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    Theology - Liturgical: Baptismal Meditation

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    Matthew 28:19-20: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

    As Pastor Sumpter pointed out in this morning’s sermon, baptism is a naming ceremony. In baptism, we are all given the same family name, the family name of the ultimate family, the Triune family of Father, Son, and Spirit. What happens when we get a name?

    Names identify us with an in-group. The fact that we all receive the same name is important for Paul as he addresses the divisions of the Corinthian church: You were not baptized into the name of Paul, or Peter, or Apollos, he says, but into the one Name of Jesus, who is the Son united to His Father in the Spirit. Marked by the name of the Triune God, we are all members of one another.

    Names connect us to a past. Our surnames come from our parents, and even our Christian names are often names that have a family, a national, or a biblical history. Our baptismal name also implants us into a heritage and gives us a history. By baptism, we are given a past that includes Abraham, the exodus, the conquest, King David, Nehemiah, and especially Jesus in His death and resurrection.

    Names are also imperatives that direct us toward the future. Parents give their children names that express their hopes for them. We name children after an admired uncle, a biblical hero, a former President. Children are named in hope, hope that they will live up to their names. Our baptismal names also direct us toward a future, the future hope that God has promised in the gospel.

    Names are badges that we wear when we leave our own family and house and venture into the world. When you meet someone new, someone outside your normal circle of acquaintance, you give a name. It’s your identifying label for the outside world. And your baptismal name is also an identifying label before the world. All the baptized receive the name of God, and we are all called to bear the weight of that name, not to bear the name of our Lord lightly.

    This morning your children are being named in all these four dimensions. By the baptismal Name of Father, Son and Spirit, they are being grafted into a past, and directed toward a future; they are identified with a family, the family of God, and they are called to bear the name toward the outside world.

    Your calling as parents is to train them to wear their names well, to live up to their names. Remind them of their heritage, and stir up their hope for the future. Teach them that they belong to Jesus, and are members of His people, and that they are called to enter the world as witnesses for Him.

    Every day, you will call them by their given names. As you do that, remember to call them by their baptismal names – the name they receive here, the name of the Triune God.

    posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 6:08 am