+I love a baptism. Who doesn't, right? Well ok sometimes children aren't fond of having a complete and utter stranger pour water over their head. Not once, not twice, but three times!!!!
But for any Christian, especially any Episcopalian --- baptism is the penultimate sacrament . Eucharist is awesome, it's a weekly reminder of the never ending presence of Jesus in our very being, fueling us to go out and do the work He's given us to do. Reconciliation, anointing, confirmation, ordination... all really nice sacraments . But the only one that everyone gets--the only one that's needed is baptism. Baptism makes us who we are--- followers of Jesus Christ, committed to his mission of loving everyone everywhere always, no exceptions.
And so that's why a baptism day [even when the baptisms don't happen at this service] is a big day in the church. Not only do we welcome three new members today --- Ryleigh, Vivienne, and Samuel---- we also reaffirm the promises made at our baptism. We're re-upping, as it were, our promises to do the work of Christ in this world, in this region, in this town and in this faith community.
A baptism is a bit of a swearing in ceremony. In the baptism liturgy the parents and godparents make a lot of promises. To renounce the forces of darkness in this world, to rely on Jesus as Savior and Lord, and to do everything in their power to make sure that the child being baptized will be raised in the faith and will know that whenever they find themselves lonely or lost, in trouble or in pain, that God, through Jesus Christ, and this community of faith, will be there for them. And then all those present promise to do everything in their power to support the newly baptized in their life in Christ.
This “swearing in ceremony” is not for the faint of heart.
Which is why, a baptism day is a BIG DAY. For those being baptized, for their family and friends, for the congregation, for the church and, if I may be so bold, for all of humankind. Because, at every baptism and every single time we renew our baptismal covenant, we swear, we vow, we promise to do the work of Christ. Always and forever. This is BIG, folks...when we do that work—really do that work---the world will be changed. It’s a tall order! But it's also an incredible privilege and honor to do this work, the work of Christ, the ministry of the baptized.
So just what is the ministry of the baptized?
Fortunately the baptism candidates are too young to get scared away by this list---
The Ministry of the Baptized means that we do whatever we can to ensure that the outcasts of our world are brought into the fold. That includes those people who, frankly, we may feel should remain outcasts---those who look differently than us, who love differently than us, who vote differently than us. But—even when we don’t agree with them, even when we don’t particularly like them, if they're being disrespected, abused, despised or an any other way, tossed aside, we, because we’re Christians, must stand up and speak out. We must say NO, this is not the way of God’s world.
The Ministry of the Baptized means that when people in our midst are hungry, lonely, or scared, we reach out to them. Being a baptized Christian means that when we hear of the misfortune befalling another it doesn’t cut it to just say “that's horrible, someone should do something about that.” No, it means that we must do something about it. We may not be able to feed them, or clothe them or soothe them our very selves, but it does mean that we best make sure they have access to the people, the organizations and the services that can.
The Ministry of the Baptized means that if we know that our government is engaging in things antithetical to the teachings of Christ then we need to write to our members of congress, our senators, the president and express our dismay. Sometimes the ministry of the Baptized means that we will march or write letters or join some other method of protest. It may not be comfortable, it won't make us that popular, but it’s our job.
The Ministry of the Baptized means that we promise to follow the teachings of the apostles, we promise to attend church, we promise to practice personal devotions, we promise to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.
Why do we promise to do all of that? Because all of that feeds us, strengthens us to do the work we’ve been given to do: seeking and serving Christ in all whom we encounter, loving our neighbor as our self, striving for justice and peace among all people and respecting the dignity of every single human being.
The Ministry of the Baptized is tough and holy work. Today we bring Ryleigh, and Vivienne, and Samuel into this work. May God bless them and may God bless us as we continue on this sacred and awesome journey.
Amen!
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