Baptisms, Really Weird Rituals, and Learning to Shout, “No!”

I am so excited! This morning, I got a call and someone from our church wants to be baptized! Isn’t that wonderful?!?!  If there’s one thing I love doing as a pastor more than anything, it is getting people wet!  Whether it is a 2-week-old baby or a 32 mother or father of a baby, I am all in. But in our United Methodist baptismal covenant there is an interesting piece of ritual that we sometimes forget is there. 

During the ritual, the pastor asks the family (or the adult) these 3 questions:

On behalf of the whole Church, I ask you: Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin? I do. Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves? I do. Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races? I do.

To be honest the first question kind of scares me.  “Spiritual forces of wickedness”? “Evil powers of this world”? This doesn’t sound like us!  I thought baptism was more about a congregation taking 10 minutes to communally dote over one of the world’s great wonders: babies!  Where does this language come from?

Well, these two phrases actually come from an ancient baptismal ritual that has its’ roots in the first century!  In fact, in the ancient ritual, when the church asked the person being baptized this first question, they were instructed to turn away from whichever direction Jerusalem (the holy city) was and physically spit when they said, “renounce the spiritual forces of evil”. 

Say what?!  This is crazy! So, what are we “moderns” and “post-moderns” supposed to do with this piece of ancient ritual?

Well, for me I think it helps me realize that deciding to be a Christian has both a “yes” and a “no” to it.  Yes, we open our hearts to the amazing love of Christ and embrace the more excellent way of love with all our heart and soul and mind and strength.  But it also means saying no, as well.  It means saying no to those forces that take away life and love and opportunity in this world.  It means saying no to any force in this world that is “doing harm”.

In the United Methodist way of doing things, we try to keep things simple.  We have within our tradition 3 simple rules.

1)  To do no harm. 2)To do all the good we can. 3) To stay in love with God.

In order to “do no harm”, we must also stand up against those forces that are doing the harm, whether it be parts of our government, a bully in our school, a drug that folks are addicted to, or a gang in our neighborhood. 

This past week, many in our church have shared with me that they are participating in some of the protests in our area.  As their pastor, I have asked them to share with me just why they are protesting.  As folks have shared, many of them end up in tears as they share the emotional pain, they or their loved ones are going through due to some of the policies of our government.  They believe with all their heart that these policies are doing harm to this world. Their protests are initiated not by their political party, but by their understanding of being baptized into the Christan faith. It is their faith in Christ that is compelling them stand up and say, “no!” 

Sometimes, as I listen to them, I find just a hint of an apology under their words. “Is this what a nice Christian is supposed to be doing?” But, in truth, this is exactly what God, in Christ, is calling us to do!   When we see harm being done, we are called to stand up and say, “no!” precisely because we are Christian.

Next Sunday we are going to take part in another ritual from the first century of our faith...Palm Sunday!   One way to look at Palm Sunday is that it was a parade of both a yes and a no.  First, it was a celebration of Jesus.  The people of Israel, especially the poor, had a deep and abiding love for Jesus and his way of servant love and they wanted to say “yes” to him by waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna! Hosanna!”, to their king!

But to see it as just that, is a mistake!  This was a masterfully orchestrated parade of protest.  Jesus was juxta positioning his way of living in the world against the Roman Empire’s way of exploiting the world. Their power was wielded from on high, symbolized by powerful chariots ridden by soldiers wielding swords and spears.  Their power was coercive and exploitative and meant to put fear into the hearts of people.  Jesus’ way was on the opposite end of the spectrum. Jesus road into town on a donkey, a symbol of servant love.  His power came from being down with (Emmanuel) the people.  His power empowered others and gave them hope. And by riding into Jerusalem Jesus was protesting the coercive power of Rome.

This week, as you do what God is calling you to do, I want you to know that your pastor is in full support of both your yes and no!

Your friend and pastor, learning to embrace the “yes” and “no” of following Jesus, Brook