Jacob's grandmother is the pastor of St. Nicholas' - - -
Baptism of Jacob
Bailey Kahl – November 6, 2011
at Sherwood Episcopal
Church, Cockeysville, MD
Joshua 24: 1-3a,
14-25
Of
the three scripture readings we heard this morning, the one that most closely
relates to what we will experience this morning is the reading from
Joshua. “How can that be?” you may
ask. That’s ancient history! He’s stirring up the people to be ready
for the conquest of Canaan. He’s
being a charismatic leader in a time of war. Remember that spiritual: “Josha fit the battle of Jericho . . . and the walls came a’
tumblin’ down.” How in the world
can that be related to baptism?”
If
you look at it from that point of view, there isn’t much relationship, but
let’s look at it another way.
Joshua is calling the people to repent and turn back to God. They have found attractive idols, gods
of other peoples, in whom they have put their trust, to whom they have
prayed. Just hedging their bets,
of course. Nothing personal . . .
probably they think that praying not only to the God of Abraham, but all these
other ones, too, will just increase their chances for success. Is that such a problem?
Joshua
told them that the God of Abraham would not accept divided loyalty. God expected those who believed in him
would worship nothing and no one else.
It is, of course, a covenant relationship between God and God’s people
that Joshua challenges the Israelites to keep. Covenants are a special type of relationship. People agree to follow a leader, and
the leader agrees to provide for the people. The covenants in the Bible each have a special sign: God with Abraham—many descendants; God
with Noah—the rainbow; God with Moses and the Israelites—the Ten Commandments.
Our
prayerbook has this heading on page 304: “The Baptismal Covenant.” Our Baptismal Covenant contains two
parts: the Apostle’s Creed, a
statement of faith in the form of questions and answers, and five
promises that describe how a Christian should live, also phrased as
questions. In a few moments
Christina’s and Jacob’s parents, godparents and all of you worshipping here
today will say the Apostle’s Creed and respond that you will keep these
promises “with God’s help.” This
renewal of our Baptismal Covenant means we are promising once again to trust
God and to live a life that we believe God desires. The sign for baptism is water. The sign for Holy Spirit’s sealing the person as Christ’s
own forever and becoming active in the newly baptized person’s life is the Oil
of Chrism.
What’s
happening here? There are several ways to think about it: being adopted into the body of Christ;
being made a saint; participating with Christ in his death and being raised
with him; having sins washed away and new life in Christ begin. The one that works best for infants and
children is the idea of adoption into the body of Christ. God has loved Christina and Jacob from
their very first moments. We
acknowledge God’s loving grace in their lives in the sacrament of baptism—an
outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace. It is the start of their lifelong journeys in God’s
grace—guided in the beginning by loving parents, godparents, grandparents and
many other relatives and friends—guided also by the priest and members of the
parish where Christina and Jacob and their families worship.
I
want to share a story with you about how this happened for one child. It comes from a book called Godparenting:
Nurturing the Next Generation by Nancy Ann McLaughlin and Tracey
Herzer. The story was told by an
Episcopal priest named Debra Kissinger:
“When I was the vicar of a small church in Connecticut, there was a
three-year-old boy, Jeffrey, who came to the altar rail week after week with
his mother . . . Jeffrey’s mother was reluctant to allow him to receive the
sacrament ‘until he was old enough to understand.’ Week after week, the little boy would extend his hands to
receive, and week after week his mother would pull his hands back to his chest
with a thump. But one Sunday
Jeffrey was not to be denied. He
extended his hands. His mother
pulled them back. Not once but three times . . . And then it happened: Jeffrey yelled at the top of his lungs,
‘Jesus, Jesus! I want Jesus, too!
Give me Jesus!’ and thrust his hands forward again to receive the host.
You
could have heard a pin drop. The
[Holy] Spirit silently danced through the church. I looked at Jeffrey’s mom, both our eyes brimming with
tears. She nodded her
consent. I barely choked out the
words: ‘The Body of Christ’ as Jeffrey took Jesus into his hands and pronounced
a loud ‘Amen!’ for all to hear . . . Jeffrey knelt in awe before Jesus that
day, and we were each filled with awe as we searched our own hearts and shared
his experience.”
What
had happened? Jeffrey had been
adopted into the Body of Christ through baptism. He had listened and observed what had been going on around
him in a particular incarnation of Christ’s Body, that parish in
Connecticut. He had learned to
want Jesus—and he was not to be denied the sacrament all the others were
receiving at that parish every Sunday.
That’s how God’s grace should work! Amen! Alleluia!
Mother
Debra noted that the Holy Spirit was dancing that day in the church. “Dancing” is an interesting way to
describe how God acts in our lives when we participate in Christian community
as adopted brothers and sisters of the Risen Christ. The Godparenting book suggests a way we can
demonstrate how the Holy Spirit works in our lives, and I’d like to share that
with you now. [Ask the children in
the congregation to come forward.] Sometimes the Holy Spirit is described in
the Bible as wind or breath. You
can’t see breath unless it moves something. Today I will blow bubbles (which are full of breath) to show
how the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, can come into our lives. [Blow enough bubbles for every child to
touch them.] You can touch
them. You can reach out to the
Holy Spirit who will help you soar—like the bubbles in the wind. You can soar and grow into the people
God has made you to be.
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