31^st May 2010

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley, 30 May 2010

Lesson -- Matthew 28:16-20

Jesus said, 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and remember, I am with you always, to the end of the
age.' (Matthew 28:19,20 NRSV)

As millions before us have done, we have obeyed this commandment by baptising Anna Chard into the 'faith and family of Jesus Christ'. It is most fitting that it takes place on Trinity Sunday because she has been baptised in the name of the Triune God.

This means that she takes her place in the community which has been founded and shaped by the love between Father, Son and Spirit. Anna is not only incorporated into her biological family, important as that is. She takes her place in a divinely ordained community which has its origin in the creation of the world, its end in the perfection of our humanity and its centre in the fully human Son of God who was baptised in solidarity with sinful humanity, suffered a fiery baptism on the cross and was raised from death.

In effect, she is given a new identity. Anna, daughter of Kate and Jamie and named after another much loved Anna, is Anna, daughter of grace, child of God and sister of Christ. Baptised with water and marked by the sign of the cross she belongs to the largest family on earth: the family formed from an unparalleled love for 'the family of man' which originated in the love existing eternally between Father, Son and Spirit and embodied in the One who had no family of his own.

Being loved in a family, as Anna is, is vital for building a sense of love, acceptance, security and responsibility. Today it is vital to reaffirm its importance. Yet, when family sentiment and loyalty are regarded as the only place that gives us our identity and sense of belonging, much damage can be done. Love of family then becomes a barrier to love of God and 'the family of man'.

It is often said that 'blood is thicker than water'. Brothers may fight each other but heaven help outsiders who threaten them. In war men shed blood for their fellow countrymen. Many nations celebrate the 'blood and soil' which binds them together and distinguishes them from other peoples.

In baptism, however, 'water is thicker than blood'. The natural order of things is reversed! The 'faith and family of Jesus Christ' into which we are baptised is not a family primarily defined by nationality, colour, sex, status, wealth, denomination and so on. The Christian or 'christened' family is marked by the cross of the One who shed blood to break down the many 'family' barriers that we erect to shield us from other 'families'. (See Galatians 3:27,28.) . Therefore baptism is not to be confused with family or church sentimentality. As Paul says, 'We are baptised into the death of Christ.(Romans 6:3,4)' Baptism of a child commits parents, Godparents and congregation to renew their own baptismal vows as disciples of the crucified and risen Jesus and to encourage her in her pilgrimage of faith.

Nor is baptism to be confused with taking out a religious insurance policy against danger. Baptism is the act of initiating a person into -- not out of -- a life of risk. It is often perilous to challenge the idea that 'blood is thicker than water'. The early Christians were accused by Jews and Romans of destroying the family and undermining faith and civic harmony. Christians down the ages have been ostracised because they refused to give their absolute loyalty to their biological or national families.

In Australia -- at least until the 1950s -- Christianity functioned as if it were the religious and moral guardian of all civilised values. Baptisms were usually held in homes or in church services at which family and friends (but not the local congregation) were present. In effect, the Church blessed 'family values' on behalf of the State whose main purpose was to create social harmony.

How quickly the situation has changed! Now the churches are fighting to maintain freedom of religion in a society where unbelief is widespread, hostility and ignorance about Christianity abound and the family is being redefined, as we see on TV and in the media, to include multiple and same- sex partners.

These developments are merely symptoms of a much deeper problem -- one that has been gathering momentum over a long period of time. Being Christian is not thought of as being involved in an exciting but difficult adventure. Christian belief is no longer thought of as being the most thrilling exploration of the mind. Christian worship rarely evokes in us a sense of the awe and majesty in the presence of the Triune God.

In short, Christianity has become safe, predictable, uninspiring and bland -- quite the opposite of what we find in, say, The Pilgrim's Progress where the dangers and joys of the Christian adventure are dramatically portrayed.

The perils and challenge of the Christian life were not lost on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In 1944, he wrote from a Gestapo prison camp for the baptism of a friend's son:

'Today you will be baptised a Christian. All those great ancient words of the Christian proclamation will be spoken over you, and the command of Jesus Christ to baptise will be carried out on you, without you knowing about it. But we are once again being driven right back to the beginnings of our understanding. Reconciliation and redemption, regeneration and the Holy Spirit, love of our enemies, cross and resurrection, life in Christ and Christian discipleship -- all these things are so difficult and so remote that we hardly venture any more to speak of them. . . . Our church, which has been fighting all these years only for its self- preservation, as though that were an end in itself, is incapable of taking the word of reconciliation and redemption to mankind and the world.'  (Letters and Papers from Prison, pp299-300.)

Bishop Tom Frame makes a similar assessment of Christianity in Australia.  In Losing My Religion: Unbelief in Australia (2009) he says that many Christians hold beliefs that are uninformed by deep theological questions.

'Religion is essentially about living a good life and treating others with respect. Belonging to a religious community is not mandatory. Religious communities exist to serve the special needs of the religiously inclined.  Religion is . . . a personal pursuit and should be practised in private.  (p295)'

Separated by 65 years, Bonhoeffer and Frame agree that many Christians in Western countries have become comfortable with their cultural setting.  Christian belief has been watered down so that the great truths of faith no longer thrill us, God has become familiar and the church has become a place where good-hearted, socially responsible people meet for private religious purposes.

What they are saying in effect is that Christians have often acted as if 'blood is thicker than water'. National and family ties rather than the bonds of baptism have largely determined our faith, beliefs and practices!

But if 'water is thicker than blood' -- as it is for those like Anna who are baptised into the faith and family of Jesus Christ -- then we must rethink what it means that we have been called to participate in this exciting and perilous adventure of faith.

Goodness knows what the Church will look like when Anna grows to womanhood!

Frame thinks that 'left-leaning, cause-driven, liberal Protestant Churches that lack doctrinal vigour will be the first to collapse' (see p 299).

Only congregations that resist the temptation to preserve themselves and instead delve into the rich theological and missionary history of the Church will flourish. Inevitably such communities will be in conflict with popular culture.

But whatever the future holds for a Church that obeys the call to 'make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the triune name of God and teaching them the things of Christ' (Matthew 28:19,20), we may be assured that the Risen Lord is with us until that time when our humanity is perfected according to God's gracious purposes.

This is good news for Anna. In this act we have incorporated her into the community of grace called into being for the sole purpose of worshipping the Triune God in the midst of the world. It is also good news for the rest of us because baptism is an 'outward sign' of the reconciling work of Christ: a 'visible word' of the reconciling love of God for the whole human family.

In the sacrament of baptism we are given our true identity, not by blood relations, but by being united to Christ in costly love for the world. That means being incorporated into the community of perfect love which exists within God between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is no higher privilege than to be included in this unique family of God. We are given our identity within the very being of God!

This privilege brings with it the highest responsibility. We are to identify ourselves with the costly way of Christ who suffered a fiery baptism, and to withstand opposition to God's claim on our other family loyalties.

Our prayer for Anna and ourselves is that we may know that, ultimately, 'water is thicker than blood' and that our true identity within the community of God's triune love gives us courage to face the stiff challenges of being the Church now and in the future.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.