Baptismal Meditation, May 9

Scripture says, �You shall not bear the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.�E And Jesus said, �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 teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you.�E

Jesus tells us that someone is baptized �into the name�Eof the Triune God. Baptism is a naming ceremony; in baptism, you receive a new name. We can think about the meaning of baptism, both for Titus and for you his parents, by thinking about it as a naming ceremony. Through baptism, the person baptized comes to bear the name of God, and as the third commandment makes clear this places a responsibility on the bearer to bear it faithfully. By placing the name of the Triune God on Titus, God is placing on him the responsibility to walk in faithfulness, bearing that name. You are parents are accepting your responsibility to train Titus to bear his name with faithfulness. Be diligent and trust God, lest Titus bring disrepute to that name.

Talking about baptism as a naming ceremony also helps us to understand some aspects of infant baptism. How can we baptize little babies who have absolutely no conception of what is happening to them? Isn�t that unfair? Isn�t that, as one theologian put it, an act of violence? If it is, it is the kind of violence we impose on infants whether they are baptized or not. Every child receives a name that he did not choose, and that becomes his identity. A baptized child receives the additional identity of �bearer of the name of the Trinity,�Eand that is who he is. There is nothing odd about baptizing a baby; or, nothing odder than giving him a name.

Talking about baptism also helps us understand infant baptism because the name that the baptized receives is a family name. The NT frequently talks about the church as a family. Paul addresses hs readers as �brothers�Eand Timothy as his �son,�Eand the NT makes clear that we are all �sons of God�Ein Christ Jesus. Titus is receiving the same name that you all received in your baptism. He is a member of the same family, named by the same name. When we see that this is what baptism means, we can see that it is perfectly natural to include infants, for children are perfectly normal members of a family.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, May 08, 2004 at 10:31 PM

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