Marked In God's Book
Sermon
Is The Cross Still There?
Nine baptismal sermons
"The cross is still there" upon your forehead, and because it is, it is burned into your heart, mind, and soul by the Holy Spirit assuring you that your "names are written in the Book of Life." God knows us and our names, and believers may rest assured that there is a place for them in God's eternal kingdom. God will never forget his people or their names, according to St. Paul.
One of the last things my wife and I did at the end of a sabbatical stay in Cambridge, England, five years ago, was to go out and visit the American Military Cemetery, outside of Cambridge, with a University of Maryland math professor and his wife. The professor had served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and wanted very much to see this cemetery, because there were sailors buried there as well as American soldiers and, largely flyers; he had not been in a military cemetery before this visit. The shocking thing about this or any military cemetery is the ages of the persons buried in them; they are mostly, very young men and an occasional young woman; some are not out of their "teens." For both of us and our wives, this was a sobering and nostalgic experience. This cemeteryis not far from Basingbourne, also a few miles outside of Cambridge, which was a large American air base during that war. I discovered a plaque on the front of the headquarters building and took a picture of it; it reads:
To these gallant American Airmen who on August 12, 1944, sacrificed their lives to prevent their aircraft from crashing on our homes, the residents of Cheshunt and Waltham Cross in the country of Hertfordshire dedicate this plaque in grateful memory.
2nd Lt. John D. Ellis
2nd Lt. Robt. B. Cox
S/sgt. Jay W. Gable
T/sgt. Stanley E. Jankowski
S/sgt. Clark Hultengrin
T/sgt. John H. Holling
F/0 Samuel C. Stalsby
S/sgt. Wm. C. McGinley
S/sgt. Frank Minnick
S/sgt. Jack 0. Shaeffer
Their names were emblazoned on that plaque because they had done a good and merciful work. Not unlike the early Christian martyrs, they had given their lives so that others literally might live. To the people of those two villages, their lives had been spared by an act of grace, reminiscent of that "graceful death" of Jesus at Golgotha. The flyers' names were inscribed on a plaque so that they would never be forgotten in these two villages in England.
The other evening I met a man who lives only three blocks from my home and who was stationed at Basingbourne and flew B-17 bombers out of that air base. He had been to that cemetery, and he had seen that plaque. He also knew about being shot out of the sky by anti-aircraft guns; it happened to him over Germany. He and his crew crash-landed in Belgium. Two of the crew had been killed by anti-aircraft fire; he and the others on the plane were severely wounded but survived. He said to me, "I have been to that cemetery twice." Without asking him, I believe I know why: the bodies of the two crew members killed on that mission had been brought back to England and were buried near the base from which they had flown their missions. I don't know their names, nor are they recorded on a plaque for the world to see, but their names are on their tombstones -- and, as in most American military cemeteries, are recorded in a book for any visitor to read. And their names, I am certain, are inscribed on the heart and mind of my new acquaintance. That's something of how it is with God; the names of the faithful are known by the Lord and will never be forgotten by God, because they are written on "the book" of his heart.
Time was when children were given a new name -- a baptismal name -- when they were presented to God at the font. It was the name that would be "written" in the Book of Life. You don't hear much about that today, do you? It seems rather old-fashioned. Our children are "named" before they are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. With the scientific tests that are used in prenatal care today, it is possible to tell the sex of a child before the mother gives birth. That means that the parents don't need to have two different sets of names, one male and the other female, selected before the baby is born; only one name, or names, is necessary now. A young couple, whom my wife and I know quite well, will have a baby in a couple of months; they know that it will probably be a girl, so they have been attempting to decide upon a name for the child. A couple of weeks ago, we heard that they were going to name the baby Jennifer Marie, but yesterday we learned that they had changed their minds and were attempting to agree on two new names for the baby. I wonder how many times they will change the child's name in the nearly two months before it will be born, and the baby's name will have to be recorded in official documents.
Not only have names been given in baptism, but those baptismal names given to children had to be -- in many congregations -- biblical names. That would create a problem today, when some of the names we give to children are rather exotic, even strange. The late Dr. George Buttrick once asked, "What's in a name?" and concluded that "they are hardly more than tags by which the mailman brings Christmas presents to our house instead of to some alien door…. But there was a time when names had meaning…. The name ‘John' once meant ‘gift of God,' just as Joshua (Jesus) once meant ‘savior.' In times from which the book of Genesis was drawn, men believed that if they could learn the name of a god, they would possess the god's very power; for a name then meant almost a man's or a god's nature."7 So maybe there really is something in giving our children biblical and baptismal names after all, because such names are reminders of the blessings that God gives his people in their baptism. They tell people that "the cross is still there." The names given in baptism indicate that God numbers the baptized among the very saints of heaven and earth.
And so the Church honors the saints, especially those who died as martyrs, witnessing in suffering and death to the power of God's grace. Paul was convinced -- before the practice of "naming saints" was begun by the Church -- that the names of the faithful are written in God's book of life, and that's one reason why they should be celebrated as genuine saints. They clung to their faith which they had received from God, not merely by human will and strength, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. Here's the amazing part of the whole business: God sustained all of the saints, and especially those, who in the face of terrible torture and agonizing death gave up the precious gift of life for the sake of Christ and the gospel. To be named for a biblical saint or a Christian martyr, at birth or baptism, is to stake a claim upon God's grace and the hope of eternal life.
Paul almost makes it sound, in the letter to the Church at Philippi that, by itself, serving the Lord is a good work that guarantees eternal life and gets one's name "written" in the "Book of Life." He praises the workers in their church, as well as Clement and the others who were part of his missionary company. Their names are "written in the book of life," Paul declares. But, according to the sum and substance of his writings, he meant that they had been saved by God's gracious gift in Jesus; their faith came from him, and they simply lived out their baptismal covenant in their Christian ministry; they were saved by their faith, and not because they had done a good work.
Not even those who have died for the faith have their names written in the book because they were martyrs "for Christ." Even, and especially, the martyrs were saved by the grace of God, and that's the reason their names are recorded in God's "book" and remembered and revered by the Christian church, usually on the date of their death as their "birth" in the everlasting kingdom of God. Our "death-day" at the baptismal font celebrates our "birth" as citizens of God's eternal realm of the saints and martyrs. For them -- and for us -- the day of our baptism, when we were named for and claimed by God, is the day when our names were written "in the book."
Today we continue to name saints, confident that God has written their names in the Book of Life but with a difference; most of the martyr-saints tend to be secularized by setting aside the day of their physical birth as their "day." That happened with the national holiday that was established for Martin Luther King Jr., to celebrate his actual birthday on January 15th; the Christian churches "commemorate" him on that day, too, instead of on the day of his death. At least, we remember how he gave his life for "liberty and justice for all" without a long and very formal process to "name" him a martyr-saint.
And Martin Luther King Jr., along wih most of the saints, will probably never be forgotten by the Church nor by God. What really matters, however, is that his name, and the names of all the saints, are written in the Book of Life that will never be destroyed. God knows our identities, loves us, and will never forget who we are. Henrietta Allen died recently and left a more than $2 million estate, which should be claimed by her heirs. But her name was never written in a book, not in a court house or church records. Her attorney cannot find a trace of her ancestry; her name is known, but there is no record of her birth, her baptism, her marriage, or anything else. It is almost as if she had never existed, or had been forgotten by the world and she would have been had she not been wealthy.8 But, if she had been baptized, God knows her name! There is one record -- God's -- which will never be lost. That's God's way. He writes our names into the book of life, not the honor roll of saints named here on the earth, when we are baptized, sealed into a covenant with him, and marked with the cross of Christ forever. Our names are written there simply on the basis of what he has done, not to record our good marks or meritoriuos service.
Well, what's the point, then, of attempting to be faithful to Christ, to serve in love and mercy, as long as we live? Just this: those who know that their names are written in heaven when they are baptized, and who live good and faithful Christian lives, have the comfort of the gospel and the blessed assurance that they will be with God forever. And we know that we are loved by God whatever we do or do not do. He forgives us all our sins forever no matter what they might be when we call upon him in true repentance and faith as his children. We can live and even die with our heads held high, because God loves and forgives us.
James S. Stewart tells a story about a young girl who ran away from home. Stewart says that she "was swallowed up in a great city's shadows." Some time later, her mother set out to find her and take her home, and somehow or other, she located the girl "lonely and miserable and destitute, and brought her back" to their home. It was dark when they reached their "old home" but the girl said, "Mother, I cannot go in. I cannot face father." "But," her mother answered, "your father has been longing to see you. He has been waiting for this day, hungering to have you home." But the girl just stood there, afraid "to meet her father's gaze." "Mother," she said at last, "will you go in and turn down the lights?" And James S. Stewart adds, "And so in the darkness the reconciliation was effected."9
That's not the way it will be for those whose names are "written in the Book of Life," because God is not like that, at all. He forgives us all our sins and he will welcome us with open arms into his everlasting kingdom; of that we can be completely confident. Our baptism tells us that our names are in the Book of Life, and that's enough for us. We can live life to the fullest with blessed assurance and hope, because the cross is still there on our foreheads and in our hearts and tells us this is so.
One of the last things my wife and I did at the end of a sabbatical stay in Cambridge, England, five years ago, was to go out and visit the American Military Cemetery, outside of Cambridge, with a University of Maryland math professor and his wife. The professor had served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and wanted very much to see this cemetery, because there were sailors buried there as well as American soldiers and, largely flyers; he had not been in a military cemetery before this visit. The shocking thing about this or any military cemetery is the ages of the persons buried in them; they are mostly, very young men and an occasional young woman; some are not out of their "teens." For both of us and our wives, this was a sobering and nostalgic experience. This cemeteryis not far from Basingbourne, also a few miles outside of Cambridge, which was a large American air base during that war. I discovered a plaque on the front of the headquarters building and took a picture of it; it reads:
To these gallant American Airmen who on August 12, 1944, sacrificed their lives to prevent their aircraft from crashing on our homes, the residents of Cheshunt and Waltham Cross in the country of Hertfordshire dedicate this plaque in grateful memory.
2nd Lt. John D. Ellis
2nd Lt. Robt. B. Cox
S/sgt. Jay W. Gable
T/sgt. Stanley E. Jankowski
S/sgt. Clark Hultengrin
T/sgt. John H. Holling
F/0 Samuel C. Stalsby
S/sgt. Wm. C. McGinley
S/sgt. Frank Minnick
S/sgt. Jack 0. Shaeffer
Their names were emblazoned on that plaque because they had done a good and merciful work. Not unlike the early Christian martyrs, they had given their lives so that others literally might live. To the people of those two villages, their lives had been spared by an act of grace, reminiscent of that "graceful death" of Jesus at Golgotha. The flyers' names were inscribed on a plaque so that they would never be forgotten in these two villages in England.
The other evening I met a man who lives only three blocks from my home and who was stationed at Basingbourne and flew B-17 bombers out of that air base. He had been to that cemetery, and he had seen that plaque. He also knew about being shot out of the sky by anti-aircraft guns; it happened to him over Germany. He and his crew crash-landed in Belgium. Two of the crew had been killed by anti-aircraft fire; he and the others on the plane were severely wounded but survived. He said to me, "I have been to that cemetery twice." Without asking him, I believe I know why: the bodies of the two crew members killed on that mission had been brought back to England and were buried near the base from which they had flown their missions. I don't know their names, nor are they recorded on a plaque for the world to see, but their names are on their tombstones -- and, as in most American military cemeteries, are recorded in a book for any visitor to read. And their names, I am certain, are inscribed on the heart and mind of my new acquaintance. That's something of how it is with God; the names of the faithful are known by the Lord and will never be forgotten by God, because they are written on "the book" of his heart.
Time was when children were given a new name -- a baptismal name -- when they were presented to God at the font. It was the name that would be "written" in the Book of Life. You don't hear much about that today, do you? It seems rather old-fashioned. Our children are "named" before they are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. With the scientific tests that are used in prenatal care today, it is possible to tell the sex of a child before the mother gives birth. That means that the parents don't need to have two different sets of names, one male and the other female, selected before the baby is born; only one name, or names, is necessary now. A young couple, whom my wife and I know quite well, will have a baby in a couple of months; they know that it will probably be a girl, so they have been attempting to decide upon a name for the child. A couple of weeks ago, we heard that they were going to name the baby Jennifer Marie, but yesterday we learned that they had changed their minds and were attempting to agree on two new names for the baby. I wonder how many times they will change the child's name in the nearly two months before it will be born, and the baby's name will have to be recorded in official documents.
Not only have names been given in baptism, but those baptismal names given to children had to be -- in many congregations -- biblical names. That would create a problem today, when some of the names we give to children are rather exotic, even strange. The late Dr. George Buttrick once asked, "What's in a name?" and concluded that "they are hardly more than tags by which the mailman brings Christmas presents to our house instead of to some alien door…. But there was a time when names had meaning…. The name ‘John' once meant ‘gift of God,' just as Joshua (Jesus) once meant ‘savior.' In times from which the book of Genesis was drawn, men believed that if they could learn the name of a god, they would possess the god's very power; for a name then meant almost a man's or a god's nature."7 So maybe there really is something in giving our children biblical and baptismal names after all, because such names are reminders of the blessings that God gives his people in their baptism. They tell people that "the cross is still there." The names given in baptism indicate that God numbers the baptized among the very saints of heaven and earth.
And so the Church honors the saints, especially those who died as martyrs, witnessing in suffering and death to the power of God's grace. Paul was convinced -- before the practice of "naming saints" was begun by the Church -- that the names of the faithful are written in God's book of life, and that's one reason why they should be celebrated as genuine saints. They clung to their faith which they had received from God, not merely by human will and strength, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. Here's the amazing part of the whole business: God sustained all of the saints, and especially those, who in the face of terrible torture and agonizing death gave up the precious gift of life for the sake of Christ and the gospel. To be named for a biblical saint or a Christian martyr, at birth or baptism, is to stake a claim upon God's grace and the hope of eternal life.
Paul almost makes it sound, in the letter to the Church at Philippi that, by itself, serving the Lord is a good work that guarantees eternal life and gets one's name "written" in the "Book of Life." He praises the workers in their church, as well as Clement and the others who were part of his missionary company. Their names are "written in the book of life," Paul declares. But, according to the sum and substance of his writings, he meant that they had been saved by God's gracious gift in Jesus; their faith came from him, and they simply lived out their baptismal covenant in their Christian ministry; they were saved by their faith, and not because they had done a good work.
Not even those who have died for the faith have their names written in the book because they were martyrs "for Christ." Even, and especially, the martyrs were saved by the grace of God, and that's the reason their names are recorded in God's "book" and remembered and revered by the Christian church, usually on the date of their death as their "birth" in the everlasting kingdom of God. Our "death-day" at the baptismal font celebrates our "birth" as citizens of God's eternal realm of the saints and martyrs. For them -- and for us -- the day of our baptism, when we were named for and claimed by God, is the day when our names were written "in the book."
Today we continue to name saints, confident that God has written their names in the Book of Life but with a difference; most of the martyr-saints tend to be secularized by setting aside the day of their physical birth as their "day." That happened with the national holiday that was established for Martin Luther King Jr., to celebrate his actual birthday on January 15th; the Christian churches "commemorate" him on that day, too, instead of on the day of his death. At least, we remember how he gave his life for "liberty and justice for all" without a long and very formal process to "name" him a martyr-saint.
And Martin Luther King Jr., along wih most of the saints, will probably never be forgotten by the Church nor by God. What really matters, however, is that his name, and the names of all the saints, are written in the Book of Life that will never be destroyed. God knows our identities, loves us, and will never forget who we are. Henrietta Allen died recently and left a more than $2 million estate, which should be claimed by her heirs. But her name was never written in a book, not in a court house or church records. Her attorney cannot find a trace of her ancestry; her name is known, but there is no record of her birth, her baptism, her marriage, or anything else. It is almost as if she had never existed, or had been forgotten by the world and she would have been had she not been wealthy.8 But, if she had been baptized, God knows her name! There is one record -- God's -- which will never be lost. That's God's way. He writes our names into the book of life, not the honor roll of saints named here on the earth, when we are baptized, sealed into a covenant with him, and marked with the cross of Christ forever. Our names are written there simply on the basis of what he has done, not to record our good marks or meritoriuos service.
Well, what's the point, then, of attempting to be faithful to Christ, to serve in love and mercy, as long as we live? Just this: those who know that their names are written in heaven when they are baptized, and who live good and faithful Christian lives, have the comfort of the gospel and the blessed assurance that they will be with God forever. And we know that we are loved by God whatever we do or do not do. He forgives us all our sins forever no matter what they might be when we call upon him in true repentance and faith as his children. We can live and even die with our heads held high, because God loves and forgives us.
James S. Stewart tells a story about a young girl who ran away from home. Stewart says that she "was swallowed up in a great city's shadows." Some time later, her mother set out to find her and take her home, and somehow or other, she located the girl "lonely and miserable and destitute, and brought her back" to their home. It was dark when they reached their "old home" but the girl said, "Mother, I cannot go in. I cannot face father." "But," her mother answered, "your father has been longing to see you. He has been waiting for this day, hungering to have you home." But the girl just stood there, afraid "to meet her father's gaze." "Mother," she said at last, "will you go in and turn down the lights?" And James S. Stewart adds, "And so in the darkness the reconciliation was effected."9
That's not the way it will be for those whose names are "written in the Book of Life," because God is not like that, at all. He forgives us all our sins and he will welcome us with open arms into his everlasting kingdom; of that we can be completely confident. Our baptism tells us that our names are in the Book of Life, and that's enough for us. We can live life to the fullest with blessed assurance and hope, because the cross is still there on our foreheads and in our hearts and tells us this is so.
