I Will with God's Help
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight – Our strength and our redeemer – Amen
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you….
You shall be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:26a & 28b)
These are the words that were part of our Old Testament passage
Old Testament? – you sure? Isn’t the Old Testament all Law and Commandments?
Where some would say it was all about - an angry God and a people that continually fell short of God’s Law
That is a common mistake, to read the Bible only on one level
God is the same God throughout all time
and as we see from the passage from Ezekiel God’s desire has remained the same
That we should be His people… and He should be our God
And that a new CO-mission, a mission of God with us – Co-mission… is written on our hearts, is what we are sent with
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”(Matthew 28:19-20)
All the readings today were selected because they are readings that focus on Baptism
Readings that span over 700 years, but I could have chosen readings spanning over 4000 years, and they would have shared the same view of God
Or more importantly the same view - that God has for us… His people
That we are His creatures - made in the Image of God - made for a purpose and when we stray from that purpose God is forever finding different ways to call us back
And baptism is one key way in which God’s makes us a path towards Holiness – or should I say whole-i-ness and righteous
That is one of the reasons why “there is nothing I like better then Baptismal services”
You see, to me, the whole Christian message - is there
And it is there in the words that so beautifully characterized our role in God’s plan.
In five words we have the entire human situation
- “I will, with God’s help” …
God is there in beginning, in creation
God is there for his people when they were slaves in Egypt and needed him to provide the most incredible escape ever
- an escape that put fear into the other nations of the world when they knew they were to face the Israelites in battle
- fear because of the incredible situation, in which God must be on the Israelite’s side to defeat the mighty Egyptians without any weapons
o only God could do that
- an escape that defines a people,
God was there in the prophets when the people again and again strayed from God’s will and ways and needed to be told of His plans for them.
And most importantly God gave us clarity of His plan for humanity by living as one of us by coming as - Jesus the Christ
To be an example for what we are to strive for
- the holiness - that is the goal for our lives
- to be in: full faith, trust and love with God the Father
At Jesus’ own baptism – God the Father spoke “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”(Matthew 3:17b)
or at the Transfiguration again a voice from Heaven “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 16:27c)
And then - in the greatest act of love of all – Jesus, the Son of God - died for us
Died as the sacrificial lamb - fulfilling the law - dieing for our sins
Taking on everything that we have done that separates us from God
Sin … that which is out of step with God’s desires for us
…And saying - I will die for you
Die for each one of you
Then to leave
That’s right - to leave us to our devices….Our own free will
But to leave behind the Holy Spirit, the Advocate
The invisible force that empowers us
In Baptism - you are saying to all of God’s participation in our lives
“Thank you Jesus - I accept”…
(Pause)
Today in the Christian Calendar, we continue our Easter celebration
The Easter season runs from Easter Sunday and for 70 days through to Pentecost
Although each and every day we are blessed with God grace of Easter
But during these 70 days we make special notice of God’s grace
And today it is entirely fitting that we should celebrate the baptism Eion, marking the beginning of his membership into the church
[Also fitting focus – as we mark the beginning of our ministry walk together]
We state that that membership is into the Catholic Church
We are not identifying one denomination of the church, the Roman Catholic Church
But the church universal – the whole body of Christ
Through-out the entire world and connected to every believer across all time
To be baptized in God’s Catholic Church means to be united with the people of this congregation – with all the Christians in this city, nation and every Christian through-out the whole world.
From the child in China to the president of United States
From a missionary in some remote foreign land to our friends and family in this very room
From Eoin, just a few minutes ago to the first disciples 2000 years ago
And to Jesus, our Lord, Himself
Jesus, who was the very full representative of Israel, the people of God….
Jesus, who, like the Israelites was born to a specific time, land and journey
Forced to flee his homeland to save His life
Came out of Egypt
Thru the waters
John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:14&15)
“Fulfill ALL Righteousness” – three words key to understanding – that Jesus was the full representative Israelite
Jesus who was forced to journey in the wilderness
Then returned, and like the prophets of old, calling his people away from worldly ways, with a message of repentance and a new way to understand the same message – That God is with us, that we need to walk in His ways
Jesus, as the full representative of Israel – fulfill the demands of the law with His atoning Love – The sacrifice lamb for all of our sins
Once and forever more – “it is finished”
(pause)
Yet… the story for us does not end there, it does not end with death
Because Jesus went beyond the representative Israelite
As only the perfect one could
Jesus defeated death and rose from the dead
Alleluia – The Lord is Risen
In Baptism, the journey continues – in Baptism we are initiated into be God’s children
Sharing in the death AND resurrection
And sharing in the life of Christ – going forward in the ways of Christ
In the Baptismal liturgy today, promises are made by Tom and Corrina on behalf of Eoin
But also by the whole congregation present - as a representative of the whole Christian church
And we say the most powerful statement that we could possibly make
“I will, with God’s help” …
In those words we accept that - it is our choice to accept God’s gift to us
In those words we claim to follow Jesus Christ
In those words we accept the greatest lesson of all
…We can do it - yet … only with God help
All through-out history the greatest of all sins is to think that we can do it alone
by ourselves
In the garden the sin is not eating an apple but deciding for ourselves to ignore God’s desire and to judge by ourselves that it seemed good
In the words of our baptism - we make the most important statement possible
We accept our role in God’s plan
Understanding that we can not do it alone
That alone we will fail
In the promises of the Baptismal covenant, in which we all participated in this morning,
We are given a message of the right ordering of the world
We are shown both our Humility and our Hope
God knows we will fail
- He expects it - and has planned a way to redeem us
That is why I love Baptisms the most
Yes - because we welcome this new life into God’s family
….Which is awesome [the full, proper sense of the word]….
But also because we do it - aligned with God’s plan for us
We do it … with the right attitude – or if you prefer the right orientation
In humility … but - in hope…
“I will, with God’s help”
By making the promises that we make in baptismal service for Eoin, by Tom and Corrina …and each one of us
We are making the most profound promise that we could ever make
We are providing Eoin and each reaffirming for ourselves
The greatest gift that could ever be given
We are accepting the responsibility to share with Eoin and for ourselves the teachings of Christ
Eion will still have to make the choice himself
But … we are providing him with the opportunity to be part of God’s family
Allowing God to be with him… and us
In humility - but - in hope
“I will, with God’s help”
Lord as we best strive to understand your will and ways in the world, may you strengthen us, renew us in the Baptismal covenant so that we can accept that you will give us a new heart and place a new spirit within us…. That we… shall be your people, and You will be our God. (Ezekiel 36:26a & 28b) - Amen
