Today is understood in many ways to be the birthday of the Church. We hear in Romans that “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now.” James, Peter and John see Jesus assumed into heaven, and they go to Jerusalem to wait and pray as they are told.
When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Peter preaches a compelling sermon and the people who hear it are touched, and their lives are changed.
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers,* what should we do?’ 38 Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’ 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Prior to Pentecost, we had Jesus and some disciples. They did some work and proclaimed the Gospel. They healed a few people and baptized. Now there are over 3000 people baptized at one time. The disciples are full of the Holy Spirit. The newly baptized are from all over the world – all those names of places you heard in the reading. They will go home and spread the Good News. This is one of those watershed events, The Christian faith has not changed, but the disciples have stepped up.
Today we will baptize Evelyn Joy Thada into the Body of Christ. Not all traditions baptize children, but the portion of Acts I read tells us “the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” The Lord has called the Thada family, and His promise is for them and their children.
This is a big day for Evelyn. The Church teaches that the soul is eternally marked at baptism, and so it is a sacrament you can only receive once. We can receive Holy Communion over and over. We can be anointed more than once. The only other sacraments which can’t be repeated are confirmation and ordination.
You may remember some things about baptism from Sunday School class back in the day, but just for the sake of reminder, I will throw them out for you to think about. The first thing is that in case of emergency, any baptized Christian can baptize. I remember my father explaining to our confirmation class how that you might be on a battle field and someone who is mortally wounded might ask you to baptize him or her. You can.
There are a couple of things to remember. One thing involves the form. It has to be in the name of the “Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” You might wonder who would do anything else because we are used to this Trinitarian form. One group is the Jesus-Alone Pentecostals. They baptize in the name of Jesus alone – hence the name, and they justify this practice with the portion of Peter’s sermon I quoted earlier. For the baptism to be considered valid in the Episcopal Church, the form has to be Trinitarian.
There is probably not much danger of a Jesus-Alone Pentecostal wanting to become an Episcopalian and be confirmed, but if it happened, I would contact the bishop and he would baptize or do a conditional baptism first.
We are told also that the water is to be “living” if possible. That means that water from a river that moves is preferable to bottled water. Our practice is to pour water, and you might think that is cheating, but the Didache – a set of instructions almost like a manual for priests written about 70 AD said that pouring was OK. Since John the disciple was still alive at this point and probably was consulted, it seems like a good source. You might be interested to know that some people considered the Didache part of the New Testament in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, but it was not one of the books that made the cut at the Council of Nicea.
The last important thing if you do an emergency baptism is to have it recorded in the parish register. You might be surprised to know that I get requests two or three times a year to provide verification of baptism. Some cemeteries require proof of baptism because they are only intended for Christians. Someone might be getting married and need proof of baptism. Sometimes I think people are just getting information about family members. It is important to get it recorded though.
The Paschal candle today will be used to light Evelyn’s baptismal candle. This is the light of Christ and represents His presence among His people. This is the day that Evelyn becomes a member of the Christian family, and the command to “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” is hers to live and struggle with. It all starts with the Light of Christ which she receives today.
We will pray for Evelyn and bless the water we use to baptize her. Finally she will be sealed with the Oil of Chrism. I will mark her forehead with a cross and announce that she has been “marked as Christ’s own forever.”
We are here to support of this family. All of us will reaffirm our baptismal vows today as we celebrate with them.
I have said these words in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sermon preached by Fr. Tom at St. Thomas, Plymouth
May 24, 2015; Pentecost
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104: 25-35,37
Romans 8:22-27
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15