Infants, children, and adults become a part of the Christian community in Holy Baptism, a ritual of word and washing with water. While a person is baptized only once, the gift of baptism continues throughout one’s life. When one is baptized, it is for the sake of life in Christ and in the body of Christ, the church. Individuals are baptized, yet baptism forms a community.
Baptism is a welcome. The Sacrament of Holy Baptism is all about welcome. Welcome into the story of God’s love and liberation for all people. Welcome into God’s family, the church. Welcome into the kingdom of God. Welcome into a new life.
Baptism is life and death. Water nourishes every living thing, and we are dependent on it. Yet water also has the power to take life away. Because of its connection to life and death, water becomes a symbol of the divine drama to which we all belong. God, who created us in endless love, promises to be with us through life and death.
Baptism is a beginning. Water ceremonies predate the Christian church. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove, and a voice from heaven declared Jesus as God’s Son. Each time we baptize, we retell this story, and God’s Spirit comes again as yet another of God’s children is washed in mercy, grace, and love.
Baptism is political. In baptism, we are grafted into the inclusive life of Jesus Christ, which rejects unjust powers of empire, announces good news to the poor, the sick, and the sinner, and grants us citizenship in the kingdom of God.
Baptism is a way of life. In baptism, we are reminded that we are created in love and given a calling for the sake of all creation - to be instruments of justice and peace.
