Homily at a Grandson’s Baptism

Only one thing in life truly matters. Today, Elias receives that one thing that truly matters.

You recall the story of Noah and the ark. I imagine being one of the bystanders as Noah built it. Would I have laughed? Would I have mocked? Why build this boat? Don’t we have more important things to do? No rain is in sight. Life is good. “They were eating and drinking,” says Jesus, “marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:27). The Genesis story puts it in dramatic fashion: “All the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights” (Gen. 7:11–12). I might have laughed; I might have mocked. But once the rain did come, I would have known for sure: only one thing in life truly matters, salvation from destruction.

It is that one thing—salvation from destruction—that Saint Peter talks about in 1Peter 3. “Baptism,” he says, “saves you.” That is strong language. Baptism saves Elias. “Really?” we are inclined to ask. “Baptism saves?” The Apostle Peter claims it does. But why not laugh at the claim? Why not mock with unbelief?

Three Key Elements

Here is how Saint Peter builds his case. Here is why he says Baptism saves. Peter takes three key elements of the faith, and he maps them onto the ancient story of Noah and the ark. The three elements are these: Christ, Church, and Baptism. Take these three, says Peter, and see if you can’t find them back in Genesis chapter 7.

Let’s take them one by one. First, Christ. What does he do? One of the things he does is preach. Peter talks about Christ’s preaching, time and again (1Pet. 3:19; 4:6). All prophets preach. Noah—the great “herald of righteousness,” the great “preacher of righteousness” (2Pet. 2:5)—he, too, preached. Christ preaches just as Noah preached. Both preached the gospel of repentance and salvation. Christ maps onto Noah.

Second, the Church. Where does Noah tell people to go? The ark, of course. When the fountains of the great deep burst forth and the windows of the heavens open up, you need to seek shelter in the ark. It’s foolish staying out on your own; you’ve got to enter in. Eight people, Peter reminds us, entered the ark and so were saved through the water. Only when we seek refuge in the Church will we safely make it through the storms of life. The Church maps onto the ark.

Third, Baptism. What does Baptism do? It washes us. Not an ordinary scrub, Peter reminds us. No, this is an internal cleaning; a “washing of regeneration” Scripture also calls it (Tit. 3:5). Saint Peter says Baptism is like a prayer (1Pet. 3:21). When we baptize Elias, we pray, “Lord, make his heart a temple of your Holy Spirit. Make him clean. Make him pure.”

And God hears our prayer. We know he hears because Baptism is the third of the three. Just as Christ maps onto Noah, just as the Church maps onto the ark, so Baptism maps onto the flood. Elias is saved through Baptism just as Noah, his wife, and his children were saved through the flood.

You see how the mapping works: Christ, Church, and Baptism—Noah, ark, and flood. The first three map onto the latter three. Together they make for a beautiful picture of the way salvation works.

All Three Save

Christ saves. It is true. But Saint Peter says more than only that. The Church saves, he says. Baptism saves, he says. They all save. Of course, they do, for all three belong together. Just as you cannot have the Old Testament story without the ark or without the flood, so you cannot have the New Testament story without the Church or without Baptism.

Today is a day of celebration.

Today Elias receives the one thing in life that truly matters.

Today Elias receives Baptism; today Elias receives the Church; today Elias receives Christ himself.