Our Family Inheritance
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series VI, Cycle C
Object:
We speak of being "baptized into Christ." Baptized ... wanna fight? Let's talk about baptism. Unfortunately, this beautiful sacrament has been a bone of contention in the Christian church for generations.
Why does the church baptize? The quick answer is that Jesus told us to do it: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).
How should we do it? Depending on your tradition, one of several ways, as it turns out. Some sprinkle a few drops of water on the head, others pour water over the head, still others want to say that the only valid mode of baptism is immersion, having someone placed completely under water as a symbol of our solidarity with Christ's death and resurrection. All of those methods can be defended with scripture -- the Greek and Hebrew words that are translated in English as "baptize" can each be legitimately rendered as either "immerse, dip, sprinkle, or pour." If the Lord had a particular method of baptism in mind, I am sure that would have been made crystal clear to us. Since he did not, then it would seem problematic to be dogmatic on the subject. However, as we know all too well, that does not stop folks from being dogmatic.
Who is to be baptized? The church has endured controversy on this issue, as well. Some want to say that only those who have made a profession of faith in Christ should be baptized. However, 95% of the Christian church baptizes, not only converts, but the children of the faithful, as well. We do it for the same reason that the ancient Israelites circumcised their infant sons -- it is reflective of the establishment of the covenant between God and God's people.
Obviously, that little Jewish boy had no more concept of faith at the age of eight days than any infant brought to the baptismal font in a mainline Protestant or Catholic church. The faith relationship upon which the covenant is based is found in both cases in the faith of the parents. The covenant includes our children as scripture makes abundantly clear. And quite frankly, if it did not, I doubt that very many of us would be interested in it anyway.
Who among us would be content in the knowledge that the God who claims to care about us does not really care about our sons and daughters? That is not my kind of God!
My friend, Bill Carl, President of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, has described it this way.
To understand God's love and grace, think of parents who really love their children, who spend time with them. These parents have a love for their children that is independent from the children's subjective response or changing moods. When they first brought their infants home from the hospital, they already had much love for them. They love them through the terrible-twos and the giggling-fours, through broken windows and smart-alecky back talk. They love them as recalcitrant adolescents and rebellious young adults. God's love for us is also like this, for it is independent of our response. It is not governed by our poor show of love for God. Instead it is given freely, for we have been adopted into God's family as children who were lost but now have been found. God takes us -- homeless, nameless, forgotten, ready to be tossed to the world. And God adopts us before we know any better....1
But some still want to object that nowhere does scripture command that we baptize little children. True, but nowhere does scripture forbid it either. Our twenty-first-century practice is based on the tradition of the church, which has been in force since at least the second century and is certainly inferred in scripture -- of the nine references to water baptism in the New Testament, three involved the baptism of entire households, and we assume that those households included children.
We say we are "baptized into Christ." Every Christian church, regardless of how we observe the practice, believes that this covenant-making God is the central figure in baptism, not the baby, not the new convert. Baptism is not so much something we do as it is something that God does! That is why mainline churches do not re-baptize folks who have been baptized previously in other Christian churches. Since baptism is really God's act and not ours, we affirm that God's act was just as good in a Baptist church or a Methodist church or a Catholic church as it would be in a Presbyterian church.
This covenant idea is basically what Paul was telling the Galatians in our text. He talked about Christians being "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). In other words, that covenant God made with Abraham back in the dim and distant past which put the person of faith into a special family relationship with Yahweh is still valid. Paul says that God still binds people of faith because of that promise made to Abraham. We have an inheritance as Christians, and our baptism calls it to our attention.
Someone described baptism as being like a telegram. Suppose you had a long-lost uncle over in the old country who died and left you a fortune. You heard rumors about the possibility but nothing more. Without knowing officially about all that loot, your inheritance would do you no good. But one day, a telegram arrives announcing your good fortune. Hallelujah, you're rich! Did the telegram make you rich? Of course not. What it did was inform you of the death and loving intention of your uncle. The telegram was simply the official announcement of what had already been done for you. Baptism can be understood in the same way. It is God's official announcement of what has already been done for us by faith in Jesus Christ.
We are "baptized into Christ." Baptized ... wanna fight? That is so sad. Years ago, T. DeWitt Talmage, in talking about the arguments said, "I remember, when I was a boy, that with other boys I went into the river on a summer day to bathe, and we used to dash the water on each other, but never got any result except that our eyes were blinded; and all this splashing of water between those who favor one form or another of baptism does the same thing -- it never results in anything but the blurring of the spiritual eyesight."
David Lloyd-George, who besides being Prime Minister of England was also an ardent churchman, once said, "The church I belong to is torn in a fierce dispute. One section says that baptism is in the name of the Father, and the other says it is into the name of the Father. I belong to one of those parties. I feel most strongly about it. I would die for it in fact, but I forget which it is."
It is a shame that something so meaningful as baptism could cause so much contention, but it does. Perhaps, one day, we will grow up as God's children in the same way we grow as children of our earthly parents. As little ones, we fight and quarrel with our brothers and sisters, we throw mud at one another, we scratch and claw, but eventually, we stop all that nonsense. As Paul says, "we put away childish things" (1 Corinthians 13:11 NLT). And for most of us, those sisters and brothers with whom we fought tooth and nail as children are now some of the dearest people in the world to us. Perhaps the same will happen among brothers and sisters of faith. I hope so. After all, as baptism reminds us, we really are family, and together, we have an incredible inheritance.
____________
1. William J. Carl, III, Preaching Christian Doctrine (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), p. 70.
Why does the church baptize? The quick answer is that Jesus told us to do it: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).
How should we do it? Depending on your tradition, one of several ways, as it turns out. Some sprinkle a few drops of water on the head, others pour water over the head, still others want to say that the only valid mode of baptism is immersion, having someone placed completely under water as a symbol of our solidarity with Christ's death and resurrection. All of those methods can be defended with scripture -- the Greek and Hebrew words that are translated in English as "baptize" can each be legitimately rendered as either "immerse, dip, sprinkle, or pour." If the Lord had a particular method of baptism in mind, I am sure that would have been made crystal clear to us. Since he did not, then it would seem problematic to be dogmatic on the subject. However, as we know all too well, that does not stop folks from being dogmatic.
Who is to be baptized? The church has endured controversy on this issue, as well. Some want to say that only those who have made a profession of faith in Christ should be baptized. However, 95% of the Christian church baptizes, not only converts, but the children of the faithful, as well. We do it for the same reason that the ancient Israelites circumcised their infant sons -- it is reflective of the establishment of the covenant between God and God's people.
Obviously, that little Jewish boy had no more concept of faith at the age of eight days than any infant brought to the baptismal font in a mainline Protestant or Catholic church. The faith relationship upon which the covenant is based is found in both cases in the faith of the parents. The covenant includes our children as scripture makes abundantly clear. And quite frankly, if it did not, I doubt that very many of us would be interested in it anyway.
Who among us would be content in the knowledge that the God who claims to care about us does not really care about our sons and daughters? That is not my kind of God!
My friend, Bill Carl, President of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, has described it this way.
To understand God's love and grace, think of parents who really love their children, who spend time with them. These parents have a love for their children that is independent from the children's subjective response or changing moods. When they first brought their infants home from the hospital, they already had much love for them. They love them through the terrible-twos and the giggling-fours, through broken windows and smart-alecky back talk. They love them as recalcitrant adolescents and rebellious young adults. God's love for us is also like this, for it is independent of our response. It is not governed by our poor show of love for God. Instead it is given freely, for we have been adopted into God's family as children who were lost but now have been found. God takes us -- homeless, nameless, forgotten, ready to be tossed to the world. And God adopts us before we know any better....1
But some still want to object that nowhere does scripture command that we baptize little children. True, but nowhere does scripture forbid it either. Our twenty-first-century practice is based on the tradition of the church, which has been in force since at least the second century and is certainly inferred in scripture -- of the nine references to water baptism in the New Testament, three involved the baptism of entire households, and we assume that those households included children.
We say we are "baptized into Christ." Every Christian church, regardless of how we observe the practice, believes that this covenant-making God is the central figure in baptism, not the baby, not the new convert. Baptism is not so much something we do as it is something that God does! That is why mainline churches do not re-baptize folks who have been baptized previously in other Christian churches. Since baptism is really God's act and not ours, we affirm that God's act was just as good in a Baptist church or a Methodist church or a Catholic church as it would be in a Presbyterian church.
This covenant idea is basically what Paul was telling the Galatians in our text. He talked about Christians being "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). In other words, that covenant God made with Abraham back in the dim and distant past which put the person of faith into a special family relationship with Yahweh is still valid. Paul says that God still binds people of faith because of that promise made to Abraham. We have an inheritance as Christians, and our baptism calls it to our attention.
Someone described baptism as being like a telegram. Suppose you had a long-lost uncle over in the old country who died and left you a fortune. You heard rumors about the possibility but nothing more. Without knowing officially about all that loot, your inheritance would do you no good. But one day, a telegram arrives announcing your good fortune. Hallelujah, you're rich! Did the telegram make you rich? Of course not. What it did was inform you of the death and loving intention of your uncle. The telegram was simply the official announcement of what had already been done for you. Baptism can be understood in the same way. It is God's official announcement of what has already been done for us by faith in Jesus Christ.
We are "baptized into Christ." Baptized ... wanna fight? That is so sad. Years ago, T. DeWitt Talmage, in talking about the arguments said, "I remember, when I was a boy, that with other boys I went into the river on a summer day to bathe, and we used to dash the water on each other, but never got any result except that our eyes were blinded; and all this splashing of water between those who favor one form or another of baptism does the same thing -- it never results in anything but the blurring of the spiritual eyesight."
David Lloyd-George, who besides being Prime Minister of England was also an ardent churchman, once said, "The church I belong to is torn in a fierce dispute. One section says that baptism is in the name of the Father, and the other says it is into the name of the Father. I belong to one of those parties. I feel most strongly about it. I would die for it in fact, but I forget which it is."
It is a shame that something so meaningful as baptism could cause so much contention, but it does. Perhaps, one day, we will grow up as God's children in the same way we grow as children of our earthly parents. As little ones, we fight and quarrel with our brothers and sisters, we throw mud at one another, we scratch and claw, but eventually, we stop all that nonsense. As Paul says, "we put away childish things" (1 Corinthians 13:11 NLT). And for most of us, those sisters and brothers with whom we fought tooth and nail as children are now some of the dearest people in the world to us. Perhaps the same will happen among brothers and sisters of faith. I hope so. After all, as baptism reminds us, we really are family, and together, we have an incredible inheritance.
____________
1. William J. Carl, III, Preaching Christian Doctrine (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), p. 70.
