The Sound of a Low Whisper
“And he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.”
“How can water do such great things? Certainly not just water, but the Word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this Word of God in the water.”
Churches that do not recognize the supernatural element of the Sacraments yearn for the transcendence of God made imminent in space and time. This is why we see the ginning up of emotion in non-liturgical, non-sacramental churches. Subjective emotion replaces the objective means of grace. The efficacy of Word and Sacrament is not seen as the simple reality of the power of the Word of God, rather, the effectiveness of the preaching is gauged by how "dynamic" the preacher is, and how much excitement is felt in the "worship experience." Worship becomes a completely immanentized, didactic experience sugared-up with artificial excitement. And when the sugar fails, one must turn to a harder drug. This progression explains the evolution of "contemporary worship" from its early days of flutes and acoustic guitars to its present incarnation of drum kits, sound boards, light shows, amplification, screens, and special effects. How can "God be on the move" without a thumping bass, without hands pumping and bodies jumping, without the strong wind, the earthquake, and the fire, the beat, the face of ecstasy, the swaying, and the raised hands?
In churches that believe baptism is merely a symbolic ritual that has no supernatural component, one may be tempted to ask, "Why bother?" But if it is part of the Big Show, if it adds to the excitement, the emotion, and the feeling of celebration, then it is well worth it. But what could be more dull, weak, and uninspiring than pouring a tiny quantity of water on the head of an infant? Or for those churches that deny the gift of regeneration to infants - because they see the ritual that accomplishes nothing to be based on the ability of the candidate to reason - why would a simple and reverent ceremony of immersion with the preacher calmly speaking the name of the Trinity be considered sufficient?
We live in the day and age of 24-7 mega-entertainment: car crashes, special effects, and naked girls on demand, rock and rap and techno-pop forming the soundtrack of our otherwise uninspired and uninspiring lives in reality, with ubiquitous screens putting forth pulsating lights and action. It is little wonder that the alleged non-sacrament of allegedly non-holy Baptism should also be revved up as part of the Protestant Big Show.
But for us Lutherans, there are two things that mitigate against this perversion of the "washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit," by which "He saved us," namely our "doctrine and ceremonies."
“Only those things have been recounted whereof we thought that it was necessary to speak, in order that it might be understood that in *doctrine and ceremonies* nothing has been received on our part against Scripture or the Church Catholic. For it is manifest that we have taken most diligent care that no new and ungodly doctrine should creep into our churches.”
Our doctrine that Holy Baptism is a physical and supernatural manifestation of the divine Word in space and time, acting on a physical person by means of water and the Word, that it is indeed a sacrament, and that it saves, is learned by every Lutheran in our Small Catechism.
Sacrament of Holy Baptism
As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household.
First
01 What is Baptism?
02 Answer: Baptism is not simple water only, but it is the water comprehended in God’s command and connected with God’s Word.
03 Which is that word of God?
04 Answer: Christ, our Lord, says in the last chapter of Matthew: Go ye into all the world and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Second
05 What does Baptism give or profit?
06 Answer: It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.
07 Which are such words and promises of God?
08 Answer: Christ, our Lord, says in the last chapter of Mark: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Third
09 How can water do such great things?
10 Answer: It is not the water indeed that does them, but the word of God which is in and with the water, and faith, which trusts such word of God in the water. For without the word of God the water is simple water and no baptism. But with the word of God it is a baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost, as St. Paul says, Titus, chapter three: By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that, being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying.
Fourth
11 What does such baptizing with water signify?
12 Answer: It signifies that the old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts, and, again, a new man daily come forth and arise; who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
13 Where is this written?
14 Answer: St. Paul says Romans, chapter 6: We are buried with Christ by Baptism into death, that, like as He was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
And, of course, along with our doctrine, our faith in the Word is also conveyed by our complementary practice, our ceremony: the traditional Western catholic execution of the rite. And yes, there is an Eastern tradition of immersion, but aside from some weird, outlying video footage of Eastern priests aggressively and shockingly subjecting the little bodies of their infant candidates to harsh treatment, such a WWE-style Big Show as depicted above would also be out of place in Eastern Christian practice.
The Western rite of Baptism is normally, but not exclusively, performed upon infants, and is done with gentleness and meekness. For the power is in the Word, not in how much water is used, how forcefully the water is administered, in post-baptismal hugs and high fives, nor in pulsating background music to build an artifice of excitement that apes the world.
Faith is a matter of trust: trust in the “low whisper” of the Word of God, and not in the subjective vagaries of feelings and manipulated emotions.
None of this is to say that baptisms are not exhilarating and joyful. For there is nothing more fulfilling than to smack Satan about the head by pulling one of the Lord’s creatures out of the devil’s lurid grasp, and transferring him into the arms of Jesus, bringing the little one (or the not so little one) to “live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”
The pastor should speak the words of institution as he administers this miracle with clarity and with authority, but the showboating is an unnecessary distraction that only serves to confess one’s actual unbelief, making a confession of the inadequacy of the “low whisper,” a doubt-ridden exercise of whistling past the graveyard. But we Christians walk calmly and confidently through the graveyard, knowing what Holy Baptism truly does.
Let us not forget that the “low whisper” of the name of the Most Holy Trinity, combined with even a single drop of water, is an example of “the foolishness of God” that “is wiser than men, and the weakness of God [that is] is stronger than men.”
