"Who Stands With This Child?"
Sermon
Dancing The Sacraments
Sermons And Worship Services For Baptism And Communion
Call To Worship:
Come, let us stand and worship our God.
Hymn: "Bless Thou The Gifts"
(words: Samuel Longfellow; music: adapt Ralph Vaughan Williams on "Grenoble Antiphoner")
Children's Time:
Do you remember the movie, The Lion King? Remember how all of the animals gathered together when the king held up Simba, his son, before the others to be welcomed, and they promised their love and protection? This is what we do when a baby is baptized at church. The minister holds up the baby before the people to be welcomed into the church.
In The Lion King, the evil Scar, brother of King Mufasa, killed the king and took over his rule, and Simba was sent away but rescued by Pumbaa, the Warthog, and Timon, the Weasel. When Simba grew up, King Mufasa spoke from the stars to his son: "Remember who you are. You are my son and the only true king." At baptism God cries from the stars, "Remember. Remember who you are. You are my true child!" (Invite the children to remain at the altar during the baptism.)
The Sacrament Of Baptism
Prayer Of Confession:
Dear Lord, we pray with the writer of Ecclesiastes, "All words are wearisome more than we can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing" (Ecclesiastes 1:8). Forgive us. Transform our words into acts of love, our eyes into seeing the wonder and beauty of your creation, our ears into hearing the heavenly beings shouting for joy. Amen.
Words Of Assurance:
Out of the generosity and grace of God, God assures us of forgiveness, saying, "My kingdom is a family. You are accepted. You are forgiven. You belong." Amen.
Psalter Reading: Psalm 110
Old Testament: Isaiah 55:1
Epistle: Romans 8:12--17
New Testament: Matthew 3:13--17
Sermon:
When the elder of the church informed the pastor that his son and wife, who lived in Spokane, Washington, would be visiting Thanksgiving weekend, and they wanted him to "do the baby" the next Sunday, the minister explained that it was best for children to be baptized in the church where they would be raised. The elder shook the minister's hand, thanked him, and proceeded to poll the members of the board, who voted 9 to 0 in favor of the baptism. That Sunday little Angus was "done." The pastor asked, "Who stands with this child?" The family stood, alone. After church, another member asked if the pastor would baptize her grandchild, the son of her daughter who was only eighteen and had no husband. The board approved the baptism because the church wanted to support those who lived among them, not in Spokane. That day the church was full. The service was read and the question asked, "Who stands with this child?" All of the elders stood up. The Sunday school teachers, a new couple visiting church, and soon the whole church stood up with little Jimmy. The pastor read, "See what love the father has, that we should be called children of God." In that baptism his words came alive, clothed with God's love, and everybody felt it.1
"Who stands with this child?" the pastor asks. When each of us stands, remembering our own adoption by God, we welcome the child into the love and grace of God, shown in God's people.
Knowing the necessity of love, we stand and make promises for "this child," when we can hardly keep the promises we make for our own, remembering how much we are like Jesus' disciples.
"They were on the road going up to Jerusalem and Jesus took them aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him ... James and John said, 'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you' " (Mark 10:35--45).
Were they listening? Where had they been while Jesus was pouring out the agony that was to befall him? Were they only thinking of themselves? We are asked, "Who stands with this child, now a grown man mocked, spit upon, flogged, and killed?"
Jesus asked his friends, "What do you want me to do for you?"
We can hardly believe their ignorance, their arrogance, until we remember how much we are like them. They replied, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left." Jesus said, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
Jesus' words bring together the two sacraments, the bread--and--cup of communion and the water--and--words of baptism. Born again in water and the Spirit we come to drink from the cup so that God's love might be perfected in us. We stand for "this child" and promise, but are we aware that baptism means we have joined a very large family to belong to and to care for? Baptism is a gift and a giving, but God promises, "You are my beloved. I will be with you."
Paul wrote to the church in Rome: "... All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship and daughterhood." Paul reminds us that we are God's adopted children, "standing" for one another.
A father was talking with his two sons one day when one of them said, "Dad, we know one of us is adopted, but we don't know which one." The father smiled, throwing his arms around both of his sons, as he said, "I forgot!"
When Eliot Rosewater agreed to baptize Mary Moody's twins because no one else would do it, they asked what he would say or do. "Oh - I don't know. Sprinkle some water on the babies, say, 'Hello, babies. Welcome to earth. There's only one rule that I know of, babies - you've got to be kind.' "2
The prophet Micah asked, "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (6:8).
Jesus came to John at the Jordan to be baptized. He came wanting forgiveness and new life, and when Jesus came up from the water, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
Jesus came for forgiveness. He received unconditional love and acceptance, and something more - a call into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days. There he received his mission of love.
Baptism is a gift and the call to be perfected in love. The seen, known water and the words that stand for the unseen, unknown, are the living water and the words, "You are my beloved," standing for something that is more than the water and the words.
When the congregation listened intently to the conversation between the drug addict and the pastor recorded on the tape cassette, they heard his pain and confusion. At the end of the service there were many misty eyes. In the coffee hour that followed, a young woman carrying a baby in her arms approached the pastor. "I was very moved by the story of the addict," she said. Looking down at her baby, she began to cry. "How can I raise him to a good life? He was baptized last week. How can I live up to those vows?" Before the pastor could speak, an older man took the baby from the woman and held him. Rocking the child in his arms, he said, "We took those vows with you, so this child is part of our family. With God's help we can all make it."
Many children live in single--parent families. When we, the extended family of God, the members of individual congregations, recognize our responsibility to these children in our care, the entire body experiences the grace of God. We are not alone.
Robert McAfee Brown tells of worshiping in a Lutheran church in East Berlin just before the Wall was erected. Government policy discouraged religious practice and developed secular rituals to replace those of the church. Therefore, when during the service of worship the young couple brought their child forward for baptism, it was an act of courage, jeopardizing their future. The faith of the parents, however, pointed to the presence of God and to the truth about their child that transcended the ritual of the state.3
In celebration we educate. Participation is essential to education, for we learn by doing, we engage our bodies as well as our minds. Ritual is how we learn, remember, and celebrate the source of our existence. They are bodily expressions of our sacred stories. Being baptized expresses the creation story in bodily action. In baptism we are given an identity, a mission, and a meaning as a child of God and disciple of Jesus Christ. Through this ritual the congregation promises to love and nurture the child in the faith so beautifully packaged in sacred story and song.
The family, or those who sponsor the person baptized, make a commitment to teach, be an example, and raise the child in trust and love of God. The congregation does the same, and in this believing environment the child learns the meaning of belonging and faith.
At baptism I was given a gift,
wrapped and packaged
in water and word.
Too young to open it,
they did it for me.
The gift of faith
so beautifully wrapped in dogma and doctrine,
packaged in sacred story and song,
was safely stored
as they gave me the paper and the package.
As years rolled by, the memory tarnished, the gift forgotten,
until one day,
searching for wrappings
to cover a fresh wound,
to keep the poison out
lest it become infected,
I found the gift, bequeathed to me.
Now old enough to open it,
I took it out.
I wore it
and it fit.
Baptism, the gift of the Spirit is the gift of faith "wrapped in creed and doctrine." In baptism we appreciate and experience the mystery and wonder of the sacrament of water and the word, encouraging the baptized to "unwrap" and "wear" the gift of faith for themselves.
The sacraments are there to remind us that we are sacramental creatures and the world is a sacramental world. With such knowledge and such wonder we praise and give thanksgiving to our Creator.
The poet at last put on her gift and "it fit." She grew into the faith she had inherited at baptism. It was now her own. Baptism is the gift of God. We stand with those baptized until they open "the gift" and wear it for themselves. Amen and Amen.
Prayers Of The People
Pastoral Prayer:
Eternal One,
Mystery
from whom our being comes;
Provider
in whom our meaning lies,
Call us to be your children,
turn our talents into trust
our time into now
our praise into Thou. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer
Offering
Doxology
Hymn: "Lord, I Want To Be A Christian"
(words and music: African--American spiritual)
Benediction:
Go now in the name of God who calls us into being through Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit who enables us to stand and give thanks. Amen.
____________
1. Michael L. Lindvall, "Christmas Baptism," The Good News from North Haven (New York: Doubleday, 1991), pp. 168--171.
2. Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (New York: Laurel Books, 1965), pp. 92--93.
3. Robert McAfee Brown, Creative Dislocation (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1965), p. 19.
Come, let us stand and worship our God.
Hymn: "Bless Thou The Gifts"
(words: Samuel Longfellow; music: adapt Ralph Vaughan Williams on "Grenoble Antiphoner")
Children's Time:
Do you remember the movie, The Lion King? Remember how all of the animals gathered together when the king held up Simba, his son, before the others to be welcomed, and they promised their love and protection? This is what we do when a baby is baptized at church. The minister holds up the baby before the people to be welcomed into the church.
In The Lion King, the evil Scar, brother of King Mufasa, killed the king and took over his rule, and Simba was sent away but rescued by Pumbaa, the Warthog, and Timon, the Weasel. When Simba grew up, King Mufasa spoke from the stars to his son: "Remember who you are. You are my son and the only true king." At baptism God cries from the stars, "Remember. Remember who you are. You are my true child!" (Invite the children to remain at the altar during the baptism.)
The Sacrament Of Baptism
Prayer Of Confession:
Dear Lord, we pray with the writer of Ecclesiastes, "All words are wearisome more than we can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing" (Ecclesiastes 1:8). Forgive us. Transform our words into acts of love, our eyes into seeing the wonder and beauty of your creation, our ears into hearing the heavenly beings shouting for joy. Amen.
Words Of Assurance:
Out of the generosity and grace of God, God assures us of forgiveness, saying, "My kingdom is a family. You are accepted. You are forgiven. You belong." Amen.
Psalter Reading: Psalm 110
Old Testament: Isaiah 55:1
Epistle: Romans 8:12--17
New Testament: Matthew 3:13--17
Sermon:
When the elder of the church informed the pastor that his son and wife, who lived in Spokane, Washington, would be visiting Thanksgiving weekend, and they wanted him to "do the baby" the next Sunday, the minister explained that it was best for children to be baptized in the church where they would be raised. The elder shook the minister's hand, thanked him, and proceeded to poll the members of the board, who voted 9 to 0 in favor of the baptism. That Sunday little Angus was "done." The pastor asked, "Who stands with this child?" The family stood, alone. After church, another member asked if the pastor would baptize her grandchild, the son of her daughter who was only eighteen and had no husband. The board approved the baptism because the church wanted to support those who lived among them, not in Spokane. That day the church was full. The service was read and the question asked, "Who stands with this child?" All of the elders stood up. The Sunday school teachers, a new couple visiting church, and soon the whole church stood up with little Jimmy. The pastor read, "See what love the father has, that we should be called children of God." In that baptism his words came alive, clothed with God's love, and everybody felt it.1
"Who stands with this child?" the pastor asks. When each of us stands, remembering our own adoption by God, we welcome the child into the love and grace of God, shown in God's people.
Knowing the necessity of love, we stand and make promises for "this child," when we can hardly keep the promises we make for our own, remembering how much we are like Jesus' disciples.
"They were on the road going up to Jerusalem and Jesus took them aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him ... James and John said, 'Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you' " (Mark 10:35--45).
Were they listening? Where had they been while Jesus was pouring out the agony that was to befall him? Were they only thinking of themselves? We are asked, "Who stands with this child, now a grown man mocked, spit upon, flogged, and killed?"
Jesus asked his friends, "What do you want me to do for you?"
We can hardly believe their ignorance, their arrogance, until we remember how much we are like them. They replied, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left." Jesus said, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
Jesus' words bring together the two sacraments, the bread--and--cup of communion and the water--and--words of baptism. Born again in water and the Spirit we come to drink from the cup so that God's love might be perfected in us. We stand for "this child" and promise, but are we aware that baptism means we have joined a very large family to belong to and to care for? Baptism is a gift and a giving, but God promises, "You are my beloved. I will be with you."
Paul wrote to the church in Rome: "... All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship and daughterhood." Paul reminds us that we are God's adopted children, "standing" for one another.
A father was talking with his two sons one day when one of them said, "Dad, we know one of us is adopted, but we don't know which one." The father smiled, throwing his arms around both of his sons, as he said, "I forgot!"
When Eliot Rosewater agreed to baptize Mary Moody's twins because no one else would do it, they asked what he would say or do. "Oh - I don't know. Sprinkle some water on the babies, say, 'Hello, babies. Welcome to earth. There's only one rule that I know of, babies - you've got to be kind.' "2
The prophet Micah asked, "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (6:8).
Jesus came to John at the Jordan to be baptized. He came wanting forgiveness and new life, and when Jesus came up from the water, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
Jesus came for forgiveness. He received unconditional love and acceptance, and something more - a call into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days. There he received his mission of love.
Baptism is a gift and the call to be perfected in love. The seen, known water and the words that stand for the unseen, unknown, are the living water and the words, "You are my beloved," standing for something that is more than the water and the words.
When the congregation listened intently to the conversation between the drug addict and the pastor recorded on the tape cassette, they heard his pain and confusion. At the end of the service there were many misty eyes. In the coffee hour that followed, a young woman carrying a baby in her arms approached the pastor. "I was very moved by the story of the addict," she said. Looking down at her baby, she began to cry. "How can I raise him to a good life? He was baptized last week. How can I live up to those vows?" Before the pastor could speak, an older man took the baby from the woman and held him. Rocking the child in his arms, he said, "We took those vows with you, so this child is part of our family. With God's help we can all make it."
Many children live in single--parent families. When we, the extended family of God, the members of individual congregations, recognize our responsibility to these children in our care, the entire body experiences the grace of God. We are not alone.
Robert McAfee Brown tells of worshiping in a Lutheran church in East Berlin just before the Wall was erected. Government policy discouraged religious practice and developed secular rituals to replace those of the church. Therefore, when during the service of worship the young couple brought their child forward for baptism, it was an act of courage, jeopardizing their future. The faith of the parents, however, pointed to the presence of God and to the truth about their child that transcended the ritual of the state.3
In celebration we educate. Participation is essential to education, for we learn by doing, we engage our bodies as well as our minds. Ritual is how we learn, remember, and celebrate the source of our existence. They are bodily expressions of our sacred stories. Being baptized expresses the creation story in bodily action. In baptism we are given an identity, a mission, and a meaning as a child of God and disciple of Jesus Christ. Through this ritual the congregation promises to love and nurture the child in the faith so beautifully packaged in sacred story and song.
The family, or those who sponsor the person baptized, make a commitment to teach, be an example, and raise the child in trust and love of God. The congregation does the same, and in this believing environment the child learns the meaning of belonging and faith.
At baptism I was given a gift,
wrapped and packaged
in water and word.
Too young to open it,
they did it for me.
The gift of faith
so beautifully wrapped in dogma and doctrine,
packaged in sacred story and song,
was safely stored
as they gave me the paper and the package.
As years rolled by, the memory tarnished, the gift forgotten,
until one day,
searching for wrappings
to cover a fresh wound,
to keep the poison out
lest it become infected,
I found the gift, bequeathed to me.
Now old enough to open it,
I took it out.
I wore it
and it fit.
Baptism, the gift of the Spirit is the gift of faith "wrapped in creed and doctrine." In baptism we appreciate and experience the mystery and wonder of the sacrament of water and the word, encouraging the baptized to "unwrap" and "wear" the gift of faith for themselves.
The sacraments are there to remind us that we are sacramental creatures and the world is a sacramental world. With such knowledge and such wonder we praise and give thanksgiving to our Creator.
The poet at last put on her gift and "it fit." She grew into the faith she had inherited at baptism. It was now her own. Baptism is the gift of God. We stand with those baptized until they open "the gift" and wear it for themselves. Amen and Amen.
Prayers Of The People
Pastoral Prayer:
Eternal One,
Mystery
from whom our being comes;
Provider
in whom our meaning lies,
Call us to be your children,
turn our talents into trust
our time into now
our praise into Thou. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer
Offering
Doxology
Hymn: "Lord, I Want To Be A Christian"
(words and music: African--American spiritual)
Benediction:
Go now in the name of God who calls us into being through Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit who enables us to stand and give thanks. Amen.
____________
1. Michael L. Lindvall, "Christmas Baptism," The Good News from North Haven (New York: Doubleday, 1991), pp. 168--171.
2. Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (New York: Laurel Books, 1965), pp. 92--93.
3. Robert McAfee Brown, Creative Dislocation (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1965), p. 19.
