\nA
\nlong time ago, before I had realized the wisdom of reading novellas
\nto children for Children’s Time, I had prepared a Children’s Time on
\nbaptism. \u00a0This was when I was serving the Morris United Methodist
\nChurch, and it turned out we had a baptism that day. \u00a0When Children’s
\nTime began there were two children present: an infant and a two year
\nold. \u00a0This wasn’t going to make my work particularly easy. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nAt
\nthe Morris United Methodist Church, they do baptisms in the back of
\nthe sanctuary. \u00a0The font is in the center of aisle right in the back,
\nagainst the wall. \u00a0A baptismal banner hangs above it. \u00a0They do this
\non purpose. \u00a0Their idea is that baptism is the entrance to the church
\nfamily, so it makes sense to have it in the area they enter from.
\nWhen the time in the service came to do baptisms everyone would stand
\nup and turn to watch. \u00a0That is, everyone who could. \u00a0There was one
\nman in the church who couldn’t stand: the pastor emeritus who was in
\na wheelchair. \u00a0The space where the pew had been cut out was all the
\nway in the back row, so he just got turned around in his wheelchair.
\nAs time when on, we got smart, and when babies were being baptized I
\nwould put them in his arms while I baptized them so we got to do it
\ntogether. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nIn
\nthat church I was responsible for the creation of the bulletin (which
\nmeant that there was a game entitled \u201cwho can find one of Sara’s
\ntypos first\u201d) and I would pick images for the font cover of the
\nbulletin. \u00a0That week I’d taken a picture of the front doors of the
\nchurch and made it the image on the cover of the bulletin. \u00a0As
\nplanned, I asked the kids what was on the cover of the bulletin. \u00a0The
\ntwo year old cheerfully responded, \u201ca do’\u201d. \u00a0At this point, I was
\nin trouble. \u00a0The response \u201ca do’\u201d was entirely correct, but I
\ncouldn’t do much more with it. \u00a0Somehow, and it felt as amazing then
\nas it does now in telling it, at that point a 10 year old showed up
\nand joined children’s time. \u00a0 So I asked, \u201cwhy would I have a
\npicture of doors on the cover of the bulletin.\u201d \u00a0The 10 old rolled
\nhis eyes at the stupidness of my question and responded, \u201cBecause
\nyou are doing a baptism today, and those are the church doors, and
\nbaptism is an entrance to the church family like the doors are the
\nentrance to the church.\u201d \u00a0The adults responded with an enthusiastic
\n\u201coh!\u201d and accused me of prepping the kid ahead of time. \u00a0(I
\ndidn’t! \u00a0I swear. \u00a0He was just that smart. \u00a0And he thought it was so
\nobvious as to be beneath him.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nI’ve
\nalways appreciated the wisdom of the Morris United Methodist Church,
\nand their understanding of baptism as an entrance. \u00a0There are many
\ngood ways to think of baptism, and that’s certainly one of them.
\nMartin Luther King Jr. was known to speak of the Beloved Community,
\nan idea that sounds like another name for the kin-dom of God to me.
\nAccording to the King Center,\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cFor
\nDr. King, The Beloved Community was not a lofty utopian goal to be
\nconfused with the rapturous image of the Peaceable Kingdom, in which
\nlions and lambs coexist in idyllic harmony. Rather, The Beloved
\nCommunity was for him a realistic, achievable goal that could be
\nattained by a critical mass of people committed to and trained in the
\nphilosophy and methods of nonviolence.<\/p>\n
\nDr. \n<\/p>\n \nRev. \n<\/p>\n \nIt \n<\/p>\n \nNow, \n<\/p>\n \nWe \n<\/p>\n \nGod\u2019s \n<\/p>\n \nI \n<\/p>\n \nI \n<\/p>\n \nI \n<\/p>\n \nIt \n<\/p>\n \nAnyone \n\tGod \n\tGod \n\tGod \nTo \n<\/p>\n \nMy \n<\/p>\n \nAnd \n<\/p>\n \nAnd \n<\/p>\n \nThanks 1<\/a>http:\/\/www.thekingcenter.org\/king-philosophy#sub4<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nKing\u2019s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people
\ncan share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community,
\npoverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because
\ninternational standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism
\nand all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be
\nreplaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In
\nthe Beloved Community, international disputes will be resolved by
\npeaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries,
\ninstead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and
\nhatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military
\nconflict.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
\nDr. King’s wording is a smooth fit with the gospel lesson. \u00a0In Luke
\nthe Divine message doesn’t show up until after Jesus has been
\nbaptized and is praying. \u00a0The language is similar in each of the
\ngospels, the Divine message says, \u201cYou
\nare my Child, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.“ (Luke
\n3:22b, NRSV) \u00a0Luke is one one of the gospel writers to suggest that
\nJesus had to wait in line like the rest of the crowd to be baptized.
\nHe was one of many.<\/p>\n
\nhas always seemed to me that the words of that came at Jesus’ baptism
\nare the words intended for every baptism. \u00a0\u201cThis is my Child, the
\nBeloved; with you I am well pleased.\u201d \u00a0It suggests that each
\nbaptized person has been named as God’s beloved in that experience,
\nand that the community of baptized people IS the Beloved Community.
\nOf course, to fit King’s vision we need more training in nonviolence
\nand peaceful conflict-resolution, but if you keep paying attention to
\nthe Children’s Time novella, that may count!<\/p>\n
\nbaptism is a sacrament. \u00a0Most people agree that a sacrament is an
\noutward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. \u00a0Or, a
\n\u201csign-act\u201d which is an action that also has words to go along
\nwith it. \u00a0The other sacrament that we acknowledge as United
\nMethodists is communion. \u00a0I think it is important to note that God’s
\nlove is available to us at all times in our lives. \u00a0The sacraments
\nare simply times when it is easier for us to remember that! \u00a0God
\ndoesn’t change. \u00a0We are more attentive to God in those moments.<\/p>\n
\naccept baptism and communion as sacraments because the Bible tells us
\nthat Jesus participated in them and instructed other to do so a well!
\n In baptism, the grace that is offered is the
\ninitiating act of a covenant. \u00a0Baptism is the covenantal act of
\nacknowledging the love of God and the way that it is expressed by
\nfamily, sponsors, clergy, and church community. \u00a0The acceptance of
\nthe covenant is an act of inclusion into the Church, the community
\nthat is aware of God’s grace. \u00a0The candidate for baptism has two
\nprimary responsibilities. \u00a0The first is to be open to the experience
\nof being loved, both in the ritual of baptism throughout the rest of
\nlife. \u00a0The second is to complete the covenant, to seek always to love
\nGod and love neighbors as the response to God’s love.<\/p>\n
\ngrace is available at all times, and thus is available at baptism;
\nthe ritual cannot exist without God\u2019s grace. \u00a0Baptism is a public
\nact of accepting God\u2019s love, but God\u2019s love exists for each
\nperson with or without baptism. \u00a0The
\ncovenant is eternal, even if the person ignores it. \u00a0God does not
\nstop loving. \u00a0The water is symbolic, and as such its efficacy is not
\nbased on its quantity. \u00a0That is a baptism is real whether the water
\nis poured or sprinkled over a person OR they are dunked!<\/p>\n
\nhaven’t ever done a baptism where a person is dunked, although I was
\ntrained in it in seminary. \u00a0I suspect that symbolism of new life is
\nmore tangible in those baptisms. \u00a0When I was in college one of the
\nchurches in town left the doors to its sanctuary open at all times.
\nI would often go there to pray, and to ponder. \u00a0The entrance to that
\nsanctuary was though two sets of solid wooden doors. \u00a0The first set
\nconnected the church to outside. \u00a0The second set connected the
\nentrance to the sanctuary. \u00a0The space between them was pretty small,
\nand there were no windows or lights. \u00a0(This was in New Hampshire, I’m
\npretty sure the design was intended to keep the cold out.) \u00a0I usually
\npaused in that space between the sets of doors. \u00a0I didn’t yet know
\nthe word \u201climinal,\u201d but I \u00a0knew that I liked the in-betweenness
\nof that space. \u00a0Between the sets of doors I was not in the outside
\nworld, nor was I in the sanctuary. \u00a0I was in the middle, in nowhere.
\nYoung adulthood often felt disorienting, and being in a physical
\nspace that reflected that no-whereness brought it some peace.<\/p>\n
\nsuspect that for those who undergo full immersion baptism, the moment
\nunder the water might be the the space between the doors. \u00a0The person
\nis, symbolically, dead to their old life and yet not yet alive in
\ntheir new one. \u00a0I’ve worried, at times, about the pressure a person
\nmight feel under if they understood baptism that way. \u00a0What happens
\nthe first time that they are cranky, or tempted, or mean! \u00a0Do they
\nworry that the baptism didn’t work? \u00a0Do they feel unworthy?\n<\/p>\n
\nhope that baptism is a reminder that we are Beloved, and that when we
\nparticipate in the baptisms of others we remember the covenant also
\napplies to us! \u00a0God’s grace is exceptionally powerful stuff. \u00a0It
\ncounters any argument that suggests that we are not enough, that we
\nhave to work harder or have more in order to be sufficient. \u00a0It
\nreminds us that our bodies, minds, emotions, and spirits are beloved
\nJUST AS THEY ARE, and that we need not earn our way into God’s favor.<\/p>\n
\ndoes occur to me at times that believing in God’s grace is much more
\nradical than simply believing in God. \u00a0As odds would have it, I
\nfigure that God’s existence is a 50\/50. \u00a0It can’t be proven either
\nway. \u00a0(Or, perhaps, the existence of God is equivalent to Schroeder’s
\ncat. \u00a0On a strictly logical level, God both is and isn’t! \u00a0Please
\ntake that idea lightly.) \u00a0On the other hand, the premise that the God
\nwho exists is benevolent, that the One who Created cares, that the
\nEnergy and Connector of All that Is is by nature Grace \u2013 all of
\nthat is much less logical. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nlooking at the injustices and evils of the world could easily
\nconclude that a Higher Power simply doesn’t care. \u00a0Because, they
\nwould conclude, if a Higher Power exists AND cares, then why are
\nthere such awful realities? \u00a0Therefore, a logical person might
\nconclude, one of 3 things must be true:<\/p>\n\n
\n\tdoesn’t exist.<\/p>\n
\n\tdoesn’t care.<\/p>\n
\n\tdoesn’t have the power to change things.\n\t<\/p>\n
\nbe fair, I’ve heard people suggest that there is a 4th<\/sup>
\noption, that God’s ways are not like our ways and that what we see as
\ninjustice is OK with God, but that’s such a lousy argument that I
\nrefuse to work with it.<\/p>\n
\ntraining has been in a theology that turns to #3, \u201cGod doesn’t have
\nthe power to change things.\u201d \u00a0Process theology argues over whether
\nGod CAN’T interfere with human will or simply WON’T, but admits that
\nif you want to understand God as existing and loving, you are forced
\nby logic to concede that God does not stop us from doing each other
\nharm. \u00a0Instead, Process Theology says, God works with all of us all
\nthe time. \u00a0God \u201cwhispers\u201d to us suggestions of how we might act
\nin the most loving of ways. \u00a0God works with us where we are and
\noffers us the possibility of turning in good directions. \u00a0However, we
\nare truly free to ignore God’s whispers, hopes, and suggestions and
\ndo the opposite. \u00a0Whether this is because God simply refuses to treat
\nus as slaves or because creation itself won’t allow the violation of
\nimposed will, we are free to do good and we are free to do harm, and
\nwe do both.<\/p>\n
\nyet, we are Beloved. \u00a0We are Beloved when we live out God’s love to
\nthe fullest and share love with all we meet. \u00a0We are Beloved when we
\nare simply awful, and do profound and lasting damage to others.
\nGod’s love comes from God’s nature, not from our earning it. \u00a0It may
\nnot be logical, the way we see things. \u00a0God’s existence is fair game.
\n God’s GRACE, God’s LOVE, God’s desire for goodness isn’t something
\nwe can derive from pure logic. \u00a0We find it scripture. \u00a0We hear about
\nin tradition and from those we know in the Body of Christ. \u00a0We can
\nexperience it in our bodies, and we can learn about it through a
\nvariety of fields of research if we look with the right lenses. \u00a0But
\nit is a matter of faith to believe in a God of love.<\/p>\n
\nyet, the do’ is open to all.<\/p>\n
\nbe to God. \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n