Baptism- An Act of Grace
As I mentioned in Saturday's post, I ended this portion of my 30 years in parish ministry with a baptism yesterday morning. It was a neat and wonderful experience! The father of the baby was a young man who I have known for many years- long before I became his pastor. He is a wondeful and faithful person and I was fortunate to do his wedding two years ago. Now I have baptized his baby.

It was a day of mixed feelings, though, most of which I was unable to even be in touch with. Since we are not moving, my wife is continuing as the pastor of the church and I will be there on Sundays as a choir member and/or worhsip team leader, it is not as if I am leaving this congregation or community. But I will no longer be on the "payroll" as a professional (whatever that means!)

So, my sermon yesterday was a good time for reflection on a number of things for me. So I post it here, almost in its entirety for your reflection and thought.

    It is only a few days after Christmas and already we have a nearly-teen-aged Jesus in our Sunday lesson. Jesus was twelve. He was not yet of full manhood so as to be counted in the worship quorum of ten. He was an interested, curious, and fairly independent boy. He sat with the wise men of the Temple, listening to their words, and seeking answers to questions. The teachers were more than willing to allow him to be part of their discussions. Luke describes them as "amazed" or "astounded" by what they have heard.

    To these teachers of the Law the passing on of wisdom and learning was a good, in and of itself. They probably welcomed this precocious youngster because they wanted him to learn what they had to offer. They allowed him to be with them and join in the discussions because they too had a deep thirst for knowledge and were willing to listen to it wherever they found it. How much would these learned men have missed had they pushed him away?

    Is this where Jesus learned to accept the children that later must have flocked to him? Is his memory of this event part of why he told the disciples that being like a child is one of the keys to the Kingdom of God?

    This morning we have a child in our midst in a special way. She is here for baptism. She won't remember what this is all about? Someday parents or Grandmas or Grandpas will have to tell her. They'll dig out the pictures and talk about the Sunday after Christmas when the church was all decorated and beautiful and she was brought here to be baptized.

    Somewhere along the line she will be introduced to the community that we are bringing her into this morning. She will hear about the Lord and Savior whose love guides what we are doing. And what is it that we are doing? Shouldn't she be able to make these decisions for herself? Shouldn't she be baptized when she is ready instead of making her come here today for something she won't understand? There are those theologies that look at it from these viewpoints. We Moravians do not challenge those. We simply say we have a different one that is as real and true to God's love as that. We both are right.

    You see, in essence, our Moravian theology says baptism is too important to all of us to wait. Our theology says that this is an act of grace, like the love of God in the first place. If we would have to wait to get that grace until we can understand it- none of us would ever get baptized. Grace is like that, you know. It comes when we don't understand it, in ways that we can't explain from people and places we don't even know. Here this morning we are re-enacting God's grace to all of us- while we were still sinners he came for our salvation. In other words, when we- humanity- as still unaware and in darkness was when Christ came. If he had waited until we were ready or open or smart enough or able to accept it- there never would have been the first Christmas, let alone the church. No- while we were still babies- clueless about ourselves and the world around us- Jesus Christ was born for us. Which is why, of all the things I as a pastor do, baptism is at the top of my list- right after prayer and right before communion. We are saying here this morning that this child is ready for grace-and it is hers here today. No questions asked of her. No requirements needed from her. No action on her part. She doesn't have to respond in any way. She can even sleep though it if she wants. THAT is grace. It is given even if we are sleeping through it.

    Her parents are promising to do their part in all of this. Like Mary and Joseph led Jesus in the first 12 years of his life. They were faithful, Luke tells us. Jesus learned much from Mary and Joseph about being obedient to God and God's will. They are consistently portrayed as compassionate, supportive, faithful to the ways of God. While they may not have understood it from a parental point of view, they seem to have been open enough to allow Jesus the freedom to grow and mature in wisdom and maturity.

    But there is another part of the excitement of baptism. You and I get the chance to reaffirm our baptism and the place of the Christian community. You and I are making a pledge this morning that to the best of our ability we will be like those teachers in the Temple that sat with Jesus. We are here promising to pass on the faith and its promises to this child- and any who are in need of His grace. We are making a pledge to be disciples making disciples. You see there is a difference between being a Christian and being a disciple. A Christian is one who accepts their baptism and says Yes, I do believe in Jesus as my Savior. She will one day get the chance to do that at her confirmation. But that will not make her a disciple. It will be when she decides to do more than believe in Jesus that she will become a disciple- a student of Jesus who is willing to follow him wherever he wants her to go.

    Thirty years ago when I started on this road of ordained ministry, I didn't know that. Most of us didn't. We thought that Christians and disciples were the same thing. We thought that being a member of the church made one a disciple. We thought that if you attended church on Sunday you were doing what Jesus wanted. Notice that we even called Sunday worship- Church. Being a Christian and being a disciple we thought meant attending and giving and going to Sunday School. That was what it was all about. Maybe go to Mission Festivals and give to mission work. But it didn't have anything to do with being disciples in the world, or actually going out and doing mission work, or even talking about our faith to others. After all everyone around us went to church somewhere, didn't they. We even knew that you didn't talk about politics or religion. Thirty years ago the world was already in the midst of an earthquake whose rumblings have only now begun to be felt. In the church we have hardly noticed.

    Here we are, 3 decades later and I am preaching my last sermon as a paid staff person in the church for at least a few years. And the world is no longer seen as Christian. The society is no longer seen as Christian. We are in the midst of second and third generations of non-church goers. For example, nationally, 40% of all marriages are done by a justice of the peace. That ranges from about 25% in Utah to 65% in Vermont. Even in the Bible belt, 4 of every 10 marriages are civil marriages. People don't go to church even for weddings anymore. I didn't even notice it was happening. Well, duh! After all, every wedding I have done has been in the church. Why- or how - would I even notice. That is but one symptom of the change. There are many others and the church is struggling with what that means and how to break out of the Sunday morning rut of thinking that this is what being a Christian and a disciple is all about. We are moving beyond the idea that sitting in the pew is discipleship. We are learning that people are looking- and discovering- spiritual things in many places without even looking at the church. We are seeing that Jesus has always been about being with people in their sin and suffering and need, not in their self-satisfaction and religiousness. Jesus' greatest criticisms were for people like me- the religious ones.

    Which is why I am excited about what lies ahead of me. How do I live as a Christian in the world when I am not identified anymore as a Christian professional? How do I express my discipleship when it is no longer a paid position? How do I live my faith where it counts- and is the most difficult- out there. It is easy to be a Christian in here. We say the right words, sing the right songs, pray the right prayers. But it isn't about me and what I do here. It isn't about you and what you do here. It is about following Jesus. Out there. Where he is. It is about living a life that God wants us to live in order to bring more people to an understanding of God and God's ways. Not to bring them to church - worship- but to bring them to Jesus. To bring each other to Jesus even before we know we need him.

    Which brings us back to baptism. In baptism we show that God comes to us first. Then we are invited to be a part of a community- we belong to God's community in an act of grace- then we come to believe. We are welcomed into the community where we will learn about Jesus. We will learn from people who try to live His ways- who try to bring their actions into harmony with their words about faith and God and Jesus being Lord. We welcome Madeline this morning knowing that above all else we can say God loved her and gave himself for her. Then I will say the words that have been part of our Moravian baptisms for 200 or more years. Though I have said them umpteen times in 30 years they still ring with power. They are words of discipleship- as Paul first said them in Colossians. Now, I say them for all us all.

    Therefore - live. Yet not you. But Christ live in you so that the life you live may be lived by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you.

    It's not about you- or me- or any of us- It is now and forever about God. Praise the Lord! Amen.