The Rev. Dr. Kenneth H. Saunders III
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN
When we make promises, do we intend to keep them? I would hope so. Especially when we stand up in church, vow before the living God, and make promises. We would undoubtedly keep those. But sometimes, the promises we make have no bearing on our lives. They haven't seeped down and become part of who we are.
I love the collective prayer that we used to begin today's service. "Grant that all baptized into his Name may keep their covenant." Keep the covenant that they have made. So, it's not just about making commitments to the covenant with God; it's also about keeping the covenant with God. But how do we, as believers, keep our baptismal covenant in situations that are often riddled with emotion, fear, uneasiness, and anxiety?
The baptismal covenant says that we will renounce evil and turn to Jesus because we believe. We will turn to Jesus and swear an oath to trust, obey, worship, persevere, proclaim, seek, serve, love, seek, strive, and respect. Isn't that what we are supposed to do as Christians? The whole Christian ethic surrounds baptism and is based on what we do after we say that we believe…
It is our beliefs brought forth into actions. That shows others who we believe God to be. Maybe that's why I like to phrase from St. Francis so much, "Preach the Gospel at all times, when necessary, use words." You've heard me use that one many times before.
It's more than merely claiming Jesus is Lord and Savior; it's showing others he is Lord by our actions of love. It's putting meaning and action to our saying. This doesn't make us perfect or better than anyone else. Because the good lord knows we are as broken and flawed as all the rest. And it also doesn't mean that we live our lives by some Puritan ethic that is neither realistic nor attainable. It means that we are committed to following Jesus and turning to him to free us from evil and death so we may live in the right relationship with God.
We know a covenant is more than laws, moral principles, or empty promises. A Covenant with God means living in a bound relationship, sealed by an oath. A covenant made with God that says we will strive to be formed, informed, and transformed by following the way of Jesus, letting Jesus guide and strengthen us, choosing the good and right, and not being driven by our selfishness.
The covenantal promises made at our baptism might be called the superglue of our salvation. A solid bond to God that is often tested by the world but cannot be broken. And yes, we try them. We test these covenantal promises every time we get rattled, every time we get upset, every time we are backed in a corner, every time we are pushed to the edge. Those are the times we need to check ourselves and ensure we keep up our end of the covenant. Because we know that God is keeping up God's end.
Always loving us, never forsaking us.
2024 has just started with its own challenges as we face an election year with continued hatred and distrust among people on both sides of the political spectrum. In the days to come, our baptismal covenant will surely get a workout as it's pushed to the limit.
The questions are asked, "Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in ALL persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? We will strive for justice and peace among ALL people and respect the dignity of every human being?" We say, "WE WILL with God's help!" We will, we will, we will?
When John baptized Jesus in the river Jordan, the heavens were opened, torn apart, and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, and the voice of God spoke, "You are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased." On the bank of the Jordan River was the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry. Jesus, at his baptism, forged for us a renewed covenant with the living God, lived out in relationship. Lived out in flesh and bone, washed water rather than written in stone.
A practice we use in the church to begin again is baptism into a new life and a new way. Jesus enters the waters as a human being and emerges from the waters with the unshakable assurance that he is the Son of God, the Beloved.
The attention in the story from Mark's gospel shifts quickly from John to Jesus. Jesus sees the Spirit in physical form – like a dove – and it is Jesus alone who hears, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you, I am well pleased." And with the act of the baptism of Jesus, everything for Jesus and us as followers becomes new and different.
The way we see Jesus is different. The Word of God is no longer a future promise nor a prophetic dream of what is to come. It is there. It is a present, living reality in the flesh. Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit and is here to baptize all who come to him with God's Spirit and seal them as Christ's own forever.
As John was baptized with water, Jesus was baptized with the Holy Spirit. The great gift of God - God's Spirit upon us – becomes ours just for the asking. God is revealed through Jesus to all the new believers, as it says in the Acts of the Apostles. That same Christ comes to us now through the power of the Holy Spirit. "Receive the Holy Spirit" becomes the gift that Christ's disciples offer those who confess the name of Jesus. And then the world is transformed.
Paul arrives in Ephesus to find believers who have been baptized. He asks them: "Did you receive the Holy Spirit?" they don't understand what this means, although they are believers. Then Paul asks the significant question: "Into what then were you baptized?" They answered, "Into John's baptism."
Paul does not discount John but explains how John's baptism was completed by the coming of Jesus. Our repentance, our change of heart and mind, and the transformation of our thinking about God are all completed by the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Paul lays his hands on the believers in Ephesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit is given to them. And on and on, the story continues. We are here today, standing in the realm of that great mystery.
Jesus' life, death, and resurrection make it possible for all of humanity to know of God's love and grace and to receive the gift of God's Spirit. As baptized persons, we are bearers of that Holy Spirit. It is a great and tremendous power, and with it comes a great responsibility.
We have said we believe, and we have received God's holy Spirit, now what. Our entire Christian life
boils down to what we do after we say "we believe." Have we kept the covenantal promises we made at our baptism? Have we lived out those promises as propagators of God's kingdom, bringing others into the covenant, into a life lived in the power of that relationship?
Going forth from the font, after we have received the waters of rebirth and been made anew, how shall we live? We should live out our baptism today and every day. We should live as someone who has been crucified with Christ. So it is no longer we who live, but the Christ who lives in us. Live as someone dead to selfishness, ambition, and conceit. We should live for the good of others and for the glory of God.
Will you proclaim the Good News of God in Christ by word and example?
Will you seek and serve Christ in ALL persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
Will you strive for justice and peace among ALL people and respect the dignity of every human being?
WE WILL with God's help…
We have the chance to measure everything in our lives, everything we do, by the covenantal oath, that promise we swore at our baptism. Sometimes, we are challenged, and it's complicated. But in the toughest times, we must continue resisting evil and turn to Jesus. Turn to Jesus and trust, obey, worship, persevere, proclaim, seek, serve, love, seek, strive and respect.
Now, brothers and sisters, let us stand together and renew the solemn promises and vows we made at our Holy Baptism when we once renounced Satan and all his works, turned to God, and promised to serve God faithfully in his Holy Catholic Church.
