The Baptism of Harper Dandridge and Jesus

I am so pleased to welcome all of the guests who have gathered here this morning to celebrate the baptism of Harper Dandridge. I realize some of you are here to celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, please know, we are also happy to have you.

Okay, everybody be honest, raise your hand if you are wondering why, in this day and age, we are reenacting the ancient biblical ritual of Baptism. I’m going to attempt to explain it.

Baptism is one of two great sacraments of the Church – the other is the Holy Eucharist. A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. In other words, a sacrament helps us to use our human senses to understand God’s unbounded love. Sacraments also serve to remind us of the sacredness of ordinary elements like water, bread and wine.

The ritual of Harper’s baptism is founded on the gospel reading we just heard – the story of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River.

Now, we’re going to be doing a lot of things before the actual baptism. 

First, Harper Dandridge Cubba-Penick will be presented to the Rev. Elizabeth Welch by her parents and Godparents. Then, Elizabeth will ask the parents and presenters a series of questions that might make them squirm. For example, Do you renounce Satan? And Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?

When we hear the words evil powers and forces of wickedness, we might be tempted to dismiss the entire baptismal ritual if images of little red-horned devils pop into our minds.  Please don’t.  Try instead to think of Satan as a convenient symbol for the foul elements of humanity - greed and rage, envy and deceit; And, to imagine Jesus as symbolizing the honorable human qualities of patience, kindness, and humility.

Theologians have a tendency to make incomprehensible ideas that would better serve us if they were presented more simply. Therefore, all of the questions Elizabeth will ask, may be summed up as follows:

Will you fill yourselves up with love and kindness, leaving no room for hatred and anger?

Trying to live in love and kindness is something we can all get behind, right? In fact, we are already behind it because, Neil and Lou, today you are stretching God’s unbounded love a few more notches. Two gay men bringing their beloved daughter to church to be baptized in the year 2013 is as radical as a virgin giving birth to Jesus. Jennifer and Stephanie, like St. Mary, you are magnifying the scope of God’s love by allowing this glorious thing to happen. 

And all of you - Nancy, Jesse, Edward, Trisha, Rae Jane, Miss D. and Gretchen - you are playing a central role in this love riot.

The truth is, what may seem like an archaic ritual is astonishingly fresh and progressive. Yes, this sacrament of Baptism is a covenant between God, the community, and Harper Dandridge. But think about it, isn’t this what gays and lesbians have always had to do –establish our own families of choice by creating kinship that is not defined by genetics or the law?

Baptism is the public proclamation and celebration of our adoption into a family that is united by God; a family united, above all, by love and by the promises to love. 

Neil and Lou, Godparents and sponsors, you are about to make promises on Harper’s behalf, and all of us who bear witness will be raised with Harper to a new life of grace.  

Godparents, your role in this can’t be overstated.  With your presence in Harper’s life and by modeling patience and kindness, this baby girl will grow up knowing love. And someday, when you, Jessie, are giving Harper horsie rides in the living room, or when you, Jennifer and Stephanie, bake the cake for her 4^th birthday, Harper will realize that she is loved, not just by her parents, but by this whole family she is being baptized into today. What a blessing for Harper and for Lou and Neil to know there is a community patiently (or perhaps impatiently) waiting to embrace their daughter in love.

Neil and Lou, you know family life has its ups and downs - you will feel overjoyed and overwhelmed, there will be times when you will stand strong and times when you buckle with weakness. Through all of this, and forever, you will be sustained by God and this community with a love so powerful that nothing can separate you from one another in your love for your daughter. Please remember this.

Now, I want to give you a heads-up – during the baptism, pay close attention to the Prayer of Thanksgiving over the Water. This ordinary substance is the symbol of a new life of grace and love. There is no element in heaven or on earth more life sustaining than water. Jesus chose to be baptized in the river Jordon, to demonstrate how deep, how broad and how high God’s love is for us.

The heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven,
“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” I want you to believe that God is saying the very same thing to us: You are my children, my beloved; with you I am well pleased.

As we move through this service, we will renew our own baptismal vows, witness the baptism of Harper, gather around the table as the Body of Christ and be dismissed into the world. I’d like to ask one more thing of you. From this point forward, when washing your hands, or watering your plants or enjoying a hot shower, please let the water remind you that you are the beloved son of God, you are the daughter with whom God is well pleased.

You may not remember your own baptism, but you will remember this day, the day Harper Dandridge Cubba-Penick became a part of something really big. The good news is that baptism doesn’t just happen once, we are washed in God’s love and raised to new life everyday; every minute of everyday. We have already been claimed, marked and sealed as God’s own. There’s nothing else to do now but remember, and rejoice. Amen.