Baptism - Sign, Seal, Symbol, Sacrament, Seed.
Readings - Acts 16:11-15 & Matthew 28:16-20
Preached at St John’s on the occassion of Eve Taylor and Victor Moore’s baptism’s.
In the story of the Jungle Book, Mowgli, a young orphan is left stranded in a basket deep in the jungle of India and is raised along with a gang of wolf cubs. Mowgli learns to live like a wolf in the jungle and all that this entails. As he grows up though he wrestles with his identity, trying to work out what it means to be a man living in the jungle with the wolves. Mowgli feels the pull of human community throughout the story and the tension of his “humanness” and his “wolfness.”
This story raises the question of nature and nurture in a vivid way. Boy by birth, wolf by nurture.
The debate between nature and nurture is one that has been live for a long time. The question is often put – Are we a product of our genetic code? Or are we a product of our environment and the way we were raised?
There are all kinds of disagreements amongst biologists and psychologists on this.
Yet, many see a complex mix of both nature and nurture at play in our development as people.
For example, my red hair comes from my mother’s side, my grandma had red hair and a Scottish heritage somewhere in the mix. This is an example of nature.
However, my curiosity, the trait which makes me pause to stare at a hawk in flight and observe it in wonder has in many ways been installed in me by my Dad. I can recall going on bush walks and stopping regularly to be given a lesson about a particular bird or tree. Growing up I also observed my Dad asking endless questions. Generally, I’m fascinated by many things, likely heavily influenced by my childhood.
Each of us will have our own reflections on nature and nurture.
What about when it comes to our faith?
Do some people just have a predisposition towards being religious? Or are they people of faith because they have been raised in a faith?
One of my favourite Christian writers, C.S. Lewis, made the argument that there is a deep longing in every human being for God. A deep thirst for connection with our creator.[1]
Theologian Tom Wright makes a similar point, saying:
“God is the one who satisfies the passion for justice, the longing for spirituality, the hunger for relationship, the yearning for beauty.”[2]
The apostle Paul does too in his letter to the Romans, saying that God has revealed himself generally to us in creation. Psalm 19 as well, saying that the created world points to God.
The point that Lewis, Wright, Paul, and the Psalmist all make is that there is a natural longing for and connection with God in each of our lives. This is the nature part of the equation.
Equally so, there is a quality to faith which is nurtured. It doesn’t just happen. We need people to teach us who Jesus is, what Jesus achieved in his life, death, and resurrection and why this is good news.
We aren’t Christians by virtue of birth, but we can be nurtured in Christian community.
Today, at our 10am service we will be baptising, Eve and Victor.
Infant baptism is common in the Anglican Church.
Yet in the tradition I grew up in it wasn’t something we did. I was baptised at 16 upon a personal confession of my own faith.
As a new Anglican, infant baptism was something it took some time to get my head around. I wrestled with it and wondered about it.
So today I want to talk about why we baptise children in the Anglican church and what it means for us to be a church family and a place of nurture for faith.
If you are baptised, then I hope this sermon will be an encouragement to you as you reflect on the depth and meaning of your own baptism.
If you are not baptised, then I hope that this sermon will serve as an invitation and a provocation to see why baptism matters. For us all together as a church community I hope that as we explore this topic today that we will see the calling we share to be a place where faith is nurtured.
Today we heard two passages on baptism. The first was from Acts 16 and told the story of Lydia and her household. The second was from Matthew 28 and we heard the words of Jesus to his disciples as he commissioned them.
DISCIPLESHIP – MATTHEW 28
Let’s take a look first at the gospel passage.
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This passage is when Jesus gives his first disciples the mission to go out and make disciples and to baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
You may have heard this passage many times. It is a big vision passage.
Go out to all nations! This has often been the focal point for many. We see this happen in Acts as the church grows out from Jerusalem and beyond.
The sheer magnitude of this makes many Christians freak out. We may think, “some are called to go out and do that stuff but not me.” Or we may think “I don’t know where to begin.”
But if we take a closer look, what Jesus asks his disciples to do is make disciples.
How did Jesus do it?
He gathered 12 people up and spent three years with them, breaking bread, sharing in their lives and teaching them.
This is about connecting with and nurturing a small group of people in faith, it is about community and connection and life together in the way of Jesus. It is a call to nurture.
Baptism then sits firstly in the context of discipleship, a life following Jesus.
HOUSEHOLD – ACTS 16
The other passage we read this morning was from Acts 16, and we heard the story of Lydia becoming a follower of Jesus.
But not alone.
We hear this:
14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well.
The whole household was baptised together.
Hers isn’t the only household to get a mention.
Stephanas’ household is baptised, this is referenced in 1 Corinthians 1:16.
Crispus the synagogue leader and his entire household were baptised in Acts 18.
Biblical scholars, from what they know about households of the time presume that these households were fairly large and almost certainly included infants who couldn’t profess their own faith out loud.
From the earliest days and then through history Christians have baptised their children.
Why?
Because their view of salvation and faith is grounded in a communal understanding as its presented in the Bible.
A Covenant People
When it comes to faith, the Bible points to what one author has called “a lineage of grace” – the genealogies and stories of one generation and another talk about a faith that was lived and player out in community. God makes a covenant with Israel, and together the people are in relationship with Him.
In our Western individualistic society this is a little hard to get our head around. We often think in terms of “me and Jesus.”
Yet the stories of Scripture tell of a community journeying with God together.
Not only this, but on a pragmatic level this makes sense. My own faith didn’t just come to me.
My grandma read the Bible to me, my parents took me to church, my friend invited me to youth group when I felt that I was too cool for church, I had mentors who invested time in teaching me the Bible at Laidlaw college, I have friendships and community and a spiritual director. May faith is anything but mine alone, it is grounded in community.
How about you? Your own faith and journey will have been shaped profoundly by the people around you.
What we see happening in the book of Acts is communities of faith forming.
Households are baptised together. For adults, this meant that they would be taught what Jesus had done, called to repentance and belief and trust in Him and then baptised. For children, this would mean being baptised without understanding this but then being nurtured in a community which taught them what this baptism meant so they could live into its reality in their lives.
A lot of our understanding of this is formed by what we think baptism itself is.
Is it something that someone does to declare their personal faith and belief in Jesus? This view is held by traditions that argue for believers baptism only – so for adults who can confess what they believe.
Or is baptism something that God does? Is it an enactment of God’s saving grace in our lives? I’ll confess my view lies firmly here.
So, what happens in baptism? In his book titled “It takes a Church to Baptize: What the Bible Says About Infant Baptism” Scot McKnight outlines 5 helpful terms that define what happens at baptism. [3]
Sign – Baptism is a sign. When God made a covenant with the people of Israel, the sign of this was the circumcision of male children in the community. In the new covenant through Jesus, baptism is the sign of God’s promises.
Seal – Baptism is a seal. In Romans 4 Paul says that Abraham “received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.” “Baptism as a seal completes faith and sets a seal of approval by God.
Symbol – Baptism is a symbol. The water symbolizes cleansing and new life. In Romans 6 Paul depicts going into the waters and coming up out of the waters of baptism as being buried and raised with Jesus.
Sacrament – Baptism is a sacrament. When we are baptised, the water is a visible sign of invisible grace. The technical word for this is that it is a sacrament. In the moment of baptism, God does something in us.
Seed – Baptism is a seed. This seed is planted in the context of family and church and then requires nurturing to grow. Anglican evangelist Michael Green says: “Baptism is the pledge of God’s new life. But it is like a seed: it only germinates when it encounters the water of repentance and the sunshine of faith.”
All these aspects of baptism are important.
However, one struck me particularly this week as I reflected on baptism and why we baptize children. That is the image of baptism as a seed.
Here at St John’s we named our children’s ministry “Sprouts.” We did so inspired by the image of God’s kingdom being like a growing seed. It sprouts not by our efforts but by God’s work amongst us.
At baptism we plant a seed in the life of Eve today. We do so in the baptism of every infant.
That seed will grow in the context of a community of discipleship.
Out the front our sign reads: “We are a family following the way of Jesus.”
This is the life we are called to as a community. Reflecting on the role of godparents, Stanley Hauerwas says:
“This is what baptism is: God places a song in your heart. And so your Godparents role is this: to learn that song so well that they can sing it back to you when you forget how it goes.”
As we reflect on baptism today, may God remind us to live in to what we claim to be. May we be a community where faith is planted, watered, and nurtured.
Let’s pray
[1] https://blog.logos.com/2015/08/c-s-lewis-ingenious-apologetic-of-longing/
[2] N T Wright, Simply Christian.
[3] Scot McKnight, It Takes a Church to Baptize: What the Bible says About Infant Baptism. 58-62