The earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God
was hovering over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:2
This week was Palm Sunday, celebrating Christ entering
Jerusalem for Holy week. As a bonus, there
were also three baptisms in the church we attended. There is something about the sacraments on
display that resonate with me, a certain energy that is present when the
eternal touches the ordinary. The
sacraments of the Church are the visible signs of the unseen graces. Of all the sacraments, baptism is my
favorite, for reasons many of you will know.
This Sunday, since we have been visiting new churches in our
area, I wasn't expecting the baptisms and was completely unarmed with no
tissues. This church is a new start-up
congregation inhabiting what was once a Baptist sanctuary, and they were able
to do the full submersion in all of its glory.
On ordinary Sundays, the dunk tank isn't visible, being partially
covered by a curtain. Today the curtain
was off, revealing a low glass wall that allowed view into the first twelve
inches or so of the water. The interface
between the water in the tank and the air above was a thin straight line.
After the worship and the sermon, attention turned to the
main event. One by one, the associate
pastor entered the tank with the souls-in-waiting, waiting for their turn to be
marked by the Holy Spirit. As they
entered, the line on the glass marking the boundary between the water and air
danced with waves. Each bapitizee was
given a moment to share their testimony; moving stories of rebellion, obedience,
and gratitude; all stories of tearful grace.
The first was a Sunday school teacher; her kindergarten class seated the
front pew as she renewed the baptismal vows made by her parents when she was an
infant. As the pastor pronounced her baptized
in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; he leaned her backwards into
the water. Under the water only briefly,
that moment of symbolic death quickly gave way to the resurfacing explosion
into life. The congregation joined and erupted
in cheers.
The second young man
gave a recounting of his rebellion and the love of a step father that brought
him back into the family of God. Again,
the line played on the glass, emphasizing what is between the two worlds of
water and air. This time I saw something
different. The Spirit of God was
hovering over the face of the waters, like a buoyant oil floating just above. As the pastor brought the young man back out
of the water, the Spirit clung to him all over.
Again, the explosion from death into life. Again, the explosion of cheers and worship
from the congregation.
And at the third baptism, the Spirit now visible and
hovering, a woman came into the tank with her husband who tenderly and
tearfully performed her baptism. As the
Spirit is present at these gatherings, it is usually an energy that ramps up,
and was so in this case. There was no
response possible except for shouts of joy and tears that came on their own
accord.
The sermon that morning had been about the triumphal entry
of Christ into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
Since the crowds did not understand His purpose they heralded Him as
King of the Jews, anticipating a military coup to throw off the Romans. Instead of taking in their misunderstanding
cheers that would shortly yield to cries for crucifixion, Jesus sat on the back
of the donkey, viewed the city and wept with deep compassion for what was to
come for Jerusalem.
In our small world, in our small corner of the Church, we
cheered for the triumphal entry of the Spirit into the lives of three people -lives
that are now eternally sealed and marked for God. The tears were in response to the very
nearness of the Spirit, through the words of the testimonies, the loving
actions of those performing the baptisms, and the crackling energy of the
Spirit filling the room. In these
moments, the sacraments that are the visible signs of the unseen graces provide
a view into things eternal - the truth found in the ineffable mysteries. A brush with the eternal, a triumphal entry.
