Sunday Homily, January 13, 2013, Baptism of the Lord C
Readings:
Isaiah 40, 1-11, Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.
Psalm 104, O, Bless the Lord, my soul.
Titus 2, 11-14, 3, 4-7, The grace of God has appeared.
Luke 3, 15-16, 21-22, With you I am well pleased.
For those who don’t have a decent Bible or a book of the readings, here are two links that I use, The Bible at Your Fingertips and USCCB, The New American Bible.
The difference? The first is Protestant more or less, and the second is officially Catholic and has the 12 little books in between the O.T. & N.T., called Deuterocanonical or Apocrypha.
Both are good translations. To buy a Bible, try The Jerusalem Bible or The New American Bible.
Baptism & Original Sin: traditional & contemporary theology
Traditional theology on baptism & original sin:
a. Why we baptized: purification & removal of original sin inherited by babies. Baby was a sinner & would go to Limbo forever if not baptized before dying. The non-existence of Limbo has been acknowledged by the Catholic Church.
b. Original sin: the 1 sin of Eve & Adam, the eating of an apple, ruptured the relationship between God & Humans.
Contemporary theology on baptism & original sin:
a. Original sin: (first)
1. no original sin
2. Genesis story of the fall is allegory, not fact
3. from Darwin's Origin of the Species the idea has developed that in our human infancy, we needed certain behaviors to survive. For instance, killing another person & stealing (like food). As our ancestors formed communities, norms of social behavior emerged, for example, the 10 commandments.
4. St. Augustine, ca. 400:
–A major, if not the major influence on Christian/Catholic theology of original sin and human nature from his time to today
–After conversion from a rather lusty life at 32, he had a pessimistic view of human nature, different from early Christianity
–John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), Pelagius, a British monk, & Julian of Eclanum, Italy, a bishop, all found nature good and fought against Augustine
–Augustine used all means to vanquish his opponents with their positive view that nature was good, even to sending a gift of horses to the pope to influence his decision. Augustine won.
b. Why we baptize today: (using the contemporary theology)
1. To celebrate a new life
2. To ritually & formally welcome the new person into a family, a community, and to a God famous for love and acceptance
3. To cleanse after the journey
Sources: Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent; John Shelby Spong; Wikipedia
Baptism Today
This morning I would like to say a few words about contemporary baptism. To get there I have a story. Rosemary has gotten me hooked on another of her Brit dramas, this called Doc Martin. It is not running right now, but we have been watching the series from past years.
There are basically two main characters with a bunch of others. Doc Martin was a successful London surgeon until he suddenly developed a phobia for blood. He said he was in the midst of performing surgery on a woman when suddenly he could not do it. He said in one session he was like a tight rope walker who suddenly lost it.
So he moves to a little fishing village in Cornwall, Port Wenn, to act as the regional general practitioner. His Aunt Joan, the wisdom figure in the series, has a small farm on the outskirts of Port Wenn.
What really sets Martin apart is his bluntness, his rudeness. He tells one female patient she is fat, as is her teenage daughter. He tells patients to get out, when he has finished his exam. He won’t let his somewhat airheaded receptionist offer the patients tea, even though they sort of expect it and occasionally ask her for it. When she gives it to them, he jumps all over her.
On one occasion he even paints over a portrait of his receptionist a patient had put on the wall of the waiting room. The patient was painting the room.
The second primary character is, you guessed it, a pretty girl who is headmistress of the primary school. We have been given glimpses of how much each loves the other. On one occasion when Luisa invites Martin to share a glass of wine in his office after hours, one glass and Martin unwinds and tells her he thinks she is beautiful, loves her, and longs to just see her every day in the village. Then he promptly falls asleep on the kitchen table because, as he said ahead of time, wine puts him straight to sleep. But they are star crossed.
On another occasion, after Martin has saved someone’s life with Luisa helping, he and Luisa are returning in the local taxi. Luisa kisses him. Martin the doctor suggests she has bad breath and he has some medication for it. The next thing we hear is a slap and in the next scene Martin is standing bewildered on the side of the road, the taxi leaving without him.
Why does Martin act this way? We were given an enormous clue in another session. His parents. They come to visit after about three years of no contact. Dad likewise is a surgeon in London, but has lost a lot of money in some scam. Mom tells Martin that Martin ruined her marriage. She never wanted him and still doesn’t. That was why he spent all his childhood away in boarding schools. It was a painful session.
Martin is a wounded kid. His nervousness in the face of Luisa’s love for him is because he can’t handle this new emotion. He has grown up thinking he is a loser and unwanted.
Where are Martin and Luisa headed? I don’t know yet. I am almost afraid to watch the next session. I so don’t want Martin to mess it up. But he always does. I feel like I am watching the Titanic embarking every time Rosemary & I begin a new session.
What has this to do with baptism? Baptism is part of the antidote to this negative message. Baptism can be the official message, the community message, the world’s message to a baby that you are terrific, okay, loved just as you are. If Martin had heard this as a child, instead of what he heard, how things could have been different.
As a community we can pass this message on to our kids. They are all gifts. Our voice can join the heavenly voice in saying, “Little One, you are beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
To whom have you recently conveyed this?
To whom next?