Palm Sunday baptism-Col. 2, 3. Mt. 21:1-11
Pre-check at the airport and TSA as if to say right this way. it’s like hearing one shining moment as the winners of the NCAA basketball tournament.. In Matthew children are present for the festive gathering, as in the hymn Hosanna, Loud hosanna.
Baptism is a ritual death.the ultimacy of sin is broken in the face of the ultimacy of life and love.
Jesus lived died and rose for all of us, including children.this sacrament opens the door for them to share in the reality of Jesus Christ in their own lives, to share in the body and blood in Communion.Water poured out of his side on Good Friday according to John. Waters of the Jordan were visible only in tears and sweat later this week.
Twins in Bible-made twins with Jesus. We get animals twinned as well in Matthew, and it fits so well, perhaps a nursing mother animal and its colt.
Zechariah’s Prince of Peace-Hosanna’s double sense of celebration and root meaning to save us/give victory. So does it shares sounds with Messiah? So the Messiah is not only anointed one but saving one.
A movie Noah is number one at the box office. this baptismal font is eight sided to remind us of Noah and his family being saved in the ark. the church is seen then as a mark of salvation,l a ship to keep us safe until we reach the farthest shore.They will be welcome aboard this ship of grace for the times when life feels like a cruise and when it goes through stormy weather.
Baptism points also to be raised to new life with Christ here and now in this ritual for this world and the world to come. that is why the baptismal font is oriented to the East.The early church often tried to have candidates for entry into the church be baptized on Easter itself.
Recently we had a discussion here on original sin, the traditional pessimistic view of human nature. We spent time speaking about choice as the ultimate human attribute. Baptism of infants stands against that egotistical argument. Baptism gives us a way out of that pessimistic view of life. they are part of a community that can shout Hosanna. They have dual citizenship as Americans and as members fo the commonwealth of heaven.So oftne, people accuse folks in churhc of being hypoicrites. Instead, we see ourselves as a hospital for sinners, not a zoo for the good. Here’s a different way: Baptism’s basic root is cleaning : the church as laundromat, a a cleaners.
Holy Week begins today. Today marks the beginning of a holy years for Alice and Wyatt.In some accounts of this day cloaks were laid before Jesus as a royal gesture. This morning heaven itself rolls out the red carpet for Wyatt and Alice.How I pray that they will live in a more peaceful world, the kind presaged by arriving as a Prince of Peace/ Not only that, i wish them inner peace.
Sometimes we call the church to be a parent. It is a place for the birth and care of souls.This is their second visit to a maternity ward. Here they are brought into a place that may offer medicine even cure for sin sick souls.Palm branches are a sign of victory and honor. They were on the first temple and Revelation uses them as an images of victory as well.I like to imagine that their ancestors gather in heaven now, bragging on their great great great grandchildren.Just look at them. They are part of a worldwide family now, i always held in the embrace of God.
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