We have been spending a lot of time around the baptismal font lately.
In the past month, five of our young people have touched the cool waters of the font, as they affirmed their baptisms.
Meanwhile, eight young and older people have come forward to be baptized. At the baptismal font they have taken vows and we have taken vows as well. They have expressed their desire to live in God’s grace, and to love as Jesus loved. We have promised to welcome them, care for them, provide for their instruction in the Christian faith, and serve side by side with them. Together, we have vowed to follow Jesus Christ. To follow Jesus Christ as individuals and as a community of faith.
The newly baptized walk away from the font with a wet spot on their forehead, a colorful quilt in their arms, a cross around their neck, and a baptismal candle. From this day forward, every encounter with water should now take them back to this moment of grace. Every time they cuddle safely under that quilt, they will be reminded of a community that loves them, and has promised to care for them. Every time they put that cross around their necks, they will be reminded that Jesus gave his very life for them.
That brings us to the candle. The baptismal birthday candle bears their name and the date of their baptism. The baptismal candle is presented with a calling, a challenge, a mission for life: “Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” When we walk away from that font, we bear the name of Jesus. When we walk out the doors of TLC each Sunday morning, we bear the name of Jesus.
That is an awesome and humbling thought. To bear one’s name is an honor. To bear one’s name is a privilege. To bear one’s name is to carry the sacred responsibility of caring for that which has been entrusted to us. In the Gospel of John, a group of pilgrims came looking for Jesus. They found one of his disciples and said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
My friends, every week people come into your life and into our church and they long to see Jesus. They have been treated harshly by the world, they are broken, they are lonely, they are riddled with disease, they are afraid, and they are insecure. In other words, they are just like us.
They long to see Jesus. Will they see Jesus in us? Will we wash their feet? Will we judge and exclude, or will we welcome them to our dinner tables? Will we put aside church order and church rules for the sake of love? Will we embrace the leper? Will we embrace those that we have been trained to shun?
They long to see Jesus. Will they see Jesus in us? Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
I am working on a sermon for Sunday based on a story from the Gospel of Luke 7:11-17. So meet me at TLC this Sunday—Put Yourself in the Path of the Gospel!
Love,
Pastor Jim
