Episode Transcript
Hello friends and welcome to this week's episode of Grits in the Gospel. My name is Reverend Katie Griffiths and I am so thankful to be with you here today on this Baptism of the Lord Sunday. It's a Sunday where we're going to be renewing our baptismal vows and really having a chance to come together at the font, the baptismal font as a community. It is my hope as always that you have a place where you feel welcome and where your baptism is represented and admired and loved and filled with grace just like it should be. Uh, so, uh, it is my hope that this service will be just a supplement to what you get to celebrate today. Let us come together now in a posture of worship. The Lord be with you and also with you. Today's epistle lesson is from the book of Acts. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, verses 14 through 17. Hear now the word of the Lord. Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them, they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. The word of God. For us, the people of God. Thanks be to God. Let us come together now as we recite the Apostles' Creed. Friends, what do we believe? I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. The third day he rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Let us pray. Dear Lord, we come together today. We are so thankful that your pervenient grace has been with us since the very beginning. Since you formed us in our mother's wombs, your grace has surrounded us with your love and kindness. We accepted that grace in our baptisms. And we remember that today. Help us be mindful, ever mindful, that your grace has been with us from the beginning. No matter how far we try to stray from it, it is always there and available. We love you and we are thankful for that love that you give to us. Hear us now as we pray the prayer that your Son taught us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Hear now the word of the gospel lesson today. It is from the gospel according to Luke, the third chapter, verses 15 through 17 and skipping down to 21 and 22. As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary. But the chafe will be burned with unquenchable fire. Now, when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove and a voice from heaven and a voice came from heaven. You are my son, the beloved with you. I am well pleased. The word of God for us, the people of God. Thanks be to God. I was not sprinkled. I was dumped. Now, please don't tell the Board of Ordain Ministry that I used the term, don't serious people roll their eyes and correct me when I say it. But you will find that I am not that serious of a person. And I do know that the official term is immersed, but it felt like a dunking that day. I did not grow up in the United Methodist Church. I grew up at Woodland Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, or DOC, a church founded by my grandparents. The building is a wonderful example of a mid-century modern structure nestled in my beloved Shirley Hills neighborhood. In the DOC tradition, we bless infants and immerse children after they join the church. It is the exact opposite of the Westland tradition. I could go into a long explanation of why we practice infant baptism in the UMC. I have written whole papers on it for ordination. There are official terms and stances that I fully believe in. As I have studied, I have come to see the beauty and the ideas of grace that John Wesley gave us. I fully believe that God is always with us, covering us with his provenient grace. He is with us from the first breath that we take, and our infant baptisms are an outward expression of that. What it means, though, is that most people who grew up in the Methodist Church do not actually remember their baptism. For those of you who were sprinkled or poured upon, you may have heard the stories of your receiving the blessings of baptism, but you certainly don't remember it for yourselves. The story of the baptism of Jesus that we see in Luke is just as much a story of John the Baptist as it is Jesus. It's a story of humility and grace given to a person who did not feel worthy. John answered all of them by saying, I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. It is that same humility that parents have when they bring their children to the baptismal font. It is that same humility that I, as a pastor, work to have throughout my ministry, but especially in the sacraments. It is that same humility that adults who come for baptism have to have as they are giving way to the water that covers them. John the Baptist understood that even when he was stooping down to care for the feet of Jesus, he was not worthy of the love that he was being shown. And that is still the truth. None of us are worthy of the grace we receive, but the love of God is given to us anyway. It's the reason we humble ourselves before him when we pray and the reason we come with open hearts to the table. The power of God is mighty enough to cover us with love and grace. And although it may not have been articulated exactly in the same way, at our own baptism, it was still just as true. There's a great picture of my baptism. The baptismal pool at the church was one that you walked down into. In the picture, the very tall Reverend Gary Walling is in the pool in his robe, and little bitty Katie is standing beside him. My shoulders are up to my ears because the heating element for the pool had not been turned on. If you look really closely, you will see that both of our lips are blue, and if you squint just so, you'll hear my teeth chattering. Because the water was so cold, I have a distinct memory of coming back up out of the water. I wonder if the people of the early church felt that way too. For all of those who were coming to the newly formed church, it was a new beginning that they had never had the chance to be a part of. Entire families were baptized together. They saw a spirit-filled faith that was welcoming to all, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, and they wanted to be a part of it. It is one of the reasons that I wanted to be a United Methodist. When my precious Woodland Christian church closed, it was the United Methodists that welcomed me in. Part of the reason I was comfortable is the acceptance of my baptism. Other places wanted me to be rebaptized, to be considered part of their congregations. What was that saying about not only my own faith journey, but as my membership in the larger body of faith? How was my life not good enough for them? The truth is, my friends, my baptism had nothing to do with the denomination I was a part of. It had nothing to do with what others thought was acceptable or enough for them. It really didn't even have anything to do with the heater not being on, even though that's one of the main things I remember about that day. My baptism was perfect and special because the Holy Spirit came on to me because I am His beloved. I had always been, but now everyone got to see it in community together. Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was open, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, You are my Son, the Beloved. With you I am well pleased. This image of Jesus, surrounded by others who had been baptized, being lowered into the water of the Jordan, is beautiful. The descending dove and the voice of God make this a very powerful Trinitarian moment. The beginning of the ministry of Jesus is marked by the coming of the Spirit and the Father to say to all of those around, You are the Beloved. And I love that God uses that name of Jesus. Love permeates who God is in every way. From the grace He has shown us, to the name He calls His Son, to the call that we have in mission. Love is at the heart of it all. Just like when we here at St. Paul have come back out of the water to worship together, the Holy Spirit has descended upon us. Besides my teeth chattering, there's another part of my own baptism story that stands out to me. My great-grandmother Lucy's body was riddled with Parkinson's and arthritis. Her mobility was very limited at the time of my baptism. She founded many churches across the world, but was at a point in her life where she wasn't able to attend much anymore. However, she was determined to be there for my baptism. I distinctly remember opening my eyes after I came up out of the water and looking right at Lucy. She had on a beautiful pink dress and was seated in a chair at the side of the pool. The effort that she made that day showed me that I was beloved. My community, but specifically the beautiful woman of faith that Lucy was, surrounded me with love that day, just as the grace of God has been surrounding me my entire existence. It is that same idea of community that we see in the United Methodist practice of baptism. When someone is newly baptized, we take the time to renew our own faith and remember the vows we took when we joined the church. We remember the baptism of the beloved Jesus as we call upon the Holy Spirit. We do all of this as a community of believers. Most of the time, the UMC makes appointments in the summer. It is the ordinary time of the lectionary. It makes it easier for people who are itinerating or moving to a new church. And don't get me wrong, this Christmas season was pretty hectic. But I think it was the perfect time for us to come together and worship. Last week's message of a new journey to be on together and this week's message of remembrance and renewal were the perfect scriptures for us to ponder. But the most meaningful part of this lectionary season is that our first two Sundays together, we have gotten to share in the sacraments of communion and baptism. It is a way for us to worship together while we honor and remember our past and as we look to a bright and joyful future. As we move toward the baptism remembrance, it is my hope that we can take this time to renew not only our baptisms, but our commitment to the church and to each other. The Lord has given you salvation and grace. Will you step out in faith and accept it? As we come together today in this service of remembering and renewing our baptisms, let us find joy and the meaning in each of our stories. It is also important to remember that any way you are baptized, no matter your story, the Lord is always with you. If you have not been baptized, the Lord is with you. If you have not yet been baptized, you are welcome to the font. Whether you are baptized or have yet to take that step, the font, like the table, is open to you. Come and feel and the power of God in the water. Let the Spirit of God descend on us as we praise Him for the grace He has shown us. Let the remembrance of the healing and exhilarating power of water wash over us. If you have yet to be baptized, but you are inspired to do so after coming to the font, please reach out to me and I will speak to you about baptism for yourself. Amen. As we go out into the world this week, let us remember our baptisms or pray that the inspiration will come for us to be baptized. Let us remember the life and love and joy that we receive as we come to the water together. in life, in death, and life beyond death. God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. Amen.
