Sunday: The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Reading: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Preacher: Peter C. Lane

Augustine, that great saint from what is now Algeria, was baptized by Bishop Ambrose in 387. The Easter Vigil liturgy in the Milan Cathedral that year, like every year, would have accentuated the "momentous nature of the transformation which Augustine was undergoing." He would have walked stark naked into a deep pool of water. Three times Ambrose would have held Augustine's shoulders beneath the gushing fountain. Then, wearing a gleaming white gown, he would have joined, for the first time, in the mysteries of the Holy Eucharist. Before being allowed in to the font, Augustine had to be prepared. The catechesis was a serious discipline back then. Peter Brown tells how Augustine would have heard "solemn warnings against polytheism and idolatry; the precise way in which God had taken on human flesh would have been laid down; and the hard and, to many pagans quite alien, doctrine of personal retribution after death, would have been brought home to the listeners repeatedly." (i) Augustine fondly remembered his baptism and that time of preparation. Addressing God, he later wrote, "I wept at the beauty of Your hymns and canticles, and was powerfully moved at the sweet sound of Your Church's singing. Those sounds flowed into my ears, and the truth streamed into my heart: so that my feeling of devotion overflowed, and the tears ran from my eyes, and I was happy in them." (ii)

Baptism was fundamentally important to St. Augustine. His ministry of teaching, writing, administrating, and ecclesiastical jousting flowed out of the waters of that font. Now we are on the South Side of Chicago in 2010, not Milan in 387 but Baptism remains fundamentally important for it is from baptism that our ministries flow. It is in those waters that God adopts us as children and makes us inheritors of the kingdom of God. (iii) Our catechetical process is a bit skimpier-no, more streamlined-involving in this case a Godly Play presentation and then conversation. It was enough for Nigel, Elizabeth, and Ethan to ask some great questions. Why can't we see God? It's a mystery, but God was revealed in Jesus who we can glimpse in the bible. Why water? It is so important in the bible; it is cleansing; and it represents drowning and new life. Describe the Holy Spirit? Gee whiz kids, do you think I'm Ambrose of Milan!?! I hope we can nurture you all on a journey of faith where you can answer some of those questions, influenced I hope by Augustine.
I understand God as less demanding than Augustine did. I like to think we took his great idea (it's all about grace) and ran with it. He says in the Confessions, "For you [God] converted me to yourself..." acknowledging that it is all about God, not Augustine. I'd go even further, God's grace isn't just freely available for us to tap into; it is compulsory. So, Nigel, Elizabeth, and Ethan, the waters of baptism will initiate you into a reality that already exists: you are God's sons and daughter, God's beloved, with you God is well pleased.

I am not so foolish as to think that God is well pleased with every last thing you do. If you are like me, selfish desire often takes precedence over striving for justice and peace. There is a reason that the baptismal covenant says persevere in resisting evil. To live like we are God's beloved does take perseverance. If it seems like it is too hard, remember: "I will, with God's help." God created you and sees you as beloved. Your life work can be living into that reality.

Like Augustine in the waters in Milan, like Jesus in the waters of the river Jordan, your ministry begins in the font. When you are dry, but still smelling of the sweet oil of Chrism, you will go out (literally out of this building) bearing witness to God, and in whatever way you are gifted carrying on God's work of reconciliation in the world. Our ministries flow out of baptism. Our entire lives must be marbled through with the gospel like a good piece of meat with fat. As the French physician Paul Tournier said, "To receive God is also therefore to receive his intense interest for those with whom we have rubbed shoulders." (iv) Ethan, treat the other kids at school like they have Christ in them. Elizabeth, sing in your choir so as to open hearts to grace and truth. Nigel, live your life to the fullest, knowing that God created this world. And all of the rest of us? We celebrate the Holy Eucharist together on Sundays, leaving the rest of the week to live as God's beloved and to carry on God's work of reconciliation in the world. When you walk out of here (back to the classroom or the boardroom or your kid's play room), dip your finger in the font and cross yourself as a reminder of your baptism. Then go out there to serve God's world. The change doesn't have to be as dramatic as Augustine's, but there will be a change.

What will it look like? One project I commend to you is finding someone in your field who you believe has done his or her work in a way that recognized the belovedness of all people. Augustine had Ambrose. Who could be an example to you of a, let's say, Christian doctor? I don't mean someone who has evangelistic material in their office; I mean someone who reflects on their research or clinical practice in light of their baptism. As Augustine learned from Ambrose, so we can learn from older mentors. I have Jim Steen. He is in his 54th year of ministry, having been baptized at the Southside Christian Church in Tulsa, OK, on New Years Day, 1956. The particular vocational form that ministry takes in his adult life is as a priest. It is has a great blessing in my life to have someone who so well models my vocation so close to me. Has he proclaimed the good news? Jim's been telling people they are beloved of God for decades. Has he sought and served Christ in all persons? Those of you who have had pastoral interactions with him know that he will seek out Christ in you. Has he strived for justice and peace? Jim has been hugely important in gays and lesbians taking their rightful place in the councils of the church. I'm not saying he hasn't had to persevere in resisting evil. I'm saying that as I seek to live out my ministry that began in a font, Jim provides a model. For that, I am deeply grateful.

In the Gospel of Luke, we know long before his baptism that Jesus is the chosen one of God. And yet his baptism still played a critical role in initiating his ministry. Nigel, Elizabeth, and Ethan have been loved by God since the day they were born and still the waters of baptism will initiate in them an exciting ministry. I hope that like Augustine in Milan, the sweet sound of the people of St. Paul & the Redeemer singing hymns and canticles will powerfully move them and all of us to remember our baptisms and to serve God's world.

i. Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), 117-118.
ii. Augustine, Confessions IX, vi, 14 as quoted in Brown.
iii. Catechism, Book of Common Prayer, 858.
iv. Paul Tournier, To Understand Each Other (Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1972), 54-55.