Sacrificing Babies

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 11, 2009; 1 Epiphany, the Baptism of Our Lord, Year B
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Mark 1:4-11) – John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
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The renowned Christian educator John Westerhoff taught at Duke for many years and assisted at the Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church in Durham, North Carolina. John says that every once in a while the rector would come across a particularly interesting couple who wished to have their child baptized, and who, in the rector's opinion, could handle having John do their pre-baptismal preparation. Without too much warning, the rector would send them over to visit with John, build him up in their imaginations with an impressive resume as the great Christian formation expert: the Rev. Dr. John Westerhoff. Thus prepared, the couple arrived at John's office, carrying their beloved infant.

"So, the rector sent you to me because you want your child baptized. You look like such a nice couple. This is a beautiful baby. Why would you want to do something like that to such a wonderful child?"

After the couples' dumbfounded look, John would continue. "Let me tell you what we're going to do to your little one. I'm going to take your child away from you in the name of the Church. This child will no longer belong to you, it will belong to the Church and to God. After I take your baby away from you, I'm going to drown it and remove its identity as your child and the descendent of your two families with all their horse-thieves, and I am going to give it an entirely new identity. I am going to drown it, brand it like cattle, and give it a new name. Now if you're willing to do that to this precious child, we'll proceed."

John said that the rector had been careful about whom he sent to John for pre-baptismal preparation, and so far, none of the couples had walked out. The reward for their bravery was a profound experience of Christian baptism.

Like the Christmas tree, the word "Easter" and the Celtic cross, Baptism has its roots in ancient, primitive tribal customs, the rites of initiation. When a young person was to be initiated into the tribe as a fully responsible member, the child would be kidnaped or separated from its home and village, and taken to an undisclosed place. There the child was taught the lore of the tribe – its story, its values, its meaning and purpose. There would be some trial which risked death and installed character. The child's old clothes would be removed and burned, and it would be given new garments to signify its full membership in the tribe. The child would return to the village where there would be a great festive gathering. Among the gathered community, the child would experience a ritual of initiation, receive a tattoo or mark of tribal identity, be charged with the responsibilities of membership in the tribe, and be welcomed into the community with a great feast and celebration.

Today that is what we are going to do to some precious children in our community. We are going to take them from their parents; teach them the lore of our tribe – our story, values, meaning and purpose; we will give each child a new identity, each will be Christened with its Christian name; we will drown these children into Christ's death; under the waters of baptism they will be united with Christ in his death and raised with him in his resurrection; out of the waters of new life they will be marked and sealed as Christ's own forever; the heavens will open and the voice of God will say, "This is my beloved child" and we will welcome each child into the household of God. We then will return each child to its parents and charge them with their ministry as steward's on behalf of God and the church, responsible for the life of this child. The child's sponsors or godparents will be given their ministry to insure that this child will be brought up in the Christian faith and life. It is primitive, powerful stuff.

Baptism is full initiation into the Body of Christ. We recognize each baptized person as family, and we welcome them to the family feast of the Eucharist to share in the Body and Blood of Christ.

The act of Baptism is indelible. From now to eternity, this person belongs to God, and God will never relinquish the divine claim. When the child is older, the child may choose to confirm that identity and faith, and through the sacrament of Confirmation take personal responsibility for the promises made on the child's behalf by its parent and godparents; or when it matures, the child may choose to deny that faith and identity. But God will never deny the reality that is accomplished today.

At least three things happen in Baptism: Identity, Membership, and Meaning.

We are given our primary identity – we are God's children, created in the image and likeness of God. We are made members of the Body of Christ, and we put on the mind and character of Jesus. We are filled with the Holy Spirit and grafted into the meaningful life and work of the Church.

The Baptismal Covenant tells us of the triune God in whose image we are created. At every baptism we repeat the Baptismal Covenant to remind us of our common work and calling as the Church: to continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers; to persevere in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord; to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ; to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself; to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. This is our calling. This is what we do as Christians.

We ask God to fill us with the Holy Spirit so that our consciousness, our interior subjective awareness, may be opened and conformed to the heart of Christ, so that we will be predisposed to lead lives faithful to the gift of our identity, membership and meaning as Christ's Body in the world.

This is our tribal initiation. It is ancient, profound, and mysterious stuff. But I want to mention one other ancient aspect of what we do today. You might even call it primitive. Whenever our tribal ancestors approached the divine, they always did so in a spirit of offering. They always had something to give to God, something to sacrifice. Grain or drink; self-immolation or money. There is ancient mythic power and meaning underneath the act of sacrifice. To sacrifice something is to give it to God; it is no longer our own. We make no more claim upon the object. Often whatever was sacrificed was burned as a symbol that it has been given to God. Whatever is given to God is made holy. That is the meaning of the word "sacrifice" – it is from the Latin, sacra meaning "sacred rites" and facere meaning "to do" or "to perform." To sacrifice something to God is to perform a sacred rite to make it sanctus or sacer: holy. Whatever is given to God is made holy.

But there is a further meaning to sacrifice. Whenever something is given to God, the part represents the whole. When we offer our prayers of the Daily Office, we give God this part today's time so that all of the day may be holy and blessed. When we offer to God a portion of our money, our tithes, we ask God to accept this part of our wealth and income so that all of it may become holy and blessed. When a person is set apart through ordination to become a priest, it is so that the whole community may know itself to be a holy priesthood for God. When bread and wine are sacrificed on the altar, it is that all may be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ so that every table may be holy and blessed. When Jesus is sacrificed on the cross, it is so every human being may rise to the resurrection life that overcomes death. In the act of sacrifice, the part represents the whole. The part is given to God – is sacrificed, and thus made holy – so that the whole may also be blessed and made holy.

And so today we sacrifice these children into the death of Christ, that they may rise to his resurrection, holy and blessed, and be given their new identity and vocation of Jesus to be a holy blessing to the whole world. And the Church, this community of the baptized, we are not set apart as a superior tribe to claim any form of domination or arrogance above those who are not part of our community. We are to be the part that is sacrificed for the whole. We are to be the living sign of the reality that God loves and God claims all humanity. We willingly offer ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice for the sake of the whole world -- just like Jesus. All inclusive.

The children whom we baptize today are God's beloved children before we ever bring them to the baptismal font. We are simply recognizing and enacting the pre-existing truth and reality of God's blessing upon them. The world of all humanity is God's beloved community. When we claim our identity, membership and meaning as baptized people, we are simply recognizing and enacting the pre-existing truth and reality of God's blessing that extends universally to all humanity. It is our privilege to sacrifice ourselves to that purpose and to live into our baptismal vows on behalf of all people.

Therefore, remember who you are and whose you are. It is a high calling. You are called to be God's sacrificial people. Everything you are and everything you do is to be part of what God is doing to reconcile and heal the world. It's such a big job. We need some help. Let's baptize a few more people today, to help us in this holy calling.
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