Prior to serving at St. John’s, I was the Associate Rector at All Saints’ in central Phoenix. In addition to serving as a pastoral resource to the parish, I also served as a religion teacher to All Saints’ Episcopal Day School’s first-through-fourth graders. Serving as a teacher was a humbling experience for me. When I began, I did not know how to manage a classroom. I wanted to be the kids’ buddy. If you have experience with kids, then you know this is a really bad idea. Adults can be friendly with kids, but not friends. As I learned how to manage a classroom, and to lovingly ensure they maintained proper discipline, I really started to enjoy my teaching experience. A true Eureka moment occurred one day when at least one kid in all four of my classes exclaimed “I found Jesus!” Granted, the assignment for the day was a word-search, and “Jesus” was one of the words. But when my students find Jesus in any form, I think that’s a win. One of the things about the kids that genuinely amused me was their innocent incorrect use of words. I remember a young boy calling a cassock a “casket.” I remember a little girl asking me if the word “penance” she saw on a handout was instead a reference to a part of the male anatomy. And I remember on more than one occasion, children referred to the sacrament of baptism as “bathtism”.
Although I had never thought of baptism as “bathtism”, I really like the theology behind the term. What is baptism, after all, other than a cleansing? If you think about it, it makes a whole lot of sense. Some churches have baptisteries that allow for full immersion baptism. That looks like a bath to me! Baptism cleanses us from the stain of sin. There are three sacraments that give us forgiveness of sims: baptism, reconciliation, and the sacrament of the sick. Of these, baptism is the only sacrament we can receive just once. Because of superstition, it was at one time very common to wait until a person was on their death bed to become baptized. If all your sins were wiped out by baptism, people thought, then waiting until just before death to become baptized was a sure way to die without any sin tarnishing their souls. Of course, this is not grounded in sound theology. But we know more now than we did then. We have more fully-developed understandings of baptism.
Christians don’t always agree on everything theologically speaking, and we don’t even all agree on how baptism works. Some denominations believe baptism has to be done by full immersion while others think so-called sprinkling (pouring of water over the forehead) is appropriate. Some say baptism is one of seven sacraments, while others say it is one of only two (for the record, the Anglican way of being Christian allows for either of these interpretations). Some are more particular than others about the exact words that must be used when someone is baptized. But one thing that remains constant is that baptism is universally recognized across the Christian faith. If someone changes denominations, they do not have to be (and in fact are not allowed to be!) “rebaptized.” In the Nicene Creed, we say “we believe in one baptism.” Just one. It’s once and forever.
In the Episcopal Church, our Book of Common Prayer focuses heavily on baptismal theology. The 1979 edition is much more dedicated to the importance of baptism than previous editions. If you flip through the 1928 Prayer Book, for instance, there is a rite for private baptism. The 1979 edition discourages this practice. Baptism, according to the current Prayer Book, is supposed to take place in a large gathering and the community plays an important role. This comes from the ancient practices of the Church. Baptism took place only after a three-year period of waiting, learning, and preparing. Baptismal candidates were not even permitted to stay in the church during the whole service. They had to leave at a certain point because they were not “ready” to be part of the most important parts of the service. If a baptism took place in a private room, it was only because the candidates were baptized nude. When they returned to the church in their white baptismal garments, the entire congregation welcomed them into the fold joyfully! While I’m glad we don’t do some of those things any more, I think there’s real value in acknowledging our role in the baptismal rite.
When we talk about baptism, we talk about a covenant. A covenant is a two-way street. We make promises to God and God makes promises to us in return. As we approach the Easter Vigil, we remain mindful of that covenant. How have we been keeping our end of it? How have we failed? How can we do better? What things do we want to change? When I was a kid, I loved the Easter Vigil. I know, I’m weird. It was one of my favorite services of the year, and it still is. I love that we enter the church in darkness, we hear the stories of salvation, and then the lights come up. I also love that we welcome newly baptized Christians during the Easter Vigil and other Easter services. In the spring, with new life all around us, and as we celebrate the resurrected Jesus, we also celebrate the covenant that new Christians have made. And we commit to uphold them in their Christian life. This year we will welcome a one-year-old child into the Body of Christ as she becomes baptized on Easter Day. We will also renew our own baptismal covenants. And you know what happens when we get out the aspergillum! We’ll all be reminded of our “bathtisms!”
The really neat thing about the word “bathtism” is that it reminds us of the cleansing waters of the sacrament. Water is the outward and visible sign of baptism, and water is crucial for our existence. Without water, we cannot live. Without clean water, we become sick. Without water, we are dirty. And don’t we all love the water? Where are the most expensive places in the country to live? The places that are closest to the water! It costs a small fortune to live in Southern California. It costs even more to live in Hawaii. Yet people flock to those places in droves for vacations and opportunities for renewal. People spend big money on cruises. Ocean front hotel rooms cost a premium. People want to see the water. When we swim, we feel refreshed. When we float in the water, we feel at ease. The weight of our bodies is held up by the buoyancy. Our joints feel relief. Water is healing. Water is life-giving. Water cleanses us and makes us new. We are bathtized!
We’re now four weeks into Lent. We’re closer to Easter than we are to Ash Wednesday. Our journey is approaching Holy Week very soon. What are the ways you’ve focused on your baptismal covenant during this Lenten season? Do you feel closer to God than you were when ashes were imposed on your forehead? The cool thing about theological reflection is that there aren’t wrong answers. While I hope you feel closer to God, I’m not angry with you if you do not. Sometimes we feel closer to him and sometimes we feel farther away. One of the pieces of our covenant with God is that he’s really ok with us if we’re not feeling it. He’s patient and willing to wait. If you’re struggling with your spirituality, take some time to give yourself a break. Find some of that soothing water. Look at it. Play in it. Pour it over your head. Remind yourself of your baptism. And remind yourself of your bathtism.