This past Sunday one of the texts was from Acts 16, the story of Lydia of Thyatira who sold purple cloth and presumably founded the church in Macedonia.  In the passage we learn that Lydia was baptized along with her entire household.  This baptism of a whole household has always struck me as wonderful because it is intergenerational, familial, and communal.  In my experience in the U.S. I think I have only ever witnessed the baptism of three or fewer people (babies) in one service.  And until this weekend I had never enacted the sacrament of baptism itself.

As Lydia taught me, though, God can open our hearts and reveal God’s self when we don’t expect it.  Somehow God prepares us for it.  Paul, Silas, and Timothy went to Macedonia on a whim from a vision in a dream, which was completely unplanned.  Lydia was leading a gathering of women outside the walls of Philippi only to be interrupted by these three.  On a whim she hosted them at her home, which became their place of refuge and the launching point for the church.  She was prepared without notice and maybe even without knowing.

Last Thursday a colleague within the MEF campus invited me to preach at his church on Sunday.  I was initially reluctant because I already had a busy weekend planned, but I remembered my goal from way back at the beginning of this fellowship to say YES as much as possible when it came to my ministry here in Zambia.  And so YES it was.

I can say that I honestly hadn’t done much preparation for my sermon that day, and I certainly wasn’t expecting there to be baptisms and Communion.  Yet, God was revealing God’s self.  I learned as I arrived that over twenty people would be baptized and that we would be presiding over the Lord’s Supper.  There were actually close to thirty ready to go through the waters.  They formed a line, and the host pastor and I started at each end and met in the middle.  I baptized five adults and ten babies.  I only messed up the formula once (the very first time no less…don’t worry, though, our God is gracious!)  Only one baby screamed.  Several smiled. 

This beautiful first time presiding over the sacrament of baptism was completely unexpected, and I felt completely unprepared.  As came up in the sermon, though, God labors with us!  It was intergenerational.  It was familial.  It was communal.  

Hallelujah!

After our training program in Nchelenge, on the Great Lakes sized Lake Mweru, we decided to use a day to visit Ntumbacushi Falls, a wonder on the way to the plateau city of Kawambwa.  In my last post I marveled at “The Smoke that Thunders.”  Mosi-O-Tunya’s cousin Ntumbacushi is “The Mountain Mist.”  What an apt name!  As you stand at the bottom of the falls a cold mist surrounds you and coats your skin.  You can then dry off as you climb the mountain to see the source waterfalls that lead to the big drop at the bottom.  Many miles from Mosi-O-Tunya and different in scale, perspective, and experience, Ntumbacushi made me think about the many ways that water moves and falls in Creation.

Our next step brought this reflection home.  At church in the Mbereshi Mission I participated in the first baptism I have been an active part of since Isabelle was baptized several years ago (wow time flies!).  Changwe performed the washing, the actual water baptism.  I had the blessing of saying the blessing over baby Jaineck.  I had some profound words worked out for this blessing, but as so often happens with prepared words I forgot them.  My heart and mind switched to the profundity of holding a two-month old in my arms who had just been baptized in the names of our Triune God.  I don’t even remember what I said, and I am sure the words were not all that significant as English falling on Bemba-fluent ears.  I do remember, though, my sense of awe at that moment.  It was reminiscent of my awe while standing in front of the raw power of the smoke that thunders and in the cold drizzle of the mountain mist.  The water falling on Jaineck’s forehead was every bit as powerful and refreshing.  

What I wanted to say was something along these lines:

When God began to create, God’s breath moved over the waters

Life was breathed into the deep

Ever since water has been 

Nourishing us

Washing us

Satisfying us

Creating the ecosystems that feed us

And sometimes even destroying us 

The waters flowing at baptism are these same waters

They nourish us, wash us, satisfy us, feed us, and even put us at great risk because of what they call us to.  They are at once gentle and all-consuming in their power.  They are essential to the life of all Creation.

Jaineck has been baptized in these waters.  Bless this baby who is a blessing to all of us.  Bless these parents as they raise this child.  Bless this congregation as they live into their own baptisms and the baptism of Jaineck.

Now, the title of this blog comes from TLC’s masterpiece Waterfalls.  In the song they warn: “Don’t go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to.”  They make this warning for good reason, as they view waterfalls as unexpected forces that will take you over the edge and destroy you as soon as you come upon them.  This is a brilliant use of waterfalls as a metaphor.  As we sat along the banks of the Zambezi watching the sunset last week, we were less than a kilometer away from the full force of the smoke that thunders.  And yet, the waters were calm and rapid-free.  The collective genius of TLC tells us that we shouldn’t dive headfirst into unknown rivers and lakes because even the most serene of such can quickly turn into a waterfall.  Therefore we must both remember our roots and take a long view of possible future consequences for our decisions.  This does not, however, mean that we should avoid taking the plunge into the unknown altogether.

When Lisa Left Eye Lopes drops her rap, she declares:

Only my faith can undo 

the many chances I blew

to bring my life anew

Clear and blue and unconditional skies

have dried the tears from my eyes

No more lonely cries

There are some waterways that although unknown may be exactly what we are called to.  Choosing baptism for oneself or one’s child can be such a waterway, because the life of a Christian should be risky and challenging.  For embarking on such journeys, we must practice that oft-forgotten gift of discernment; when we see it is indeed a journey to which we are called by God, then we must have the faith like Left Eye to bring life anew.