Fr. Robert Dalgleish
On Sunday October 17, 2004 we celebrated the
“Sacrament of Baptism.” This is an opportune time to remind ourselves what
baptism is all about.
First, baptism is a sacrament. Sacraments are
visible signs and actions instituted by Christ to give grace, actions that
really effect (bring about) what they symbolize. In other words a sacrament is
not just a symbolic act, it actually brings about what
it symbolizes. Remember we are a congregation “in full communion” with the
Charismatic Episcopal Church (C.E.C.) which means we embrace the three great
streams of our ancient faith; the Word (Evangelical), the Spirit (Charismatic)
and the Sacraments (Liturgical). It’s the mysteries of this last stream that
most of us are still learning about. In the sacrament of baptism, the actions
not only symbolize purification, they actually bring about a cleansing
and rebirth into the
Alexander Schmemann’s
“For the Life of the World” discusses baptism, and explains that the water
symbolizes all matter existing in the world, which God created and gave to man
as a means of communicating with and worshiping Him. When we ate of the
forbidden fruit, we began to use creation –not- as a means of communion with
the Lord, but rather as a way to fulfill our own selfish desires. The blessing
of the water signifies a return to that original blessed state. When Christ
arose from the baptismal water with John, He returned the water, and the rest
of creation, to what it was in the beginning.
We are baptized into Christ, because Christ is the
true content of all that exists. Water therefore, as the symbol of all
creation, is also the “image and presence” of Christ himself.
The C.E.C. Catechism discusses baptism in a
section titled “Contending For The Faith”, excerpts of
which are included below. For an expanded version of this text, please go to
the “Discipleship and Study Resources” of the TCC website and look for “CEC
Baptism Description”.
“Baptism is the entrance rite into a
covenant relationship with God and the church. Baptism was one of the most
important aspects of early church worship. The Greek word ‘baptizein’
has come to mean simply ‘to wash’ or ‘to purify with water.
The earliest baptisms recorded in Scripture
were done in the “Name of Jesus.” By the end of the first century, however, the
“Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost,” was the most frequently used formula.
This was a sign of sanctification and a token of the New Covenant that, once
entered, was renewed with each partaking of the Lord’s Supper.
Entire households were
baptized once they believed, and infant baptism became the normal rule from the
first century to around the seventeenth century, when the post Reformation
churches abandoned the traditional practice. The early church saw baptism as
the introductory rite of Christianity. Infants of godly Christian parents were
baptized into covenant with God. This practice came to replace circumcision
(see Colossians 2:11-12) as an important covenant rite.
When a child is baptized
into covenant, he or she is placed under the sovereign care of God and the
Church. The child’s parents are obligated to raise the child in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord. The process does not absolve the child from making a
decision, upon reaching maturity, to serve Christ. Nor is this baptism
necessarily equated with being ‘born again.’ It is the first step in the
child’s walk and relationship with Christ.
If a child is baptized,
that child belongs to God and God will do whatever it takes to bring him or her
back to His heavenly Father, if he or she should stray from the Christian way.
There are many children who are raised in a Christian home, and never realize
the full benefits of God’s covenant until later in life when they are finally
baptized into covenant with God.
If a child is raised in
the Church and taught the principles of the Bible, and if the child’s parents
demonstrate these Christian principles in their daily lives, the child is
likely to continue in covenant relationship with God, family and Church for his
or her entire life.”
After baptism with water, the priest
anoints the person being baptized with oil which has been blessed for the
purpose. This process, called the “Chrismation”,
seals and confirms that both body and soul now belong to the Kingdom. Schmemman says that over time Christians have separated
their physical and spiritual selves, which is not what God wants. “It is here,
at this moment, that the pseudo-Christian opposition of the ‘spiritual’ and the
‘material’, the ‘sacred’ and the ‘profane’, the ‘religious’ and the ‘secular’
is denounced, abolished, and revealed as a monstrous lie about God and man and
the world.” He continues by saying that this is the opening of man to the
wholeness of divine creation, “This is the ‘wind’, the ruah of God entering our life, embracing it
with fire and love, making us available for divine action, filling everything
with joy and hope…” Through baptism our bodies become true temples for God.
Baptism
is truly a sublime “means of God’s grace” and we take great joy in celebrating
it as often as children are born into our midst and as often as
an unbaptized prodigal returns to the Father.
“For baptism opens the doors of the Kingdom and the Holy Spirit leads us into
its joy and peace, and this means into the Eucharistic fulfillment.” May it be that we will celebrate this
sacrament more and more as we reach out to our lost brothers and sisters and
draw them into the Kingdom of God through our love and teaching but ultimately
through the (loud speaking) example of our own lives! Amen and Amen!
If
you would like to talk further about this please call Fr. Robert at 750-4483.