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A Little Water and A Lot of Love

by Jean Davidson

It was Sunday morning. The congregation had gathered
for worship, offered prayers of confession, heard the good news proclaimed and sung hymns to claim that good news in their own lives. Standing before me was a family—two parents, their three-year-old son and his older sister. The son was there to be baptized. An elder from the congregation stood beside me. Several weeks before this moment, the family attended a workshop on baptism in which they learned about signs and seals, discussed water and covenants, and reviewed each of their roles in this important event. The day before, we stood in the sanctuary before the font, looked in it and touched the water. I talked with their son about putting water on his head the next morning and how it was a “really special deal.” Their son said that was okay and was looking
forward to his baptism.

But now it was Sunday morning and we were standing in front of the congregation. The boy’s parents had affirmed their faith and made promises. Likewise, members of the congregation had spoken in unison, affirming their faith and making promises. Now I turned to the three-year-old standing before me. I said his name and called him “a child of the covenant,” lifted the water from the font and moved my dripping hand toward his head . . . but that was as far as I got. He took off!

My hand remained extended as I quietly spoke to him while he moved farther and farther away (I was feeling more foolish by the second). Then he began to move out toward the congregation, toward that long aisle and freedom. Thankfully, someone from the front row slid over and gently blocked his escape. The elder and the parents drew near until the child was surrounded and my wet hand came down on his head. “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.” (I didn’t dare try to reach for more water for each member of the Trinity.)

In that moment, the congregation began to live out the baptismal promises made that morning, even as the child was being baptized, surrounding him with love and care, providing an extension of God’s love that would follow him all of his life.

Living in Community

When we picture the participants in a baptism, we often see those who stand by the font—the minister, elder, person being baptized and parents, if the person being baptized is a child. On further thought, however, we remember that the primary participant is the invisible God and we see the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises in the visible, tangible water in the font. But this image of baptism is still too limited. If we widen our view, we see the whole congregation, who “on behalf of the Church universal, assumes responsibility for nurturing the baptized person in the Christian life” (Book of Order, W-2.3013).

According to the Book of Order, “the Sacrament of Baptism . . . is the foundational recognition of Christian commitment” (W-3.3602), involving the baptized person, God and the whole church. This sacrament takes place at a specific point in time, but it also begins before time in the heart and in the calling of God, and continues as we live out our baptism in community until the day when we stand in the presence of God. It’s an eternal thing, a process, a way of living in Christ and of being indwelt by God’s Spirit. It is something the entire community of faith does together, becoming the people God created us to be—together!

When is the last time you stopped to ponder the depth and breadth of the commitments you make each time you witness and affirm someone’s baptism? In that moment when you “express [your] willingness to take responsibility for the nurture of those baptized” (W-3.3603g), do you know what you’re really saying? On one level, you’ve just agreed to care for children in the nursery, teach Sunday school, be part of the Presbyterian Youth Connection, mentor a youth during confirmation classes, serve as a deacon or elder, study scripture and show up for worship each week. On another level, you’ve just made an even deeper commitment, becoming this person’s sister or brother in Christ, as closely bound as any family.

This kind of family relationship involves more than celebrating the moment of baptism, but also walking with each other for the remainder of our lives together, in good times and bad. It involves letting God’s Spirit help us love one another unconditionally, with the kind of love Jesus showed us over and over again in his life and death—tough, deep, agape, sacrificial, God-filled love. It involves letting God make us one in Christ so that our simple act of being together is a sign of God in the world. That’s some kind of commitment!

Acting on Commitment

From my perspective, that of a single adult in the church, the
baptismal relationship looks like family—God’s family. These are the people who accept me as they find me and who help me become the person God created me to be. These people may not always like me, but show God’s love to me anyway; they won’t leave me where I am, but take me by the hand and help me grow in Christ with them.

Our baptismal commitment may not involve a big chunk of time—only little chunks lived out over a lifetime. I think of my parents, who took me to church each week and lived faithful lives before me; the man who shook my hand and called me by name each Sunday at church; and the Sunday school teacher who blessed me with Bible stories, crafts and canned orange juice. There was also the youth worker who took me to the nursing home to plant bulbs, the choir director who taught me the joy of music and the public school teacher who went the extra mile to be creative so that I could learn and understand. I’ve been blessed with a college professor who shared her delight in God’s creation, a coworker who truly listened to me and a stranger who got the cans off the top shelf in the grocery store when I was on crutches. As a pastor, my life has been blessed with parents who hand me their children to hold, children who offer ready smiles, youth who share their lives and ministry with me—each moment is a little bit of water and a whole lifetime of God’s love.

Taking the Promise Seriously

When you stand with a congregation and make a commitment to the one drenched with the waters of baptism, what commitment are you making? Are the words just words or is this an exciting new opportunity to celebrate God’s gift of faith with another person in Christ? Have you ever thought about saying, “No, I can’t do this right now”? Or do you say, “I can only do this right now in Christ with God’s help?” The ways you can walk with this person in their journey of faith are endless. They will only happen, however, if we take seriously the baptismal promises we make and ask God what God wants us to do and who God is asking us to be in that person’s life.

Jean Davidson is associate pastor of Springdale Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Suggestions for Carrying Out Your Commitment

Whether they’re newly baptized or not, consider one of the following suggestions for nurturing a child in your congregation.

• Learn the names of three children in your congregation. Pray for them. Introduce yourself to them and say hello to them each Sunday for six weeks.
• Volunteer to accompany your church youth group on a mission project, letting the youth see your love and compassion for others.
• Invite a curious but squirmy child to sit with you during worship and make an effort to lead her through the bulletin, sharing your hymnal and guiding her through prayers said in unison.
• Attend a high school sports event and greet youth from your church or neighborhood by name.
• Offer to send a special note to children who miss a week of Sunday school or a youth group meeting.
• Think of something you really enjoy doing. How might that gift be shared with children in your congregation?
  From computer gurus to woodshop workers to outdoors enthusiasts, we all have gifts and passions that can be shared with others, sharing our faith through our lives as we do so.

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