THE POWER OF WATER
January 10, 2016
Saint Cecilia
Catholic Community
Palm Springs, CA
Isaiah 42:1-4; 6-7
Psalm 29:1-4; 9-10 Acts 10:34-38
Luke 3:15-16; 21-22
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
On a hot day, nothing beats a cold, tall glass of agua con hielo to quench my thirst. Whether you call it water,
or agua, H-two-O is always in
the news. For the about the past year, the California Drought has dominated the
news. Over this past week, however, we’ve gotten more rain, or lluvia,
than we ever expected, due to El Niño, a natural warming of the oceans
that will bring much heavier than normal rain and snow to California this
winter. Flooded streets, mudslides, and snow in the mountains are now
facts of life.
Agua is the primary of all earthly
creation. If you will recall the first creation story in Genesis, water existed
on earth before God made the land. With seventy one percent of the earth's
surface covered by water and the human body consisting of sixty five percent of
it, we can reasonably conclude water is one of the prime elements of life on
earth. Agua circulates
through the land just as it does through the human body, replenishing nutrients
and organic matter, while carrying away waste material. In the human body, it
regulates the activities of cells, blood and glandular secretions. An average
adult body contains about ten gallons of water, and with just a small loss of
less than a gallon, a person can suffer from dehydration and numerous other
conditions dangerous to one’s health. And, all of us, and many other
creatures, are in the watery world of our mother’s wombs before we enter this
world. The necessity of agua for
life is so significant that astronomers searching the universe for habitable
planets on which other human life could possibly exist first look for planets
whose conditions would suggest the presence of liquid water. Water, however,
can be deadly as well. If you drink too much agua, it will fatally poison you. If it fills your lungs, you will
drown and die. Floods kill people and demolish property.
Water has been
used for religious purposes since antiquity to symbolize devotion and purity.
Those of the Jewish tradition in the days of Jesus were familiar with the use
of agua for purification
rituals. The Second Temple was surrounded by pools for just that purpose. But
the Baptism that John administered was more than that. Unlike the Jewish
purification rituals where people washed themselves to purify their bodies,
John Baptized others. Further, John intended Baptism for interior purification,
that is purification of our rather than bodies. We can see this from the message
of John the Baptist to “repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Most
important, however, the Baptism by John was intended be a preparation for
Baptism by Jesus. Yes, John Baptized with water, but the Baptism of Jesus is
one of rebirth, one with the Holy Spirit.
This morning, you were sprinkled
with agua to remind you of
your baptism. And you can give yourself a similar reminder at any time, by
dipping your finger in the font and making the Sign of the Cross. Just as water
is part of life, water is part of the Church. The two characteristics of water,
that it can bring death as well as life, are why the Church uses it in Baptism.
In traditional theology, baptism represented the mystical washing away of
original sin. The traditional notion was that everyone’s soul was stained by
the sin of Adam and that baptism cleansed the soul from it.
In Baptism, we die to sin and are
raised to new life in Jesus. The word “baptism” is derived from a Greek verb baptizein,
meaning “to dip' or “to plunge.” You might recall that the classic definition
of a sacrament is, “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual
grace.” In Baptism, the outward and visible sign is the water. Jesus was likely
baptized by full immersion, where His entire body was submerged in the water
and then lifted out of it. That’s how it’s done by Orthodox Catholics and some
Protestants, as a strong demonstration of the meaning of dying and rising in
Christ. Here, as a matter of convenience, we pour water on the candidate,
but the theology is the same: dying and rising. As Saint Paul writes in the
Epistle to the Romans, “Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into
death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”[1] When
one is Baptized, death cannot destroy that person. Through our encounter with
the waters of Baptism, we have already died once and have acquired everlasting
life. We cannot die again. Baptism signifies the death of our sinful
nature and our new life of grace.
The Baptism of
Jesus, His going down into the water and rising up out of it, previewed what
was to come, what was to define Jesus, that is, His death and resurrection,
because Baptism is, in essence, death and resurrection personified. As Saint
Gregory Nazianzen tells us, Christ at His Baptism “received the sacrament of
enlightenment, or rather he enlightens us with his brilliance. He is baptized;
let us go down into the water with him so that we may also come up with him.”
The Baptism of Jesus was the
first biblical event in the earthly life of Jesus that has the Holy Trinity,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit together in one place at the same time. The
Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove from the sky, and God consecrated
Jesus as His Son. This event was important to the Jewish nation, since it
concerns the divine sonship of an individual human being. This was, as
prophesized by Isaiah, who said, “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest
upon him.”[2] The action of the Holy Spirit at the
Baptism of Jesus made Jesus known as the Messiah to John the Baptist and all
the disciples.
Just like it did
with Jesus, the Holy Spirit acts at our Baptism as well. In our own Baptism,
the minister makes the sign of the cross on the candidate’s forehead with
chrism so that the candidate is sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as
Christ’s own forever. The Old Testament had often spoken of God as a Father,
but only in relation to the Chosen People as a whole as God’s children. Again,
that was a preview of what was to come by way of Christian Baptism. As Jesus
became God’s beloved Son at His Baptism, we at our Baptism, we became God’s
beloved children who will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
Baptism shapes
our spirituality. We walk wet, knowing that our Baptism is the door to a new
life. When we are baptized, we become members of the Body of Christ. Our
decision thereafter is not whether we continue to be baptized persons – once
baptized, one cannot be un-baptized – but how do we live out that unchangeable
reality? Every day, baptism gives us the power for God’s life to grow and be
preserved in us. Thereafter, we can choose to follow Jesus, or not, with all
the benefits and hazards those choices entail.
Following Jesus
has us realizing that, just as His Baptism commissioned Him for ministry, our
Baptism commissions us as ministers. His Baptism began His ministry. Our
Baptism begins our ministry. Baptism shapes our Christian identity and
the vocation we live. The Baptismal Covenant, which we will all renew today, is
our vocational guideline, our ministry plan. As we live out that covenant, we
minister to the world around us. Whenever we pray in community, and whenever we
attend Mass, we continue in the tradition of the Apostles in prayer and
breaking of bread. When we say no to sin when we are tempted, are
renouncing Satan and persevering in resisting evil. When we talk to
others about God’s word and live out the words we speak, we proclaim the Good
News of God’s Kingdom by word and example. When we help people in sorrow, need,
sickness or any other distress, without regard to their immutable
characteristics, and regardless of their station in life, we seek and serve
Christ in all persons. When we treat others fairly and conduct ourselves
amicably with other people, we actively strive for justice and peace. And
here’s the tough one: respecting the dignity of every human being. When we are
in the midst of a heated conflict with another person, that’s the farthest
thing from our minds. When we hear politicians in the news deliver
hateful messages that denigrate ethnic groups, religions, women, and sexual
minorities, it’s very tempting for us to stoop to their level and refer to them
in equally derogatory terms. What Jesus asks us to do, however, is to pray for
them. Some of them need quite a few prayers.
Jesus at his
Baptism was called as a prophet, anointed as a priest, and crowned as a
king. God told us to listen to Jesus, like God intended us to listen to
prophets of old. The Holy Spirit anointed him as a priest, to offer sacrifices
on our behalf, which he actually did. And at His Baptism, God glorified
Jesus, as one would glorify a king. Likewise, in our Baptism, we are
heirs of Jesus in all three roles. Jesus wants us to be prophets in the
tradition of the Old Testament, to call out evil, as Amos and Isaiah did. Amos
spoke to an oppressed society and his concern for the poor.[3] Isaiah
condemned unjust statutes and oppressive decrees that deprived the poor of
justice and preyed on widows and orphans.[4] And
believe it or not, all of us became priests at our baptism. Not ordained
priests, as that comes later for some of us, but priests in the sense of those
who live on the border of holy things to share our own special, individual
experience of God with others and to offer sacrifices on their behalf. And
finally, we are crowned as kings, not to dominate or bully other people, but
entitled to respect for our dignity as human persons, sovereign over, and in
control of, our own lives, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to resist all that
rebels against God and to command our personal powers, talents and resources,
whatever they may be, to make the environment in which we live a better place,
whether that environment is our home, our workplaces, our church, or school.
The Baptism of
Jesus was essential to who Jesus is. Our Baptism is essential to what we are.
It made Him what He is, and it makes us what we are. As First Peter tells
us, we as human persons are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and God’s holy
people, in order that we might be called out of darkness into the marvelous
light of God to proclaim God’s mighty acts.[5] And,
as Saint Paul tells us, we are, with agua, and
the fire of the Holy Spirit, washed and sanctified, in the name of Jesus.[6] AMEN.
[1] Romans 6:4
[2] Isaiah 11:1-2
[3] Amos 2:6-8;8:4-8
[4] Isaiah 10:1-2
[5] 1 Peter 2:9-10
[6] I Corinthians 6:11
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