Several weeks before Christmas Eve I got a phone call asking if I
could do a baptism.
“We will be driving into Prince George on the 24th,” the lady on
the other end of the phone line informed me.
“I’m taking off on the 25th so the only day I could do it is
Christmas Eve,” I replied.
“That works,” she said.
I stopped for a minute.
Usually I do some baptismal prep with the parents, have some time
to talk about the service and tell them what they’re committing to.
This would be difficult with that timeline.
Even with the reservations I said “Sure, Christmas Eve it is. Show
up a half hour early and we will talk about the service.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Fast forward a couple weeks later and it’s 7:23 pm on Christmas
Eve.
The service starts in 7 minutes and the baptismal party still hasn’t
arrived.
No sooner do I start to wonder if this is happening then there is a
knock on my office door.
“Sorry we’re late. We went to the wrong church,” the familiar
voice said flanked by the person I presumed was the father and a
host of other supporters.
After lighting quick introductions I threw them a red hymnal,
reviewed the service and off they went to sit down.
“Whew,” I thought.
As the service began the parents and sponsors came forward with
Julinna.
We bumbled our way through the baptism with Juliana watching
the whole thing with wide eyes.
Crying ensued at various points.
She watched curiously as her baptismal candle was lit as a symbol
of Christ’s light in her life.
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And no sooner had it begun then it was over.
The service continued as usual and after the sermon I had a chance
to look out on the congregation.
A quarter of the people were missing.
“The sermon wasn’t that bad, was it,” I thought to myself, only to
realize that the entire baptismal party, including sponsors, mom,
dad and the newly baptized little girl had left the building.
As quickly as Juliana came into our lives she was gone and we
were left wondering what that was all about.
I mean they could of at least shown some respect and stayed for
the rest of the service right?
They could of at least pretended like they were serious about the
whole thing.
But no they just walked in here, had her baptized and walked out.
Surely that baptism doesn’t really count, does it?
I mean at the very least you have to stick around for the full service
before you take off never to be seen again.
The fact is there should be standards for baptism like every other
thing in life.
You don’t get your drivers license unless you study, pass a few
tests, get your L and N and pass your driving exam.
If you fail to follow through with these expectations then you don’t
get a drivers license.
It’s as simple as that.
Standards help us to know what we need to do in order accomplish
something.
John the Baptist knows all about standards.
As he waits for Jesus he is faced with all sort of people who come
to get baptized but seem to have little intention of changing things
around in their lives or following through with the promises made
in baptism.
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Listen to John’s interaction with such people.
But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for
baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you
to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”
Have you ever heard of baptism as fire insurance?
In other words you have your child baptized just in case this whole
God thing is real.
That way you at least have minimal coverage which will get you
into heaven.
Never mind living out your Christian call.
I’ll take the lowest insurance and that’s enough for me.
This is what the Pharisees and Sadducees as doing when they are
fleeing from the wrath to come.
They’re covering all their bases.
But for John that isn’t enough.
Baptism isn’t about the lowest common denominator.
It’s about honest intentions, about living this baptismal call out in
the world and about a life that looks different.
I have a hard time imagining John baptizing these Pharisees and
Sadducees after such a serious indictment.
Instead I imagine him standing his ground, upholding a certain
standard that should be met before baptism could be administered.
At the very least people had to be sorry for their sins and turn to a
new life.
Has it been so different in the church?
In case you didn’t know pastors often struggle with the question
about whether to baptize someone.
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Do the parents honestly intend to raise the child in the Christian
faith, to bring them to church, read them the bible and pray with
them?
Will the sponsors actually support the family?
Are they practicing Christians?
Or even will the adult being baptized really follow through with
this whole thing?
All of these standards are set out in the actual baptismal service
because we ask people if they will do them.
Certainly we must do this with integrity.
Perhaps like John there are times when we should call people out
for their motivations and simply turn them away.
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to
come?” John shouts at those who seem less than likely to live out
their baptismal call in the way he feels is necessary.
But then Jesus shows up.
John is prepared for this because he also seems to know exactly
how this should play out.
The one who is greater than him will come and baptize him.
John knows that he is not great enough to baptize Jesus.
After all there are standards to be upheld right?
And so Jesus comes from Galilee to John at the river Jordan.
But he is not there to baptize John.
Jesus has something else in mind.
He’s there to be baptized by John
John is absolutely scandalized
It goes against everything he knows, against the proper way of
doing things.
After all John has it all figured out.
He knows how it should all happen.
Doesn’t Jesus know that he’s messing things up completely.
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And so as John presumably did to the Pharisees he does to Jesus.
He decides to prevent the baptism from happening; he stands in the
way and actually tries to stop God’s Son from being baptized all
because of the standards.
How blinded John has become.
He’s spent so much time in the desert yelling and scolding
everyone who came out for all the wrong reasons, making fences
and setting up walls to keep out the unworthy and let in the worthy,
that finally when the one who is worthy beyond measure shows up
he ends up missing the boat.
His standards have blinded him to God’s ultimate plan standing
right in front of him.
His standards have blinded him to God’s ability to act despite what
he may think or believe.
His fear of not doing it right, of making a mistake means that he
misses the whole point.
How tragic.
“I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? But Jesus
answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for in this way to
fulfill all righteousness.”
In this way
Not in John’s way, or our way or anybody else’s way but in this
way, in God’s way.
We forget so easily that God’s ways are not our ways.
Our ways are about standards and rules.
But as theologian and priest Robert Capon said in Jesus we see that
God is no longer in the accounting business.
God has given that up all together and is now in the business of
saving.
In other words God is no longer interested in weighing the scales
to see if we measure up.
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God is interested in coming down to us, giving us freely the faith
and forgiveness that we need.
Baptism is an act of God shown to us in Jesus and enacted through
the Holy Spirit pure and simple.
No lack of intention, failed promises or disinterest in worship can
ever prevent or stand in the way of God’s intention for our lives.
Amen
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