13 Pentecost proper 15 August 19, 2018
Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 34:9-14
Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58
Because Luke is here today to be presented for baptism, we get to have two sacraments instead of just one. We get to have both Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist. There are seven sacraments and I imagine they could all be celebrated in one liturgical occasion, if we could also have a wedding, confirmation, holy unction, ordination and private confession.
I guess we could have four today, if someone comes to the altar for the prayer of the sick and if I could preach words of conviction for someone to want private confession.
But two sacraments are enough and they are the main sacraments (called dominical sacraments); Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist. Holy Baptism is to the spiritual life what birth is to our natural life. In baptism, we confess that there are two orders of existence, the natural order and the spiritual order. The spiritual order is a parallel existing order to the natural order. Like the amphibian who lives on land and in the sea, we humans live in the kingdom of the world but we are also invited to live in the kingdom of God at the same time.
By birth or by adoption we enter the world of our birth family; in baptism we celebrate that simultaneously we belong to the family of God, because Jesus as the unique Son of God taught us that we, too, are sons and daughters of God.
Today, we celebrate that Luke is a son of God and in this rite of baptism, we remind ourselves again today that we are children of God in this great family of God.
Just as Luke did not get any choice about who he was born to or he does not get any choice about being in the family of God. He is not old enough to make the choice so why do we ask of him to be baptized?
We baptize Luke because we want to pass on to him the very best that we have to offer. What is the very best that we have to offer? God loves Luke. Luke does not have any choice about this, just as you and I don't have any choice about God loving us. God is love and God loves us and God loves Luke.
We baptize Luke as a young child because of what is called Prevenient Grace. This type of Grace is something we cannot choose; it is non-negotiable. God loves us and we don't have any choice about this.
What we do have choices about is how we accept God's love and how we share it with other people. If God's Love is prevenient Grace to Luke and to us, we are to become agents of God's prevenient grace to others, especially to Luke and those who do not yet understand it. You and I are to live as agents of God's grace in Luke's life. We are to model God's love, God's grace, God's forgiveness in such a way so that when Luke comes into his fuller adult capacity, he will choose to continue in this family of grace and love and pass it on to the generation after him.
Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of Christ. When Luke was born, what was the first task of his mom for Luke? To feed him, of course. And Luke's family will continue to feed him. They will provide for him many family meals. And these family meals will not be just about eating food; they will be about friendship and fellowship and about memories. And there will be regular meals and special meals like birthday meals, Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner with extended family. These meals will feed Luke but also they will renew him within his special family tradition.
Before Jesus left, he gave his followers a special meal; a spiritual meal. He told them to meet and host this meal so that they could remain united in a special fellowship tradition. And when they met he promised that they could experience His presence which would be so significant that it would seem as though he was actually there. Jesus identified his presence with the bread and the wine as a way of giving his friends a meal of gathering to keep them together forever. And so today we continue in that meal tradition; and Luke is welcome to this family meal even though he may want to wait a few years before he partakes (in the Orthodox Church newly baptized babies are spoon fed the bread and the wine after they are baptized and this is the based upon the belief that baptism is full initiation into the body of Christ).
Today is a happy day of two sacraments as we see little Luke being made a Christian even as we hope that we ourselves are renewed and made better Christians as we are faithful to the word and sacraments given to us by Christ in the church. Amen.
By birth or by adoption we enter the world of our birth family; in baptism we celebrate that simultaneously we belong to the family of God, because Jesus as the unique Son of God taught us that we, too, are sons and daughters of God.
Today, we celebrate that Luke is a son of God and in this rite of baptism, we remind ourselves again today that we are children of God in this great family of God.
Just as Luke did not get any choice about who he was born to or he does not get any choice about being in the family of God. He is not old enough to make the choice so why do we ask of him to be baptized?
We baptize Luke because we want to pass on to him the very best that we have to offer. What is the very best that we have to offer? God loves Luke. Luke does not have any choice about this, just as you and I don't have any choice about God loving us. God is love and God loves us and God loves Luke.
We baptize Luke as a young child because of what is called Prevenient Grace. This type of Grace is something we cannot choose; it is non-negotiable. God loves us and we don't have any choice about this.
What we do have choices about is how we accept God's love and how we share it with other people. If God's Love is prevenient Grace to Luke and to us, we are to become agents of God's prevenient grace to others, especially to Luke and those who do not yet understand it. You and I are to live as agents of God's grace in Luke's life. We are to model God's love, God's grace, God's forgiveness in such a way so that when Luke comes into his fuller adult capacity, he will choose to continue in this family of grace and love and pass it on to the generation after him.
Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of Christ. When Luke was born, what was the first task of his mom for Luke? To feed him, of course. And Luke's family will continue to feed him. They will provide for him many family meals. And these family meals will not be just about eating food; they will be about friendship and fellowship and about memories. And there will be regular meals and special meals like birthday meals, Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner with extended family. These meals will feed Luke but also they will renew him within his special family tradition.
Before Jesus left, he gave his followers a special meal; a spiritual meal. He told them to meet and host this meal so that they could remain united in a special fellowship tradition. And when they met he promised that they could experience His presence which would be so significant that it would seem as though he was actually there. Jesus identified his presence with the bread and the wine as a way of giving his friends a meal of gathering to keep them together forever. And so today we continue in that meal tradition; and Luke is welcome to this family meal even though he may want to wait a few years before he partakes (in the Orthodox Church newly baptized babies are spoon fed the bread and the wine after they are baptized and this is the based upon the belief that baptism is full initiation into the body of Christ).
Today is a happy day of two sacraments as we see little Luke being made a Christian even as we hope that we ourselves are renewed and made better Christians as we are faithful to the word and sacraments given to us by Christ in the church. Amen.
