A father was in church with three of his young children, including his five year old daughter. Bravely he sat in the very front row so that the children could properly witness the service.
During this particular service, the minister was performing the baptism of a baby. The five year old girl was taken by this, observing that he was saying something and pouring water over the infant's head. With a quizzical look on her face, the little girl turned to her father and asked: "Daddy, why is he brainwashing that baby??"
Many people believe that in baptism something magic happens and there is an extent to which that is true, although it’s not in the way that some people would like to think. For some the symbol of baptism is considered to be enough to completely transform a child, regardless of what else they may ever do in their lives.
In fact though, the magic is that baptism offers an incredible symbol of God’s unbelievable grace. It is the beginning of a journey of faith. Today we have heard the account of the baptism of Jesus, an experience which led to the real beginning of his ministry.
And for us too baptism must be a beginning – Martin Luther said that baptism is something that's done in church one day but takes the rest of our lives to complete…
As Jesus emerged from the water following his baptism he received the charge to begin his work of salvation. That work would take him into the hearts of people, both friends and enemies, it would take him on literal journeys through different parts of the country, meeting different people and it would involve times when he was hailed a hero, others a fool or far worse… Some would love him, some would ignore him and others would hate him.
And whilst our journey of faith and life may not be quite as dramatic, it is still a journey where God will be alongside us, but a journey where we choose to acknowledge that or not.
When we are conceived God begins his work in our lives, when we are baptised we are welcomed into the Church family, and far more importantly into God’s family, but as we grow up we are called to make more decisions, and the most important one of all is how we respond to God.
As part of his family the full assortment of his gifts are available to us – God, as we thought about last week, intended our lives to be full, full of love, joy and peace, and yet, so many people, even those who are part of the family, neglect these gifts, and rarely, if ever, turn to God as the potential provider of the gifts.
Charles Simeon a clergyman who worked during the beginning of the 19th century distinguished between baptism as something which provides Christians with a change of state, and the work of the Holy Spirit which leads to a change of nature…
In other words at baptism we become part of God’s family, but as we grow we seek to use the gift of the Holy Spirit and it is this gift that leads to a transformation in our lives. At baptism God pours out his love upon us, he shows his grace as he calls us, whether as an innocent child or an elderly criminal, but then we respond and we seek to get closer to him and to use this life transforming gift – the Holy Spirit.
In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles (8:14-17) we heard of people at Samaria accepting the word of God, and Peter and John went and prayed with them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. They had received their identity badge, but hadn’t received the tools they would need for their work.
And that is true for us all – in baptism we are identified as Christians, but with the Holy Spirit we are commissioned as disciples – a commission that is for all of us !
Sometimes those who are not fully absorbed in the life of the Church have some of the greatest insights about God. One evening a New Testament professor visited a high school youth group. After the professor finished speaking about the significance of Christ's baptism as a revelation of God's presence in Jesus, one of the boys said without looking up, "That isn't what it means."
Glad that the student had at least been listening enough to disagree, the professor asked what the boy thought it meant, and the boy replied, "The story says that the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God came down" The boy paused and finally looked up and leaned forward, saying, "That means that God is on the loose in the world. And it is dangerous !"
After his baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness, and it was dangerous. Jesus taught in the temples, and it was dangerous. Jesus healed on the Sabbath, and it was dangerous. Jesus confronted the authorities and turned over the tables, and it was dangerous.
And the danger of God being loose in the world today is that he still wants to challenge injustice, he wants to fight for the homeless, the neglected, the poor, he wants to bring an end to conflict, he wants people to understand and know true peace, he wants to challenge an often selfish, greedy, demanding, uncaring world with a message of love and compassion without limits !
And perhaps the most dangerous thing of all is that with the help of the Holy Spirit, he has commissioned us to do his work… For centuries Christians have been at the forefront of some of the great life changing movements, ending slavery, ending apartheid, ending child labour, providing money and gifts to people in need, looking after those who can’t look after themselves properly and so on.
Today Christians still take part in lots of things which make a difference, which help to make the world a better place, and that is the responsibility of our baptism – wearing the badge of Jesus, as a member of his family, we are to represent him in all that we do.
It begins with our decision to seek the help of the Holy Spirit, not just to guide us through the tough times in our lives, but to make a difference for others as we share a radical and a dangerous message of love…
This week I heard a joke on the radio about a man who said there are 3 types of people – those who are good at numbers and those who aren’t !... It took me a while !... (but actually it meant that there were 2 types of people actually but he said 3 because he wasn’t good with numbers if you needed an explanation !)
But anyway back to the point – and in life there really are 3 kinds of choices that we can make with regard to our response to God… Last Wednesday we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany, the day when we think of God announcing his presence to all in the birth of Jesus, and the visit of the Magi or the wise men. They chose to go and see him, to involve themselves in his life and to allow Him to be involved in theirs, and we have choices too.
The first is to ignore him, whether we’re baptised or not… We can choose to live as if God doesn’t… Secondly we can choose to live as part of the family of God, but as a fairly passive member of that family – sitting at the table but never really joining in the party, or thirdly we can live as I’m sure God wants us to live, joining in the party – the celebration of life as a wonderful gift of God, the celebration of the gifts he has to offer us, a celebration of the wonderful relationships he offers with him and with other people, a celebration of the word he offers in the bible, a celebration of the prayers that we offer to God… A celebration of His eternal love… AMEN
During this particular service, the minister was performing the baptism of a baby. The five year old girl was taken by this, observing that he was saying something and pouring water over the infant's head. With a quizzical look on her face, the little girl turned to her father and asked: "Daddy, why is he brainwashing that baby??"
Many people believe that in baptism something magic happens and there is an extent to which that is true, although it’s not in the way that some people would like to think. For some the symbol of baptism is considered to be enough to completely transform a child, regardless of what else they may ever do in their lives.
In fact though, the magic is that baptism offers an incredible symbol of God’s unbelievable grace. It is the beginning of a journey of faith. Today we have heard the account of the baptism of Jesus, an experience which led to the real beginning of his ministry.
And for us too baptism must be a beginning – Martin Luther said that baptism is something that's done in church one day but takes the rest of our lives to complete…
As Jesus emerged from the water following his baptism he received the charge to begin his work of salvation. That work would take him into the hearts of people, both friends and enemies, it would take him on literal journeys through different parts of the country, meeting different people and it would involve times when he was hailed a hero, others a fool or far worse… Some would love him, some would ignore him and others would hate him.
And whilst our journey of faith and life may not be quite as dramatic, it is still a journey where God will be alongside us, but a journey where we choose to acknowledge that or not.
When we are conceived God begins his work in our lives, when we are baptised we are welcomed into the Church family, and far more importantly into God’s family, but as we grow up we are called to make more decisions, and the most important one of all is how we respond to God.
As part of his family the full assortment of his gifts are available to us – God, as we thought about last week, intended our lives to be full, full of love, joy and peace, and yet, so many people, even those who are part of the family, neglect these gifts, and rarely, if ever, turn to God as the potential provider of the gifts.
Charles Simeon a clergyman who worked during the beginning of the 19th century distinguished between baptism as something which provides Christians with a change of state, and the work of the Holy Spirit which leads to a change of nature…
In other words at baptism we become part of God’s family, but as we grow we seek to use the gift of the Holy Spirit and it is this gift that leads to a transformation in our lives. At baptism God pours out his love upon us, he shows his grace as he calls us, whether as an innocent child or an elderly criminal, but then we respond and we seek to get closer to him and to use this life transforming gift – the Holy Spirit.
In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles (8:14-17) we heard of people at Samaria accepting the word of God, and Peter and John went and prayed with them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. They had received their identity badge, but hadn’t received the tools they would need for their work.
And that is true for us all – in baptism we are identified as Christians, but with the Holy Spirit we are commissioned as disciples – a commission that is for all of us !
Sometimes those who are not fully absorbed in the life of the Church have some of the greatest insights about God. One evening a New Testament professor visited a high school youth group. After the professor finished speaking about the significance of Christ's baptism as a revelation of God's presence in Jesus, one of the boys said without looking up, "That isn't what it means."
Glad that the student had at least been listening enough to disagree, the professor asked what the boy thought it meant, and the boy replied, "The story says that the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God came down" The boy paused and finally looked up and leaned forward, saying, "That means that God is on the loose in the world. And it is dangerous !"
After his baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness, and it was dangerous. Jesus taught in the temples, and it was dangerous. Jesus healed on the Sabbath, and it was dangerous. Jesus confronted the authorities and turned over the tables, and it was dangerous.
And the danger of God being loose in the world today is that he still wants to challenge injustice, he wants to fight for the homeless, the neglected, the poor, he wants to bring an end to conflict, he wants people to understand and know true peace, he wants to challenge an often selfish, greedy, demanding, uncaring world with a message of love and compassion without limits !
And perhaps the most dangerous thing of all is that with the help of the Holy Spirit, he has commissioned us to do his work… For centuries Christians have been at the forefront of some of the great life changing movements, ending slavery, ending apartheid, ending child labour, providing money and gifts to people in need, looking after those who can’t look after themselves properly and so on.
Today Christians still take part in lots of things which make a difference, which help to make the world a better place, and that is the responsibility of our baptism – wearing the badge of Jesus, as a member of his family, we are to represent him in all that we do.
It begins with our decision to seek the help of the Holy Spirit, not just to guide us through the tough times in our lives, but to make a difference for others as we share a radical and a dangerous message of love…
This week I heard a joke on the radio about a man who said there are 3 types of people – those who are good at numbers and those who aren’t !... It took me a while !... (but actually it meant that there were 2 types of people actually but he said 3 because he wasn’t good with numbers if you needed an explanation !)
But anyway back to the point – and in life there really are 3 kinds of choices that we can make with regard to our response to God… Last Wednesday we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany, the day when we think of God announcing his presence to all in the birth of Jesus, and the visit of the Magi or the wise men. They chose to go and see him, to involve themselves in his life and to allow Him to be involved in theirs, and we have choices too.
The first is to ignore him, whether we’re baptised or not… We can choose to live as if God doesn’t… Secondly we can choose to live as part of the family of God, but as a fairly passive member of that family – sitting at the table but never really joining in the party, or thirdly we can live as I’m sure God wants us to live, joining in the party – the celebration of life as a wonderful gift of God, the celebration of the gifts he has to offer us, a celebration of the wonderful relationships he offers with him and with other people, a celebration of the word he offers in the bible, a celebration of the prayers that we offer to God… A celebration of His eternal love… AMEN
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