Water & St. Jean Baptiste Day

 

                                                       

John the Baptist -- detail from illustration in the St. John's Bible --Donald Jackson 

Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?

By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?

 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Romans 6: 1b- 5 NRSVue (today's epistle reading) 

Yesterday was St. Jean Baptiste Day, a "national" holiday in the province of Quebec. The occasion celebrates the birth of John the Baptist, who baptized his cousin Jesus in the Jordan River as a public recognition and inauguration of his ministry. It really is a curious remnant of the Roman Catholic culture which once dominated what is now a largely secular Quebec.

In Spanish June 24th is San Juan Bautista Day and in parts of the southern United States it is still observed as a religious holiday. I've been thinking about a seminar I attended more than a decade ago at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico called Water and the Baptismal Life led by Dr. Larry Rasmussen, a leading eco-faith theologian. Some of you will know that I've revisited these few days a number of  times in this blog and I appreciate your patience. It was thought-provoking at the time and has continued to shape my spiritual journey along the way. 

Ohkay Owingeh 

One day we climbed aboard a bus for something of a class trip to the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo which was formerly known as San Juan Pueblo and is situated on the Rio Grande River. Even though this Indigenous community has reaffirmed its Indigenous heritage there continues to be a strong Roman Catholic presence. We attended a stirring display of traditional dance but after attending mass we also processed with the priest to the Rio Grande where a bucket was lowered into the murky waters. This water was sprinkled on those who wanted to reaffirm their baptismal faith and I was one of them. 

We live in a time when many parts of the world are either parched or inundated with water due to the climate catastrophe, and degraded water quality has become a massive concern. An article in The Guardian asks whether drought could become the next pandemic. We simply cannot exist without H20. 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/jun/15/drought-is-on-the-verge-of-becoming-the-next-pandemic?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

We could reclaim St. John the Baptist Day as a moment to affirm the sacredness of this fundamental element of life.  As Paul's words from Romans reminds us, John's baptism of Jesus gave us the sacrament of initiaton and rebirth which is central to our Christian faith. These days baptisms are few and far between in most aging United Church congregations but why shouldn't we regularly celebrate the living water, the welling up to eternal life which is the Creator's gift to us in Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Sisters and Brothers,

let us celebrate God’s gift of grace       

given to us in the sacrament of baptism.

There is one body

and one Spirit;

we have one hope in Christ.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

one God, Creator of us all.

Out of the water of baptism

we rise with new life,

forgiven, renewed, and one with Christ,

members of Christ’s body.      

Ephesians 4:4-6 Celebrate God's Presence: A Book of Services 

Baptism of Christ -- Vladimir Zagitov