Monday, July 21, 2014

Deep Down Faith | Celebrating the Baptism of a Little Child


Jesus Hugs Children Around the World by Amy Jones, AJs Pallette


The Beauty of Baptism into Jesus' Family


Throughout our first decade of ministry, Emmaus City Church (ECC) has had the privilege to baptize infants, children, and adults. And we have had many who have been curious about why we as part of the Protestant branch of Jesus' Church in 21st century America would do this. While some helpful additional resources are linked at the bottom of this post, below is a brief excerpt from a book we love, Deep Down Faith, along with an example of a liturgy from an ECC mass including the baptism of a child, to provide some insight.

Holy Baptism

Baptism signs and seals union with Christ. As Christ went down into death and rose up into life, so a child in baptism gets washed by going down into water and coming back up. Baptism acts out Christ's death and resurrection.

I admit that sprinkling a child isn't a very good sign of this (that's why Eastern Orthodox Christians plunge their children under three times in honor of the Trinity). Dipping would be far better. But, then, many of our church buildings aren't equipped to dip.

Baptism
is a sign of the events of Christ
and of our union with Christ. 
For by acting out the Christ events,
we say,
"We are the people of the cross
and resurrection and of all that they mean."

We especially place ourselves within the people who have come from that history. Baptism is a Church ritual because in it we say that a new person has been accepted into Jesus' holy catholic Church and into one of the rooms off its main hall. In this room Jesus Christ will be worshiped and the people will be shaped into spiritual athletes and will become good reflectors of the glory of God.

Of course, an infant cannot
of these people.
She's too young, too weak,
too helpless.
But that's just when 
God wants us accepted.
That's just the point of
infant baptism and
the grace that flows in it.
God reaches for us and
marks us as His children.

In infant baptism God promises
that we will be included in the history
and people of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of Christ 
will be taught to us,
preached for us,
learned by us.

Parents and others
will try to be models of what it means
to live like Christ.
People will show us how to pray,
how to give,
how to treat others with kindness
even when we don't feel like it.

In other words, people around us
will try to make Christian history
our history,
the Christian community
our community.
Baptism is the start.
In your baptism God says,
"my child."

What everyone is waiting for 
is the day,
years later,
when you walk back into
the same Church building
on your own two feet.
You stand before 
the same worshiping community
that witnessed your baptism.

And to the God
who years ago said, "my child,"
you now say, "my God."

pgs. 200-201

Liturgy from an ECC Mass
Including Baptism of a Child

Friends and family of Emmaus City Church,
it is our joy and honor to share together in God's gift of the sacrament of baptism today with this family. For some here today, it may be unfamiliar to see Jesus' Church baptizing a baby or young child, so we want to share with you why we invite you to join with us.
We get to baptize this child because God includes children in the number of His people throughout the Old and New Testaments. 
We get to baptize this child because God said to Abraham in Genesis 17 that His promises of blessing and salvation were for Abraham and his children when He gave Abraham His covenant sign. 
We get to baptize this child because Peter said in Acts 2 that God’s promises in Jesus are “to you and your children” on the Day of Pentecost, echoing the words of God's covenant to Abraham, as well as to His people, including all of the "little ones" in Deuteronomy 29. 
We get to baptize this child because in Acts 16 the entire households of Lydia and the Philippian jailer were baptized, the household of Stephanus was baptized as recorded in 1 Corinthians 1, and because the Apostle Paul also wrote that children with one believing parent are considered holy, or set apart, before the Lord in 1 Corinthians 7. 
We get to baptize this child because Paul wrote to the church in Colosse that the sign of God’s promise to His people in circumcision in the previous covenant had been replaced with baptism as a sign of the new covenant. 
We get to baptize this child because Jesus said in Matthew 19 to, "Let the little ones come to Me, because the Kingdom of God belongs to them” and then He laid His hands on them and blessed them. 
We get to baptize this child because we see the good news of Jesus' fulfillment of God's promises in the new covenant visibly as cleansing water is applied actively by another to this little one, just as the washing of God’s redemption through Jesus comes through the power of His Holy Spirit for those who do not earn it, but simply receive it like a child.  
And we get to baptize this child because this is how Jesus instructed us to make disciples in that we baptize them into the name of the family of God – in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – and that Jesus' Church includes people of every age in families.

Our God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has redeemed us in Jesus to become part of His family. God's new covenant for His people is confirmed to us by Him in this sacrament of baptism, which is a sign and seal of our cleansing and of our welcome into His household, when we receive Jesus' work of salvation on our behalf in faith. 

In light of all of the above, this baptism today is not only for this child, but for everyone here who is a baptized member of Jesus' Church. This is a moment to remind us again that baptism also reveals to us that God continues to grow His family in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This baptism is a visual call to you all to remind you again to turn your mind and heart to Jesus and to remember how He has saved you by His grace and set you apart to follow Him. As His follower, You are called to join with His Church in visibly declaring and displaying His good news to our city with those who are also baptized into His name, to join Him in His mission to make disciples of people from all nations, and to pray with the Spirit for His Kingdom to come in your life and the lives of those around you in Worcester. The sacrament of baptism showcases that Jesus continues to grow His Kingdom through baptized individuals and families from every tribe, tongue and nation as He promised. This is good news.

(Name(s) and parent(s) of the child):  
Do you receive God’s covenant promises for you and your child, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation, as you do for your own?  
I/We do. 
Do you acknowledge your child's need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit? 
I/We do. 
Do you give your child back to God the Father, and promise, in relying on His divine grace, that you will humbly follow Jesus as a repentant example of a disciple for him, that you will teach him to learn how to obey everything Jesus commanded, and that you will strive, by all the means God gives through His Word, His Spirit, and His Church, to see him brought up as a member of the family of God? 
 I/We do.

Now, for those who are baptized into Jesus' Church and who are part of Emmaus City, you also have a responsibility as part of the family of God to help this child learn how to follow Jesus.  
Do you all join with this family in taking on the responsibility of humbly discipling their child in what it means to walk in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit?  
We do.

Let's pray. 
Father, You give us Your love and Your grace, as we hear and see this through Your Word, Your Spirit, and the sacraments of Your Church. We praise you for the promises You have given concerning our children – that You declare they belong to You. By Your grace, call this child to Yourself as Your own as this sacrament of baptism witnesses to Your redeeming and cleansing love. Set apart this water from a common use to a sacred use and grant that what we now do on earth may be confirmed in Your Kingdom as Jesus said in Matthew 18. In reliant faith we give this child to You. Please receive him and may Your Holy Spirit always keep him as Yours through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

(Name of the child), 
We baptize you in the name of the Father, because God is the Father who calls you to be reconciled to Him and become part of His family; 
We baptize you in the name of the Son, because Jesus has greatly served you as the Servant King and calls you to join Him as a servant of His Kingdom for the sake of others; and 
We baptize you in the name of the Holy Spirit, because you are called to be part of a family of missionary servants – Jesus' Church – who are sent out to love their neighbors, sharing the good news of Jesus so that it might be received by many. 

(Name of the child), welcome to life with Jesus' Church. May you never live a day where you don't know Jesus and place your faith in His redeeming work on your behalf. 


The Story of God Centered on Jesus with Children artwork by Shin Maeng
 

We have baptized you 
and have received you into Jesus' Church. 
God loves you
and has great plans for your life. 
But you will need the rest of us 
and, from time to time, 
to remind you who you are 
and to keep you in God’s family. 
We are especially going 
to appoint some members 
to guide you and watch over you 
as you grow in faith. 
And all of us promise to adopt you 
as a sibling in Christ.

Additional Resources

For those interested in learning more, here is some background as to why most of Jesus' Church, throughout history and around the world today, has baptized the child of a Christian parent or parents:

Blessings of peace and presence,

Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan


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Location: Worcester, MA, USA

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