In this feast of the Theophany we celebrate the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ in the River Jordan at the hands of the Forerunner and Baptist John. Typically, at this time, the waters of the font are blessed for both drinking and sprinkling at home. On the feast itself the Thrice Holy Hymn or Trisagion is replaced by the song: “As Many As Have Been Baptised.” The feast of Theophany is, therefore, a good time to baptise new members of the Church and it has been my great pleasure today to receive Brad, in Orthodoxy, John Bartholomew and his son Jonah.

[Children – understanding baptism]

Perhaps this is a good time to look afresh at our own baptism and what this means for all Orthodox Christians. An admirable summary of baptism and its meaning can be found in the writings of the Western Orthodox Church Father, St Ambrose of Milan. This is what he says:

Although we are baptised with water and the Spirit, the latter is far superior to the former, and is not, therefore, to be separated from the Father and the Son. There are, however, many who, because we are baptised with water and the Spirit, think that there is no difference in the offices of water and the Spirit, and therefore think that they do not differ in nature. Nor do they observe that we are buried in the element of water that we may rise again renewed by the Spirit. For in the water is the representation of death, in the Spirit is the pledge of life, that the body of sin may die through the water, which encloses the body as it were in a kind of tomb, that we, by the power of the Spirit, may be renewed from the death of sin, being born again in God.  (St Ambrose of Milan: “The Holy Spirit” 1:6 [75-76] – 381 AD)

in our sermons over the last week Father Emanuel and I have emphasised this dual nature of baptism, identified here by St Ambrose, as being in both water and the Holy Spirit. In the text just read he helps us to understand the connection between the two. He sees the water of baptism as a kind of tomb where both death and sin, being overthrown by Christ in his own empty tomb, are laid to rest, vanquished in us by His glorious resurrection. Thus “renewed from the death of sin” we are “born again in God.” In this way St Ambrose summarises and synthesises a number of teachings from the letters of St Paul and St John which reveal how baptism transforms our lives if we live according to what it represents.

However, if death and sin are overthrown and drowned, that is in the waters of baptism, how is it that that the power of death and sin remains so active in our lives after baptism? In the early Church this was a real problem for at the beginning many supposed the repentance after baptism was exceptional, if not impossible, leading many to delay baptism until the moment of death. Gradually it dawned on the Church Fathers that Christ had provided for this eventuality in the symbolic teaching he had given in his washing of the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. You will recall from John chapter 13 that St Peter, having initially refused this ministry from Christ out of false modesty, went to the other extreme and blurted out that our Lord should wash all of him (13:9). Jesus answered that he had no need of this full body wash, but only the feet (13:10). Most, if not all, of the actions of Christ in St John’s Gospel are revealed as having a symbolic meaning, including this act. The whole body wash is baptism which may not be repeated but the foot wash is to restore that full baptismal purity and this can and must be repeated.  This is achieved through repentance and confession of sin to the Lord and we now understand just how vitally necessary this is for all Christians after baptism.  Confession renews and extends baptism to the time of death and from thence into the resurrection life of the kingdom.  This is how St. Augustine understood the symbolism of foot washing beyond its more obvious literal usage.  He wrote about this in his commentary on St. John’s Gospel as follows:

.... In washing the feet of disciples who were already washed and clean, the Lord instituted a sign, to the end that, on account of the human feelings that occupy us on earth, however far we may have advanced in our apprehension of righteousness, we might know that we are not exempt from sin; which He thereafter washes away by interceding for us, when we pray the Father, who is in heaven, to forgive us our sins, as we also forgive those who sign against us.  (St. Augustine, Tractate 58.5)

So, if we want to preserve the purity of our white baptismal robe in our hearts and lives, whereby indeed we are saved, we must examine our consciences and continue to confess our sins throughout our lives after baptism. Otherwise a soiled garment from the stains of our sin will eventually prevent our entry into the Kingdom of God. Confession, with genuine repentance, is not then an optional extra for a Christian, it is the only way Christ’s saving death and resurrection may restore and glorify our broken humanity.

[Children – making our confession]

Baptism by water and the Spirit, however, has another vital and important ongoing meaning in our Christian lives. Listen to St Paul in his first letter to the Church at Corinth chapter 12 and verses 12 to 14:

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.  (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).

If we are entombed and enlivened by the Trinity in baptism we are also necessarily embedded in the Church, the body of Christ. Just as confession makes baptismal forgiveness and regeneration possible in our lives so also active participation in the Church keeps us connected to God through our relationships with one another.  As fellow members of the body of Christ and also in following our vocations to serve the Lord as co-workers we fulfil our call as Christians and do God’s will.  Without being embedded in the Church in an actual and real sense of attending its services and working together for its mission we are in danger, as isolated Christians, of letting our love for God grow cold.  More than this we also disable and limit His mission to the world, which is a very serious matter both for the world and for us. 

All this is just as injurious to our salvation as neglecting the forgiveness and the new life that God offers to us as individual persons. It is like a glowing coal or log in a brazier which only burns brightly by remaining embedded in the fire close to the other embers. These embers, these Church members share warmth of one another for this is how God has provided for us that our love for one another and for his world should itself become a means of grace. A Christian who is not actively embedded in the Church is barely a Christian at all, and is certainly in grave spiritual danger. A Christian who is actively embedded in the Church has every possibility, not only of advancing in the way of salvation, but also of being a means by which others are also saved, which, as we know causes even the angels in heaven to rejoice. This is the meaning of Christ in St John’s Gospel when he prayed for his disciples in this way:

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  (John 17:20-21)

So this is how we should understand our baptism: through ongoing faith and repentance as the means of our salvation and ongoing active participation in the Church.  These are the means by which we can continue to grow into full maturity in Christ and be His ambassadors by word and deed in a broken and needy world. The waters of baptism are flowing; the fire of the Holy Spirit is burning. Who can remain unwashed and cold?