The Easter season is a good time for a baptism, as it underscores the new life presaged by baptism. In concluding the set of speeches, Jesus prays. The prayer has a nostalgic ring to it, of looking back and finding solace that he has worked hard and faithfully for us. Paul says Jesus continues to pray, to intercede for us for us-I say, without hesitation,that Jesus continues to pray with and for Mallory and Mimi. These children are every bit as much disciples as those to whom Jesus spoke all those years ago. Easter life is prayer with the living God. Notice that eternal life here is defined for us as knowing God and Jesus. This prayer is the basic rock of prayer, of talking and listening to God, in other words communicating with God.
This sacrament enacts prayer, even as it is also a gift from God to these two children.
Most epistles end with advice on how to live well. I want to emphasize the stewardship of the manifold grace of God here in baptism. Easter life is living life in the light of god within the darkness of suffering. Prayer helps us to live the kind of life Peter imagines. It also helps us to weather the storm of suffering that touches us all. Self-examination is part of prayer. Prayer done in the same confidence of Jesus of contact with God allows candor with ourselves and with God. Baptism is a continual process of growing in Christ.
Humility is a difficult virtue to sustain in our culture, especially with its mania over heightened self-esteem. Prayer itself is an act of humility in the first place. At root is the truth that we are limited creatures. it comes from the root for humus, earth, ground. human-it leads us to be more gentle with the faults and foibles of others, and the few that we realize we carry ourselves. We emerge from water, as does all life. Our blood is the salinity of the ocean. The water is less for cleansing, though it does remind us that a new self, a new life, is constantly within us, being drawn out by God, the agent of life itself.. Better to think of the water as permitting life and growth, nurturing them in their spiritual development as they grow in body, mind and mature in emotions. Some worry about baptism prior to adulthood. I wonder if anyone is adult enough, knows enough, is mature enough, for baptism. it is a start, not the conclusion of our walk with God. they may not know everything, but they certainly apprehend love in many dimensions. They did not choose ot become part of a family, and now the voice of Jesus calls out to their family.
Peter advises to cast anxiety on to the God who cares for us. Parents have so much anxiety about children. We present a candle to assuage some of the anxiety as light in the darkness, their connection to the light of the world. Marked as God's own. What need we fear of 666 when the number 777 is inscribed on these children? their family is incalculably bigger now, joined with people all over the world, the living and the dead. the community is a big larger this morning. Heaven itself takes a breath and I like to imagine her ancestors crowding about crowing to everyone there how beautiful the children are. The angels hush their singing when the water is poured over them, and the sound of the water echoes in the halls of heaven, as more people with the name christian are added to the world. Once again the heavens open. God says, these are my beloved, in whom I am well-pleased. All their lives, the Spirit hovers over them.
Humility is a difficult virtue to sustain in our culture, especially with its mania over heightened self-esteem. Prayer itself is an act of humility in the first place. At root is the truth that we are limited creatures. it comes from the root for humus, earth, ground. human-it leads us to be more gentle with the faults and foibles of others, and the few that we realize we carry ourselves. We emerge from water, as does all life. Our blood is the salinity of the ocean. The water is less for cleansing, though it does remind us that a new self, a new life, is constantly within us, being drawn out by God, the agent of life itself.. Better to think of the water as permitting life and growth, nurturing them in their spiritual development as they grow in body, mind and mature in emotions. Some worry about baptism prior to adulthood. I wonder if anyone is adult enough, knows enough, is mature enough, for baptism. it is a start, not the conclusion of our walk with God. they may not know everything, but they certainly apprehend love in many dimensions. They did not choose ot become part of a family, and now the voice of Jesus calls out to their family.
Peter advises to cast anxiety on to the God who cares for us. Parents have so much anxiety about children. We present a candle to assuage some of the anxiety as light in the darkness, their connection to the light of the world. Marked as God's own. What need we fear of 666 when the number 777 is inscribed on these children? their family is incalculably bigger now, joined with people all over the world, the living and the dead. the community is a big larger this morning. Heaven itself takes a breath and I like to imagine her ancestors crowding about crowing to everyone there how beautiful the children are. The angels hush their singing when the water is poured over them, and the sound of the water echoes in the halls of heaven, as more people with the name christian are added to the world. Once again the heavens open. God says, these are my beloved, in whom I am well-pleased. All their lives, the Spirit hovers over them.
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