Dear Boo and Bubble,
Your lineage is riddled with preachers - starting with
quadruple-great grandfather Joseph Benson Cottrell and then triple-great Uncle
Wade Bryant and then double-great Uncle Bob Poerschke and then great Uncle
Bryant. With the exception of Cottrell,
they were all Baptists, that sect of Protestantism which utilizes the immersion
in water to symbolically repent of sins (or wash them away) and emerge with a
new commitment to God. I grew up a
Baptist and, at the young age of 10, was dipped in the baptistry of First
Baptist Church in Greenville by Rev. Dotson M. Nelson in front of a packed
sanctuary. Perhaps I was a little too
young then to understand the going down and the coming up….and to be honest
with you, I’ve continued to struggle with the ritual’s applicable meaning
beyond the imagery.
Well, fortunately…..your generational, ministerial chain
remains unbroken and the current iteration is Bob Stillerman, your second
cousin once removed. (Your mom is a
true second cousin and everybody goes back to Mattie Bryant Kendrick). Bob graduated from Wake Forest Seminary and
is now the pastor of Sardis Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. He’s been sending me his sermons and
recently, one caught my intrigue not only because it dispelled some of my
skepticism as to the necessity for baptism but also because it delved into
baptism’s transformative properties. I
want to share some excerpts with you.
“Wearing the Waters of Baptism”
(Relevant
scripture: Mark 1: 9-11 – “And it came
to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was
baptized of John in Jordan. And
straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the
Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven
saying Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”)
…….In today’s passage,
Jesus is baptized. And Jesus wears the
waters of his Baptism every day of his ministry!! It seems Jesus never does get completely dry
from that dip in the Jordan River all those years ago. In his every action, Jesus drips with God’s
love and God’s joy and God’s purpose.
So how and why did
this baptism happen? And what does it
mean for us?
Mark’s Gospel tells us
that a prophet named John lives in the wilderness. John senses that God is near, very near. And John senses that God is about to usher in
a new era, a state of being known as the Kingdom of God, the place where Israel
lives in right relationship with God and its neighbors.
John invites folks to
a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Too often, I think we
misinterpret John’s call for repentance, as a warning against personal
sin. We imagine a long, spindly finger
coming out of John’s camel-haired-robe and pointing down at us, tell us, “Get
right, fly straight. I can see it, I can
see it. Uhm, uh-uh!! You are rotten,
rotten, rotten to the core. I see it and
God sees it, too!! Repent, repent,
repent!!” And after being thoroughly
scolded by John, his followers rush to the waters of the Jordan to wash away all
that ick and sin and evil. Transaction
complete.
Well, friends, I will
not and I cannot read Mark’s gospel this way.
John, like Isaiah and other prophets before him, is not telling the
people that they are fundamentally flawed individuals, that their DHA is
corrupt. John is telling them that
they’ve made poor choices. They’ve
turned away from God’s love because they’ve put their trust and their hope, not
in God, but in the abilities of earthly institutions: governments, armies and
other entities of power and wealth and privilege.
John says, “Come back
to God. Enter these waters, and renew
your commitment to YHWH’s ancient covenant.
For in this covenant, there is a God of steadfast love and grace. Repent!”
Translation: “Renew your relationship with God. Live into the people God has created you to
be!”
And the call to enter
water is a great symbol. Water is fluid,
and without limits. And it’s messy. It seeps and drips and spreads. It’s a lot like God’s love. It covers everyone. Water is in stark contrast to the firm order
of earthly power. Enter the messiness of
water, and wash off all those restrictions and disclaimers and
regulations.
…….So Jesus travels to
see John, and to fulfill God’s calling for him.
But here’s where it
gets a little tricky. Lots of people
want to ask, “Well if Jesus was so perfect, why in the world, would he 1) need
to be baptized in the first place and 2) allow John, someone with less stature,
to do the baptizing? Shouldn’t it be
Jesus that baptizes John?
Jesus’ Baptism, nor
anybody’s baptism, yours, mine, or anyone else’s, these baptisms are not about
a cleansing of our genetic makeup.
Baptism is a commitment, a statement, about how we’ll live a life that
is God-centered. Not just on the morning
of our baptisms, but every morning from this day forward. We surrender a life
consumed with self-promotion, for one that is wholly attuned to God’s desires
for us.
……So up from those
waters Jesus comes, reborn, recommitted into a life that prioritizes God above
all else……
…..Jesus is like a big
dog you put in the bath tub. Upon being
soaked and removed from the tub, the dog shakes its fur, and beads of water fly
everywhere – there’s no escaping it. You
get soaked, too. And Jesus is just like
children who track pool and ocean water into an old beach rental. From the
moment of his baptism, the waters of the Jordan are evident, everywhere he
goes.
…….Imagine Jesus. He’s come up from those Jordan waters. Water beads on his arms and legs and
robe. It’s been two thousand years, but
ever so slowly, those water droplets from the Jordan, they begin making their
way through time and space, over vast oceans – they ricochet all the way to
Charlotte. When those droplets hit us,
what will we do…….?
Will our baptismal
waters be transactional? Once we’ve been
immersed, will we simply towel off, pull out our Bounty paper towels, perhaps
even some Thompson’s water seal, throw on our raincoats and remove any sign
that baptismal waters have soaked us?
Will the silence of our dryness speak?
Will our love for community only extend to the walls of this baptismal
and doors of this sanctuary?
Or, will our baptismal
waters be transformative? Will we too,
follow Jesus into those Jordan waters?
Will we remove the garments of status and pride? Will we place our dependence solely on God,
and follow in Christ’s path? Will we
emerge from those waters with a new resolve?
Will we, just like a careless child, leave tracks of justice and mercy
and reconciliation with every step we take?
Will we wear the waters of our baptism, so that in every corner of the
city, our tracks are evident? Will
floors squeak from wet sneakers of love, of hope, and will droplets of care and
concern rattle the gutters of forgotten homes?
…… The water, friends,
is waiting. Will you enter it? And once you have, will you wear it?
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