Baptism of the Lord January 13, 2019 St Matthias The Sacrament of Baptism: Promises too strong to be broken, too deep to run aground, too light to be darkened, too profound to deny.

Who doesn’t love a baptism? * Who doesn’t love welcoming six people into the household of God?! 

Yes they’re dressed up and no doubt there will be a party and a cake and maybe even some presents---but there’s more to love than a party and some cake. For this action---having water poured over their heads in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; being sealed, marked as Christ’s own forever –this sacrament of Holy Baptism is an outward and visible sign of an inward grace.  Grace upon grace upon grace upon grace upon grace. For this outward and visible action is the manifestation of our Creator’s awesome, epic, outlandish, never ending, always with us Love. 

​And that, my friends, is a reason to celebrate. For from before the moment each of US were formed in the womb we were known, loved and adored by our God. And we still are. This is the wonder of baptism---publicly and boldly proclaiming that we know God “has our backs” that from before we even knew what was happening, we were and we are enveloped in Love. 

The prophet Isaiah writes:

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name,  you are mine. 

​When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Because you are precious in my sight…and I love you,

​I invite us to sit with these words for a moment.

I created you. I formed you. I redeemed you, I call you by name. You are mine, you are precious in my sight and I love you. 

I pray Georgia, Lottie, CeCe ,Hazel, Ophelia and Mabel will never ever forget these words. 

I pray they never ever forget that they were formed in love by God to be the fullness of who they are. 

I pray they always know that when passing through the rough seas of life that their Lord, their God, will be there. That those waters, no matter how much they churn, no matter how high they rise, will never overtake them, for their Lord, their God, their Creator will be with them, come what may. 

I pray they always know that no fire will consume them, no hardship defeat them, no heartache overwhelm them. 

I pray that they always know that even when those waters do rise, even when the flames seem far too close, even when the hardship feelstoo hard, too powerful, too….much, even when the heartache cuts deeper than they thought they could bear, when the power of their grief threatens their very peace they will know, deep in their bones, settled wonderfully in their soul, that they are not alone. That they never have been and never will be. 

And I hope all of us know this, too.

This is what baptism offers each and every one of us: promises too strong to be broken, too deep to run aground, too light to be darkened, too profound to deny.

In the promises of baptism we are assured of God’s Love, God’s Grace, God’s Hope and God’s Protection. Always. Forever. No exceptions. 

​Here is the truth of our lives: 

There will be pain.

There will be heartache.

There will be grief.

There will be loss.

There will be disappointment 

There will be worry.

But there will never be abandonment, there will never be solitude, there will never be anything from which we cannot recover. 

For God so loved us----SO LOVED Us that God sent God’s only begotten Son---God’s first beloved of all---to live among us, to die for us and to walk with us through the wonder of the Holy Spirit, everymoment of our lives.

​My friends, who doesn’t love a baptism….

for through a baptism…or six….weare reminded of God’s love for us. 

We are reminded of God’s commitment to us and we are, I hope, reminded of God’s need, God’s desire, God’s longing for us to return the favor. 

​For a baptism is not just a bestowing of love, it is an exchange of love, an exchange of commitments. Baptism is when God promises to love us, and we promise to love God. 

So, as we commemorate the Baptism of Christ, as we rejoice at the baptism of these 6 wonderful souls, let us never forget that we---each and every one of us—is precious, absolutely precious, in God’s sight.

​Who doesn’t love a baptism for in a baptism God calls us God’s beloved and we call God ours. 

Who doesn’t love that? Amen.