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I remember one Sunday in college going to Sunday worship when a Baptism was taking place. Now this church typically had multiple Baptisms on the same day, all of them generally babies. This particular day was the same, except for one person.
My friends and I were shocked to find up there, with all the infants in their white gowns, a young woman who we’ll call Emma. Emma just so happened to be in the class below us at school. We had no idea she had been going to church at this parish, let alone that she was getting ready to be baptized. Yet here she was and there we were observing it.
Emma seemed a little sheepish being up there with all the children. Yet we, her friends, were so proud. We even went up to tell her that afterwards. We were so excited to hear about her journey, to witness it, and to help walk along with her in this new path in her life.
That’s the reason Baptisms are rightfully held during public worship, as our Prayer Book clearly lays out Concerning the Service. This is a return to the intention of Baptism as far more than a ‘blessing of the baby”, for in truth it is a sign of our journey together in Faith. The public nature of Baptism is shown throughout Scripture, including in the passage immediately following our reading from Acts today. The public nature of Baptism is shown in our Lord’s own Baptism even.
As we’ve seen in other passages of the Gospels before, John baptized out in the open. Even the leaders of the Sadducees and Pharisees, those chastised by John, bore witness as we saw during Advent. It is in this context that Jesus is baptized by John in our Gospel today.
We see how public Jesus’ Baptism was from Peter’s reference to it in Acts. This was an event that took place before Jesus’ ministry, before Peter was traveling with Him. Yet Peter knew about this event, which we’ll see how next week, and he speaks of it as something well-known, at least in Christian circles. The story of Jesus’ Baptism was a well-told tale.
And thank goodness it was! It is in His Baptism that Jesus’ role is made manifest. In both Acts and the Gospel, we hear of God the Father’s anointing God the Son as God the Holy Spirit descends upon our Lord. It certainly made an impression, this happening. God is present here in this event as all Persons of the Trinity. It was a story that was being told throughout the area, as Peter shows us. What must the people who actually witnessed it have thought?
Jesus’ Baptism was a public sign and statement of who He is. All Baptisms are meant to be the same in that they are a public sign of whose we are.
Just as Peter tells this story to help budding Gentile believers with their Faith, public Baptism can be a reminder to us of who to keep our eyes out for in our mutual life of Faith. That is what my friends and I tried to do for Emma. It is what we are all called to do for every person that walks through these doors to be Baptized in the name of God’s fullness as witnessed at the River Jordan: as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We don’t just hold baptisms as part of our principal and public Sunday worship because Jesus did it. We do it for the reason He did it. Jesus’ Baptism being out in the open bore witness to who He is and His mission in this world. Our baptisms bear witness too. They are a witness of whose we are and who we serve.
Baptisms also allow us to know who to help on this life of Faith. That is why in the service of Baptism when asked “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?” we respond with “We will.”
As we remember our Lord’s Baptism by John in the River Jordan today, we recall the witness that Baptism provides. It holds an important place in our life of Faith and worship together. We would do well to never forget the importance of Baptism and always strive to hold it as an important part of our public worship together.