Genesis 1:1-5 Ps. 29
Acts 9:1-7 Mark 1:4-11
Lectionary Link
Today is the feast of the baptism of our Lord, and one of the principle occasions for baptism within the church.
And it may be a day for cynics to say, "baptism is just a ritual, games which Christians play signifying nothing practical for the good of the world, so why do it?"
The same cynic might be one who faithfully wears the same unwashed sweat shirt when his favorite team plays so as not to jinx the possibility of victory. This irrational repetition might seem disconnected logically from any actual effect upon the outcome of any athletic contest.
If one says that "baptism is just a ritual," one could also say that human beings are ritualistic by nature. That is, human being engage in repetitions as grooved habits performing the energy of human desire. And if human beings are ritualistic by nature, then the judgments about ritual behavior concern whether such rituals give orientation into human excellence.
Baptism is sacrament and it is a ritual of Christian initiation. The lack of appreciation for baptismal meanings, might come from the rote social practice of baptism as but a requirement of family and church. To baptize without articulating the anthropological soundness of baptism, leaves the ritual practice unconnected from human life cycle practices.
Today is a good day to ponder the meanings of our baptism and the meaning of baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.
Baptism is an event of human solidarity. Such solidarity might expressed in statements of reciprocity: We want you to be with us. And I want to be with you.
Such reciprocity might be expressed on another level when it comes to the meaning of the baptism of Jesus. "God, we want you to be with us." And God's Jesus says, "I want to be you, not as a general theory, but as specific person in time with a specific community, the community of John the Baptist." And one of the names of Jesus which the New Testament writer borrowed from the prophet Isaiah was Emmanuel, or "God with us."
The event of the baptism is an event in the divine becoming one in solidarity with humanity, specific with Jesus, so as to signal that God's solidarity with each of us as children of God, is specific to the particular history and circumstances of our own life. The general, "God is with us," becomes the specific "God is with you and me in the times and places of our lives."
Baptism is significant because human identity discovery and formation is a central feature of life. Baptism is an event of value structuralization through language. The chief feature of human solidarity is that we have language. Language is structure in the values and judgments of our life. In the event of baptism, the Christian community is declaring their values of how to be human in the very best possible way. And how are those values expressed in the baptismal liturgy? Humans originate from the greatness of God and reflect that greatness by bearing the divine image. In the Risen Christ that divine image can be known within us as our chief identity. As humans, we are loved by God, and forgiven perfectible, but not perfect beings. We are gifted by God in discovering our creative purpose and our benefit for the good of the community.
Baptism then is the expression of our vision of what enlightened human solidarity means. Baptism is an expression our our ideals as the lure for the energy of desire to target as our life vocation.
And if baptism is ignored or scorned, it must be said that other ritual behaviors will replace the profound meanings encoded in baptismal practice. Such replacement to baptismal values will be governed by self-centered behaviors or solidarities of tribalism for exclusive group privilege.
Let us today not treat baptism as a cute little ceremony for a family gathering and baby pictures in passed down baptismal gowns. Let us articulate in teaching and lifestyle with the expression of profound solidarity with the highest kinds of community values, namely, Christ is God with us and in us as the hope of glory. Amen.
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