Later in this service we’ll be baptizing Alexander. It’s the kind of thing we love to see – a baby beginning a life of faith. They look cute. We’re curious if they’re going to cry or not. And there’s the excitement of the unknown. Babies are unpredictable after all. You never know what will happen!
But I suggest we
also realize that in what may appear to be a quaint little ceremony, we are
also making a serious statement to him about the limits of his human nature,
and reminding us of our own. It’s all
quite insulting actually.
Let’s get at it this way. Right now everyone thinks Alexander is
cute. Prim and proper adults forget
their dignified existence and make fools of themselves babbling and cooing to
make him smile. There’s something
magical about a baby’s happiness. That’s
a good thing, because at a practical level babies are unparalleled messes. At this point, cute as he is, Alexander is an
unbridled tyrant. He makes messes. He cries.
He does not feed himself. He
requires that he be carried around everywhere.
He does not sleep or wake with any regard to the fatigue it causes those
who care for him. He does not clean up
after himself. He does not dress
himself. He does not contribute to his
family’s income. All he’s got is a smile
to charm the hardest of hearts. And he’s
almost certainly learning how to use that charm!
But of course he will grow with
time. He will learn to walk and
talk. He will become potty trained. He will learn how to tie his shoes. He will learn how to cooperate with others
and contribute to his family.
It’s all cumulative. When he is being potty trained it will earn
him lots of approval. But then he will
be expected to move on. It is highly
unlikely that when’s he’s a high school student his parents will say, “Good job
on that algebra test! And also good job
on using the potty today!”
We build. We grow.
We improve. Parents seek to raise
children who are a balance of selfhood and also well-regulated community
members. We put a lot of resources into
developing children into productive adults.
And I mean A LOT of resources. If
you doubt me I suggest you look at your most recent school tax bill.
That’s okay. We humans are immensely capable beings. It is worth putting a tremendous amount of
resources into growth and education.
And, with the exception of college students after all-night parties
(which can make you wonder if they are, in fact, truly potty trained) the
results of our growth and education should amaze us. Through scientific research and engineering
we have discovered many things about the universe and put them to good
use. Factory workers and skilled
laborers create amazing things that make life comfortable. It is easy for me to preach that everyone has
an important part to play in improving the world. You’ve heard me say before that the highly
delicate surgery you have is not only dependent upon the skills of the surgical
team, but also upon the skills of the hospital janitor who cleaned the
operating room beforehand.
Yes, we humans can grow from babies
to become more and more refined to do great and amazing things. Over time we can tell ourselves that we
humans are ever progressing to a bigger and brighter future. That’s the philosophy that drives our
nation. That goes for whatever political
party you may be a part of.
It is almost like
an emotional drug for us: Getting better
and better every day in every way. We
can improve. We can progress. We can be increasingly aware and moral. We can think and invent solutions through all
problems.
That’s what Alexander will
experience from the world all around him.
I said at the beginning that baptism is actually an insult to all of us,
because baptism reminds us that all of what the world teaches is a lie.
I have to choose words carefully
here, because a misunderstanding can go deeply wrong. There is nothing wrong with wanting to
improve things. And there is certainly
nothing wrong with a solid morality based on things like: conscientiousness,
responsibility, emotional responsiveness, and agreeableness. Those are all good and important qualities to
have! But we make a mistake the moment
we think that such things put us in a higher position than someone else. Or perhaps I should say that we make a
mistake if we think that somehow such things will buy us more divine favor than
others; or that those things will give us status, license, and privilege before
God.
Let’s see this problem at work by
looking at our gospel reading for today.
Jesus goes to his hometown of Nazareth.
You’ll remember that Nazareth was a sleepy little town of no
importance. It never made the news. If it somehow disappeared few people would
have noticed. But, in Jesus the locals
had found someone who would put them on the map. We read that Jesus had been traveling through
the surrounding country. He was
preaching in the synagogues. He was
popular. He was being praised by
everyone.
Then he comes home. I imagine the synagogue was packed the day he
spoke. Everyone wanted to hear his
message. At first he does not disappoint. Not at all.
He opens the roll of the prophet Isaiah.
He reads two powerful passages.
The Spirit of the Lord was upon him to bring good news to the poor. He had come to proclaim release to the
captives and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (This year of the Lord’s favor is what I
wrote about in my February newsletter article.)
All of this was great news! Big
things were going to be happening. Life
was going to improve and they were going to be the center of it. They were the right people who had done the
right things in raising Jesus. They were
good. They were moral. They were of a superior status before God and
God was going to bless them especially.
Jesus is aware of their
expectations. He reminds them of two
stories they knew well. There was a
serious famine in the time of Elijah.
Many Israelites, God’s chosen nation, were suffering. It did not give them privileged status before
God. God sent Elijah to help a foreign
woman. The other story was with the
prophet Elisha. Surely there were many
lepers in Israel in Elisha’s time. But
God did not give them any preferred treatment.
Instead, the leper who was healed by God was a military official of a
foreign nation.
As Jesus teaches these things, the
truth of “good news to the poor” becomes apparent to the hometown crowd. The widow, the unclean, the foreigner, the
immoral, the educationally unenlightened are all equally valued and embraced by
God. There is no longer any such thing
as a chosen nation, a privileged status, or preferential treatment.
The hometown crowd becomes
enraged. That message can’t possibly be
right. It is so unfair! They decide to take Jesus to the edge of the
town and kill him by throwing him off a cliff.
It is easy to mistakenly imagine this move as a mob overreacting and
going out of control. Their reaction is
indeed severe. But it is not unheard
of. In some ways it could be said they
are carrying out justice. Jesus claimed
to be speaking and acting for God. Then
he taught things they found offensive.
According to the religious laws people who falsely claimed to speak for
God were to be killed. But Jesus escapes
from them and goes on his way.
Alexander will surely be shaped into
a good, moral, upstanding person. It
will be process of growth and refinement over many years. His baptism reminds him that while he
will be raised according to the promises of God’s love, no amount of refinement
on his part will mean he is entitled to preferential treatment by God.
That is true, but very difficult
news to hear. As I said earlier, the
message that we are capable of improving everything every day is an
intoxicating one. We think that each succeeding
generation can be better, more fully enlightened, more deserving. It is as if we think we can societally evolve
into something better.
The truth of
baptism reminds us that we are inescapably caught by sin. The confession and forgiveness we say at the
beginning of the worship service is equally true of newborns as it is of highly
educated adults. The truth is that we
humans go from mess to mess. What we
call “progress” isn’t possible. Today’s
solutions at their very best just cause tomorrow’s problems. God alone can save us.
The truly good
news for Alexander, and all of us, is that God does truly save us. God does truly value us and love us. God accompanies us through life. God encourages us to healthy living and doing
good for others. And in this inescapable
mess of life, God redeems us.
It is impossible
to truly do good apart from recognizing the need for God’s grace. The good news for Alexander from his baptism
is that through God he can do good things.
He is blessed. He can be a
blessing. And he can work along with all
of us for bringing about God’s promised kingdom.
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