8 January 2012                              Baptism of our Lord

In the ancient church, the majority of baptisms were, not surprisingly, of adults.  It was only after Christian families had become common that parents wanted their children brought within the covenant, and so infants were baptized as well.  But the drama of baptism is seen particularly in adult baptism, especially as it was practiced in ancient times.  It was chiefly celebrated at Easter, in association with the great vigil, and began as the candidate faced west, the land of the setting sun, and renounced all the powers of darkness.  Then he turned towards the east, the land of the rising sun, and embraced Christ, the Light of light, the Sun of Righteousness, who was to come again from the East, the resurrected Son of Man.  Then he took off his clothes and was immersed in the baptismal waters in the Name of the Trinity, came up out of the waters to be anointed with oil, and put on his new, white robe.  Finally he was taken into the assembly to make his first communion. 

It was understood in those days that baptism required a choice between light and darkness, good and evil, Christ and all his opposition.  You may think that this choice is very radical, that things are more complicated than black and white.  And this is true.  But you cannot understand the grey areas without understanding dark and light in their pure forms, and the candidate for baptism understood that what Christ offered was a chance to live in the light in the midst of a dark world.  He could choose to be one of those, who, having walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.”  [Isaiah 9]  In fact, the baptized Christian was given an opportunity to be “strong with all the strength that comes from [Christ’s] glorious power, . . . prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled [him] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. [For, continues St Paul, the Father] has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  [Col. 1:11-13]  Baptism was the means by which the ancient Christians offered to those who walked in darkness, the possibility of living where the light shines.  To participate in Jesus, which is the essence of baptism, is to live in light, since He was the One who said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”  [John  8:12]  Paul affirms that, saying, “you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.”  [1 Thess 5:5]

The contrast between light and darkness was not only a Hebrew or Christian invention, to be sure.  Other ancient religions used their mythologies to describe the battle between good and evil, the holy and the demonic, the forces of order and those of chaos.  But it is certainly strong in ancient Christian literature.  It does not necessarily mean an oversimplification or an eagerness to contrast oneself with one’s opponents—though both things happen.  The Christian understanding was more subtle.  The baptized Christian understands that the world is a mixture of darkness and light, that the darkness of the world cuts right through his own soul, and not necessarily between him and his neighbor.  To become a Christian is to make a choice for the light, but not to presume that from baptism on, one now is completely in the light.  As St John put it, “if we walk in the light as [the Father] himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  [1 John 1:7-9] This implies that the darkness will be with us, that it will require a struggle to live in the light, that we often don’t succeed and require continual forgiveness.  But receiving forgiveness and offering it is one of the marks of living in the light, as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. 

Still baptism is a crucial event in the life of the Christian—whether experienced as an adult or a child.  If one was baptized as a child, then one has to discover within himself at some time in his life the act of allegiance that the ancient church asked of adult converts.  We cannot just drift along in church, we must make our choice a personal one.  This doesn’t mean we don’t need the community, it simply means that faith is something that we do, not just something we passively accept.  It is fealty, adherence, loyalty to Jesus.  We have tried to offer this opportunity in our sacrament of confirmation, but as we know from bitter experience, confirming children often was regarded as a graduation from church, rather than a renewed commitment to active participation in its life. 

So Baptism is the sacrament of choosing sides in this life: light or darkness.  Will we be on the side of light and life or on the side of darkness and death?  Now, of course, put that way, no one would choose the darkness and death.  Exactly: the problem is that living in the darkness becomes a habit and the obscurity in which people live is often not recognized.  Or if it is recognized, it is not seen for what it is.  These days we find many people dissatisfied with the way our world is operating.  The prescriptions for making it right again are many and various.  Most of them are based on ignorance and superstition, fostered by our commercial media.  This is nowhere more clearly seen than in the current political speeches and advertisements.  The truth is that people are very reluctant to give up their favorite illusions—the darkness to which they have become accustomed—and come out into the light.  

It is easy to understand why they act in such a way: coming into the light is an act of courage; we can hardly do it without risk.  It may seem to be abandoning that in which we have placed our hopes for security—even if we see that it doesn’t work very well.  One of the great early Christian contrasts between light and darkness had to do with worshipping the true God as opposed to the various idolatries of the pagans.  And idolatry still stands at the heart of our darkness.  An idol is a power which one worships.  It may be a false power which only has power in virtue of the fact that its worshippers have given it such.  O an idol may be a real power whose authority over people is disproportionate to its value because it is wrongly worshipped.  There are many such idols in our culture: money, comfort, and technology to name only a few.  You can tell that an idol is being worshipped by the obsessiveness with which it is defended and the darkness that such worship results in.  When idols are worshipped, the darkness becomes a moral and spiritual failing as well as a mere lack of knowledge or insight.  Our desires keep us from seeing clearly—we live in a darkness that could be dispelled, but we will not see, for, as Jesus said, “This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”  [John 3:19]

No one really wants it to be seen that they worship money or comfort.  So they hide their allegiance with euphemisms such as “the requirements of the market” or “our way of life” and so their idolatries are hidden from themselves, and the darkness of the world increases and problems we could deal with are ignored or denied.  As Jesus put it in another place, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness. Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness.”

The baptized Christian, then, understands that he has entered upon a battle, a life-long struggle, to keep on the side of the light and against the darkness—the darkness of the world in which he lives and the darkness that still resides in his own heart.  Although it is discouraging from time to time, the Christian knows that the Spirit has been given him precisely to lead him into the light and into the truth, and so he is patient.  As Paul put it, once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  [Eph 5:8-10]  The fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.  By pursuing these things, then, with the help of the Spirit, given in our baptism, we can learn what it means to please the Lord, that is, to walk in the light as He is in the Light. 

Have you noticed in the conversations you have with people, in the articles you read in the newspapers, in the reports you see on TV, that the underlying desire of politicians and pundits, reporters and columnists, lawyers and judges, the man-in-the-street, and maybe even your neighbor, is frequently not to discover the truth and do the good, but to win over his opponent and secure his own advantage?  It may even be your or my deep desire.  Insofar as we care more about dominating our competition or winning arguments than discovering the truth, or preserving our self-esteem or maintaining our standard of living rather than doing the good, we are walking in the darkness still. 

Living in the light requires a relentless will to be self-critical and to doubt the conventional wisdom.  It does not mean a skepticism that is out of control, for that is only another way to walk in the dark.  It means primarily keeping the Light Himself in view, learning Him more deeply, following Him more closely, and loving Him more truly.  In the Light of Him who is the Light, then we can learn to see clearly what is going on around us.  And we know how it is to live as the children of light:  “You are the light of the world,” He said. “A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”  That is, the duty of a light is to shine.  The way the darkness of this world is dispelled is by reflecting the light of Christ into it.  Too long Christians have merely reflected the opinions of the culture around them, and have grown dark along with the darkness of the world, rather than trying to live explicitly according to the light of Christ. 

This does not mean, of course, that all truth, all light, is only found amongst Christians.  There are lights elsewhere as well.  There is truth and goodness and beauty elsewhere.  The Christian does not live in a kind of panic about someone else knowing a bit of truth he doesn’t understand, or being good in a way he hadn’t thought of, or creating beauty that he hasn’t yet been exposed to.  Living in the true light of Christ, on the contrary, gives him a deep sense, a profound awareness, of what truth and goodness look like, so that he can applaud and enjoy them wherever they are found:  “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things,” as St Paul put it. [Phil 4:8-9]

Christians don’t have all the answers, but they have seen the light, insofar as they have really seen Jesus Himself.  Again in the words of Paul, “For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.”  [2  Cor 4:6-7]  Clay jars, earthen vessels.  Paul understood only too well that the light that shines through the Christian comes from another Source and that the humble container for this light is often cracked and flawed.  No matter.  It is possible for the Christian so to be illumined by the light that shines through him that he becomes light himself.  This is our great hope.  But for now we know weakness and frailty and the remnants of the darkness that still adhere to our minds and hearts.  So we don’t call attention to ourselves but to the Light that we have seen, endeavouring so to manifest that light in our lives that it becomes visible in the darkness.  

Let us pray:  Most high and holy God, enthroned in fire and light; burn away the dross of our lives and kindle in us the fire of your love, that our lives may reveal the light and life we find in your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.