Gathering at the River

I’ve been thinking about baptism, and in particular the spectacle that baptism was with John and Jesus. The Jordan River as a venue was important to the Israelites as it symbolized moving from slavery to freedom, from wandering to their own land, from anonymity to identity. They came through the waters, quite literally, into a new beginning God had in mind for them.

My Presbyterian roots don’t jump on the full immersion bandwagon for baptism. Some sprinkling on the baby’s head will suffice for us to gain the grace of God in that moment. However what is important is the gathered community and others witnessing what is happening.

Not all baptisms in scripture were public and in front of crowds of people. But many were, to the point that fights broke out about whose baptism was more legitimate. With John and Jesus using a different flavour or varying words, it seemed perhaps one or the other experience was less authentic. People were questioning whose baptism carried more weight. Was it worthwhile getting ‘done’ more than once to be sure?

John the Baptist answers their questions by once again pointing to Jesus as more legitimate than him and closer to God. Just like earlier in John’s gospel he continues to say Christ is the one with divine credibility. And yet, both his baptisms and Jesus’s had worth and carried weight. Their roles were different and they respected that each had a specific God-given mission.

Small churches are closing. All churches regardless of size are facing major challenges as we try to emerge from Covid and post-Christendom. Just like the Pharisees and others who came questioning John the Baptist about who was more legit, we can get caught up in which tradition or approach or denomination is bearing the most fruit or is the most faithful to scripture or the most Christ-like. We can look suspiciously at each other and see competition rather than opportunity to multiply and capitalize on our unique gifts and personalities that draw vastly different people to faith. Each community plays a unique and needed role.

Sitting at a funeral today, one of the eulogies specifically mentioned the need for community and extended family and how important it was to gather and support each other. In the room were some schoolmates, parents of schoolmates, and people from various churches and backgrounds. What united us was caring for this grieving family. Many of these people I see at concerts and church bazaars and other community events. The threads drawing us together are strong even if we don’t see each other often. We witnessed to not just the life being celebrated but to the beauty of the tapestry of community that has lasted decades.

Would those people on the shores of the Jordan keep gathering together and remembering that day of baptism and what God had done for them? I would imagine a good number would. This moment of witnessing something so important in the life of those known to them would have been tucked away. After all, John was kind of a hard person to forget, and Jesus Himself the same.

As I think about that funeral and others, I realize that it’s such an important passage to engage with as community. Where baptism moves us from the old life to the new, a physical death moves us into a new realm with God. The talking and catching up and eating sandwiches and veggies is all a part of binding community together through our common relationships regardless of what denominational stamp we may have. We are gathering at a different kind of river that draws us to God as well as each other.

May we have the grace to gather across identities and faith affiliations, across ages and abilities, at the beautiful river that flows to the throne of God. May our gathering bring comfort as we are Christ to each other. May the beauty of what we can do for each other as community never be taken for granted as God draws us together.