Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | December 8, 2024

One Sunday when the worship service was over, I was making my way to the fellowship hall for a cup of tea, and fellowship. They served coffee, but it was not coffee as we know it. It was two-thirds instant coffee and one third milk. That’s how I learned to love tea. A guy came up to me, he looked to be around thirty years old, and he said, “Minister, I want to be baptized.”

I didn’t know him and he wasn’t in the worship service that day. That didn’t matter, because people coming in after church to arrange a baptism or wedding was common practice. I said to the fellow, “Sure, let’s go back to the office and I’ll schedule that for you.”

Then he said, “I want to be baptized now; right now.”

Okay, now is as good a time as any. I told the Clerk of Session what was happening, got some water for the font and the three of us went into the sanctuary and I baptized the fellow. He thanked us and left and I never saw him again. And that was fine; he came to the water and hopefully received the blessing he was looking for, as well as the blessing he needed.

We had a favorite statement of faith that the whole congregation would often recite on the Sundays we had a baptism, or baptisms.

“God is good, God is love, and God wants fairness and justice for each and for all.

I believe the Spirit of God filled Jesus of Nazareth, who in humble strength came to announce good news to the destitute, hungry, and forgotten; he announces freedom for captives of war and addictions, he delivers restoration of sight to those blind in body and soul, and he wins liberty with justice to all who are oppressed.

He is for all people, whether clothed in fine raiment or wearing track suits and flip-flops.

He lived among us, making it clear, once and for all, that the new day of God’s good salvation has arrived.

God is good, God is love and God is like Christ Jesus.

Into this faith I have been liberated. This I do believe; so help me God.”

It’s fitting that on a day when we baptize a child, the scripture for the day is about John the Baptist. His story reminds us that Jesus didn’t show up unannounced. John and his followers were the advance team whose mission was to prepare the way for Jesus, so that when he began his work, people would be more receptive to him.

The word “baptize” means simply, to go down under. It is not in and of itself a religious term. We use it that way to imply that a person goes down under the water and comes back up a different person. There are different baptisms in life. We go through them not always by our own choosing. How we come through our baptisms depends largely on our resources; both our inner strength and our family and community support system.

I was baptized at the age of 13. One of the lessons I took from that and applied to my work as a pastor is, when someone wants to be baptized, or to have their children baptized, then baptize them. It took me two years to convince the pastor that I was serious about wanting to be baptized. I had no family in the church. I was part of the boys club and at church camp when I was eleven, I “accepted Christ” as my savior. It seemed like the natural next step would be baptism.

“Pastor, when am I going to get baptized?” I wore him down. I met with the church elders and shared my “testimony.” My salvation was legit. And so, one Sunday in the worship service, I was baptized. It was full immersion too. Among the blessings from the pastor that day were, “Don’t worry, I won’t let you drown.”

John the Baptist called people to the waters by challenging them to repent, to turn away from whatever might be preventing them from fully experiencing the love, grace and mercy of God. Grace is freely given and experience has taught me that no one should have to beg for the grace of God.

We live through different kinds experiences that completely immerse us into a new way of understanding. Events that create a before and after view of life. These baptisms are often not pleasant experiences. They are limited only by the variety of human experience. They demand that you rise to the occasion of some new challenge.

In one sense, if we have not been baptized, or immersed in the fullness of life, then we have not really lived. The time you lost your job. When a loved one was cruelly taken from you. When you divorced. When there was some assault on your personhood and dignity; when events conspired to call into question your self-worth. Those are the times when life happens. When life rises up to meet you, even to grab you by the throat and say, “pay attention.”

We survive, or not. We get through it or we give into it. We get over it, or it gets over us. We are marked by the experiences that shape our lives. We carry the scars. But scars are also evidence of healing. We remember the pain that made the scars and scars are the marks of survival. 

Some people ask, why do bad things happen to good people? Or why believe in a God who allows bad things to happen? This is what’s called a “loaded’ question because it assumes a premise, an underlying belief. In this case, that a loving God would not allow bad things to happen, or that being a good person should keep bad things from happening.

The answer, if there is one, is found in the idea that life happens. The challenge of life is to discover that pathway that God has set for us, and to live it. To live it not as some kind of dour religious duty, not with blind fanaticism; but to live the joy, the gladness and the goodness of life that God makes possible. Regardless of bad things, and often in spite of bad things that happen.

Remember your baptism, we say. Remember when you were welcomed into the Christian community. If you were baptized as an infant, chances are you won’t remember it. But somewhere deep within your consciousness, the memory remains. You may recall the essence of it through various times and events of your life.

It’s as if your baptism comes through the other baptisms of your life. It is there to remind you who you are when you walk through the fire. It is there to remind you who is with you when you are tested. To remind you that … God is with you.

When we baptize someone at whatever age they may be, it is a kind of naming ceremony; a christening. We recognize life as a gift from God. With children, we dedicate them to God and we commit ourselves to raising the child to know and love God. We say, “This child now belongs to God. And in the face of all the other forces in this world that would try to give this child a false identity, we say no. She is God’s child. We will do everything in our power to claim that reality.”

As we go through life we are tempted to give up our identity and to allow other names to substitute. As the child we baptized today moves through her life, there will be times and places, people and events, that will cause her to remember her baptism. Challenges that will call upon her to claim her identity as a child of God.

We can’t understate the importance of our promises as parents and as a church. As children grow, they are in constant need of the unconditional love that God offers them. Their identity, personhood and human dignity are constantly called into question. It is our task to remind them of who they are, and to inspire and empower them to be the person God created them to be.

That means we have to have a pretty good idea of who we are, as individuals and as a community of faith. Our job as parents, god-parents and caring church community is to help our children prepare for the baptisms of life.

Children Learn What They Live, by Dorothy Law Nolte

“If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those around them.”

We don’t have all the answers here. We are just trying to raise the important questions. The challenges we and our children face today do not call for easy answers; they call for people willing to face the challenges. We all have a part to play and each one of us here today can ponder the question, “If I don’t, then who will?” Amen.