Easter And Baptism
Sermon
Dancing The Sacraments
Sermons And Worship Services For Baptism And Communion
Call To Worship:
God is the resurrection. Come, let us worship God.
Hymn: "Lift High The Cross"
(words: George William Kitchin and Michael Robert Newbolt; music: Sydney Hugo Nicholson)
Children's Time:
The small, furry, green caterpillar ate its way up the stalk of grass. Slowly, silently it munched its way. The man on the hill watched the caterpillar. For the first time that day he was alone. The man sat silently thinking and watching the caterpillar. What was he thinking as he watched the caterpillar, this strong, silent man? Who was he? From where had he come? Like the caterpillar, where was he going? What was he meant to do? These were the man's thoughts as he sat watching the caterpillar eat, doing what the caterpillar was meant to do. Some people live quietly, seeking God's will. This man was impatient. Ever since his baptism by John he had asked God what he must do. As he watched the caterpillar eat, he remembered that soon it would spin its cocoon and die. This was why it was eating the green leaves. Then the man knew. He knew what he would do. Slowly, he arose and left the hill. The city was crowded with people because it was a great holiday. There was much to see and do. The people went to the temple and to the marketplace. Some of the people even went to the hill where the criminals were hung on heavy, rough crosses. This year there would be three of them. This year the people who visited the hill were especially curious, for one of the criminals to be hung was the loving, rebel preacher, the carpenter from Nazareth.
The people shouted when they saw him dragging his cross behind him. "Save yourself, preacher! Remember, you are God's son!" they mocked. The man did not reply. He had come to die. Soon it would be over. He remembered the last time he had been on that hill, watching the small caterpillar doing what it must do, the day he had decided to do what he must do. Today there was no caterpillar to watch. Today he was dragging a cross on which he would die. The man, however, was not afraid. He was not bitter or discouraged, for he knew that God was with him. That day the man died on the hill called Calvary.
Later that night they took his body from the cross and wrapped it in soft white sheets like a cocoon and put it in a tomb. A few days later, when a friend of the man went to the tomb, the white sheets lay on the ground, for the man's body was no longer there. The woman wondered and began to cry. "Why are you crying?" asked a voice behind her. The woman turned, for she thought she recognized the voice. She thought she recognized the man, but he was different, and on his shoulder rested a small, white butterfly.1
Prayer Of Confession:
On this blessed day of Easter, Lord, we ask your forgiveness when we forget the meaning of the day, when our hearts are hardened against anyone, when we do not see the beauty of your world, your story and your son. Forgive us, in his name. Amen.
Words Of Assurance:
You are forgiven, for no one, nothing, can stop the miracle of God's love. Amen.
Psalter Reading: Psalm 118:1--2, 14--24
Old Testament: Isaiah 55:10--13
Epistle: Romans 8:31--39
New Testament: John 20:1--18
The Service Of Baptism
Sermon:
"Now hath heaven to earth descended and cloud and clay and stone and star are blended."2
These Celtic words might be used to introduce Advent, the coming of the Child from "heaven to earth" and the combining of cloud with clay, stone with star, heaven with earth.
However, this is Easter and we who are the church look at Advent through the lens of Easter, the resurrected Christ blending heaven and earth, cloud and clay, stone and star right where we are.
Sometimes we look at Easter through baptism. It is said that whenever Martin Luther was beset by temptation, failure, or success, he would experience renewal by saying inwardly, "I am baptized."
In the baptism of Jesus, we see heaven to earth descending. "And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him" (Mark 1:10).
In the novel, The Lyre of Orpheus, a young couple remarked to the priest, "We do not believe a few words mumbled by a parson over our child can make any difference to his future life." The priest reflected that about the virtues of baptism he had no doubt. It was the acceptance of a new life into a society that declared that it had a place for that new life.3
The priest had long ago stepped into the river named Life and was baptized with its waters, as Jesus, at the River Jordan stepped into the waters and was baptized with a name, "You are my beloved son," and with that name he moved into a new life. God had a place for Jesus of Nazareth. His life had new meaning and a new mission.
"What name is given this child?" we ask in the baptismal sacrament, for to be given a name is to set in motion a life.
Hearing, "Beloved Son, Beloved Daughter, Beloved of God" moves us into new life. God calls us by name and we are transformed. On Easter we remember Jesus' words, "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds" (John 12:24).
What will we allow to die this Easter? Our old prejudices, laziness, fear, doubt? Will we take the risk of letting go in order to enjoy new life?
The Universe is a Green Dragon is written in the form of a dialogue between Youth and Thomas. Youth asks what he can do. Thomas, replies, "You have to learn first. Be patient, for there is certainly specific work waiting for you. Or did you think that the universe went to twenty billion years of work to create you if there was not a particular function that you - and only you - could do?"4
In the story of Psyche her third trial was to return with some of the gushing black water, symbol of death and rebirth, flowing from a mountain guarded by two dragons. Psyche waited for help and the eagle of Zeus accomplished this impossible task for her.
Help from beyond is the gift of baptism and resurrection, the gift of God. On this blessed day we call Easter we look at the resurrection of our Lord, but we cannot, for like the sun, its brightness would blind us. Yet, like the sun, it illumines all else and is the light by which we make our way in the world.
Resurrection is the reversal of death, transforming the past, the present, and the future through the power of God. Easter is the renewal of trust and hope in God, so that with Luther we say, "I am baptized!" I am resurrected through the water and the Spirit to rejoice in the voice that calls me "Beloved."
Stopping a miracle
with soldiers and stones
is like halting the tide with a rifle.
The tide will come
The truth will out
Christ did arise!
No one felt the windstorm,
heard the earth quake,
saw the lightning crack,
an angel simply rolled the stone away
and stayed to fill the emptiness.
We have the need to fill
the blank page,
the unscheduled hour,
the empty tomb within.
But Resurrection is not a fact
imprisoned in a book,
but the continuing search
for the unspeakable
"something more"
that makes us human,
for nothing can stop a miracle. Amen.
Hymn: "Christ For The World We Sing"
(words: Samuel Wolcott; music: Felice de Giardini)
Prayers Of The People
Pastoral Prayer:
Dear Lord, we celebrate this day of resurrection and new life through baptism, praying with the poet:
Early Sunday morning, wrapped in grief and gloom,
Friends of Jesus hurried and found an empty tomb.
Death could not destroy him, God had had God's way.
Because Christ lives forever, we celebrate today! Amen and Amen!
The Lord's Prayer
Offering
Doxology
Hymn: "Praise And Thanks Be To God"
(words: H. Francis Yardley; music: Paris Antiphoner)
Benediction:
Go now in the name of God who is resurrection through Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, and the Holy Spirit who gives us new life. Amen.
____________
1. Elaine M. Ward, Story Time At the Altar (Lima, Ohio: CSS, 2002), pp. 104--105.
2. Kathryn Lynn Davis, Too Deep for Tears (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989), p. 718.
3. Robertson Davies, The Lyre of Orpheus (New York: Penguin, 1988), pp. 355--356.
4. Brian Swimm, The Universe is a Green Dragon (Santa Fe: Bear & Co., 1984), p. 36.
God is the resurrection. Come, let us worship God.
Hymn: "Lift High The Cross"
(words: George William Kitchin and Michael Robert Newbolt; music: Sydney Hugo Nicholson)
Children's Time:
The small, furry, green caterpillar ate its way up the stalk of grass. Slowly, silently it munched its way. The man on the hill watched the caterpillar. For the first time that day he was alone. The man sat silently thinking and watching the caterpillar. What was he thinking as he watched the caterpillar, this strong, silent man? Who was he? From where had he come? Like the caterpillar, where was he going? What was he meant to do? These were the man's thoughts as he sat watching the caterpillar eat, doing what the caterpillar was meant to do. Some people live quietly, seeking God's will. This man was impatient. Ever since his baptism by John he had asked God what he must do. As he watched the caterpillar eat, he remembered that soon it would spin its cocoon and die. This was why it was eating the green leaves. Then the man knew. He knew what he would do. Slowly, he arose and left the hill. The city was crowded with people because it was a great holiday. There was much to see and do. The people went to the temple and to the marketplace. Some of the people even went to the hill where the criminals were hung on heavy, rough crosses. This year there would be three of them. This year the people who visited the hill were especially curious, for one of the criminals to be hung was the loving, rebel preacher, the carpenter from Nazareth.
The people shouted when they saw him dragging his cross behind him. "Save yourself, preacher! Remember, you are God's son!" they mocked. The man did not reply. He had come to die. Soon it would be over. He remembered the last time he had been on that hill, watching the small caterpillar doing what it must do, the day he had decided to do what he must do. Today there was no caterpillar to watch. Today he was dragging a cross on which he would die. The man, however, was not afraid. He was not bitter or discouraged, for he knew that God was with him. That day the man died on the hill called Calvary.
Later that night they took his body from the cross and wrapped it in soft white sheets like a cocoon and put it in a tomb. A few days later, when a friend of the man went to the tomb, the white sheets lay on the ground, for the man's body was no longer there. The woman wondered and began to cry. "Why are you crying?" asked a voice behind her. The woman turned, for she thought she recognized the voice. She thought she recognized the man, but he was different, and on his shoulder rested a small, white butterfly.1
Prayer Of Confession:
On this blessed day of Easter, Lord, we ask your forgiveness when we forget the meaning of the day, when our hearts are hardened against anyone, when we do not see the beauty of your world, your story and your son. Forgive us, in his name. Amen.
Words Of Assurance:
You are forgiven, for no one, nothing, can stop the miracle of God's love. Amen.
Psalter Reading: Psalm 118:1--2, 14--24
Old Testament: Isaiah 55:10--13
Epistle: Romans 8:31--39
New Testament: John 20:1--18
The Service Of Baptism
Sermon:
"Now hath heaven to earth descended and cloud and clay and stone and star are blended."2
These Celtic words might be used to introduce Advent, the coming of the Child from "heaven to earth" and the combining of cloud with clay, stone with star, heaven with earth.
However, this is Easter and we who are the church look at Advent through the lens of Easter, the resurrected Christ blending heaven and earth, cloud and clay, stone and star right where we are.
Sometimes we look at Easter through baptism. It is said that whenever Martin Luther was beset by temptation, failure, or success, he would experience renewal by saying inwardly, "I am baptized."
In the baptism of Jesus, we see heaven to earth descending. "And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him" (Mark 1:10).
In the novel, The Lyre of Orpheus, a young couple remarked to the priest, "We do not believe a few words mumbled by a parson over our child can make any difference to his future life." The priest reflected that about the virtues of baptism he had no doubt. It was the acceptance of a new life into a society that declared that it had a place for that new life.3
The priest had long ago stepped into the river named Life and was baptized with its waters, as Jesus, at the River Jordan stepped into the waters and was baptized with a name, "You are my beloved son," and with that name he moved into a new life. God had a place for Jesus of Nazareth. His life had new meaning and a new mission.
"What name is given this child?" we ask in the baptismal sacrament, for to be given a name is to set in motion a life.
Hearing, "Beloved Son, Beloved Daughter, Beloved of God" moves us into new life. God calls us by name and we are transformed. On Easter we remember Jesus' words, "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds" (John 12:24).
What will we allow to die this Easter? Our old prejudices, laziness, fear, doubt? Will we take the risk of letting go in order to enjoy new life?
The Universe is a Green Dragon is written in the form of a dialogue between Youth and Thomas. Youth asks what he can do. Thomas, replies, "You have to learn first. Be patient, for there is certainly specific work waiting for you. Or did you think that the universe went to twenty billion years of work to create you if there was not a particular function that you - and only you - could do?"4
In the story of Psyche her third trial was to return with some of the gushing black water, symbol of death and rebirth, flowing from a mountain guarded by two dragons. Psyche waited for help and the eagle of Zeus accomplished this impossible task for her.
Help from beyond is the gift of baptism and resurrection, the gift of God. On this blessed day we call Easter we look at the resurrection of our Lord, but we cannot, for like the sun, its brightness would blind us. Yet, like the sun, it illumines all else and is the light by which we make our way in the world.
Resurrection is the reversal of death, transforming the past, the present, and the future through the power of God. Easter is the renewal of trust and hope in God, so that with Luther we say, "I am baptized!" I am resurrected through the water and the Spirit to rejoice in the voice that calls me "Beloved."
Stopping a miracle
with soldiers and stones
is like halting the tide with a rifle.
The tide will come
The truth will out
Christ did arise!
No one felt the windstorm,
heard the earth quake,
saw the lightning crack,
an angel simply rolled the stone away
and stayed to fill the emptiness.
We have the need to fill
the blank page,
the unscheduled hour,
the empty tomb within.
But Resurrection is not a fact
imprisoned in a book,
but the continuing search
for the unspeakable
"something more"
that makes us human,
for nothing can stop a miracle. Amen.
Hymn: "Christ For The World We Sing"
(words: Samuel Wolcott; music: Felice de Giardini)
Prayers Of The People
Pastoral Prayer:
Dear Lord, we celebrate this day of resurrection and new life through baptism, praying with the poet:
Early Sunday morning, wrapped in grief and gloom,
Friends of Jesus hurried and found an empty tomb.
Death could not destroy him, God had had God's way.
Because Christ lives forever, we celebrate today! Amen and Amen!
The Lord's Prayer
Offering
Doxology
Hymn: "Praise And Thanks Be To God"
(words: H. Francis Yardley; music: Paris Antiphoner)
Benediction:
Go now in the name of God who is resurrection through Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, and the Holy Spirit who gives us new life. Amen.
____________
1. Elaine M. Ward, Story Time At the Altar (Lima, Ohio: CSS, 2002), pp. 104--105.
2. Kathryn Lynn Davis, Too Deep for Tears (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989), p. 718.
3. Robertson Davies, The Lyre of Orpheus (New York: Penguin, 1988), pp. 355--356.
4. Brian Swimm, The Universe is a Green Dragon (Santa Fe: Bear & Co., 1984), p. 36.
