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Baptism and Work by The Rev. Hartshorn Murphy
At the Easter Vigil, six children and infants were baptized into the Christian faith. As always, when we baptize children under the "age of reason," we baptize them based on the faith of their parents and sponsors who explicitly answer the question: "Will you be responsible for seeing that the child you present is brought up in the Christian faith and life?" and "Will you by your prayers and witness help this child to grow into the full stature of Christ?" with the affirmation: "I will, with God's help." (BCP pg. 302) Given our mobility, in today's culture, sadly, the role of sponsors (godparents) is often no more than ceremonial. For this reason, pastors are quite reluctant to perform infant baptisms when the parents are not active in Church life. But beyond all this, the congregation also makes a commitment to these children and their families. The congregation is asked: "Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?" You respond: "We will!" (BCP pg. 303) This emphasis on the mentoring and supporting role of sponsors, parents and congregation is quite startlingly different than just a generation ago, when baptisms were primarily a private family event, held most often separately from times when a congregation would be gathered. In this way, baptism today is performed in such a way that acknowledges the breakdown of the Christendom paradigm and a return to the Apostolic Paradigm (with some clear differences).
The Christendom paradigm began with the victory of Constantine as Emperor of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, whose conversion to Christianity and its establishment as the state religio, meant that to be born in the (Holy) Roman Empire, is to be a Christian as well. In many ways, the state undergirded and strengthened the Church both in Europe and here in America. One obvious example was the existence of "Blue Laws" (so called because the statutes were published in volumes bound with blue paper) in many communities that mandated that business be closed on Sunday mornings so that people could go to Church. When I was a child, "Spring Break" was "Easter Vacation" so that children could attend Holy Week services with their families. As a symbol of the breakdown of the Christendom paradigm, today families are unable to attend Holy Week and Easter services because their children are on break and the family vacations together.
The challenge is, of course, that this powerful paradigm is breaking down before our very eyes and in our very time. One Christian writer actually dated the collapse of the Christendom paradigm to the date in the late 1950's when the Mall was allowed in his community to be open on Sunday mornings. Today, schools think nothing of scheduling sporting competitions on Sundays - unthinkable a generation ago.
As so, the new paradigm is emerging which has some traits consistent with the pre-Constantine or Apostolic paradigm in which society was either hostile to or apathetic about Christianity and in which there was great diversity of religious traditions (pluralism). But there are some differences as well (e.g. it is not a capital offense to be a Christian). Again, the shape of this new world is still emerging.
As we revisit the Apostolic Age, we find that baptism was clearly understood to be the celebration by which persons - individuals as well as whole families, including slaves - joined the Christian community, but that celebration was one of, paradoxically, dying and being reborn.
Because Christianity was an illegal religion, baptism represented a change of life and a break with the past. Candidates were baptized naked to show their vulnerability and were fully immersed in a body of water to symbolize their death. Coming up out of a watery grave, they were dressed in a white garment and given a lit candle, again to emphasize a new life that has passed out of darkness. Over time, the Church began to be understood as "Mother Church," that brought New Birth through the Womb of Baptism.
The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity, edited by: John McManners. In addition, Christians could not be painters or sculptors because they might be commissioned to portray the classical gods. They could not be architects because they might be required to build pagan temples. They could not be teachers because they would be required to teach the classics of pagan literature and mythology. They could not be butchers because their work would be, in large part as, subsidiaries of pagan temples. They could not be actors, because they would be expected to portray pagan myths. They could not be soldiers and take an oath to the Emperor as Caesar/God. Finally, they had to avoid many family gatherings because many family celebrations were marked with sacrifices to pagan gods. Indeed, so set apart were most Christians that rumors about their "secret activities" (e.g. "cannibalism," likely derived from a misunderstanding of Eucharistic language about "body" and "blood") were used by rulers to incite persecution against them. In short, to be a Christian in the Apostolic Age meant entering into new values, new vocations, and new relationships - indeed, a new family. It is little surprise that ritual preparation for baptism was a slow process with a succession of scrutinies in which candidates often lived with "mentoring" Christian families for periods of time, up to three years in some instances. To be sure, baptism in the New Age dawning needs to be less proforma and ceremonial, but the pattern of the Early Church, attractive as it may be, is far too rigorous for modern life. It is intriguing, however, to reflect on the occupational implications of baptism, not in terms of occupations closed to Christian folk, but rather, in terms of how we may be called to live out our Christian vocation in the midst of often pagan workplaces. Finally this: on entering and leaving the church, you will notice two holy water fonts by the front doors. Upon entering and leaving the sanctuary, people often sign the sign of the cross on their foreheads with holy water as a reminder of their baptismal covenant, a reminder that we are indeed marked as Christ's own forever by our baptism. In the midst of the world's dying and being born, how will you choose, week by week, to carry your faith into the world? Copyright © 2002 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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