Hope Born in Baptism

PROPERS:         BURIAL OF THE DEAD, RITE 1   

TEXT:                 ROMANS 8:38-39

PREACHED AT THE FUNERAL OF KENNETH WAYNE PRESTRIDGE AT ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, MONROEVILLE, ALABAMA ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2019.

ONE SENTENCE:        The Christian hope, manifested in baptism, is eternal and                                     will prevail against all events and obstacles.         

                                    

            I am the one person here who did not know Ken.  It is odd that I should be presiding at this service.

            I have been told that he loved Texas and that he was the faithful treasurer of this parish for many years.  And many, many people loved him.

            But one of the things I have detested down through the years is when a priest or pastor pretends to have known someone, when that has really not been the case. False intimacy is a form of fakery.

            I will not do that today.  This event deserves better.  And so do Ken and Ken’s family.

            But I will gladly shed the light of the Gospel on this moment.  And I will be happy to share the eternal importance of the sacrament of baptism.

            As our bulletin notes, this is an Easter service.  As scripture says, in death life is not ended, only changed. And that change began a long time ago, when Ken was baptized.

            One of the most beautiful prayers in all the prayer book is the Thanksgiving Over the Water, prayed in the baptismal service, on page 306.  We Episcopalians like to say, “Praying shapes believing.”  What we pray is what we believe.

            The Thanksgiving Over the Waterprayer summarizes, in very concise terms, the theology of baptism – what we believe:

We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water.
Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation.
Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage
in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus
received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy
Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death
and resurrection, from the bondage of sin into everlasting life.

We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are
buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his
resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore in joyful obedience to your Son, we bring into his fellowship those who come to him in faith, baptizing them in
the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

            This is our theology of deliverance.  We recall God’s dramatic acts in history – creating, delivering, and beckoning to us. In our baptism – and Ken, in his baptism – we die with Christ, and new life begins.  That new life – eternal life – begins at the moment of baptism.

            And as our instructions for baptism states on page 298:

Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into
Christ's Body the Church. The bond which God establishes in Baptism
is indissoluble.

            In our baptism – and Ken, in his baptism – we have been fully initiated into Christ’s Body, the Church.  And furthermore, the bond established by God in baptism is indissoluble.  It is not our decision, it is not our action, which establishes that bond.  It is God’s gracious gift to us, to reach out and make that bond, which cannot be dissolved– no matter where life leads us.

            It was this theology which Saint Paul had in mind when he wrote what I believe to be some of the most beautiful and sacred words in his Letter to the Romans, Chapter 8:

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

            It is for that gift that we give thanks today.  It is that gift that makes this an Easter Service in which we can, indeed, grieve for our brother Ken, but also give thanks for the gift to him of eternal life.  A gift he was given, and a journey he began, many years ago.

            In a few moments, we will say that ancient baptismal creed, the Apostles’ Creed, which is the statement of faith we make as we enter the Body of Christ.  I invite you to share that eternal hope, known fully now by Ken, and embrace the hope we have as Christians.