At this time each year, a Sunday is set aside to commemorate the baptism of our Lord. And since it falls on a communion Sunday, today we will emphasize the meaning of the Sacraments in a way that hopefully enhances our understanding and experience of them.
A Sacrament is an outward sign of an inward reality. Or as Donald McKim puts it, the Sacraments are “visible holy signs and seals instituted by God so that by their use God may make us understand more clearly the promise of the gospel and put God’s seal on that promise.”
Instead of something exotic or expensive and rare, the Sacraments utilize common elements – water for baptism and bread and the fruit of the vine for communion. As we consider baptism, why do you suppose water is especially appropriate for this Sacrament? How is water used in ordinary life? It is used for cleansing, and therefore points to the cleansing of our sin. It sustains life, which points to the eternal life we share with Christ. It refreshes. Like running through the sprinklers on a hot day, our baptism brings us joy. It symbolizes eternity. As rain falls from the clouds and waters the earth, it then evaporates and gathers to the clouds to begin the cycle again.
There is at least one other reason why water is especially appropriate for the Sacrament of baptism, but it’s one we seldom think of. To the ancient Hebrews, water was also a symbol of death. They were not a seagoing people, and large bodies of water came to symbolize chaos and death. Of key importance is the fact that our baptism is also a sign of our sharing in Jesus’ death. Some pastors have been known, when baptizing by immersion, to hold the person under the water for a prolonged period to emphasize this point. When the person comes out of the water with a great gasp it remains as a great memory of the new life promised in the resurrection.
Presbyterians can baptize by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling, and we only baptize once. This is because we understand that the Sacraments are instituted by God. God acts first, and we then respond. It is not the form of the ceremony that seals the promises to us. Nor is it the holiness of the person administering the Sacrament. God has already acted, and the Sacrament witnesses to us and all gathered what God has already done.
In the ancient tribal culture, circumcision was the mark of identification of belonging to God’s people. This prefigured Baptism, which is the much more inclusive sign of entry into the church, identification with the body of Christ. So, it was fitting that Jesus submitted to baptism even though he needed no cleansing from sin. In sharing this Sacrament with us, we are identified as Christ’s own and made one with the body.
Our Old Testament passage from Isaiah 43 was first spoken to a people in exile. It articulated that God was going to institute a saving action on their behalf. In those words, we find the prefiguring of the saving action that God has instituted in baptism. Kathleen M. O’Connor gives an excellent summary. “This poem eminently suits the feast of the baptism of the Lord because all the divine promises articulated by Isaiah receive a new layer of meaning in Jesus’ baptism. In that New Testament event, Jesus passes through the waters and comes fully to his identity. He becomes the ransom for many. He brings new life for people lost to enslavement. He reveals God’s love for the people, the new Israel, gathered anew from the four corners of the earth for the glory of God.
In the sacrament of baptism, Christians too pass through the waters like the Israelites in the exodus and like the captives in Babylon. Christians too receive the promise of new life that does not exempt them from suffering but assures them, “I have called you by name,” “I am with you,” “I will ransom you,” “I am the LORD your God.” It is these promises that impel Christians to fearless lives of fidelity, called together in God’s name for the sake of God’s glory.”
Because the Sacraments are God’s initiative, it is not within our capability to void or nullify them. God’s promises have been declared and are unbreakable. Ours is to receive them, believe them, and to respond with gratitude. Sacraments have been compared to the decrees of kings in ancient times. Have you ever heard of a signet ring? In day long passed, a ring with the king’s elaborate sign would be cast, and when the kings decree was written out and rolled up as a scroll it would be sealed with wax or some melted substance, and the ring would be pressed into it leaving the image of the king’s seal. This is how the recipient of the scroll would know that it was authentically from the king.
When I have taught the sacraments in confirmation class over the years, I have purchased for each of the students a stamp with their initial along with some wax. We talk about how it used to be more common for people to seal their letters this way. It’s my attempt to help them understand that the Sacraments, Baptism and Communion, can be understood as God’s “sign and seal” that authenticates for us the reality of God’s love and grace freely given to us.
If baptism is the one-time sign of entry into the body of Christ, communion is the frequent and sustaining reminder of God’s love and grace. At the table, we are nourished with the reassurance that we are made one with God through Christ in a way that we cannot fully comprehend. And we are also given unity through Christ with every other believer in every time and place. In Christ’s presence at the table, we have connection with all who have received communion here dating back to 1892. Our departed loved ones are present in Christ, and our ancestors back to the earliest days of the church.
Do you know the primary reason that an officer or officers of the church is supposed to accompany the pastor when communion is taken to share with people in their homes? It’s is because communion is an act of the church, not of an individual. I can’t properly serve communion without the authorization of session for this reason. It is communion, which involves community.
I remember someone who was wondering aloud about the possibility of the church reaching out to people by offering drive-through communion. If it were handled like a drive-up bank transaction, no doubt some people would find some meaning in it. But we would need to find some way to emphasize that there is not something magical performed by the bread and the juice, and that connection with the community, the body of Christ, is what it’s all about. A couple that came to me to perform their marriage inquired as to the possibility of their sharing communion as a couple during the ceremony. I had to let them know that communion is wonderfully appropriate for a wedding ceremony, but only if it is offered to all attending and not just the couple. If the community is excluded, it is not communion.