In the waters of baptism we come face to face with you, God. We experience your outpouring of love and we open our hearts to loving you more deeply. Immerse us in your grace and clothe us with the beauty of Christ, your son, and our brother. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been known to say that this Sunday, Baptism Sunday, is my absolute favorite Sunday in the life of our church. I’ve been known to even add, in a whispered voice, “Better than Christmas or Easter.” Why is that? I asked myself that this week. Why is it that this Sunday, over the years, has become my favorite Sunday in our life together?

 

Is it the Scriptures that lead and guide us? Is it the fresh and eager faces of these young people, a little bit nervous as well? Is it the smiles and the tears of family members? Is it this ancient water ritual of cleansing that began before Jesus’ time in the lives of our Jewish ancestors?  It is a ritual we have brought into our Christian life, connecting us with the deeper understandings and desires of faithful ones for thousands of years. Is it because in every story about Jesus’ life we have in the New Testament, his ministry begins with this moment of his baptism? 

 

Yes, I think it’s because of all of those. Is it because baptism means our surrendering to the love of God? Is it about sharing the death, the resurrection of Jesus? Absolutely. It is a new way of living and being in this world. And is it because the greed of society has not yet found a way to commercialize or trivialize Baptism Sunday? Now you can find cards, and you can find gifts, but I have yet to see a commercial or a grocery store decoration. Thank God.

 

It is all of this that goes into this Sunday being such an important one. This day in the life of our congregation, this event in the life of these who have prepared and come today, is simply huge. It’s beyond any words we might try to use to describe it. It is huge in its terms of rich meanings and how important it is for us. It is huge in its mystery; how a little water and a very old ritual can direct a life forever. 

 

On this day, there’s an intersection that happens. Two things intersect. One is God’s love, and the other is our love for God. Now, God’s love doesn’t begin today. Our love for God doesn’t begin today, but for these who have come to be baptized this morning, this is the intersection point in their lives when they say “yes” to God’s great love for them. 

 

You all see it. You’re recognizing it. You’re a little bit in awe of it, and that’s A-W-E, awe. Then you are saying “yes” out of your own life to say, “I’m going to love God.” Again, that may not have started just today. That’s been happening in your life for several years. But this is the place in your life where those two things intersect and you say a resounding “yes” to both of them. 

 

The truth is, you’re made a bit odd, O-D-D, by claiming that “yes”. Just think about it. You are saying, “I’m going to be clothed in tenderness. I’m going to be clothed in kindness, patience, forgiveness, love.  I’m going to let God’s peace rule in my heart.”  

 

All of that is a bit odd, given the world in which you live. Isn’t it? It is a bit odd, given the world in which all of us live. You set a rather odd intention today to do everything, in word and action, in the way of Jesus Christ, and to remember to be thankful to God. Always be thankful to God.

 

In just a few minutes, you all are going to come forward. You’re going to line up here in front of this grand congregation. You’re going to burn sins that you have given great thought to, and I’m going to offer you a blessing. That blessing is going to be the very words that are printed on the front of the bulletin, if you would find that with me. Let’s say that blessing out loud together. 

 

 

I want to suggest to you those words are a glimpse into the height, the width, the depth, the significance of this day. 

 

Your past is forgiven. You’re going to bring your sins, those concrete, written examples of the broken places in your lives, the broken places in your relationships, the way you have possibly distanced yourself from God, and the mistakes you have made. You’re going to let the fire of this Christmas Christ Candle evaporate them, turn them into ashes, into nothingness, so that you can be released. You can be washed clean into new and beautiful possibilities for your life.

 

Now every year, at the end of one of our baptism services, more than one adult will say to me, “Well, I wish I could burn my sins and start over again.” 

 

Anybody felt that way? Yeah? Because after living many more years than those who are on this front row, the truth is, we can hardly imagine what they’ve written on their papers. What in the world would they have to say? We think that because we’ve forgotten that brokenness, and mistakes, and distancing from God happens at all ages, and all sizes, and all shapes. But what we do know is that brokenness, and mistakes, and distancing from God is not something that ends as a child. Even as we have been baptized, at whatever point in our life, this is not a one-time-does-it kind of deal. I wish it were! I wish I could say to those of you on this front row, “After today, you’re never going make another mistake. You are never going to hurt anybody else’s feelings. You are never going to do anything that might hurt yourself.” 

 

I would hope that to be true for you, but Jacob, is that true? 

 

[Jacob responds:] “No, that’s not true.” 

 

Belinda, is that true? 

 

[Belinda responds:] “No.” 

 

Kristen, is it true? 

 

[Kristen responds:] “No.” 

 

We know that conversion, this turning to God over and over again, is not a one time thing. It’s a lifelong process. Conversions precede layer by layer, relationship by relationship, here a little, there a little, until the whole person, the whole intellect, the whole feeling and will have been re-created by God. 

 

All you have to do is ask any adult in this room if that re-creation is done. No, it is not done. We’re always being re-created. You are beginning that process of re-creation today, and we celebrate that with you. It takes a lifetime in being reborn. So, after you are baptized today, and you leave, and you get dressed to come back and join the service for communion, everyone in this sanctuary, everyone, is going to have an opportunity to name the current brokenness and the distancing in our lives today.

 

There is a little blue card (the one that keeps falling out of your worship bulletin).  Find that card, because the intention is that on the back side of that card you can either write in pen, or pencil, or in the invisible ink of your mind and heart, whatever it is you want and need to write there, so that you can offer that during our offering time and be released and be re-created in the grace of God. Find it.  Hang onto it. Let yourself be thinking about that possibility. 

 

Hear the one who lovingly says to you, “Your past is forgiven, and your present is sacred.” That word sacred is an important word. It means to be set apart in relationship and in service to God. That’s the other piece you all are doing today. You’re saying, “I want to be set apart.” 

 

You are highly valued, and you are so important.  This moment is a sacred moment, because the same voice of heaven we heard from the Scripture that affirmed Jesus’ baptism has the same affirmation for you today to remind each and every one of us that we are God’s beloved. This is a blessing we offer to each other in this congregation, at the time of birth, at the time of death, and in times in between, and especially this day.

 

So, let yourself hear the voice from heaven that might say:

I have called you by name from the beginning. I know you. You are mine, and I am yours. You are my beloved, and my favor rests on you. I’ve molded you in the depths of the earth.  I’ve knit you together in your mother’s womb.  I’ve carved you in the palm of my hand. I’ve hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness. I care for you more than a mother, a father, for a child. I have counted every hair upon your head. Wherever you go, I go with you. I am your father, your mother, your sister, your brother, your lover, your spouse, yes, even your child. Nothing will ever separate us. We are one. You are my beloved, and your present is sacred because you are sacred, set apart, highly valued, so important. 

 

Know your future is safe in the heart of God, which basically means you don’t have to be afraid. I’m convinced the greatest drawback to our letting go of our past mistakes, living into our sacred present, is fear. The one thing that stands in the way of experiencing God’s love for us, fully and with great joy, is fear. 

 

Every angel in the New Testament that ever comes to say anything begins by saying, “Be not afraid.” Maybe that’s because angels are intimidating. I don’t know.  I haven’t encountered one personally. Or, maybe it’s because the message they bring is bound to change one’s life. But, I believe they say, “Be not afraid,” because they know it is fear that stands in the way, that blocks God’s great understanding, God’s great adventures for us, God’s great kindness and patience and compassion for us, and our great faith. So, trust and believe that your future is safe in the heart of God. And be not afraid. 

 

One last story about baptism:  A couple of months ago, in our Broadway 101 class for visitors, we were talking about baptism, because unless you come on Baptism Sunday, you don’t know that pieces of this floor actually come out, and there is the baptistry. It’s right here buried down in the floor of this area. So, we talk about that in Broadway 101. 

 

We talk about does this church practice infant baptism? Well, no we don’t. But we honor the baptisms of those who have been baptized as infants, in our spirit of Christian unity. 

 

One person who was a part of this conversation, a couple of months ago, said, “The best description I ever heard of baptism is, “It’s becoming a pickle.”

 

“Hmmm?” That’s what I did. “Hmmm?” 

 

She went on to explain what she meant. Then I asked her to e-mail me the information, because it was a rather interesting imagery. It was one I hadn’t ever connected with baptism before.

 

As it turns out, there are two words for baptism in the Greek language.  That’s the language of the New Testament. Two words that describe a two-step process of a vegetable, we could say a cucumber becoming a pickle. The first word of baptism is when the cucumber is dipped into boiling water. The second word for baptism is when the cucumber is immersed in vinegar.  Then it takes a while for the cucumber to become a pickle. 

 

Now, I cannot wait for Veggie Tales to get hold of this one. I’m thinking, “Larry the Cucumber is on his way to becoming Larry the Pickle. What do you think? Yeah! Yeah!

 

So, candidates for baptism, what this means is today is your first dipping, however, the water is not boiling. You’re going to be lucky if the water is even a little warm. That first dipping is to get you ready for what comes next. What is coming next is your immersion in vinegar. This church, or any church of which you will be a part, will be the container of that vinegar where we immerse you and ourselves in the ways of Christ and the love of God. We do that, because we know that the vinegar that transforms your life and mine is all about Bible study, and prayer, and worship, and resting with God, and giving, and service, and being with Christian friends, and learning how to tell your story of faith, and risking beyond your fears. You need us, and we need you to be agents of vinegar for each other. 

 

I am thrilled to tell you all that after this Sunday, these young people are going to be a part of an eight-week class in which Stacey Tonyan and Barb Stevenson have stepped forward to say, “We want to help these young people really begin to be a disciple.”  So, for eight weeks they’re going to learn more about that as they launch and begin this experience. 

 

You are ready. We are ready. Let us let the discipling begin. 

 

God, thank you for your embrace. As your people, we are washed in forgiveness and clothed in your love. Let your Holy Spirit breathe into us new life that we might be filled with compassion, peace, and joy. In you, we are refreshed and reborn. Amen.