I don’t remember being baptized.  Like many of you, I was a baby.  And, for some reason, until this week, I did not know the story of my baptism.  Apparently, I was baptized sometime in February of 1978.  My mother remembers what month it was because it was after my cousin’s 9th birthday and she can recall him showing his new watch to one of the members of their church.  My parents had to wait to have the baptism because my grandmother had been hospitalized and was not well enough to come until February.  Like today, the roads were icy.  The attendance was light.  It was a communion Sunday.  My father’s Baptist family was surprised when they took communion because the church used wine instead of grape juice.  I wore a baptism dress my grandmother had sewn for me, her first grandchild to be baptized as an infant.  Who knew?  I did not even know about my grandmother being sick, much less the rest of the story.  My formal entry into the Christian church passed without a lot of notice.

                    Jesus’ baptism was a different story.  This morning, we hear the Apostle Mark’s description of Jesus’ baptism.  Mark says:

Mark 1:4-11

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.  I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Since we know John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan before Jesus came to him, we know baptism existed before Christianity.  Baptism did not start with Jesus.  But,…perhaps the most incredible baptism of all time occurred when Jesus stepped into the Jordan river that day many years ago. 

          Many pre-Christian religions practiced baptism.  Just as we feel that in order to be physically clean we must bathe in water, there has long been a belief in the purifying properties of water.  Ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, and Greeks used water to baptize people and cleanse them of their spiritual sins.  In the years before the birth of Christ, when people converted to Judaism they would be baptized after their circumcisions as a final cleansing to prepare themselves for their new faith.  After the person was immersed in a pool of flowing water, they were considered true “sons of Israel” and were able to worship in the Temple. 

          John the Baptist believed his authorization to baptize came from heaven, not from the Jewish law.  John preached that one should be baptized to repent for their sins.  Throughout Christianity, there has been a debate over why Jesus chose to be baptized by John.  Many Christians believe Jesus led a life without sin, and therefore Jesus did not need to repent from his sins through baptism.  Instead of resolving the question of whether or not Jesus really needed to be baptized, many theologians see Jesus’ baptism as his introduction to the public and the beginning of his ministry.  The writer of the book of Mark describes Jesus as coming out of the water and having the Holy Spirit descend upon him.  God’s voice calls out and says that Jesus is God’s beloved son with whom God was pleased.  After hearing that God was pleased with Jesus, Jesus was introduced to the world as the messiah and could begin his ministry to the world. 

          In the United Church of Christ, most of the time we baptize babies, little people who like Jesus are baptized before having the opportunity to sin.  We view baptism as the introduction of our young people into the family of Christianity.  Just as Jesus’ baptism introduced humanity to the messiah, we use baptism is to introduce our children to humanity as new participants in the Christian faith.  With each baptism we celebrate that God’s grace is upon us, no matter where we are on our spiritual journeys.   Even though Jesus and little children are without sin, baptism assures the rest of us that God forgives our sins.  When we celebrate a baptism, the baptism is not just for the one being baptized. We are all reminded the Holy Spirit is at work in the world and within each one of us.

          We make a great commitment when we baptize people, young and old.  As the church, we promise to love the person being baptized.  We promise to support them throughout their life in their Christian faith and we promise to care for them as they grow in their faith.  We promise to have a relationship with the person being baptized.   I have known several congregations who debate their baptism policies. Some churches feel they should baptize each person they are asked to baptize.  Others feel they should only baptize people who have a relationship with the church, either candidates for membership or the children of members.  Congregations take the promises they make to the person being baptized seriously, whether the person is a baby, a teenager, or an adult.  My parent’s church stopped baptizing non-members after one of the children baptized by their church was murdered by his step-father.  The family had asked the church to baptize their baby after he was born, but did not attend the church.  The congregation felt a lot of guilt after the child was killed—they wondered if they were irresponsible to make pledges to a child they did not see after the baptism.  They feared that if the congregation had pursued a relationship with the family, the child’s death would not have taken place.

          These pledges we make are very serious.  God is counting on us to follow through with our promises.  We have a responsibility as a congregation to be in relationship with the little ones we baptize, as well as the adults we baptize.  In some ways, each baptism is unique.  The circumstances of the day are unique, at least.  After we baptize the little one next week, his parents will be able to tell him what the weather was like and what he wore and how his siblings reacted to his baptism.  But, in the most basic ways, each of our baptisms are the same…promises are made by us or our families and the church.  Water is poured on us.  God’s Holy Spirit is present with us.  Through our baptisms we become fully part of the Christian church.  And, this is a wonderful thing.  Each of the rituals we share in together unite us as a family of believers in God, and as that united family we stand together to take on the challenges of life. May it always be so.  Amen