Christian Baptism is a big deal. At Old South Church in Boston baptism is an especially big deal. To old time members and first time faces we tout our historical relationship with these living waters. We remember that this church was born out of a commitment by courageous Colonists who sought to break down barriers to the waters of baptism. We revel in the baptism of Benjamin Franklin. At Festival Worship, our children gather ‘round the font, some even hanging on to it, as this community blesses the water and welcomes in a new brother or sister in Christ. Baptism is a very big deal.
Have you studied the great big stone baptismal font in the Gordon Chapel? Have you examined its delicately carved details or its hardly noticeable blemishes? Have you counted its eight sides?
Many Christian baptismal fonts have eight sides. The tradition goes back to the early days of the faith. This number isn’t by accident or by chance. No, this visual reference to ‘eight’ refers to the ‘Eighth Day of Creation’.
Early church writers viewed the resurrection of Jesus as the inauguration of a new creation: the eighth day. Paul told the Christians gathered in Corinth that “if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; everything has become new.”
Baptism is an act of conception. It is the beginning of the forming of our identities. The font, our womb. The water, our life source. It is in baptism that God and the community work together to walk the path of discipleship, to proclaim the Gospel, to share in the work of Christ.
So this new creation reminds us that baptism is not a one-time deal. Baptism is a way of being. We are baptized, but not yet completed. Baptism begins with the trickling of water down our faces, but calls us into this new creation and into a new identity as Christians.
Have you visited Evening Worship? If so, you have sat in hear-a-pin-drop silence as sisters and brothers share with us what they know of God, of mercy, of love, of resurrection. Following such intimacies we stand and move together to gather ‘round the font. There, we recall our baptism. There, we recommit our baptism. There, we touch the living waters and remember that we are each a new creation.
Baptism is a big deal. It comes with challenge and commitment. It comes with burdens and joys. It is an eternal reminder that we are marked and beloved children of God. We exist in God’s pulsing heart. That, sisters and brothers in Christ, is a very big deal.