cs) Wad Oy ov sue eur oie lis ~~" ; oe ok ae i vad eae
ie cae Wen, oon wee Abrce eeuaries -\ The first dwkes place ia

4 t j wy >
“tbe wear go AD, gowrew herr mw fossa WA
TO YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN John M. Buchanan
Matthew 3:ib/7 | 7 Broad Street Presbyterian Church
May 11, 1975 Columbus, Chio
Text: For the promise is te you and to your children and to ali that are

afar off, every one whomthe Lord Our God calis to him," Acts 2:39

hy iy wiquk,
Hittite tig because if would have been very costly

Mes
to have been detected. \ A small group*gathered at an underground cistern.

There wee 4 leader an older man, some other men and women, and a family

apees tw ~khnews
with chitéren,| The leader SSriematiseentiaanin! 5 about the meaning of what

art
they wewe doing, read§something and pray | Then the family stripped

is
off their clothes, and one by one wena immersed in the icy water.| When
they emergef the leader remindg™d them that they hat€died to their old
=a eT 7

ast
lives and wewe now resurrected in the new Life of Jesus christ.\ Candles
eal

ats °
vome lighted for each one.\ There wewe more prayers and then they wots

Yow? are wow
home, | They saad been baptized: they wewe members of the Christian Comminity,
the chore, me early Church gave each person the candle which had been
ae ad ee

lighted on the occasion \ It was lighted_again on each anniversary of the

baptism to remind the person of the vows made and the promises heard.
— — nt —y

“Tae sercmd sceuaris

holes piace \~
ta “Kac Lorghnde Martin Luther, when assailed bites] f-doubt and despair in the midst

nf \wesk ture AA al pe cowforke de eucouraye ¢
tw Wi Sag “there ‘ £ the Protestant Rebeawation, used tots :
Wok Vee

Wwapktacd,

Tor ke third sgceemarin aly we bie we en dete cud place
Onk wk. Deedie Wowo Lest. present . te & F
oper ereagentipecal emma ET mnnic easier TE One time were carried to

he front of a Church or we walked under our own volition. | Water was

a
- be a a el
“Ales - \ebak id we . ; ;
~ wt te Placed on our head or we were immersed: \and someone said, \"I baptize
_- ee — —anaene ——a
Lax te a
A we you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Jesus, too was vapetent.\ we don't know how some of the early material

was preserved and found its way imto the New Testament \ None of the Gospel
_—_—aee Ce |

writers were around and so we must assume that later he told his disciples
= Sain!

“ac
about #Mes event that became the pivotal point in his 1ite.\ The earliest
eee

Gospels, Mark and Matthew, both indicate that it was an intimate, personal
_ — —

experience for him. \He heard a voice and saw the heavens open and a dove
. _—_—e ene niamimemnaiatmaiel sini

descend \ And later, when he looked back on it he realized that it was
J, eke ae

. . : ™ ~- t
then that he knew that his life would be a Living out of God's purpose.

Something like baptism was practiced cqmmonly by a lot of ancient

religions.| The symbolism of descending into water and emerging into
pe cimmmiaimnel Sal Lae ee eel

new life washed and cleansed of the old has always lent itself to initiatory
(wr neeninianel —_oet EE ——E

religious cerenony \ From the Mishnah we learn that Gentile_converts to
pal na

‘

jJudaism around’100 BC were baptized by immersion in a pool of water. \me

archeological exploration at the Qum Ran community near the Dead Sea
al er

revealed that ritualistic bathing and cleansing were an important part

of the common life.
en meal

John the Baptist, perhaps himself a member of one such highly ascetic 7
desert community called his fellow countrymen to repent of their wicked
ways and to begin a new Life by being baptized in the waters of the

Jordan River, Jesus of Nazareth Was one of the people who did so.

RY a{/Nothing in the record indicates that he was motivated by a sense of
guilt nor that he needed to repent . Rather Jesus was itentifying with
his people, his aation and making common cause with this campaign to put
the pation back on the side of justice and mercy and righteousness. But

the effect of the experience for him was an ordination, a commissioning,

He emerged from the waters and set out on his life ministry.

The early Church, at the bidding of Jesus, appropriated this ancient
nm, Feed ETE

ritual for its own purposes, as it did also with the Passover neat. | the

earliest Christian message was \"repent and be baptized,’ verbalized by
| enema

Peter on the day of pentecost.\ "he promise is to you and your children )
nel

——

Peter told a startled crowd in Jerusalem several weeks after the crucifixion
ee iE ee

and no less than three thousand people responded and were baptized. | Since

that day, baptism has been the mark and seal of a Christian and the rite of
_—_ i _e

——_ CC A

admission to the Church.
el

Across the centuries the Church has debated the mode and method of
See espa ie named a

Sacrament of Baptism.\ On the one hand some have insisted on total immersion -
re

others on the sprinkling of water .\ Scholars with superb credentials line

up on both sides, but neither is able to prove the absolute correctness
Ce nil

of one position to anyone's satisfaction but its oun, \the evidence is
ar re ee

more negative than positive. The Pentecost expegience, for instance, at
—— en aed —

which three thousand yere baptized took place without, we must assume,

a tank of that yetocity.\mhe other dispute is in regard to the appropriate

time for baptism. \ some have held that the Sacrament should be received
ake.

only by those who have, in maturity, decided to accept Jesus Christ as

—

Lord and Savior. \ Baptism comes after faith \ Others, the Churches of

the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition among them, baptize infants.
—, Se

—_—

Brod q@pain, the New Testament is not very precise, although St. Paul does

be renee eee

make reference to baptizing entire families. \ovr Church has said that

either form is appropriate but the weight of our heritage and our theology

is on the side of infant baptism: @® a process that begins in infancy and

comes te completion in confirmation and commissioning in later years.
ee —_—e ce niisnemamenn nea]

T should like to discuss the Sacrament of Baptism this morning in terms

of three promises. It seemed a good da = to do it, in that it is the
av eres Lat oF Fou. Lit -

occasion for celebrating motherhood -
wanton a aaiaiaaal

“the. Sacrameuh Wes pon f our Lorrs kip egerveury

Mutants. And besides, this morning.

We have ail had a part in it.

First, the promise of God which we hear and affirm every time we
aw] er =a a

baptize, the promise that Peter said was "to you and your children," }

namely, that God loves and forgives and accepts yous\ that in Jesus Christ

he has given you a new Lifes| that God's grace is available to you even
though you have done nothing to deserve if. | that is what we are affirming
[ee Sead ER

when we baptize infants.
be |

Unfortunately, popular piety seems to believe that babies are
== bate mei
baptized as a kind of ingurances {that we baptize babies to "save" them,
Ea a_i A _——
and that should they die in infancy before baptism they will not go to
er Li ae

heaven. \ We do not believe that. \ There are no "shoulds" or ‘oughts" or
— _lweee

“have-to's't in a Presbyterian Baptism. | And I find the suggestion that
DT

God's love and mercy are withheld from an infant because parents neglected
nell ——_— — ememnnid

to include the sacrament in the list of other baby inneculations theo-
——eEee —

logically repugnant and rather sad.

I confess unapolegetically that I love infant baptism. Emceniytrmeiitaeeliite
a a
sew mente \ Cease, 0. Aran va tame by unde obie Shy park ake cde

No wert } x ek “ey bunt 7 .. “berger oral esos. Che tA, : +o chmar\, ackiculated ‘
An infant knows nothing but i mediate phygicgl and emotional need: \ we

have not yet had the opportunity to make moral judgments about Imepdme bey
bi

. ; ; a sinner, arbeil
jae, but if original sin is egotism an infant is certainly

To
OM innutend oat new
Saeaiadeae 5 for when he'g yet he wants to be e dry and when she's hungry s
on

wants to be fed and when ge or she_is distressed attention is demanded
aii

now regardless of what else is going on. \ An infant doesn't know about
— temic =_erUre

~he

God, hasn't thought about God, in fact hasn't thought aboyt mugh of any-
— Pl
thing but food and warmth and iove\ And what we are saying in Baptism

Ahi Chu
is that God's love extends to this child. \ co calls let . his own;
a eee beanie Lemmas
aAMiy CVE
srerrtinemindiieg. is safe and secure. \ Regardless of how many times we have
—_—a te ed —

heard the Gospel of grace preached from the pulpit we seem, all of us,
EE . ost new
to harbor the hope that we” might be able to persuade God to love us
eer —_ etn anata

a little more. \But infant baptism says eloquently and uncategorically
Le

i ie

that Cod's love comes to us quite apart from any deserving, that he loves
—_—ee Cad rr bien

us and is willi to count us one his people just a e, here are
S ng among 2 ple jus S we ar There
CC a

it H tk iW “ it Tell : _ 3
no "shoulds" or “oughts" or "have to's” in infant paption. | rather we

come to it as recipients ~ and in that act T find expressed all that is

good and joyful and worth celebrating in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
anal eeammameall ba]

The second promise in Baptism is made by the parents: [+0 you
Deal [ee

intend your child to be his disciple: ro obey his word and show his

Love?" |

Are we not, in this promise, making a commitment that the child should
— — a Femina
make for himself? \ axe we not prejudicing the ehild? | Of course We are,
and I would suggest that we ought to do so with the highest degree of
mal ree
intenLonalit . \ we are saying in baptism that we will do evg thin
¥ ying p feryvyeni ng

possible to see that our child discovers the goodness and richness of
—_——- eee

Ged's grace.\ we are saying, as we do in a tot of other areas in life,
a —ee ihe iil

that we are not neutral on this one. \ The oposite, it seems to me, is
ead

naive, ce

In the diary he kept as a young minister Reinhold Niebyhr commented

on the myth of objectivity and neutrality in education,
ea inl

"This conference on religious education," he wrote, ("seans to your

Sd

humble servant the last word in absurdity.| We are told by a delightful

expert that we ought not really teach our children about God lest we

—

rob them of the opportunity of making their own discovery of God,

and lest we corrupt their young minds with our own superstitutions.

Se

L£ we continue along these Lines the day will come when some_expert

ato

will advise us not to teach our children the English language, since

we rob them thereby of the possibility of choosing the German, French

a

or Japanese Language piso etwecteimprodeetr We do not get a higher
er Siti nl

type of religious idealism from children merely by witholding our

own religious ideas from them any more than we would get a higher

type of civilization by letting some group of youngsters shift for

themselves upon a desert island," ("Leaves from the Notebook of a

But more to the point we are touching something here that is pro-
Woman bee dees welt grow MB
foundly important and profoundly true.\ From the very beginning of a

ee ED

child's Life the relationship with parents is a determining and essential
—— eis al

—v nek ares era Thy au
one. | Infants need love, expressed in touching, holding, fondling as much

—_—

as they need food and arin, \ tm a study, which has since become very
— —_ wee

—,

famous Dr, Rene Spitz observed ninety-one infants in a foundling home.
een PP

The babies had everything they needed - food, air, warmth, toys - every-
a _

chingbut the care of a Mother. \ one nurse had charge of ten infants,
Ty i enamel

And three months with one tenth of a Mother were enough to produce dramatic
wee ai |
a ae prefrenh s
personality changes? | thirty-eight died in their first year and twenty-one
ERECT eran el

were severely disturbed emotionally and intelectual ty | Parental Love
mi a ee SEE

isn't a luxury.| It is a physical and emotional necessity, (See Revel L.
Eee Late ae
Howe, Man's Need and God's Action p 0) ee

ee
win clear reli aiovs guerkummes .,

a6

Eric Erikson, coined the phrase "basic trust" and taught that 4 person

develops the capacity in the first year of life. | me world and gther

people are trust-worthy depending on the trust the infant has Learned

from his parents,
iene

aaa

We learn to Love as we are Loves \ We learn to esteem ourselves,
icici ee bil

the prequisite for esteeming anybody else, insofar as we are given that
elit iE =e Ls |

gift by loving parents.
Ce

ayn, Ya ScokomGnd sinful though it is, to prepare my child for the experience of His
om, ASE quots —

\etnedtinant, tity & Mon

* The baby yas ne slutes . _

Gur Wether s ayes en ‘
wer any Fl chewt

(Ibid. p 96)

All of that is held up, with the highest intent, as parents bring
Se

Wis oath gee $ deneemrmnpesiaon

seve Beane? HN aren to th t of bapti 0 dane level th
seta’ ildren to the sacrament of baptism. 1 a more mundane Leve ea
Be W& qiace ¢ promise they made means, minimally - I think, that the child will be
— [——oe bi aT
en
pors ure ee fin Church: | that he will be here through the vears in Church school and
NG ait " orship:\that he will learn quite early that this building and the people
ave’ a — L anmmenel
Wf ik Jin e meets here are an important part of his life. \ It means minimally
fre de a —
Secrest eae hat the parents are agreeing to take the religious purture and growth
rhe WHOS

of the child with a great deal of seriousness,
— ]

The third promise is made by the cmureh. | you were involved in
Oe | [ee
baptism this porning. \in fact it couldn't have happened without you.
ee bint iil biti a ed
Presbyterian Baptism is celebrated in the context of worship with a
SE a eater .

congregation, not privately. \you promised, ("tc tell these children
icant atta eee epee

the good news of the Gospel s\t0 help them know all that Christ commands,

an Fo

and by your fellowship to strengthen their family ties with the household

of God,"

That's what holds it all together - your part in ic. There are no
rie, CC ra

Godparents: |you fill that role: \ you are participants in baptism -
ie be | Een

not spectators,
—

One of the functions of religi to celebrate the important moments

i Unlike te past, cokgregatipns ra by observe the deatl
\eut we are st 11 dotepnite togetliSe in baptism. i

are responsible.

life fthey have helped to create and for which the

You have agreed, in essence, in your promise, to be the Church to
ae

these children, | You have agreed to be a community of caring people through

which and in which the love of God will be made known to those children.
ed ed

Love, faith, trust cannot be taught in an objective sense, \ They are
a | ban ninel ee

learned as they are experienced in personal relationships | ana in baptism
ee Ero |

we are saying that here, in this Church, we will provide the kind of

=

environment in which love and faith and trugg are seen and experienced
=e ae @£ 20 069

and therefore Learned. \ we are saying, in baptism, that these children
CE

are now very oom |*° us: hat we will be Loving and forgiving and

~8-

accepting to them through all their years in our niast.\ We are saying
—— ‘a batted
that we will remember them and that the relationship sealed today is
bd —_
forever.\ when Iwas in college and going through that inevitable period of
sophomoric skepticism, an elderly lady from my church wrote to me regularly ,

Sail

showed interest in my progress and sent me a monthly devotional magazine.
Da eal ete terete

I didn't read the magazine very much but the fact that I could be of some
eR baited ad
interest to her was a significant imfluence in my ite. \ 1 have come to
al TD a
understand it as an expression of a promise she made one day when I was
—_——e ee nl

baptized.
eee

Every baptism is a reminder of our gen. \ It is a reminder that we
ee ‘Werner

are who we are ~ not in solitary isolation - but in relationship with
a

others. \re is a reminder that there is no such thing as a solitary
Te
Christian, but that we meet Christ in the feilowship, in the relation-
Fd See

ship we share here in the community of caith.| We are @ontinuing to
ekow biel ia Avon

discover the life - giving” pewewee# relationships.
a te a el

Elizabeth Kubler Ross has written the definitive contemporary work

ofi Death and Dying. \ 1 a seminar once she told a story I will never
See ee

forget. \ She had been retained as a consultant at a vy ery sophisticated

European hospital, | She discovered that terminally ill infants and

elderly people were isclated: \ chat the medical staffs in these depart-
a eT

ments were not only unhappy with their work byt that the "tone on both
eel Ee
floors was quite grim and tight-lipped \ She made 4 very simple sug~
Lacan ba a ie .
gestion: \reut the babies and the grannies together: \ in the same

rooms if possible: |let the grannies feed and Love the babies when

toa
they cmdadedl : fret the babies feed the grannies with their own special
—— rele at

kind of Love and need."\ A miracle happened, a miracle that always

happens when people are enabled to love each other, | the grandmothers
Leama

had meaning added to the final days of Life: \ ete babies responded .in Wind.
cee b etciiadie a nominal Sree

Human contact - relationship - changed everything and even though
meme teats

they were ali terribly ill, life began to make sense, and even to be
er — ee

wotth living,
be a enn eee

That is the beauty and truth of Raptism. |] None of us can be alone.
cee ee

None of us is an only child of cod. \ We are called, here in_the Church,

to the privilege of being the channel through which God's love is
ba ethic

experienced by others \ there is no more vital, no more life-giving
Lin |

task than that, \ Nor is there a greater priviledge,
Soy REEL E

The promise is to you - and to your childreg, Amen.

Father we are grateful for your love, We are grateful for the
children you have given us to love - our own and the children of others,
Useg our love for your purposes, Help us to grow as a family and to
experience in our Life together the miracle of your grace: Through

Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-10-