Br. Jim Woodrum

The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Isaiah 43:1-7

Recently, when doing research for a writing project, I came upon these words of our founder, Richard Meux Benson, from a retreat on the Holy Spirit he gave in 1877. “At His first coming to thee, He regenerated thee.” I was particularly struck by the concept of ‘regeneration.’ The full quote adapted into modern English says: “At His first coming to you, He gave you new life. He did not come to dwell in your corruption. Instead, in the broken and sinful nature He found, He extended the glorified humanity of Jesus Christ so that a new, transformed nature could grow within you as your old, corrupt nature faded away.”[i]

Many of you know I have been away from the monastery for four and a half months. During this time, I began working on a Master of Divinity degree while at Virginia Theological Seminary. One of my more challenging classes this past semester was Religion and Science. The object of this class, in part, was to help those in church leadership be in conversation in the needlessly contentious debate between the two. This class helped me make theological connections, not only in neuroscience—an area of avid interest—but also in regenerative science, which is transforming the lives of people who have faced immense suffering due to disease and other life-changing circumstances.

One topic that has particularly fascinated me is microchimerism, the presence of a small number of cells from one individual within the body of another genetically distinct individual. For example, fetal cells can cross the placenta and persist in the mother’s body during and after pregnancy for years, even in the case of miscarriage or stillbirth. Other examples include cells introduced through organ donation and blood transfusion. Amy Boddy, a researcher in Arizona State University’s Department of Psychology, explains: “Fetal cells can act as stem cells and develop into epithelial cells, specialized heart cells, liver cells, and so forth. This shows they are dynamic and play a huge role in the maternal body. They can even migrate to the brain and differentiate into neurons.”[ii] What is your experience of healing through regeneration? Perhaps some of you know first-hand the effects of regenerative medicine. If not, you might ask yourself, “What does it mean to be made anew or regenerated? How might we understand the concept of regeneration spiritually?

Often, we use spiritual language as a metaphor to help make meaning out of scientific truths. However, it is essential to recognize that science can also be used as a metaphor to explain and affirm spiritual and religious truths. When presenting the truth of spiritual regeneration, referring to scientific regeneration as a metaphor is helpful. We know, for instance, that a lizard that loses a tail in confrontation with a predator will grow back the tail in a matter of time. We have already spoken about the concept of microchimerism and regenerative medicine. Spiritual regeneration parallels that of science. For example, a damaged state is repaired or replaced in spiritual regeneration. A new form of life or function is created. An underlying power or mechanism drives the process. I would argue that biology for scientific regeneration is akin to divine grace for spiritual regeneration. The concept of microchimerism used to make meaning of divine grace for spiritual regeneration is what Father Benson is alluding to when he speaks of the Holy Spirit “extending the glorified humanity of Jesus Christ so that a new, transformed nature can grow within you as your old corrupt nature fades away.” Note how this parallels scientific regeneration—just as damaged tissue is restored to health, the Holy Spirit’s work restores our souls to holiness through the divine nature of Jesus Christ working in us.

Our reading from Isaiah supports this notion:

Thus says the Lord,

he who formed you, O Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

For I am the Lord your God,

This passage highlights God’s redeeming power and promises to call, bless, and protect His people. Through the reference to Jacob, the patriarch who, after Isaac, continued the Abrahamic covenant, and Israel, the name Jacob was given in affirmation of blessing, God calls out to us and reminds us of his blessing as the source of all life. “I have called you by name,” God says through the prophet Isaiah, “you are mine!” What follows is the assurance of God’s provision and protection, the fruits of this blessed connection. We then hear a divine punctuation: “For I am the Lord you God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

Psalm 29 further emphasizes this punctuation, using God’s dominion over water to assure us of his provision. We gather from ancient writings, including our Judeo-Christian background, that to the ancients, especially those who lived in desert habitats, the sea was chaos and, therefore, something to be feared.  In it lived monstrous sea creatures that would eat you (think of the story of Jonah and the whale); from the sea arose destructive storms that could alter landscapes (think Noah and the flood); and to be caught in the middle of the sea without protection meant certain death (think Moses and the parting of the Red Sea for the Israelites and its closing in on the Egyptians who were pursuing them). We need not fear the watery chaos, for “the voice of the Lord is upon the mighty waters. The Lord sits enthroned above the flood…forevermore.”

How is this regeneration achieved? What is the spiritual science God uses to enact our healing and salvation? The process is called ‘Baptism.’ Through Baptism, spiritual microchimerism occurs through the power of the Holy Spirit as the image of Jesus Christ is perfected in us. Father Benson continues in his teaching on the Holy Spirit: “Through Baptism, He united us with Christ’s Body and shared with us His resurrected Body. From that moment, Christ’s Body was present within our flawed nature. Every part of our being was made alive by the pure Body of Christ within us, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, who continues to shape us into the image of Jesus Christ.”[iii]

So, what can Baptismal Science teach us? First, I would say that to benefit from spiritual regeneration, we must first recognize our need for healing. What is getting in the way of your intimacy with God? What is the diagnosis of your suffering? For healing to occur, there must be recognition of your need to come to the font of baptismal waters. Jesus himself set for us the example of baptism. In Matthew’s telling of Jesus’s baptism, Jesus goes to John to be baptized. However, John first resists, telling Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. In all the gospel accounts of Jesus’s baptism, the Holy Spirit descends from heaven like a dove and alights on him as he emerges from the water. A voice is then heard proclaiming, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”[iv] In this moment of baptism, Jesus’s identity is affirmed for us, and I would say also to him. In this moment, Jesus discovers who he is and to whom he belongs. And so for us, in baptism, we are joined with Christ’s body, and in this sacrament, we discover who we are and to whom we belong. It is in this action that Christ’s body is grafted onto ours, and our healing through spiritual regeneration begins.

Second, once this healing process is underway, we are responsible for cooperating with the intention of healthy—or, I would say, ‘holy’—living. Most of us, I think, would agree that it would be reckless to smoke cigarettes after a lung transplant. Instead, taking care of our bodies, exercising, and maintaining a proper diet are crucial. We do this spiritually by regularly receiving the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist—the holy food and drink of unending life in Him. Father Benson instructs: “As each touch of the artist adds some fresh feature to the painting, so each communion is a touch of Christ, which should develop some fresh feature of his own perfect likeness within us.”[v] Baptism and Eucharist are not sacraments experienced in isolation but form two parts of the whole.

And last, we must appreciate the changes occurring within us as Jesus’s likeness regenerates our brokenness into wholeness. We have the same capacity to mirror Jesus’s light, life, and love to the world. In the chapter of our Rule of Life entitled The Practice of Intercession: “in praying for others, we learn really and truly to love them.  As we approach God on their behalf, we carry the thought of them into the very being of eternal Love, and as we go into the being of him who is eternal Love, so we learn to love whatever we take with us there.”[vi]

This is spiritual microchimerism. This is the regenerative medicine of Baptism. This is how every part of our being is made alive by the pure Body of Christ within us, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, who continues to shape us into the image of Jesus Christ. Amen.

[i] Benson, Richard Meux. The Experience of the Holy Spirit. Cowley Evangelist, October 1919.

[ii] Harth, Richard. “Fetal Cells Influence Mom’s Health during Pregnancy – and Long After.” Fetal cells influence mom’s health during pregnancy – and long after | ASU News, August 28, 2015. https://news.asu.edu/content/fetal-cells-influence-moms-health-during-pregnancy-%E2%80%94-and-long-after#:~:text=%E2%80%9CFetal%20cells%20can%20act%20as,%E2%80%9CWe%20are%20all%20chimeras.%E2%80%9D.

[iii] Benson, Richard Meux. The Experience of the Holy Spirit. Cowley Evangelist, October 1919.

[iv] Matthew 3:13-17

[v] Benson, Richard Meux. The Religious Vocation: Of Communion. 160-161.

[vi] Rule of Life of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. Chapter 25: The Practice of Intercession.