About The Church: Part 3
Regarding Baptism

Dr. James Mayfield
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

March 14, 2004

Text: Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:8-9, I John 4:19

Today I am continuing to talk about what it means to be the church, and the focus for today is baptism. as we United Methodists understand it. All Christians who practice some form of baptism agree baptism is a special celebration of God's grace bringing another person into the family of Christianity. However we do have some disagreements. Some feel strongly about the amount of water needed. As for us, this is not an issue. We will baptize using immersion, or pouring or sprinkling. However an issue of disagrement that is of greater substance for us, has to do with the baptism of infants.

Quite frankly, I suspect most of our arguments about baptism cause God to yawn. Iam not convinced God is as concerned about our disagreements as much as some of us are. It appears to me there are responsible arguments for each of the various positions. As I see it, our differences have to do with what we are focused on, what we emphasize in the Gospel, the parts we write in bold letters. This is not to say any of us should just forget about it, as though our understandings of baptism were unimportant. I am convinced it is most important that regardless of the position we hold, we should know what we are doing in baptism, why we are doing it and that we do it with integrity. As I understand those who say it is not appropriate to baptize infants, it appears their focus is on the importance of beliefs. In fact, they often talk about baptism as "believers baptism." As they see it, the time to celebrate a person coming into the family of Christianity is when that person more or less understands what he or she is doing. Obviously, if having even an elementary conceptual understanding of the Gospel is a key issue related to baptism, then it is clearly inappropriate to baptize infants. Only those whose mental abilities can grasp at least some of the basic beliefs of the Gospel are appropriate candidates for baptism.

However, this is not our approach to baptism. Rather than being focused on when belief begins, we focus on when faith begins. Our focus is on the affirmation expressed by the Apostle Paul that we are saved by grace through faith. To be sure, we are saved by the grace of God. We even speak of faith itself as a gift of grace. But as we see it, it is through the gift of faith that we accept and appropriate God's grace. In speaking of the Gospel of God's grace, just as others put "belief" in bold print, we put "faith" in bold print. We focus on the truth that it is our trusting God as revealed in Christ that allows God's grace to shape the way we live. This faith is the kind of trusting in God that moves us to obedience. This faith is such trust in God that we willingly strive to live, saying and doing what God wants.

For us the question of when it is most appropriate to celebrate someone coming into the Christian community focuses on the question: "When does faith begin?" When this question is asked in a profound way, one is asking about the beginning of trust rather than about the beginning of conceptual understanding. Trust is not a concept; concepts are used to describe and define trust. And trust (faith) is a pre-cognitive reality at work within us. Obviously this is true for infants, but it is even true for adults, at least in the sense that although I may have conceptual understanding of the Gospel those concepts have no power in my life until I trust the truth of those concepts. It is not our beliefs about God and Christ but rather our faith, our trusting God and God's grace that impacts our living. In this sense, faith precedes belief.

God's grace is active in our lives long before we are aware of it. This is obviously true of an infant growing toward maturity. It is also true of persons coming into the family of Christianity as adults. God's transforming grace and the development of faith are at work in their lives long before they are aware of it. But it is when they are aware of faith beginning that adult baptism is appropriate, and of course this awareness in adults is also accompanied by both repentance and belief. But notice that the central mover in all this is faith -- faith in the grace of God.

For a child born into a family of faith, the emphasis on faith is the same; only the scenario is different. For the child born into the family of Christianity, that child's faith is shaped by the Gospel. To be sure, the faith of an infant is pure faith, that is, it is faith without any conceptual content. It is simple and profound trusting of the Source and Sustainer of life without any concepts about God. But as the child grows in the community of faith, the content of that faith grows from infancy to maturity. This faith begins as soon as the child is born into the community of faith, and this is why infant baptism is appropriate.

Because we focus on when faith begins, our baptism liturgy's focus is on faith. Even though there is a lot of talk about what we believe, it is what we "believe in," that is, what we have faith in. The liturgy has to do with professing our faith.

Regarding infant baptism the liturgy functions on at least a couple of levels. One level is asking the question: "Is it really true that a child has been born into the community of faith?" And so the liturgy examines first the parents and then the congregation, asking, in effect: "Are you really a family of faith?" But on another level, the liturgy is a reaffirmation of faith. Both the parents and the congregation are asked to reaffirm their faith as they commit themselves to being the community of faith for this child.

When it is an adult who is being baptized, the liturgy is read as a personal profession of faith, and when an adult professes faith, it always includes statements of both repentance and belief.

Whether it is infant or adult baptism, baptism is more than just a celebration of a new member entering the family of faith. The act is an expression of God's grace and an experience of God's grace. Baptism might be somewhat compared to a mother's kiss. The love expressed in the mother's kiss does not begin with the kiss; it was already there, and the kiss is but an expression of that love. The validity of her love is not dependent on the recipient understanding what her kiss means. Nor is the validity of her kiss dependent on the observers understanding it. So it is in baptism. In a way not too dissimilar from the way the kiss of a mother conveys love to the child (whether that child is an infant or someone who is grown) in baptism God's grace "kisses" not only the one being baptized but also the community reaffirming its faith. All baptism but especially infant baptism is both a declaration of God's grace and a special response to God's grace -- the grace by which we are saved through faith and not by works (not even the works of belief). Because we focus on the importance of faith, we believe the most appropriate time to celebrate a person coming into the family of Christianity is when faith begins.

Along with the Apostle Paul we affirm there is only one baptism. Once one is in the family, one does not have to be readmitted. In the story Jesus told about the waiting father and the prodigal son, when the son came home, the father did not take him to the courthouse to be readopted. The son who had run off and made a mess of his life was still part of the family, and when he came home there was a celebration but it was the celebration of a child coming home, not that of the family having a new member.

For both infants and adults, we understand baptism as the special celebration of God's grace at work in life, bringing another person into the community of faith. Baptism is not merely a religious ritual. It is a combination celebration, affirmation, proclamation and experience of the basic truth of the Gospel -- that we are saved by grace through faith.

In baptism we are named the name of Christ, and we become part of his family. And just as we were not immediately aware of all it meant when we became part of our family, -- be it the one into which we were born, or adopted or married -- it takes time and a lot of learning before we discover all it means and implies to be a member of the family of Christ.

When I was the age that caused my parents to worry, my mother would sometimes say as I left home, remember who you are; live up to your family's good name. In baptism we are given our identity; we are named with the name of Christ. (move to the baptismal font) In the winter of 1942, the German Army had surrounded Leningrad. Only supplies came in trucks that made daring runs across a frozen lake at night under the cover of darkness. A story has been handed down that when it appeared the people were about to starve or be killed, parents tried to save their children by sending them out of the city in the empty supply trucks. The nights when the children were loaded in the trucks and about to leave, one could hear parents calling to their children and saying over and over again: "Remember your name. Remember your name."

It is a profound plea. And it is one we need to hear but in a different context as we think about our baptism. Remember your name. Remember who you are - who you really are. (lift the baptismal bowl) Remember your baptism and remember what it means. Remember your name, child of God. Remember who you are; Through your baptism, you are a sister, a brother of Jesus Christ, and your name is Christian. (lifting water 3 times) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, remember your name; remember your baptism and be grateful. Amen.

Pastoral prayer:
God, it is your grace at work within us that enables us to desire what you would have us desire. Our wisdom is wise only to the extent our wisdom is shaped by yours. Our deeds are worthy only to the extent that what we are doing is what you would have us do. Our words speak truth only to the extent we say what you want us to say. God, forgive us when we turn it all around, and we try to make our desires be your desires, when we try to pretend our wisdom is yours and that you will approve and help us do whatever we want. Forgive us when we try to get you to endorse what we saying rather than us striving to say what you endorse. God, turn us around. Face us in the right direction. Create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us so that we will desire what you would have us desire and do what you would have us do. This we pray, remembering Jesus was teaching us to live when he taught us to pray: "Our Father …"