Today's Verse(s): Baptism Narratives

For the sake of blogspace and your sanity, I will refrain from posting all of the narratives of Jesus' baptism here. Click on the title of today's blog to head over to Biblegateway.com if you don't have a Bible handy. For efficiency's sake, here's where I'm focusing for today:

Matthew 3:13-17
Mark 1:9-11
Luke 3:21-22
John 1:29-34

Actually, including the passage from John is kind of going through the "back door," so to speak. The first three gospels, a.k.a., the Synoptic Gospels, all share a common source, Quello, commonly called Q by Bible scholars, theologians, and other Bible nerds like me. It's a German word meaning, "Source." The Gospel of John did not gather information from Q and is therefore not part of the club. Instead, the account given in John is the testimony of John the baptizer, which is why I call it a back door. (In all honesty and accuracy, they are all based on testimony and oral tradition, but I've already taken you too far into the scholastic side than I need to; I just enjoy this kind of topic.)

ANYHOO! Right, so, we are looking at the baptism narratives. I've always been told that, if you find something in more than one gospel, then it's an extremely important concept or truth that the authors (plural!!) were trying to convey, regardless of who the target audience was for each gospel. The fact that all three synoptic gospels include this narrative is important, and even the authors of John thought it was crucial information to pass along.

We as 21st century, Westernized Christians (for the most part, that seems to be my readership) have several differing views of baptism, but it would appear that we all agree on the fact that it is a life-changing event. Many American/Non-denom's, Baptists, Methodists, and perhaps others along these denominational lines believe that you must make a personal choice to accept Jesus into your heart, and that is when you seal the deal with baptism. A common support for adult baptism is John 3:3, where Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

I don't know about Episcopalians, Anglicans, various types of Catholics, or Presbyterians, but Lutherans deal with the concept of baptism differently. We believe that, through baptism, God comes to us and chooses us to be His people. There is nothing we can do to "work our way up" to God. We are not saved the day we are dipped into blessed waters. We were saved 2000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross. God comes to us and creates this covenant bond with us in the waters of our baptism, washes over our hearts with His agape, unconditional love. And just because you're baptized doesn't mean, "Ha, ha, Satan! I'm on home base!! Nanny-nanny boo-boo!" It's how we choose to let this affect our hearts and lives, or not, that seals the deal. Martin Luther said something to the effect of, "We are saved by grace through faith, and that not of our own." It is only by God's grace that He gives us the measures of faith we need to rely on Him. We don't have the power to naturally, or even cognizantly, choose to follow Him and do it right. Every single blog I read confirms that I'm not the only one in this sinking ship of life struggles! It is when we let the levees around our hearts erode away and let those baptismal waters overflow us that we truly "get it."

OK. I'm putting my Bible away, shutting my Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (that thing really is exhausting...), and I'm setting aside Luther's "Smalcald Articles" for another day. Yes, you're welcome. :)

"GGG, you lost me at 'Synoptic Gospels,' for cryin' out loud. I just want to read your verses, slam my Starbucks, and get on with life. I've got dinner going and two loads of laundry. Wrap it up, will ya?!?"

OK, fine. The point: some of the most sacred, breath-taking events in our lives are accomplished with as little as a whisper, seeming so ordinary, that if you blink, you've missed it.

Look quickly at the "main point" verses from the narratives:

Matthew 3:16 -- "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him."

Mark 1:10 -- As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove."

Luke 3:21-22a -- "When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended in him in bodily form like a dove..."

John 1:32 -- "Then John gave his testimony: 'I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him."

Insert Hollywood special effects here: Cue the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to sing "oohs" and "aahs" in six-part harmony, have the graphics people at The Weather Channel do some cool clouds-peeling-back-to-reveal-sunbeams stuff over Jesus, and have Jack Hanna provide a trained dove to do his thing.

On Saturday, I will celebrate my 17th baptismal anniversary. I was presented as a five year-old in the Lutheran church (coincidentally in the same place where I saw "Ghostbusters II"), and while the environment could've supported the special effects, I remember none of that being there. I'm pretty sure my mom was holding me, and our pastor, being the groovy '70s guy that he seemed to be to me, had a beard and looked a lot like Jesus. Other than that, it was just another day at church by all appearances to the naked eye.

Some friends of mine at church presented their tiny, precious baby girl for baptism this past Sunday. And while I'm the emotional sort to begin with, I was struck breathless by the simplicity and magnitude of what was going on. Family members came from all over the country, each contributing waters from those areas to the baptismal font, where her grandfather had traveled from Pennsylvania to perform the ceremony. And with three symbolic scoops of water passing over her soft, furrowed brow, that was it. Or was it?

The day we all find ourselves under these liberating waters is a cosmic event. You may or may not have consciously stepped up to the plate, but you've got God's mark on you now. This is a distinct line in the sand in terms of who we are, who we're called to be, and to whom we belong. And that cosmic, life-changing moment came and went so quickly, so quietly, like a whisper.

I remember so clearly the day Lil' G was baptized. We decided to strip her down and actually immerse her in the water, which caused MUCH scandal in the church we attended. I remember her looking up at me at one point, having been fussy, and not being able to grab a pacifier, offered my pinkie, which suited her fine at the time. But the look on her face took my breath away and reduced me to heavy sobs this Sunday. She looked at me, only six weeks old, with her father's eyes and smile, and seemed to say, "Mommy, I trust you." On that day, and every day since, I give her back to the One who gave her to me, and Bud as well.

I also recalled the day Tom was baptized. He ended up being baptized in December 1999, and it was a proud day in his mind. The look I remember seeing on his face was one of strength and purpose. He was baptized, several others of us joined the church as well, we sat down, and the service went from there. Over so quickly. Six years later, his life was over so quickly. The rupture of the aorta going to his brain, sending the pressure in his brain almost five times greater than it can to sustain life functions, happened without a sound. The machines connected to him gave away the internal secret. When he was taken off the breathing machine to see if he was brain dead, he breathed two miniscule, shallow breaths and laid there so peacefully, so quiet and serene.

The sacred moments in our lives, the times in which God couldn't be any closer to us if He tried, are so fleeting. From the day God reaches out and grabs hold of us through our baptismal waters, to the day we celebrate our birthday into His presence, we don't want to let those sacred moments go by unnoticed and uncherished. Revel in them, and celebrate them.