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“Remembering, Rejoicing”

“When grateful we come, remembering, rejoicing . . .”

(Lyrics by Jane Marshall, “What Gift Can We Bring”)

“Remember your baptism and be thankful .”

(Liturgy in The United Methodist Book of Worship)

A sermon by Siegfried S. Johnson on the First Sunday after the Epiphany, January 7, 2007

(Volume 1, Number 28)

First United Methodist Church, 605 West 6^th, Mountain Home, Arkansas 72653

Shelley Jackson has published a unique short story, a fascinating literary innovation, to say the least. I’m not recommending it to you. In fact, you can’t find it, not even at Amazon.com. There’s only one way to read it, but it would be a Herculean task requiring formidable detective skills, limitless time and resources to travel, and a willingness to intrude on the personal lives of over 2,000 people. You see, this story is written . . . on skin. To read it you would have to find out on whom the words are written and go around the world and read it, one word at a time, in the tattoos on the bodies of 2,095 people. You see, Shelley Jackson’s short story, appropriately titled, Skin, is written on human skin, one word at a time!

2,095 words on the bodies of 2,095 volunteers. After being accepted into the project and signing a very detailed legal contract, each of these volunteers received just one word from the story tattooed on their body. That one word must be tattooed just as it is written in the story, true to things such as capital letters, intentional misspellings and punctuation. The full story, distributed only to participants, is a mystery to others.

Rob Poulous, for example, carries the single lowercase word “back” on his left wrist. He heard about the project from his literature professor, who also decided to participate, receiving the word “pen?” (followed by a question mark).

Shelley Jackson calls her story a “Mortal Work of Art” and claims it to be a unique way to connect each person to the 2,094 other participants. She was the first participant, tattooing the title, Skin, on her arm. Would you be interested in joining the project? Well, if so, you’re too late. The response to her announcement was rapid. Within days of the first internet posting seeking volunteers, people signed on from dozens of countries. Every word of the story is now enfleshed on human skin.

Creative? You bet. Bizarre? That too. Yet, when I read about Skin, spiritual lessons began to percolate that, I think, are worth pondering. You see, the church is also a Mortal Work of Art, enfleshing the gospel so that it is visible to the world, forming a connection to every other Christian, yet remaining a mystery to those who have not received that word.

One of our central themes at Christmas is that Jesus was the Word made Flesh. Did you know that the New Testament speaks of another word written on the child of God? Revelation 3:12, one of the letters from the risen Christ to the seven churches (this one to the church at Philadelphia) says, “If you conquer, I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.” Let that sink in. God says, “I will write on you . . .”.

Have you been written upon? Yes, you are among those who have conquered death through the resurrection of Jesus, and the signal of that victory is baptism, the promise of ultimate victory over death. I believe that, in baptism, we receive what Jesus calls, “the name of my God, and my own new name.” Paul, to the church at Ephesus, called this marking a seal, “when you believed you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.”

Anne Lamott writes in her novel, Blue Shoe, of a girl crying in the night. When her mother comes to comfort her, the girl said she was too afraid of the dark to sleep. “But God is with you, protecting you,” said mom.

The little girl whimpered, “but I need someone with skin on.”

Yes indeed. Sometimes we need, not merely the prayers of others, the comfort of others, the assurances of others – sometimes we need someone with skin on. And, if the church is God’s Mortal Work of Art, then we are God’s presence with skin on. We are a part of a story much, much larger than ourselves. When we accept the free offer of grace, we are baptized as evidence of our belief, and our baptism declares us to be part of a story larger than ourselves, a mystery which Paul described as “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The Emperor Franz Josef, who died in 1916, was the last of the great Hapsburg rulers. After his death his body lay in state in his magnificent palace in Vienna, surrounded by exquisite floral arrangements, rich fabrics, jewels, and gold. On the day of his funeral, his body was taken to the cathedral in a hearse drawn by magnificent horses. The pallbearers removed the casket from the hearse and brought it to the locked doors of the church, and at those doors, an interesting liturgy of royalty was enacted.

One of the emperor’s attendants knocked loudly on the door and a voice came from within, “Who goes there?”

The reply was regal and confident. “His Majesty, Franz Josef Emmanuel Hans, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Head of the Hapsburgs.”

After a moment of silence the reply came from within. “We do not know him.”

A second time the petitioner sought an entrance, and a second time a voice said, “Who goes there?”

“Open for His Majesty, Franz Josef Emmanuel Hans, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Head of the Hapsburgs.”

The reply came again from behind the barred doors. “Go away. We do not know him.”

At the third knocking, when asked, “Who goes there?” the attendant’s answer was different, losing its regal claim. He said simply, “It is Franz, a child of God.”

Soon, there was a loud noise as the massive bolts were drawn back, the doors opened wide, and the interior of the magnificent cathedral made visible. The doorkeeper said, “The Lord welcomes Franz, child of God. Him we know.”

When I take a child into my arms to baptize him/her and ask the parents, “What is the name given this child?” we don’t ask for titles, for surnames, or for anything that would reveal family status. We wish only for the given name, and upon this name we place a new name, that of Christ. And one day, when death comes, it is not our accomplishments and honors, but that word long ago written upon us, that mark of the Holy Spirit, which will secure our entrance into God’s presence.

“What gift can we bring? What present? What token?” Shall we offer our social standing, our accomplishments, our generosity, our wisdom, our commitment? No, but what we bring at last is not a list of our achievements, but a childlike faith that, whatever we have accomplished or failed to accomplish, we bring only that name which long ago was written upon us. To proclaim to the world that we are part of that story, we have been baptized. Not with a baptism of royalty exclusive to a bloodline not shared by peasants. Not with a baptism of the wealthy which the poor cannot afford. Not with a baptism of the Methodists which other denominations lack. But with a common baptism that writes upon us, including us in a mystery, part of a larger story.

This morning you will be able to do precisely what you have sung, “When grateful we come, Remembering, Rejoicing.” Today, you will have an opportunity to remember your baptism, and to be thankful. Remember that you are part of a story that cannot be complete WITHOUT YOU

Through the symbolism of the shell, you will be invited to remember your baptism and be thankful. You are not today being re-baptized, which our theology and tradition consider improper. Rather, today you will receive a shell, and let the dampness of the shell, the water that may drip on your fingers, remind you of your baptism.

Perhaps there will be some who have never been baptized, and you wish to be baptized today. Convey that to Rev. Ludwig or myself, and we will baptize you. Having heard the Good News, say to us what the Ethiopian eunoch said to Phillip in Acts 8, “here is water, what hinders me from being baptized?”

Most, however, will have been baptized, and we hope you’ll take a shell as a symbol of your baptism, and do so, Remembering, Rejoicing.