So, here we are. Gathered to dedicate and baptize little Gus Ngong. And I think it’s a good excuse to remind us all about what’s what when it comes to the sacrament of baptism. And the first thing to remember is that in our Presbyterian tradition, baptism includesdedication. When we baptize a child, she or he is dedicated to the service of the Lord. Notice the passive construction: she or he is dedicated bysomeone, and that someone includes his or her parents. They agree to “be responsible for nurturing their child in the faith and life of the Christian community.” But the parents are not the only ones doing the promising: if Godparents are invited, they promise the same thing. And finally, the church itself promise the same thing, to nurture the child in the faith and life of the Christian community as a whole and that particular expression of it. In our case, Greenhills Community Church, Presbyterian.
It is important that the congregation be included in the promise, because it is ultimately that particular church that is doing the baptism, on the behalf of God. Another way to put it is that the church—not the parents, not even the pastor—is the vessel for God’s action. One way to think of it is to use the Apostle Paul’s metaphor of the church as the “body of Christ,” and asthat body, we come complete with Christ’s hands, which is a good thing in the case of baptism: without hands the baby would slip right through. And so it is in our capacity as Christ’s body that we perform baptism on behalf of the divine. Without the hands of Christ—aka ourhands—the thing would not get done.
But here’s a question: just what is it that is being done? In our Presbyterian tradition, Baptism is one of two sacraments, the other being Communion. In other traditions, notably Baptists, these are not sacraments. They perform them because they’ve been commanded to. Thus, Jesus tells us to baptize people in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and we do it, and that’s it. But that’s not what we Presbyterians believe, or not allof it, anyway. Sure, we believe that Jesus is Lord, that if he says jump we say how high, but that’s not all there is to baptism, or communion, for that matter. We believe that when we do it, God does something throughthat action; John Calvin, through whom we get much of our distinctive beliefs, taught that a sacrament has two parts: that done by us and that done by God. The first part, the action done by us, signifies or points to the second part, what God is doing in the sacrament. Thus, what we do is a visible signof an invisible grace. Note that in linguistic terms, the dunking or sprinkling is the signifierand the action of God is the signified. In the case of baptism, the signifier is a threefold washing of the forehead, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as Jesus commanded, and the what is signified is God’s grace, marking him or her as God’s own child.
But wait . . . there’s more! We believe that Jesus’ ownbaptism is a model for ours. And that’s why I read the brief passage from Luke describing it. “and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’” Here’s the two parts: the pointer or signifier is John the Baptist washing him in the Jordan river (it was almost certainly notfull immersion). And what is pointed to, the signified, the action of God, is the Holy Spirit coming down from heaven and by that action declaring Jesus to be God’s Son, the beloved, and that with him, God is well pleased.
Part one, the human action; part two, God’s action. Part one, washing; part two, declaring God’s son. And note that it’s not necessarily coterminous, it doesn’t necessarily happen at the same moment. Jesus was God’s son in the beginning,as John tells us; here he is declaredto be that, or as Calvin put it, markedas such.
So in a few moments, as we baptize little Gus, remember what it all means. In the same way as Jesus, and through the action of the Holy Spirit, Gus will be declared God’s Son, God’s beloved, in whom God is wellpleased. Amen.
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