The Joy of Baptizing

A teacher of mine, Gerhard Frost, told of asking a young pastor what he was good at. The pastor thought for a moment before he answered, “I’m good at holding children.” Frost, as was so typical of him, found beauty and wonder in that response. 

I almost wish I’d been that young man. Or maybe I’d like people to say of me, “He’s good at baptizing children.” But even if no one said that, I’d have to say that I love baptizing – infants and children, yes, but teenagers and adults as well. What a moment – to be part of God’s action making this person God’s own, drawing this little one or old one into the new kingdom where God rules. What an honor – to be part of giving a gift, from God of course, that can never be taken away. Joy is part of every baptism for me. Maybe it’s something like the joy in heaven in Luke 15, the joy that always goes with being found by God. 

I admit I like holding babies for baptism – though that joy has its limits. I remember a one-year-old who insisted on trying to grab my glasses, no matter how I stretched my neck to avoid her reach. Not a spiritual moment, but a memorable one. And I love introducing the newly baptized child to the congregation and seeing the smiles of people as I ask them to welcome her and pray for her and her family. Yes, some folks consider this walk-down-the-aisle introduction too sentimental; after all, baptism is serious – about discipleship, bearing the cross, even eternal business. Who can deny that? But in the welcome, there is joy and delight, too. There’ll be plenty of seriousness in the time to come. 

Will I ever tire of baptizing? I hope not. I love it for the child – and for the unique unpredictability of each baptism, too, I suppose. (Yes, the congregation also loves it when the pastor gets a surprise or two.) I love it for the future God gives this person. I love it even more when I see this child (or a person of any age) surrounded by a company of people determined to share the faith and live as Jesus’ followers in a tough world. Sometimes I’m flooded with overflowing joy, other times just a touch of it. But I love baptizing. God is at work and I get to be part of it.

Water, Word and Spirituality

This is a new venture: a blog on baptismal spirituality. I call it “Water and Word.” Why? Because that great man of faith Martin Luther who shook up the world nearly 500 years ago liked to say that baptism is not water only, but water used “according to God’s command and connected with God’s word.” Baptismal spirituality gets you both, water and word, not one or the other but both. And God in both.

I decided I liked the idea of starting this blog near November 11. That’s the anniversary date of Martin Luther’s baptism. He was one day old. If spiritual value of baptism has a champion, Luther would head the list of nominees. He loved baptism. He believed that God did great things in humble things like water and the word. In fact, Luther believed he and every Christian received so much in baptism that he – and we – can spend our whole life learning what it means.  

Luther is right, at least in my opinion. That’s why I’m beginning this blog, to think aloud about baptism’s often unused benefits, about a baptismal spirituality that’s good from our diaper days to our dying day. That’s I wrote a book too about baptismal spirituality that has the publication date of February 4, 2008. I am eager to share it with you. What about that February date? That’s the anniversary of the 1906 birth of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man who died for his faith, hanged by Hitler’s henchmen in April 1945. He loved baptism too – and he followed Jesus all the way. One person who read my book told me informally that he thought it had the best of Luther, Bonhoeffer, and a beloved departed pastor in the church, Alvin Rogness. I am humbled and pleased by that thought. 

So I invite you to stay with me. Between now and the publication date for my book, I’ll give you some hints of what it means to live baptized every day. There’s a lot of spiritual hunger in the world, and baptismal spirituality is a great treasure that can refresh and renew us. Even with simple things like water and the word.