BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION
AND RECEPTION IN THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Fred Vergara. St.James Episcopal Church, Elmhurst, New York. 4/26/2015
On the
occasion of the baptism of Sebastian and Ashley and the gospel reading on the
Good Shepherd, I would like to turn this sermon into a teaching moment on
baptism, confirmation and reception in the Episcopal Church.
In the
Episcopal Church as in most mainline churches, baptism is the required entrance
into the Christian faith. It is what makes you to be called a Christian, a
follower of Christ. Baptism is done by the priest, and in cases of emergency, can
be done by any baptized Christian. The formula for baptism is the
administration of water, with the words, “I baptize you in the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Emergency
baptism is done when a person is in danger of death and this is the case of
Ashley. According to her mother, Roseline, Ashley was born prematurely
at 6 ½ months and she weighed only 2 pounds. As they feared she was not going
to make it, while being incubated, an emergency baptism was done by the
chaplain at Elmhurst Hospital on December 26, 2004.
When you
look at Ashley today, you will never think that she was almost given up as dead while in her mother's womb, then she suddenly moved and the doctor's performed a c-section on Rosaline, and when taken out, she weighed only 2 pounds. Thanks be to God who gives her life and have it abundantly. She
is a survivor from the very start.
It is a
practice that an emergency baptism be followed by a public celebration in the
church once the person survived---and ten years, later today, we are here
regularizing Ashley’s baptism. But because baptism, whether emergency or
non-emergency is an “unrepeatable act,” we want to avoid any action that might
be interpreted as “rebaptism.”
The rubric from the Book of
Common Prayer provides “that the Baptism should be recognized at a public
celebration of the Sacrament…and the person baptized under emergency conditions
together with the sponsors or godparents, taking part in everything, except the
administration of the water” (BCP, page 314).So Ashley
will join Sebastian in all the baptismal vows and proceedings but will not have
the repeat of the pouring of water.
Baptism is a
sacrament, meaning “an outward or visible sign with an inward or spiritual grace.”
Water is the outward sign and the inward grace has a three-fold meaning, namely:
1.
In baptism, we are united with Christ
in his death and resurrection. This is aptly demonstrated in the baptism by
immersion with the image that when a person is submerged in water, she
virtually died with Christ and when she rose up from the water, she rose again
with Christ.
2. In baptism, we become members of
God’s family, the Body of Christ, the Church. In the Episcopal Church, the
sacrament of baptism is the only requirement to partake of another sacrament,
the sacrament of the Holy Communion. You need not wait for Confirmation,
another traditional sacrament, in order to partake of the Body and Blood of
Christ.
I will talk about Confirmation later, but for now, it is sufficient for
you to know that when you are baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity (Father,
Son and Holy Spirit), you may already partake of the Holy Communion.
3. In baptism, we receive forgiveness of
sins and new life in the Holy Spirit. In the baptismal covenant, the person
being baptized is asked to renounce Satan or the Devil, the evil powers and the
sinful desires that draw her from God; and after renouncing them, she will be
asked if she accept Jesus Christ as Savior and obey Jesus Christ as Lord. Then
she will go through a Baptismal Covenant in which she recites the Apostle’s
Creed and make vows to “persevere in resisting evil, proclaim the Good News of
Christ, love neighbor, strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of
every human being.”
So baptism
is really a rite of passage from death to life, from darkness to light, from old
birth to new birth. This is being born again! It is a passage from the old life
of sin to a new life in Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said to
the old Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh but that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit.”(John 3:6)
For this reason, St. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ;
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).
St. Peter also inspired the Christians with these words, “For you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1
Peter 2:9).
Nowadays,
many young people pride themselves with the words, “we are spiritual but not
religious.” What they mean is that they believe in God and do good things but
they do not want to belong to a church. What they do not realize is that the
context of new birth in the Spirit is tied to baptism in Christ and membership
in Christ’s Body, the Church. St. Teresa De Avila aptly said, “We are not
material beings with spirits; we are spiritual beings with bodies.” She further
said, “Christ has
no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes
through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which
he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the
world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his
body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
Now let me speak briefly about Confirmation and Reception. In the
Episcopal Church, there are seven (7) sacraments. Two are called gospel
sacraments: Baptism and Holy Eucharist. They are called Gospel Sacraments
because they are expressly mandated by Jesus Christ. The other five---Confirmation,
Ordination, Marriage, Reconciliation of the Penitent, Unction of the Sick---are
traditional sacraments practiced by the church for generations.
Confirmation, from the meaning of the word itself, is an action of
confirming all who have been baptized. The Bishop visits the parish and all
those who have been baptized are confirmed by the laying on of hands and the
bishop praying, “Strengthen, O Lord, your
servants with your Holy Spirit, empower them for your service and sustain them
all the days of their life”(BCP, page 148).
Usually, a Confirmation Class
is held prior to the Confirmation by which the candidates for confirmation
learn more about the doctrines or teachings of the Church. The Book of Common
Prayer (pages 845-862) contains the basic catechism or Outline of the Faith
that is taught in Confirmation Classes.
Reception is an additional rite by which those who have been baptized and confirmed in other churches, like the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Church or other Trinitarian churches and who have decided to affiliate with the Episcopal Church are formally received by the Bishop. The Bishop may lay hands on the candidates for reception or would simply say, “ (Name), we recognize you as a member of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and we receive you into the fellowship of this Communion” (BCP p. 418).
Reaffirmation is another additional rite for those who have lapsed in their commitment to the Church and have decided to return and renew their involvement and commitment. Now again, the Bishop may lay hands on them or may simply say the words, “ (Name), may the Holy Spirit, who has begun a good work in you in the service of Christ and His kingdom” (BCP 419).
Conclusion
Now, our Bishop, the Rt. Rev.
Lawrence Provenzano, will visit our church on Sunday, July 26, 2015 and he does
every year when we celebrate our church anniversary. When he comes to visit, we
normally submit candidates for confirmation, reception and reaffirmation. Now I
am glad that over the year, we have gained new attendees to our Sunday Worship.
If you have not yet done so, I would like you to consider confirmation,
reception or reaffirmation. There are three things I wish to emphasize on these
rites:
1. First, the decision for Christ maybe
private but the rite or ceremony is public. Jesus expressly says in the Bible,
“"Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also
acknowledge before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).
2. Second, the importance of learning
the faith. Hosea 4:6 says, ”My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” For
this reason, I would like to announce that we shall have a Catechism, as we
normally do, for those who are to be confirmed, received and would reaffirm
their faith. Please watch out for the start of catechism sometime next month.
3. Third, the significance of tradition.
In the Episcopal Church, we believe in the three-legged stool of understanding
our faith and they are: Scriptures, Tradition and Reason. Scripture means the
Holy Bible, both the Books of the Old and the New Testament. As Episcopalians,
we are also called “the people of the books.” Reason, according to our Anglican
ethos, is "the governor of man's life, the very voice of God" (Archbishop Robert Runcie).
Tradition, even in these fast-changing world is not to be tossed aside like a baby in bathwater. We, in the Philippines has a saying, “Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan, hindi makarating sa patutunguhan” or "those who do not remember where they come from could not arrive at where they are going." Tradition or magisterium has a place even in contemporary times.
The example of Jesus in Matthew 3:13-17 is worthy of our emulation. He was God incarnate but he came to John in the Jordan River and asked to be baptized. John who said he was not worthy even to untie Jesus’ sandals, tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. And as soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
