The Man Who Does Nothing

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
Manassas Presbyterian Church
Manassas, Virginia
March 9, 2008
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Reaffirmation of the Baptismal Covenant

The Man Who Does Nothing
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Mark 1:9-11

I don’t know if Karl Barth was a grumpy old man,
but I do know that when it came to babies,
he was very grumpy.
Not because he didn’t like babies;
But mention the idea of baptizing a baby to Barth
and where most of us would light up at the very idea,
Barth would fulminate and fume.

His smoldering was the result of his deep belief
that churches had no business baptizing infants,
and even children.
He was adamant that there was nothing in the Bible
on which we could ground our practice
of baptizing youngsters.

Barth was not some gaseous talk-radio host,
he was one of the most famous theologians of the 20th century.
His multi-volume work “Church Dogmatics”
is still considered to be the finest, most comprehensive work
of scholarship in Reformed theology
since Calvin’s “Institutes”.
It is a dense, heavy set of books.
Try to read through even one page
and you can’t help but feel that every word
must have been set in lead type.
Still, there is breathtaking scholarship, knowledge,
and wisdom in his words and writings.
There is also profound faith, deep faith.
So when Karl Barth questions infant baptism
we have to take him seriously.

Why was he so firmly against something
we consider so joyful?
First, following the lead of the Reformers,
he looked closely for a biblical foundation
for baptizing children, and he found nothing;
He could find no example of infant baptism
anywhere in the Bible.
But more important for Barth,
He believed that the act of baptism
was not sacramental,
as much as it was a response --
a response to what God had already done
in the one about to be baptized.

Baptism was for Barth not action,
as much as reaction;
It was not “sponse”
but response.
Baptism for Barth was merely a liturgical act
in which the minister does nothing,
because God has already done the work
in filling the person – child or adult –
with the Holy Spirit
and calling the person to a life of faith
following Jesus Christ.

For Barth, such a powerful act on the part of God,
such an extraordinary gift from God,
a gift so freely given,
a gift grounded in grace
needed a response;
it had to have a response.
And for him, that meant that the person being baptized
had to be old enough to understand the
magnitude of the gift,
so that he or she could respond.

Barth reminded us that for the first thousand years
of its history the Christian Church did not baptize babies.
Baptism came when a person was ready to profess
his or her faith.
For us now, that would mean that baptism
would come with Confirmation.
Many denominations still follow that practice.

Now don’t worry! I am not proposing that we change
the way we do things.
Infant baptism is part of our Presbyterian heritage
and that is not going to change.
Barth’s arguments were powerful,
but they never found broad acceptance.
Yet, he makes a compelling point:
“baptism is …our liturgical work
in recognition of what God has already done for us in Jesus Christ……
It is performed in gratitude for what God has already done…”

“…what God has already done…”

Most of us were baptized as infants
and so we were unable to respond
as Barth believed we should.
A service like this provides us with that opportunity
we did not have as infants to respond:
to respond joyfully, eagerly, and faithfully,
to respond with gratitude,
to the work done by God
done even before a minister took you in his or her arms,
done even before a drop of water touched your head.

Barth was right:
in the act of baptism, I am a man who does nothing,
for it is God who does the work,
who has already done the work.
An extraordinary gift given us by God
by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

How can we not respond!
For even before your baptism,
God claimed you,
“[freed you] from sin and death,
[united you] with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection.
and joined you to Christ’s ministry
of love, peace, and justice.”
(Book of Order)

As we go through the litany in a few moments,
I encourage you to respond with enthusiasm to the words,
respond as though today was your baptism.
When you come up in a few minutes,
and put your hand in the bowl,
take a moment to feel the water:
the water that gives life,
the water that washes you clean.

Thank God for the water.
Thank God for your life.
Thank God for calling you to faith.
Thank God for filling you with the Holy Spirit.

Thank God for giving us the gift of baptism
as the act of the church to remind us all
of the gift given us through grace.
Thank God that through baptism
we make a covenant promise with one another
to nurture one another in faith
and help one another to know more completely
the love of God that is ours in Jesus Christ.

Thank God for the covenant of love
that is written on your heart.
Take your stone as a reminder of that covenant.
Take the stone as a symbol of the grace given you
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
“the foundation stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation” (Isaiah 28:7)

In your baptism,
you began your journey as a disciple of Jesus Christ;
you began “striding forward in the future
that is filled with Jesus Christ.”
Today you have the opportunity to acknowledge that gift
given you by the grace of God.
Today you have the opportunity to embrace it,
and take a confident, bold step forward,
filled with the Holy Spirit
as you give glory to God the Father,
and follow our Lord Jesus Christ.
AMEN