In the wake of our church’s recent baptisms, I have been particularly grateful for my own baptism and that my parents made the decision years ago to present me before our church, formalizing the covenant between God, the church and its members. When I was home this past weekend, my mother brought out the extra-large Tupperware container of my childhood keepsakes. Somewhere wedged between saved birthday cards and pictures from the first day of kindergarden was the bulletin from my service of baptism, some twenty-seven years ago. As I held it in my hands, looking to see if there were any markers that the service was especially significant, I noticed that the liturgy focused on the communal action of the church body in the sacrament of baptism. My name wasn’t even listed. As personally important the service was to me, the emphasis was on the promises made by that congregation to raise me and direct me in ways which honored Jesus.
Perhaps, as I have grown to a point that I realize saying the words, “I will,” carries great weight and responsibility when asked of me, I wonder what those questions posed to a congregation during a baptism really require. Pondering this, my thoughts often drift to a friend I have from the church I attended during high school. Though her children had graduated from our youth group, she was one of the main adults that participated in our various activities from lock-ins to driving the van to camp every summer; we all secretly fought over who would get to ride with her. As we graduated and departed for college, the military, and other more distant horizons, I wondered if sheer geography would mean the end of her involvement with us. Ten years and many different zip codes have proven otherwise. And, it’s not just me who she has managed to guide and nurture.
There were two girls from another family in our church who lost their mother when they were very young. When their father remarried, they were lost in the shuffle, left in many ways to weather their lives alone. Over the years, I have marveled at the significant and palpable ways that this friend has walked alongside these girls. She has helped them move house, buy cars, struggle through difficult break-ups, stay in school, and learn how to manage adulthood. There have been ups and downs, frustration, tears, and, on many occasions, also heartwarming joy. I ran into one of the girls while I was visiting my hometown, and she commented that whenever she encountered a challenge which seemed more than she could handle on her own, this friend was the first person she thought to call.
I don’t know if my friend was present when these girls were brought before the church for their baptisms. I can’t help but imagine, though, that every time she has said, “I will,” to those questions, whenever they have been asked of her, she has taken them to heart. Certainly, her actions, her willingness to be enmeshed with so many of us, live up to those promises made, again and again, whenever baptism is celebrated. My friend is not the only person I know who has lived out these vows with intention. She, along with others who have said, “I will,” and on many days remembered, have been enabled to act through the grace of Christ.
Ultimately, it is the church as a whole, a community of both givers and receivers, that upholds the baptismal covenant. None of us acts alone. When we say, “I will,” we do so knowing that God has gone before us, is there with us, and will continue to be present until the end of time. As we are woven further into a community of faith, we are reminded that in our binding, with God and neighbor, we live not through our own power, but as a part of a larger story. Being baptized does not ensure that God will love us more deeply, for God’s love for each of us exists regardless of baptism. This covenant is, however, a reminder of a promise between God, the church, and its body, which names aloud God’s sign and seal over us.
As stated in the baptismal liturgy found in the Book of Common Prayer,
There is one Body and one Spirit;
There is one hope in God’s call to us;
One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism;
One God and Father of all.
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