Sermon

Baptism = Ministry

Scripture Text:

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

Sermon:

This is a very special Sunday, because this morning we’ll baptize an adult and a baby – a father and a son. Dan and Cameron are teaching us the two “actions” of baptism or the two actions of salvation: what we do and what God does.

We might say: God’s grace + our faith = salvation.[1]  We receive baptism as infants by grace, which is God’s choice, and as children or adults, by faith, which is a human choice.

The Christian life is about faith, something we DO, something that we choose. Faith means striving to trust God in every part of our lives, and to live in the way Jesus calls us to live, out of love, compassion, and hope.

But the Christian life is also about grace, something that GOD does and God chooses.  Grace is God’s love and acceptance for us for who we are. Grace means that even though we will never be able to live up to the life and love of Jesus Christ, that even though we will never be able entirely realize the kingdom of God on earth, God loves us, anyway, and welcomes us to God’s table, anyway.

When a child or an adult chooses baptism, like Dan, they are making a statement of faith. Dan is reaching out to God and expressing his desire for God in his life. It is his action that makes him a Christian. Dan is asking to be marked as part of the Body of Christ – he is making a choice of faith.  Dan is teaching us about the power of adult faith.

Dan’s son, Cameron will be baptized in grace.  Cameron isn’t choosing to be baptized because he too little to make decision for himself.  He isn’t asking to become a Christian; he’s teaching us about grace. Cameron’s baptism is a witness to us of how much God loves us, no matter what we choose. God loves Cameron and wants to offer grace to him before he’s had a chance to do anything right or wrong,[2]  before he’s had a chance to choose anything for himself.

And so we will baptize and mark Cameron as a Christian, sealed as Christ’s own forever, even before he has had a chance to understand what being a Christian means.  Because, no matter how old you are, that’s part of what being a Christian is – being loved by God without understanding why. Cameron’s baptism reminds us that we all belong to God’s grace. God loves us no matter what, and God wants to save us, no matter what we do or who we are.

We are baptized by grace AND by faith.  We are saved by our own effort and initiative, AND we are saved through no effort of our own.

In the reading from Ezekiel, we’re reminded that God himself searches for his sheep.  That it is God who goes looking for us when we’re lost, God who brings us home, God who binds our wounds, and God who judges us.

And yet we are the ones who choose how we respond.  Do we throw our weight around? Do we “butt at all the weak animals with our horns until we scatter them far and wide”?  Do we look for Jesus in the eyes of people in our community and respond? “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”  That’s faith.

God’s grace + our faith = salvation   Is one half of that sum more important?  Nope. That is why infant baptism and believers’ baptism are both important.

Dan’s faith in God, plus God’s grace for Dan.

God’s grace for Cameron, plus the faith of Dan and Lilaine.

God’s grace, plus the promises Dan, Lilaine, all their wonderful godparents, and we all will make on behalf of the whole Christian community, that we will support each other in this faith.

What is that faith?  What is God inviting us to choose for ourselves and to teach to our children and to each other?

Our bishop is always reminding us that “Baptism = Ministry.”  Ministry isn’t about being a priest; ministry is what anyone who is baptized is called to do.

Baptism isn’t something that just happens to us and then it’s all over.   Baptism isn’t a seal of approval or a graduation – it’s a beginning: the beginning of a life journey to live as part of the Body of Christ. For our baptism to live in us, we have to act it out in the world. In baptism, we are joined together as the Body of Christ.  We are Christ’s hands, heart, eyes, ears and feet.  We are called to act as Christ in the world.

Baptism = ministry.

In just a few minutes, we’ll recommit to our Baptismal Covenant –that covenant is about what we believe but it’s also about what our bishop calls the “So What?” questions.  What will you DO because of what you believe?

Because being baptized doesn’t matter without: breaking bread or prayers, without renouncing evil, every day, or putting out whole trust in the love of Jesus Christ, every morning we wake up.

Being baptized can’t fulfill us in the wholeness of who God created us to be if we don’t respect the dignity of every human being and seek and serve Christ in all persons.

That’s why we baptize in public on a Sunday morning: to help us all remember these things.  Because you may not remember your baptism, as Cameron won’t, and so, this is the time to remember: to remember that you are loved by a God who wants to save you, no matter what, and that your faith and love and choices make a difference to God and God’s kingdom, that your baptismal promises mean something – to God, to the Christian community, and to the world God has made.

Salvation = God’s grace + Our faith                     Baptism = Ministry

Let us remember both of these as we baptize these two people into the Body of Christ.  Let us be witnesses and participants in Dan and Cameron’s baptism, and remember our own.

Amen.

Uploaded on November 20, 2011 in by RevHeidi

No comments yet