confused for a long time.Even after I was baptized,Which is why I bother to mention it today.Because...you see, It occurs to me,that even though babies don’t have to worry about this stuff,When you are big, when you are older like JT or Katie or James or me,you may want to figure out not just what baptism means to the churchBut also what baptism really means...to YOU.And that’s an opportunityTo figure something out in a way that could help you change your lifeOr understand your lifeSometime later when you need to.And it’s also an opportunity for the church to understand itself And be rebornthrough your eyes.So for me, baptismisn’t about getting clean in some sort of magic bathOr keeping the bad guys away...But it is a moment of recognizing and celebrating that living water I am already swimming inthat connects us all. This is why I think Jesus in our Gospel story today doesn’t take his ritual bath in a synagogue, As he would have done many times before. And it also why he doesn’t feel the need to run out and quickly build a brand new Jesus-shaped church, A new church, shaped more to his liking. Nope:Jesus goes out in the wildernessTo an actual wild place outsideA naturally miraculous place in the world as it already is And is baptized in the real living water of an actual river.And lo...“As he came up from the water, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said“This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.Now, I am a water person,Like probably many of you. When I am feeling blue or stuck or mad or sad,I will go find a body of water, any body of water and sit next to it. Something about being next to all that open horizontal spaceAnd the moving water underneath it,Reminds me that I too am 70% water.And that the earth itself is also 70% water,And I feel reborn again into a larger and deeper and more holy perspective.This is why people from this congregation have brought water from home to add to this ceremony.Because they are in on the secret,A secret the whole world needs to knowThey know that we are all connected to the same holy body of water.But guess what?We forget.We forget and we forget and we forget again.Sometimes we forget because we feel ashamed about something:We made a mistake and we don’t want to admit it and so we want to be left alone.And sometimes we forget because someone did something that hurt usAnd we want to pretend that they didn’t hurt us.Or maybe we are madAnd want to push them hard away.But to memy baptism meansThat in those momentsI will try to remember this moment,When heaven came down close to the earthAnd the spirit of God moved over the waters,And God said “Hey JT : you are beloved!”And God said to Katie: “Hey, Katie, you are beloved!” And God said to James: “Yes I see you too, you grouchy-kind, hard-working parent...Yes, you are beloved.”And then the Spirit of God moved over all the members of this congregation and said:“Yes, you.”“Even you…” “You too are beloved.” “With you, I am well pleased.”+At the back of the church,There are purple bracelets. Pick one up and take it home.They are for everyone.The outside has embossed letters that say CHT and You are God’s beloved.They are a bit hard to read but you can take a pen and color them in if you want.I like to imagine wearing it and someone reading that message on my wrist and feeling good about themselves.Because it really is a message for them too.Fear not. You are beloved.But there is another message on the inside which is just for you.It says :I am beloved.Wear it close to your skin.And remember your baptism.Maybe, years from now,You will be living in San Francisco or DetroitOr...where would you like to live?Paris?Maybe you are living in Paris and have come to feel a bit separated from someone in your family:your wonderful mom, your cool hardworking dad or your future husband or wife Or even your brother, sitting here next to you or your sister or your best friend.You are feeling tired and a bit lost or maybe even ( I hope not)bitter and forsaken and alone.Well…You are promising today that in that momentYou will try to remember this moment.And you will try to remember this wider family:The church,That is standing up for you today. Because we the people of CHT promiseThat even 20 years from now,When you can't even remember what the inside of this church looks like,And even if you haven’t been to church in a long long long long time(it happens)You can walk into any church anywhere,And say help me. I need help to remember that I am connected to the same body of water.And the people in that room will be mysteriously, instantaneously connected to the people in this roomRight now.Ah yes, they will say:JT and Katie and James.We remember you.You are beloved.And the spirit of God,Will bend close to the earth,And breath over the waters and say “Thank you, my children, With you, I am well pleased.Amen ................
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