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Thought for the Week 10 January – Baptism of Christ
The birth of a baby is wondrous and their
baptism is a very important event. I
don’t doubt that in your family there will be the recollection of a
particular baptism – maybe the godparents didn’t turn up, maybe the vicar
forgot the baby’s sex, or name……… At Christmas we celebrate the birth of
Jesus Christ, the most important birth of all. Surely, his baptism must be of great
significance. If you haven’t been
baptised you may be asking: “What’s special about the baptism of Jesus?” First, baptism was not a naming ceremony
when Jesus was a baby. Jesus had
already been given a name – when he was circumcised. As devout Jews, Mary and Joseph had taken
the baby Jesus to the synagogue when he was 8 days old to have him
circumcised and to have him named. They offered a sacrifice - a thanksgiving
gift - of “a pair of doves or two pigeons.” [Luke 2.21] We will be remembering this event - the
Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (or Candlemas) - on 2nd
February. Second, baptism was a sign of
repentance. When Jesus was baptised
he was about 30 years old, and it was his older cousin John the Baptist who
dunked him in the River Jordan. John
was not at all keen to baptise Jesus.
After all, Jesus was not a sinner so John didn’t think it was
necessary or appropriate – and he said so!
Third, God made sure everyone knew that
this was a special event – big time! The heavens opened, a dove hovered over
Jesus, and a voice announced: “You are my beloved Son, in you I delight.” What does all this mean for us? Baptism is very special, it’s what we
call a sacrament. The word sacrament
comes from Sacramentum – the Roman oath of allegiance. Baptism is the sacrament of initiation into
membership of the Church, allegiance to the Body of Christ. It is the point at which we are welcomed
into the loving family of God - we become his adopted children. At our baptism we receive the sign of the
cross, a reminder of the cost of discipleship. St. Paul wrote to the Romans: “Do you not
know that all of us who have been baptized unto Christ Jesus were baptized
unto his death? Therefore we have been
buried with him by baptism unto death, so that, just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of
life.” [Romans 6.3-4] The dove symbolises the Holy Spirit
moving over water at the beginning of creation, searching for signs of life
when Noah released it from the Ark, and hovering over Jesus at his
baptism. In the reading from Acts,
Luke reminds us of the need to be baptised not only with water but also with
the Holy Spirit. At our baptism a prayer is said over the water asking God to
make it holy to wash away our sin. Human life is a process or a journey, not
just a point of arrival. The same is
true of baptism and the new life we have in Jesus. If we were baptised as infants our parents
and godparents made promises on our behalf.
They promised to bring us up in the Christian faith, to bring us to
church so we could learn more about Jesus.
They promised to encourage us to come to confirmation in due time. Some of our candidates preparing for
confirmation in two weeks’ time are learning about this journey by putting
various “indispensable items” into a backpack. The first item – a tin of sardines -
represents a fish and reminds us of our baptism. Fish are born in water and so are we. Many of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen and
Jesus told them “I will make you fishers of men”. Baptism is about forgiveness and we’re
reminded that Jesus insisted that John the Baptist should give him the
baptism of repentance so that he who was sinless could identify completely
with all humankind. At our baptism our parents and godparents promised to
help us to live in the light of Jesus, accepting that we often think and say
and do wrong things, but that when we come to Jesus and say sorry then he
always forgives us. The prophet Isaiah assures us that when
we accept God as our creator and redeemer he will be with us through waters,
rivers and fire – through thick and thin, through all the trials and
temptations of life, Baptism
is the most important event in our Christian life – more important than
marriage or any career we might follow.
It is said that King Louis of France used to sign his documents not,
“Louis IX, King” but “Louis of Poissy.”
When he was asked why, he answered: “Poissy is the place where I was
baptised. I think more of the place
where I was baptised than of Rheims Cathedral where I was crowned. It is a greater thing to be a child of God
than to be the ruler of a Kingdom: this last I shall lose at death, the other
will be my passport to an everlasting glory.” (F.H. Drinkwater) Amen. Revd
June Hutchinson: Assistant Curate, Anglican Chaplaincy of Midi-Pyrénées &
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