Gospel: Luke 3:15-17 1st
Reading: Isaiah 43:1-7
2nd Reading: Acts 8:14-17
His parents and grandparents were
filled with expectation and his cousins were questioning in their
hearts concerning Miles. His brother and sister were questioning who
he would be in this new family that was forming. Would he be the
peacemaker or the serious one, would he be the trouble-maker or the
class clown? Would he be studious or lazy or observant? Would he be
quiet or talkative?
And his brothers and sisters in Christ
were gathered round, wondering who he would be for the family of God,
for the family of believers. Would he be one to run up quickly to
the children's message or hang behind? Would he like to bring food
for hungry neighbors or help them carry the donations to the car?
Would he serve on council or visit those in nursing homes? Would he
sing the hymns loudly or quietly ponder their meaning? Would he like
the way things had always been done or would he suggest creative
adjustments to make worship more meaningful for a new generation?
Would he hear the voice of God clearly or search for the still small
voice directing him in his choices?
Maybe Miles, too, in his own way
wonders about us. “Who are all these people and why are they all
looking at me? What is the meaning of all this singing? Why am I
not running all over the place with my cousins, right now? Why do we
have to be quiet? Are these people going to be helpful to me or make
my life harder? What is the meaning of these banners and these
carvings? What are these people going to do to me? Why do I keep
hearing my name?”
All these questions and all this
uncertainty could cause any of us some anxiety. Miles' parents are
soothing him. They hold him close so he won't be afraid. The
scriptures are soothing us, too. They tell us not to be afraid so we
can calmly hear the rest of the story. But also I think all the
possibilities open before us create some excitement and anticipation
of all the wonderful things God could do through Miles or any of us
to whom God is giving new life.
When trying to figure out who any of
us is, we can start with an origin story. We might tell the story of
the day someone was born, or a story about a parent or a grandparent.
These scriptures this morning go back to the very beginning. They
remind us of God's faithfulness and God's role as the one who created
and loves us and protects us. Such a tender lullaby of comfort and
love we find in Isaiah! It is very reassuring. If we are to know
who we are, it is important to know who is the one who made us and
gives our lives meaning.
However, the scriptures don't stop at
the beginning. They don't gloss over the fact that life will be
hard. We will pass through the waters. We will encounter fire and
flame. We will have troubles. But that won't be what defines us or
destroys us, and we'll never be alone when we face hardships.
Miles, too, has no promise of an easy
life. He will face fire and rain. He will face heartaches and
ailments. He will face disappointments. Even his community of faith
will disappoint him and fail him. However, this won't be what
defines Miles. He will have many joys in his life and much to
celebrate. No matter what happens, he will always belong to God,
having been created by God, formed by God, called by God, redeemed by
God, and accompanied by God. He will never be alone, because has a
loving family, he has a family of faith charged with raising him to
know who God is and who he is, and because he now has the whole
history of people of faith to look to for inspiration and guidance
when he feels lost, real examples of people who tried and failed but
who are also loved and claimed by God.
We use water and flame at the
baptismal service, elements mentioned in the scriptures today. Water
sprinkled on Miles is a tangible sign of all the overwhelming waters
he will face, the times he will feel he is drowning and not know what
to do. But he will come through these waters like Jesus at his
baptism and like Jesus at his death, when he was raised to new life.
These waters will also refresh him and clean him and give life to
him. He will be given a lit candle, a reminder of the fire of the
Holy Spirit that descended upon the heads of the Disciples at
Pentecost, but also using the words about letting his light shine.
Fire has the power to destroy but also the ability to provide warmth
and cook food and provide light to see.
I mention this about the community of
faith letting him down, because I think that is part of what is meant
by original sin. It isn't that something is wrong with this baby
that he has to be cleansed, but that this world is full of problems,
full of sin, and he is going to be affected by it. When we let him
down, he's going to need to know where he comes from, that he was
created God by a loving God. He's going to need to learn about
forgiveness—forgiving himself, God's forgiveness, forgiving others.
What better place than a community of faith, where we have the
example of Jesus forgiving all who betrayed him and one of our main
jobs is forgiveness. Some have called the church, the community of
faith a “Forgiveness Laboratory.” This isn't a place we presume
to be better than others. This is a place where we know and love
each other enough that we can admit our mistakes and failures to each
other, knowing that we can learn and grow from them and that we will
be forgiven and given another chance to try again. And this is a
place where we can let someone know if they have upset us or hurt us
and where we can let ourselves love and trust again, we can let go
and forgive and go on loving. Forgiveness is one of the most
powerful tools we cultivate in our community of faith, and one of the
most beautiful things we can experience in life whether we are the
giver or the receiver.
We wonder at this time who Miles will
be, but the truth is, he is now a child of God. God knows and loves
him now. Miles doesn't have to wait to know the presence and love of
God. That's part of the reason we baptize infants in our church.
Miles will likely have many opportunities in his life to seek God or
run from God, to accept or reject God. He is simultaneously saint
and sinner like all of us. But this day is about God's direction.
God is always moving in Miles' direction, always moving toward God's
children. Baptism is about God moving toward us, claiming us,
reminding us who we belong to, reminding us to move toward each other
in love.
Look around at one another. We might
think we know each other pretty well. However, we are given new life
each day through our baptism. Each day is another chance to start
again. Allow yourselves to wonder who are these people and who are
they becoming? Take a look at your own life. Many of us are
resigned to the fact that this is who we are and who we will be.
This is what our life will be like. Nothing will ever change. We
have as much possibility in our lives as a little child, because of
God's love. God loves us as we are now. And God wants more for us.
God is excited about all the possibilities—the people we will
love, the help we will give others, the forgiveness we will find, the
truth we will live. Those opportunities and choices are available to
us now. New life is waiting for us—the new life that comes for us
when we act on our beliefs and the new life that opens up for others
when God works through us to make this world more just and loving
toward all God's children.
My son has just entered a very curious
stage. It isn't asking “Why?” a thousand times to drive us
crazy, it is a genuine curiosity about this world and the way things
work. I started writing some of them down yesterday. “Will I be
taller than daddy when I am big enough to drive? Will our ceiling
fan run out of batteries? Was I a baby when I was 2 years old? Why
do babies have to grow up? What does the cat's nose smell like?”
It went on and on and I was really enjoying it. Children teach us to
be curious about what has always been that way and what we take for
granted. They make us think about how the world works and why. It
won't be long until Miles is articulating all these kind of
questions. Questions don't need to make us anxious. Hopefully they
bring us closer together as we try to understand ourselves and each
other and this world God created. Maybe we, too, can learn to have
the curiosity of a child, open to understanding this world but also
open to new ways of living that help others to thrive.
God loves us as we are now. Yet God
is with us in our becoming and in the coming of the Kingdom. Water
washes us and gives us another chance to start again, to choose a
path that is more live-giving. And fire burns within us when we see
injustice, a powerful force to move us forward until the wheat and
chaff are separated, until everything inessential and distracting is
dismissed and all that is good and lasting and life-giving is
gathered together in God's presence.
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