Simon’s reflection for the Baptism of Christ.
St Louis of France used to sign his documents not, “Louis IX, King” but “Louis of Poissy.” Someone asked him why, and he answered: “Poissy is the place where I was baptised. I think more of the place where I was baptised than of Rheims Cathedral where I was crowned. It is a greater thing to be a child of God that to be the ruler of a Kingdom: this last I shall lose at death, but the other will be my passport to an everlasting glory.”
I wonder if we remember or celebrate our own baptisms in the way that St Louis of France did. In similar vein, Martin Luther said we should think of our baptism every time we wash our face. We’d be thinking of our baptisms a lot in these days if we did!
The reason that many of us have been baptised of course is that the Church over the centuries came to be believe that Jesus, Himself, instituted it. There have been many questions in the Christian tradition about how to understand baptism. Does the act of baptism itself strengthen us through the action of the Holy Spirit to become the children of God? Is it a means of grace or just a sign of God’s love and acceptance? Is it just about individual repentance and faith? Should we baptise infants? I’m sure you can think of many others.
This Sunday as we celebrate the feast day of the Baptism of Christ, we are taken back to the roots of the Christian practice of baptism in Jesus’ acceptance of the baptism of John but also in the difference between the baptism that Christ would bring and the baptism of John.
The practice of John the Baptiser in calling the people of Israel to Baptism was really something that was extremely radical. Before that, baptism was probably only known as a rite for non-Jews who wanted to become Jews; an act of repentance and acceptance into the chosen people. To call on people who were already Jews to be baptised was a profound challenge to any sense of self-righteousness or entitlement people might feel by simply being descendants of Abraham and John’s call certainly gave offence for that reason to many of the religious leaders.
John called the people to the wilderness; the place where the faith of Israel was originally nurtured. He called them to a renewed sense of dependence on God. Participation in John’s baptism was a sign of a person’s willingness to change and of God’s willingness to forgive. It was also a baptism of preparation for something that God was about to do. It was about getting ready for a new age. John wore the clothes of the prophet Elijah who was expected to appear before the messiah and his message was that one was coming who would bring a greater baptism than his; a baptism not just with water but also with the Holy Spirit.
Many people in the early church puzzled themselves about why Jesus asked John to Baptise him. They reasoned that he was a greater figure than John and also that he had no need of repentance.
Yet Jesus’ request for baptism from John at the start of his public ministry shows in a profound way what his ministry was to be about. In his divine humility, he identifies with those he came to save. As St Paul puts it, he became sin, who knew no sin, in order that we might be saved.
As Jesus is baptised, the heavens are rent open, the lines of communication between God and humanity re-established. The Holy Spirit, who hovered over the waters at the time of creation, descends anew and the divine voice affirms who Jesus is as God’s Son and as the suffering servant from the prophecies of the Book of Isaiah and tells us to listen to Him.
This is not a god who just shouts at us from the sidelines but God who meets us in Christ in the mess of human life and who is absolutely drenched in our humanity for our sakes. The God who becomes one with us, because he wants to help us to be at one with Him.
Because of Jesus’s baptism, our baptism is not only about repentance and preparation but also about the assurance of God’s love, about belonging to God and belonging to each other as the church, a reminder that God’s love came before our decisions of faith and was not something we had to earn but something freely given because we are his. Baptism becomes a bridge between God and us.
Jesus goes on in his deep trust that He is God’s beloved to withstand the trials in the wilderness. These difficult times are a bit like a wilderness experience, reminding us of who we really need and depend upon. We all need resilience and endurance. With Jesus baptism comes the assurance that we too are loved by God and the promise that God is alongside us as well as the challenge to listen to Christ and to follow Him in all we do.
So, on this feast day of the Baptism of Christ, we should take all this to heart and dust off our baptism certificates. We should remember and celebrate the dates, give our children and God-children if we have them reminders or gifts on theirs. If I took Louis of Poissy’s practice, I would sign myself Simon of Peacehaven, what would be yours? Amen.