Feast of the Baptism of our Lord

My only reflection is this: we baptize in the name of, and we baptize into something real.

We baptize, following ancient tradition, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Name of God here is, itself, a story unfolding among us.

We also bathe people in, and into, the powerful story of the cosmos -- living, dying, being stood back up again, all things being made new in time.

We tell this story in strong, poetic, real ways: for Baptism, the Church retells the story of 'the Apostles Creed' (1rst/2nd c.) -- pre-Nicene, pre-Constantine, pre-deal-with-the-power-of-the-Roman-Empire.

And, the Episcopal Church tells this story of the cosmos in another powerful way when we baptize (and which we will tell tomorrow) -- what we call 'the Baptismal Covenant.' It asks five questions, to which we reply, I will, with God's help:

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Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?

Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

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Every story has questions that drive it. These are the questions that drive the story into which we baptize, and these questions point to the ultimate reality that is revealed in this Baptism.

This is true even when the world around us seems to be asking and answering very different sorts of questions. These five will be a good guide, and like God-in-covenant, will never fail.

What do they reveal in their asking, though? What is being asked of us, now? In our living and in our dying?