Sunday's Sermon

Baptism of Hayes & Lucy    The Rev. Dr. Patricia Ramsden

 

    What a day of celebration!  We have gathered here today to worship God in a special way, to celebrate the baptism of Hayes and Lucy McIwain.  

    And we are here because we believe in the words that are on the baptismal cross that will be theirs to carry with them forever as a memory of this day.  

    The words are based on words from Psalm 139:  “You are a child of God.  You are wonderfully made, dearly loved, and precious in God’s sight.”  

    They are loved, here, now, even before their baptism, a child of God’s even before this day of commitment.  But it is still a special day in their lives, and in ours, for it is the day we make our commitment to both Hayes and Lucy to help them grow in their love and understanding of a God who loves them so much that he would give anything to show them that - even his own life on a cross.  God has loved them since before the creation of the world.   

    And we are also here to remember the love that God has for each of us and to remember and celebrate our own baptisms and commitments to living into God’s love and grace for us all. 

    We are not here though to perform some kind of magic trick that will change God’s mind toward Hayes and Lucy as if his love for them were dependent upon us and what we do, what we decide.  It is not some action of ours that will suddenly save them, or us, by our own decisions.  It is the cross.  It is God’s grace that saves us.

    There is no magic in the water that I will place on their heads in just a few minutes.  It is just ordinary water.  I poured it from the tap myself.  

    So why is this water - any water - considered sacred for baptism?  It is sacred because it is a symbol of life.  Without water, we die.  

    It’s sacredness is told about in the first chapter of Genesis, in the very beginning of the creation story.  For at that beginning, God’s Spirit hovered above the water.  And it was by the water, through the Spirit, that Jesus himself was baptized.     

    The thirst we have for life in all its fullness, a life filled with love, is symbolized by our thirst for water, so in John 4 Jesus tells us “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.  Indeed the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  

    So while the water is not magic, it is sacred, set apart, as a symbol of the abundant life God promises us, a life based on the certain knowledge that we are loved and cared for by God - and that that love, the power of that love, will follow us all the way through our lives, giving us a life based on the certainty that we are cared for whatever our circumstances may be.

     And that, my friends, brings us a joy in life that is deeper than the feeling of being happy - for our circumstances - our happiness- may change with the whims of fortune, but our joy in the knowledge that we are loved and cared for by God Himself will never change.   

    So what of the words we say in these moments?  Are they magic?  Do they have a power that is great enough that it changes God’s mind toward us? 

     No. 

    We do not have the power to change God’s mind about how much He loves us, about the grace and forgiveness He gives us.  For God loves us so much that He gave His only Begotten Son - not to condemn the world but so the world - all the world - might be saved through Him.  

    God loves us so much that He would die for us and be raised from the dead for us to prove to us that his power and his love are greater than anything - even death itself.   

    We are saved by the cross, not by what we do, not even by what we say in these moments, but by what God did to demonstrate to us his love and grace in a way that would change us forever. 

    And he forgave us from the cross before we ever believed, even before we were baptized.  Remember His words:  “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  

    He forgave the very ones who crucified him before they asked for forgiveness.  He forgives us before we ask as well.  He forgives us so we might have life and know life in all its fullness instead of a life based on fear or judgement.  He forgives us - and that gives us the ability to admit when we are wrong, when we have hurt someone else.  And that gives us the ability to change - to live into the image of ourselves that God created us for.  Our lives, then, are lived out of God’s abundant love and grace and are rich and free.

    So we have the words of the familiar verses of John 3: 16-17.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, for God sent HIs Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so the world might be saved through Him.”    

    So God’s love for Lucy and Hayes will not be changed today when I sprinkle their heads with water.  In Jeremiah we read in the amplified Bible that God says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen one], And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own]. 

    So if baptism does not save Lucy and Hayes and us by itself, what will it do?  Why is it so important?  Why is it a sacred moment in time?  A sacred moment in their lives? 

    It is because it is the beginning of their journeys of yes  that will change Lucy’s and Hayes’s knowledge of God’s love and God’s saving grace.  It is the beginning of a new life that will grow in part because of Jessica and Will’s commitment, because of their families’ commitment, because of our commitment, to teach them how much they are loved not just by us but by God as well.   

    That is what makes this moment sacred - a moment set apart in time - a moment of celebration of a love even greater than our own - a moment when we dedicate ourselves as well as Lucy and Hayes to God.   A moment when we dedicate ourselves  to help them grow in the knowledge of God. - a moment when we publicly declare that they are indeed children of God’s.    

    It is a life changing moment, a sacred moment, that we do not take lightly.  It is a responsibility to teach them, to show them through our own lives what a difference a life dedicated to God can make - because they cannot make that decision to commit themselves to God intelligently, completely,  without a firm foundation that knows who God is and knows of God’s powerful love and grace - a grace that is theirs forever - and that journey - their own journey of faith - starts here, starts now.  

    This is a commitment we take solemnly and with great joy.    

So let us stand and make our commitment again before we make our commitment to Lucy and Hayes and to God, saying what it is we believe with saints throughout the ages using the Apostles Creed found printed in the bulletin.