I love being in a smaller church, as it allows us to emphasize a baptism. It allows us to see our baptismal promises and life renewed in the promises made this day, with this child as our focal example. Nicole is an innocent. As a human being, she will be capable of heights and low points.We baptize her in recognition of human nature. When she does wrong the same waters will wash her clean. Like a tree, the waters of baptism will nourish her.They will help her blossom and flourish as a spiritual being, as well as the other aspects of her life.  In another biblical image, we pray her life will be like a well-watered garden.

 

Baptism will follow her all the length of her life  One of the reasons we have infant baptism is that she will be rooted and grounded in love. As she grows, her roots in the faith can deepen. I pray that her life will be rich and full with a wide array of experiences. An old VBS selection sings of  fountain flowing deep and wide. The fact of baptism's invisible work is an indicator of the often deep streams in our lives, beneath the surface. No part of her life cannot be touched by the presence of god; no experience could be too small for notice, too large to be encompassed in the scope of the care and concern of God. One of the reasons that I've grown to appreciate infant baptism is that it is harder to overemphasize one experience, such as being born again that may lead to baptism to seeing God with us the whole long course of our lives.

 

Her name comes through Greek, by way of French. It means that she is part of a victorious people. She will not be guaranteed success after success, but her baptism is a testament to our conviction that no power on earth can match the power of the love of God. No failure is too great to be reconciled or forgiven in the divine arms. In her baptism, she surely is. In her baptism,she is given the keys to victory over death. Her middle name, Jean, by way of French from Hebrew, means God is gracious.God is generous. Our passage speaks of God being exceedingly, immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.In baptism, she is filled with the fullness, the abundance of the light and love of God that bursts all boundaries. We see a baby and are stunned at the potential. In God's eyes in baptism, this child is filled with spiritual potential. Together we help form that potential into actuality over the years. In the household of God, we take care of that need to learn of God.

 

Last week we spoke of the church being built up by the grace of God. The structure of the presence of God changed this morning as Nicole is added to the dwelling place of God. Baptism is an adoption service for the household of God. When her family was considering adoption, a sudden opportunity to adopt her during labor.From a late evening phone call on a Wednesday, to a trip to an attorney and Texas, back to Indy and then to having a new child in life took about a week. In a sense, baptism is an adoption service into the family of God. So, she is truly one of the elect, one who has been chosen. In our theology, baptism is a response to God's selecting this child as God's own. In her young life, she has been made part of 2 new households.In her young life, she has been saved in a multitude of senses.Together, we interlock into each other's lives. Together, the spiritual structure called the church expands, with each one of us a vital element of its make-up. In that sense our baptism place us all in the great reservoir of God's overflowing care.