Those who know me well also know that my relationship with the Sacraments recognized by the United Methodist Church is a complicated one as of late. This issue of relationship is not due to hurt that has been inflicted upon me by the Church. At least, not intentional pain... 

The bottom-line is: I was never taught about the Sacraments.

Until recently, I wasn't encouraged to explore the Sacraments to understand their meaning and theological significance in light of how I understand my faith. 

Instead, Baptism and Communion were merely things we (my hometown congregation) followed along with in our hymnals as part of the rituals whenever it was necessary. Fortunately, after a couple of weeks being completely terrified that I would never know enough about the Sacraments to become a pastor in the UMC, I have had the opportunity to explore a number of different perspectives and resources that have helped me to better process what the Sacraments mean to my denomination and in the Christian tradition thanks to my Sacraments and Ordinances class this semester.

In the Methodist Church, we are fortunate to have several resources that assist us in learning about and celebrating the Sacraments through word and song. While I haven't spent much time with these resources beyond a surface level in the past, I've gotten the chance to learn more about Baptism over the past week by using resources including the The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, the UM Hymnal, and the UM Book of Worship.

TBOD is a helpful book for UM's to obtain very succinct statements about what the denomination believes about various parts of our tradition, including the Sacraments. I actually found TBOD to be much more helpful than I originally thought was possible. For those of you not familiar with UM Polity, TBOD is known to be a very dry, rigid resource that is only helpful if one knows how to navigate it. However, I found that it gave one of the most clearly defined explanations of what the Sacraments are and their significance to faith out of the resources I have explored thus far.

It explains that Baptism is a gift from God of grace, which humans did nothing to receive (Eph. 2:8). However, it makes another important distinction that I think had previously been a missing piece of the puzzle for me. It emphasizes that Baptism is not just a mark that separates the baptized from the unbaptized. It's not about a mark that we receive because it's just something we're supposed to do as "good" Christians. The candidate (or the sponsors, if the candidate is not able to speak for him or herself) makes a commitment to living a life with Christ in Baptism. It serves a holy purpose: to initiate the candidate into Christ's Holy Church, which means recognizing that everyone is wanted, everyone is welcomed, everyone is loved, and everyone is a part of the body; we have all been washed in the Spirit in order to be part of what God is doing in the world (1 Cor. 12:13).

Believe it or not, hymns have a lot to teach us about Doctrine (church teachings) and also help us celebrate monumental celebrations such as Baptism within the life of the Church . You might be familiar with the concept that hymns have something to teach us; however, it wasn't until I took UM Doctrine last semester that I began to comprehend that hymns are of more use to folks than dully singing them on Sunday mornings. The hymn, "Open My Eyes, That I May See," (UMH, 454) is no exception.

This is one of the hymns listed as appropriate to accompany services in which baptisms are performed, and upon reading the lyrics, it is clear to see some scriptural parallels that would lend it to that categorization. Psalm 119:18 (NLT) specifically says, "Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions." By becoming part of Christ's Holy Church through Baptism, believers (or their guardians if they cannot speak for themselves) commit to being active within the life of the Church. Such a commitment requires senses that we as humans do not possess on our own. In light of the new birth we experience in Baptism, we must allow our perspectives to be changed or enhanced by God so that we may be effective in joining God's mission to alleviate suffering in the world and bring people into the life of the Church.

Because unconditional love is at the crux of Christianity, it only makes sense that part of the commitment of Baptism would include the candidate agreeing to serve God with the Church as it seeks to extend its ministry to all people. The last verse of "Open My Eyes, That I May See" says, "Open my mouth, and let me bear gladly the warm truth everywhere; open my heart and let me prepare love with thy children thus to share." Baptism instructs us that our commitment is not solely to loving and serving God, but also loving and being in rightly related community with others so that we may all work together to understand the magnitude with which God loves all persons.

Beyond hymns, much can be learned about Baptism by reading through any of the four baptismal covenants in the UM Book of Worship. The language used within these covenants is of particular interest to me for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the fact that the language we use to conduct baptisms today has been used to conduct baptisms of Methodists (and other Christian denominations with language spoken at the exact time of Baptism) all over the world for many, many years. In this way, Methodists are connected to one another in doctrine as well as in spirit.

Within each of the baptismal covenants, there is a prayer in which the pastor presiding gives thanks over the water that will be used in the baptismal ritual. It's in this prayer that I get the sense that I'm not only connected to those in the UM tradition who have been baptized before me, but that I am connected to God and those who have loved God all the way back to the beginning of Creation. Within this prayer, the candidate and the congregation are reminded how instrumental water is in our religious history and tradition and what those stories tell us about the faithfulness of God. It concludes with the explanation that Jesus was nurtured in the water of a human womb, yet was anointed with God's Spirit and that Jesus then goes and invites his disciples to die and rise with him in baptism as a commitment to join his mission to make disciples of all people.

Now, I hear you over there. "That's a lot!" you say. And you're completely right! I'm still wrestling with these concepts as well, such as how to eloquently articulate the transition from the old covenant of the water that protected Noah, the Israelites and others to the new covenant of water and the Spirit with Jesus. But, as I understand it, baptism is a commitment to "dying" to one's old ways of living and "rising" in new life with Christ as the focal point for the ways one lives every part of his or her life. As I understand it....The water in Baptism washes our sins away (which is directly connected to the fact that Jesus died to take away the Sin of all humanity) and Jesus' Spirit anoints us in our commitment to live our lives serving God by loving God and loving others in seeking to end suffering in this world by leading those who are lost to a relationship with Christ. 

Baptism is not a onetime commitment. It's a commitment that is on-going, ever-evolving, always-learning, always-growing. We continually commit ourselves to trusting God to give us new beginnings we need to be one with Christ. We fall short...a lot. The gift of grace in the new beginning of Baptism is that we receive a lifetime of those new beginnings accompanied by the promise we will never have to go them alone (Matt. 28:20).

I encourage you, if you have interest in learning about the Sacraments celebrated in your tradition and the ways they give spiritual life to those who partake in them, not to wait around like I did for someone to teach me. Go out. Reach out. Ask for help. It's okay. And, really, it will benefit you so much. Even though I still have much to learn, I already feel much better off than I did before beginning this semester's journey with the Sacraments.