Riverwood Presbyterian Church

Pastoral Musings

Profundity

by Tim Lien

Two weeks ago, baby Addie Elizabeth Crawford was baptized on Sunday morning. Although I am not much of a sensationalist or an experientialist, upon reflection, I was struck with the grand significance of the occasion. There was only one part of that holy sacrament that was interchangeable. You could not find other earthly parents for little Addie, because there is only one set ordained by God. You could not have had another little girl, because it would not have been Addie E Crawford. We couldn’t have changed the element of water, because it would have ceased to be a baptism if we did so. We couldn’t have found another deity, because this sacramental ceremony highlights the initiation and proactive work of One God, who reaches out to man before man even knows it himself/herself. But you could have changed one element. It could have easily been another pastor, priest, or bishop. Our denomination accepts any “Trinitarian baptism.” (done in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.) Highlighting, again, that the clergy, temperature of the water, sincerity of prayer, or faith of the parents are not the key “ingredients.” The validity of infant baptism is placed squarely upon the covenantal promises of a faithful God to perennially unfaithful people.

And this is what struck me: I was a part of that. I was there. I witnessed it. I repeated the promises of God to little Addie. I didn’t do anything in the spiritual sense, but I was allowed to be a tool. A completely interchangeable tool. But it was me. Part of the beauty of the sacraments is the humility which they bestow. Not the fake brand of humility, but the real stuff—the kind that just gives you awe at something greater than yourself.