Homily by The Rev. David Elliott given July 20, 2025 at Church of the Holy Trinity, Vicksburg, MS

 

 

Baptism

The Rev. David Elliott

(Homily given in service with three baptisms)

 I WAS IN WHOLE FOODS THE OTHER DAY AFTER CHURCH----HAD MY COLLAR ON AND SOMEONE CAME UP TO ME AND ASKED—ARE YOU AN EPISCOPALIAN PREACHER???”...  I WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING, BUT I KEPT MY MOUTH SHUT.... AND THEN SHE SAID—I WAS BAPTIZED INTO THE EPISCOPALIAN CHURCH, BUT WHEN I JOINED THE BAPTIST CHURCH, THEY BAPTIZED ME INTO THE BAPTIST CHURCH.... I BIT MY TONGUE AGAIN...

 NOW I WILL STAND HERE AND SAY WHAT I WANTED TO SAY THE OTHER DAY AND HAD TO BITE MY TONGUE TO KEEP FROM SAYING IT......FIRST—I’M A PRIEST AND NOT A PREACHER.... I KNOW THAT SOUNDS SNOBBY AND I’M SORRY FOR IT, BUT BEING A PRIEST AND NOT A PREACHER SAYS WHO I AM AND WHAT I DO–CELEBRATE THE SACRAMENTS---PREACH---AND SHARE GOD’S LOVE....

 AND THE NEXT THING—EPISCOPALIAN IS A NOUN AND NOT AN ADJECTIVE... I AM AN EPISCOPALIAN... I AM A MEMBER OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH–AN ADJECTIVE... I KNOW THIS SOUNDS SNOBBY TOO….AND THEN FINALLY THE POINT OF ALL THIS----ONE IS NOT BAPTIZED INTO THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH----OR BAPTIZED INTO THE BAPTIST CHURCH... ONE IS BAPTIZED PERIOD–AND ONCE BAPTIZED ALWAYS BAPTIZED.. ONE IS BAPTIZED NOT INTO A CHURCH, BUT SIMPLY BAPTIZED INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST...

 AND I TALK ABOUT ALL THIS ON THE DAY THE CHURCH OFFERS THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM OFFERS THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM TO THREE CHILDREN..            

 BAPTISMS ARE VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE CHURCH AND FOR ME AND THERE ARE SOME I’LL NEVER FORGET...WHEN I WAS AT ST. ANDREW’S YEARS AGO, THERE WAS A WOMAN BEING CONFIRMED  WHO HAD NOT BEEN BAPTIZED…WE TALKED AND SHE WANTED TO BE IMMERSED…. YOU CAN’T IMMERSE SOMEONE IN OUR BAPTISMAL FONTS………

 I CALLED JOHN CLAYPOOL AT NORTHMINSTER BAPTIST AND ASKED IF I COLD BORROW HIS BAPTISTRY…HE SAID NO PROBLEM..… I WENT THERE PREPARED TO GET IN THE WATER WITH HER---BUT SINCE NORTHMINSTER DOESN’T RE-BAPTIZE YOU IF YOU JOIN, IT HADN’T BEEN USED IN AWHILE AND IT LEAKED…

 I THEN CALLED DAVID GRANT AT BROADMOOR BAPTIST—AND USED THAT ONE.. WE GOT THERE AND HE ASKED—DO YOUWANT TO USE MY WADERS?? I SAID “NO, I DUCK HUNT AND I WANT TO SEE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO GET IN THAT WATER WITH HER—PUT HER UNDER AND BRING HER BACK UP AGAIN—AS ST. PAUL SAYS—“BURIED WITH CHRIST IN HIS DEATH AND RAISED WITH HIM IN HIS RESURRECTION”..

 I GOT IN THERE WTH HER WITH MY BLACK SHIRT, COLLAR, AND KHAKIS ON—AND PUT HER UNDER AND BROUGHT HER BACK UP… IT WAS VERY MEANINGFUL…..THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS THAT I HAD BROUGHT A CHANGE OF CLOTHES—BUT FORGOT TO BRING UNDERWEAR… IT WAS FEBRUARY AND VERY COLD…

 AND I’LL NEVER FORGET BAPTIZING MY GRANDCHILDREN.... I’VE BAPTIZED ALL EIGHT OF THEM EITHER IN CHURCHES–IN HOMES–OR ON BEACHES.. EACH IN ITS OWN WAY HAS BEEN VERY WONDERFUL AND MEANINGFUL FOR ME...

NOW FOR SOME, BAPTISM IS SORT OF LIKE JOINING THE “JESUS CLUB”–MUCH LIKE JOINING THE BOY SCOUTS–BROWNIES–ROTARY OR A SORORITY....YOU’RE INITIATED–YOU’RE MADE A MEMBER AND NOW YOU GET ALL THE BENEFITS AND PRIVILEGES WHEN YOU OBEY ALL THE RULES...

 FOR OTHERS, THEY THINK BAPTISM IS  “HELL INSURANCE”... IT ASSURES THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED THEY WILL NOT BURN IN THE FIERY COALS OF HELL WHEN THEY DIE... LET ME SAY RIGHT NOW THAT I DO NOT BELIEVE AND THIS CHURCH DOES NOT BELIEVE THAT IF A CHILD DIES WHO HAS NOT BEEN BAPTIZED THAT THAT CHILD GOES TO HELL... THE GOD WE BELIEVE IN WOULD NOT–DOES NOT–DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS...

 NOW THERE ARE CHURCHES THAT WILL NOT BAPTIZE CHILDREN–WILL NOT BAPTIZE BABIES... THEY BELIEVE THAT IN ORDER TO BE BAPTIZED THAT THE PERSON HAS TO BE OLD ENOUGH TO MAKE THE DECISION FOR THEMSELVES.... THIS CHURCH BELIEVES THAT BAPTISM IS A SACRAMENT NOT THAT WE HAVE TO QUALIFY FOR–NOT THAT WE HAVE TO WORK FOR–BUT A SACRAMENT THAT GOD BESTOWS ON US–A GIFT THAT GOD GIVES TO US WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED....

 THIS CHURCH ALSO BELIEVES THAT BAPTISMS ARE A PUBLIC SACRAMENT CELEBRATED BY THE WHOLE CHURCH GATHERED AS THE BODY OF CHRIST—AND THAT IS WHY WE’RE HERE TODAY... 

 ONE OTHER THING I WANT TO MENTION RIGHT NOW... IN A FEW MOMENTS, WE WILL ALL BE ASKED—“WILL YOU WHO WITNESS THESE VOWS DO ALL IN YOUR POWER TO SUPPORT THIS CHILD IN HIS LIFE IN CHRIST??” AND WE WILL ALL GIVE A RESOUNDING “WE WILL” AND THEN PROMPTLY FORGET ALL ABOUT WHAT WE SAID...

 WHEN I WAS AT GENERAL CONVENTION, THERE WAS A DOCUMENT I WISH I HAD BOUGHT.. IT WAS A LARGE CERTIFICATE WITH THE CHILD’S NAME ON IT AND ON IT WERE THE WORDS—AT THIS BAPTISM INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST WE THE UNDERSIGNED PLEDGE TO SUPPORT THIS CHILD IN THEIR LIFE IN CHRIST.....AND ALL PRESENT WOULD SIGN IT....

 I COULD PICTURE MICHAEL—COLLINS—AND GRAYSON WITH THIER PARENTS AND GODPARENTS STANDING OVER IN THE PARISH HALL WITH THIS DOCUMENT AND ALL OF US GOING BY AND SIGNING IT AND COMMITTING OURSELVES TO SUPPORTING THESE CHILDREN IN THEIR LIFE IN CHRIST….....

 BAPTISM IS NOT SOMETHING WE DO FOR OURSELVES–NOT REALLY A DECISION WE MAKE ON OUR OWN... IT IS SOMETHING GOD DOES.. IT’S AN ACTION THAT GOD TAKES IN BESTOWING UPON EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US THE ALL-ENCOMPASSING LOVE  OF ALMIGHTY GOD–GOD’S ACCEPTANCE–GOD’S FORGIVENESS–GOD’S GRACE..

 WHEN THAT WATER IS POURED UPON MICHAEL—COLLINS—AND GRAYSON–GOD MAKES A COVENANT WITH THEM THAT GOD WILL NEVER EVER BREAK... GOD PROMISES TO LOVE THEM–ACCEPT THEM–FORGIVE THEM FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIFE... THERE IS NOTHING–NOTHING THEY CAN EVER DO TO FALL OUT OF GOD’S LOVE...

 LISTEN TO WHAT GOD SAID TO JESUS WHEN HE WAS BAPTIZED AND HE CAME UP OUT OF THAT WATER....THIS IS MY SON–THE BELOVED–WITH WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED....  GOD LOOKS ON YOU AND ME AND SAYS—THIS IS MY BELOVED SON–THIS IS MY BELOVED DAUGHTER IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTS....THE WAY YOU AND I FEEL ABOUT OUR CHILDREN IS THE WAY GOD FEELS ABOUT EACH OF US–WHETHER WE ARE EIGHT DAYS OLDS—EIGHT MONTHS OLD–EIGHT YEARS–EIGHTY YEARS–EIGHTY-EIGHT.....

 NO MATTER WHAT OUR AGE MAY BE–THIS IS GOD’S FUNDAMENTAL ATTITUDE TOWARD EACH OF US—DELIGHT... GOD DELIGHTS IN US AS A PARENT DELIGHTS IN A CHILD...

 AND ALSO-----THESE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS A PARENT CAN EVER TELL A CHILD–THAT WE LOVE THEM–RESPECT THEM–DELIGHT AND ARE PLEASED WITH THEM...TO ALL OF US HERE THIS DAY—NEVER LET A DAY GO BY THAT YOU DON’T TELL YOUR CHILDREN–NO MATTER HOW OLD THEY ARE–THAT YOU LOVE THEM–THAT THEY ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN YOUR LIFE..             

 LISTEN TO PART OF THE PRAYER THAT’S GOING TO BE PRAYED OVER MICHAEL—COLLINS—AND GRAYSON AFTER THEY’RE BAPTIZED....SUSTAIN THEM O LORD IN YOUR HOLY SPIRIT... GIVE THEM AN INQUIRING AND DISCERNING HEART–THE COURAGE TO WILL AND TO PERSEVERE–THE SPIRIT TO KNOW AND TO LOVE YOU AND THE GIFT OF JOY AND WONDER IN ALL YOUR WORKS...

 IT’S A WONDERFUL WAY TO BEGIN LIFE–A FANTASTIC WAY TO LIVE LIFE!!!

 (Homily given at Church of the Holy Trinity, Vicksburg, July 20, 2025)