Baptism in a Sacramental Universe
Bruce Epperly
In times of deep depression, it is said that the Reformer Martin Luther scribbled on his desk, “I was baptized” as a reminder that God’s grace was more enduring and powerful than any doubt he might have. Trusting God’s enduring and graceful presence, he could face his inner demons and external foes, knowing that God would guide and protect him.
Of course, many people don’t remember their baptisms. Over four decades, I have baptized scores of infants, proclaiming God’s love for them just as they are. I have baptized many others by immersion. As the Spirit spoke to Jesus at the Jordan River, when he rose from John’s baptism, each child and adult hears deep down at their baptism, “You are my beloved child in who I am well pleased.”
I remember my baptism. It was the summer of 1961 and John Kennedy was the newly elected President of the United States. A traveling evangelist was holding revival meetings at our congregation, Community Baptist Church, King City California, in the heart of the heart of the Salinas Valley. Leonard Eilers, preacher to the cowboys and stunt riders of Hollywood, proclaimed, “the round up for God is on.” He had a lively tune which I still remember, “Put your foot in the saddle. Climb up on the horse. The round up for God is on.” I came forward with tears in my eyes, just nine years old, to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior, as the choir sang “Just as I am without one plea and that your bled was shed for me and now you bid me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” The next week, I was baptized all the way under, by immersion, in the church’s baptistry.
It’s been almost sixty years since the salad days of childhood faith. The days when as a child, “Jesus walked with me and he talked with me and he tells me I am his own.” My faith has radically changed and would not resemble the innocence of that nine year old or the conservative theology of the Baptist church of my youth. I have ventured through the summer of love, Asian religions, and philosophy and theology. I have learned Transcendental Meditation, studied with Zen Buddhists and yogis, and have been a reiki master for over thirty years. But somehow my baptism and that born again experience are still at the heart of my spirituality.
God is still a personal reality to me, though more mystical than doctrinal. These days I am more likely to read Meister Eckhardt and Hildegard of Bingen and practice contemplative prayer than sing revival hymns, but that Baptist child still lives on within me. I remember my baptism as a sign of God’s deep and unchanging love.
For some, baptism is the ticket to heaven and a supernatural act bridging the gulf between God and a godless world. Apart for participating in the sacraments of the church, we are spiritually lost. For them, God’s salvation and revelation only occur in a within the limitations of orthodoxy. Sprinkled waters, creeds, immersion, priests and ministers, infallible scriptures, and doctrine. Outside of the rituals and beliefs of the church, they assert there is no salvation.
These days I take another path. With the process theologians, I believe that God is present always and everywhere in a saving way. God is the reality in whom we live and move and have our being. Our spirits are inspired by God’s sighs too deep for words. Each moment is revelatory. Each person is touched by God. More than that, the whole world is sacramental, a visible sign of God’s presence, oft hidden, but experienced as the Energy of Love coursing through all creation.
I was baptized. But we can say that the whole world is baptized. Cleave the rock and Christ is there. Look deeply and the light shines within. God’s living waters flow in and through you.
Some moments, like baptism and communion, are definitive both of God and us. God is not a homogenous force, impersonal and indifferent. In the ever-present and ever-active in the call and response of life, some places are revealed as Holy Ground. A Reality with will and purpose, God chooses to be more present in certain spots than others. Perhaps, in Bethlehem, under the Bo Tree, or in the Cross and Resurrection.
God’s variable presence in the world doesn’t deny God’s enlightening and enlivening, God’s transforming power, in other places or our ability to shape the nature of God’s presence in our lives. In the call and response of life, some acts deepen God’s presence. Though naturalistic in nature, we can still call these unique moments and places sacramental and epiphanic. They are “thin places,” where the Holy Shines more fully. They are moments and persons transparent to the Divine. Not supernatural but representing and revealing the deeper naturalism of a God-filled and God-inspired universe. The deeper naturalism is reality at its fullest, humanity at its fullest, the place where mystic and miraculous moments of healing and transformation occur, not defying the laws of nature but revealing the heart of the world in its fullness.
Such moments of revealing, epiphanies and theophanies, don’t depend on the ritual of baptism. But are the gift of a sacramental universe in which all things are baptized by the love of God. Remember God is in and with you, baptizing you with the Spirit of loving creativity and possibility each moment of your life.
+++
Bruce Epperly is a Cape Cod pastor, professor, and author of over sixty books, including “Mystics in Action: Twelve Saints for Today,” “Walking with Francis of Assisi: From Privilege to Activism,” “101 Soul Seeds for Grandparents Working for a Better World,” “Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God,” and “Process Theology and Politics.”
Of course, many people don’t remember their baptisms. Over four decades, I have baptized scores of infants, proclaiming God’s love for them just as they are. I have baptized many others by immersion. As the Spirit spoke to Jesus at the Jordan River, when he rose from John’s baptism, each child and adult hears deep down at their baptism, “You are my beloved child in who I am well pleased.”
I remember my baptism. It was the summer of 1961 and John Kennedy was the newly elected President of the United States. A traveling evangelist was holding revival meetings at our congregation, Community Baptist Church, King City California, in the heart of the heart of the Salinas Valley. Leonard Eilers, preacher to the cowboys and stunt riders of Hollywood, proclaimed, “the round up for God is on.” He had a lively tune which I still remember, “Put your foot in the saddle. Climb up on the horse. The round up for God is on.” I came forward with tears in my eyes, just nine years old, to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior, as the choir sang “Just as I am without one plea and that your bled was shed for me and now you bid me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” The next week, I was baptized all the way under, by immersion, in the church’s baptistry.
It’s been almost sixty years since the salad days of childhood faith. The days when as a child, “Jesus walked with me and he talked with me and he tells me I am his own.” My faith has radically changed and would not resemble the innocence of that nine year old or the conservative theology of the Baptist church of my youth. I have ventured through the summer of love, Asian religions, and philosophy and theology. I have learned Transcendental Meditation, studied with Zen Buddhists and yogis, and have been a reiki master for over thirty years. But somehow my baptism and that born again experience are still at the heart of my spirituality.
God is still a personal reality to me, though more mystical than doctrinal. These days I am more likely to read Meister Eckhardt and Hildegard of Bingen and practice contemplative prayer than sing revival hymns, but that Baptist child still lives on within me. I remember my baptism as a sign of God’s deep and unchanging love.
For some, baptism is the ticket to heaven and a supernatural act bridging the gulf between God and a godless world. Apart for participating in the sacraments of the church, we are spiritually lost. For them, God’s salvation and revelation only occur in a within the limitations of orthodoxy. Sprinkled waters, creeds, immersion, priests and ministers, infallible scriptures, and doctrine. Outside of the rituals and beliefs of the church, they assert there is no salvation.
These days I take another path. With the process theologians, I believe that God is present always and everywhere in a saving way. God is the reality in whom we live and move and have our being. Our spirits are inspired by God’s sighs too deep for words. Each moment is revelatory. Each person is touched by God. More than that, the whole world is sacramental, a visible sign of God’s presence, oft hidden, but experienced as the Energy of Love coursing through all creation.
I was baptized. But we can say that the whole world is baptized. Cleave the rock and Christ is there. Look deeply and the light shines within. God’s living waters flow in and through you.
Some moments, like baptism and communion, are definitive both of God and us. God is not a homogenous force, impersonal and indifferent. In the ever-present and ever-active in the call and response of life, some places are revealed as Holy Ground. A Reality with will and purpose, God chooses to be more present in certain spots than others. Perhaps, in Bethlehem, under the Bo Tree, or in the Cross and Resurrection.
God’s variable presence in the world doesn’t deny God’s enlightening and enlivening, God’s transforming power, in other places or our ability to shape the nature of God’s presence in our lives. In the call and response of life, some acts deepen God’s presence. Though naturalistic in nature, we can still call these unique moments and places sacramental and epiphanic. They are “thin places,” where the Holy Shines more fully. They are moments and persons transparent to the Divine. Not supernatural but representing and revealing the deeper naturalism of a God-filled and God-inspired universe. The deeper naturalism is reality at its fullest, humanity at its fullest, the place where mystic and miraculous moments of healing and transformation occur, not defying the laws of nature but revealing the heart of the world in its fullness.
Such moments of revealing, epiphanies and theophanies, don’t depend on the ritual of baptism. But are the gift of a sacramental universe in which all things are baptized by the love of God. Remember God is in and with you, baptizing you with the Spirit of loving creativity and possibility each moment of your life.
+++
Bruce Epperly is a Cape Cod pastor, professor, and author of over sixty books, including “Mystics in Action: Twelve Saints for Today,” “Walking with Francis of Assisi: From Privilege to Activism,” “101 Soul Seeds for Grandparents Working for a Better World,” “Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God,” and “Process Theology and Politics.”