The Rev. Joseph Farnes
All Saints, Boise
Easter 4A
April 30, 2023
Baptism
“Those who had been baptized devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The Baptismal Covenant that is so central to Episcopal identity is something that has been part of Christianity from the beginning, even if it hasn’t been talked about that way.
Baptism is the rite of incorporation into the Body of Christ, and when we are baptized, we are called to live a newness of life that transforms the world.
To help us understand what is happening in our baptism, let’s talk about what the Spirit is doing in baptism: first, we are called out of the world; second, we are sent into the world; and third, we are brought into the Kingdom of God.
First, we are called out of the world. The first part of baptism is what we call the renunciation: we renounce those things that pull us away from the love of God and neighbor, we give up those things that tie us down. We renounce the messed-up ways that we see in the world, we renounce the messed-up ways that have become part of us, and we renounce the messed-up ways we see in the spiritual realm.
We renounce the messed-up ways of the world because we see how systems can get so messed up that alternatives seem impossible. We renounce the messed-up ways that have become part of us because we know that we’ve all inherited ways of thinking and being that maybe we’ve never questioned, yet they’re pulling us away from God. We renounce the messed-up spiritual ways we see in the spiritual realm because we see what happens when spirituality goes bad, turns poisonous, turns hateful and demonic. So we are called out of these ways, called to turn away from them and turn toward Jesus.
But the second movement of baptism sends us the opposite way. We are sent into the world. We aren’t called away from the world to prove we’re better than the rest of the world, and we aren’t called away from the world in order to sit in judgment of the world. No, in our baptism we’ll be sent back into the world in order to be an agent of healing, a sign of hope, a herald of God.
We are sent back out into the world to share the love of God in thought, word, and deed. In thought, in word, and in deed. All of those. The world needs us to share the love of God in our thinking, in our speaking, and in our doing. All three. The world needs new ways of thinking – ways that think of new possibilities. The world needs new ways of speaking – the truth spoken in love instead of lies spoken for gain. The world needs new ways of doing – action instead of inaction, contemplation instead of simmering resentment.
And the third movement of baptism: we are brought into the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is both our future hope and our present joy. We see glimpses of the Kingdom of God in our midst – in our community, where people of different backgrounds come together to pray and to praise God and to do works of compassion, where people come together to love one another and to be loved when they mess up. We trust in the Kingdom of God because we are walking our way to the Kingdom because it’s not here yet. There’s stuff that still needs to be changed, to be renewed, to be healed. But we know God will make it all right, and so we rejoice that the little things we do are part of that effort. The Kingdom of God is here now, and the Kingdom of God is coming soon.
But even the phrase “Kingdom of God” isn’t enough. Kingdom makes it sound like it’s a place, and it’s more than that. We’re brought into the Body of Christ – our hands are Christ’s hands to do his work, our mouths are Christ’s mouths to speak his words – do we take our place in the Body of Christ, and do we take it seriously?
And we’re brought into the Communion of Saints – the massive fellowship of so many who have gone before and so many who are still with us. Countless number, countless faces and lives, some that we know, and some that we do not know. All of them – we’re brought into an immense family of faith that welcomes us and celebrates the work of Christ in our lives. The saints have shared with us the teaching of the apostles, and we share in their fellowship in the breaking of the bread and the prayers.
You are called out of the world. You are sent into the world. You are brought into the Kingdom of God, the Body of Christ, the Communion of the Saints. Thanks be to God for the gift of baptism! Amen, alleluia!