Yesterday was a Feast day in the
church: The Epiphany. The first Sunday after the Epiphany is also a Feast Day:
The Baptism of Our Lord. I think we could take a long wandering journey about
why Jesus who was without sin needed or chose to be baptized. We could
speculate about how he might have considered baptism a way of showing he was
human as well as divine. But in Northwest Missouri they would call that “snipe
hunting,” because you seldom catch a snipe.
There really are snipes, by the way.
There are about 25 wading bird species in North America. However, they have
plumage that camouflages them in the wild. Hence, a snipe hunt is usually
played on the young and naïve out for their first time in the woods.
And so, snipe hunting, while it might be fun and get us out
in the woods, is likely a lot less important than looking at what scripture
says about what happened. And, it asks us to look at what baptism means for
each of us.
Our Gospel story today from Mark tells us baptism is the complete
opposite of a tame sprinkling with warm water. In Mark’s Gospel the heavens are
torn open. I know most scripture translations use words like “opened” to
describe what happens to the heavens. But guess what? There certainly is a
Greek word for “open” but that’s not what Mark’s Gospel uses here. The Greek
used is much closer to the heavens being “torn apart.” So different to describe
what happens. And much more like what happens at Jesus’ crucifixion. There is
nothing tame about tearing apart. It’s as though God has had enough of the
separation between God and human beings and it is Jesus in whom that separation
gets healed.
It is that act of healing any separation from God that
brings us to our own baptisms. The act of baptism seals us as Christ’s own
forever. Nothing, nothing at all, can now keep us from being Christ’s own.
Somehow, on some level, we all know this. You see it in the
shining eyes of the children as they gather around the baptismal font when
someone is baptized. You’ll see it when parents try to articulate why they want
their child baptized. Their explanations inevitably trail off because they know
it means something deep and holy, they’re just not sure what. And you’ll see it
in the wishful looks of parents and grandparents who hold hope these children
will live out their baptismal vows made on their behalf.
This is the real thing, folks, both for Jesus and for us. It
is in baptism that God seals each of us as Christ’s own forever.
There’s a wonderful story about Martin Luther and his baptism.
It’s something I pray we would all do daily. I believe it would make a
difference in how we lead our lives. Whenever Martin Luther became discouraged,
ready to toss in the towel, or buried in worries for himself and the church he
so deeply loved, he would do this. He would touch himself on the forehead and
say, “Remember Martin, you have been baptized.” “Remember Martin, you have been
baptized.”
The version I use is a bit different from Luther’s. I touch
myself on the forehead and say a shortened form of what we use when we anoint a
person after their baptism. We anoint the person with oil of chrism, oil that
has been blessed by the Bishop as a sign of our unity to Christ’s church. And
these are the words used, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked
as Christ’s own forever.”[1]
These are the words I said last week as I anointed Matilda and Cole, at our
10:15 a.m. service.
These words spoken at
baptism are about the meeting of heaven and earth, of God and human beings, and
the coming together in faith to celebrate and remind one another we are marked
as Christ’s own forever.
I think of Martin Luther when I am troubled or burdened by
anything in the church, whether here in this place or in the wider church. I
think of this when I am unsure or think I cannot go on. I remind myself because
I know the words spoken at baptism are more powerful and greater than anything
human beings can invent or imagine.
I have a slightly different take than Martin Luther did, so
here is what I say. I say it to remind myself what was said when I was baptized
and to recall what my baptism means. I touch myself on the forehead and say, “Remember
Nic, you are sealed as Christ’s own for ever.” And I make the sign of the cross.
“Remember Nic, you are sealed as Christ’s own for ever.” (I made the sign of the
cross on my forehead.)
Let’s do it right now. We will do it now before we repeat what
we believe by saying the Nicene Creed, our statement of faith. I f you have not
been baptized yet, do it anyway, because being here means you are journeying
toward baptism. When you do this you’ll want to insert your own name, of course.
Join me in this: Touch yourself on the forehead, make the sign of the cross on
your forehead and say, “Remember, you are sealed as Christ’s own for ever.” (Give
everyone time to do so.) AMEN.
The
Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2018
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