I have baptized many people over the years of my ministry. Tiny premature babies in the hospital, infants with a full baptismal gown, toddlers not sure if they want to have water dabbed upon their forehead, older children well aware and keen to be participate, teenagers discovering something that they need to respond to in their lives, adults making a particular choice about following Jesus, older adults who have wept at their new found relationship with God. All these and many others, baptized in grand cathedrals, small rural churches, suburban churches, hospital chapels, and a few other places besides.
Each time it is naming a deep and trusting relationship with God as shown in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. As the water is splashed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, it is marking the beginning… or perhaps better, the ongoing the work of the Holy Spirit bringing new life and a deeper understanding of grace and forgiveness. There is much wrapped up in this baptismal movement from darkness to light, from death to life, from individual to being part of a community, from feeling lost to having faith in God’s love and grace, and so much more. And each time we witness another baptism besides our own, we acknowledge that we carry that cross of Christ on our forehead as a sign of what leads us in our lives. An indelible cross that is with us for always.
Our baptism also invites us to live in this world changed by a calling into ministry. Baptism is not a one-time event but one that we are reminded of over and over again. And those baptismal promises become commitments that shape us: Will you follow in the apostles’ teaching? Will you persevere in resisting evil? Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? Will you strive to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation? These are the words that nurture us far beyond our baptismal day. They are words of a calling, a ministry, a priesthood of all believers. They mold us and shape us, they call us into the fullness of life. They invite us, led by the Holy Spirit to be willing to live into the gospel of Jesus with our actions and words. They call us to be prophets and evangelists of our faith, in the myriad of ways that that could be lived out. We have been set apart, not above and over others but set apart to reveal God’s hope for human beings and this planet by our words and example. This seems a lot to put onto a small amount of water on our forehead but we have a lifetime to live into it.
In the reading from First Samuel, we heard about Hannah. Hannah wanted a child and prayed daily about it. Her husband Elkanah thought he could help by saying to her, “Hannah don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” No was her simple answer, although the Bible doesn’t say it in so many words. We just hear of her going to Shiloh to the Lord’s house to pray intently and deeply that things would change. She even made a deal, that if she had a son, she would offer him to God’s service. Eventually she had a child, Samuel, who became a great prophet of God.
By our baptism, we are linked to this prophet, this son of Hannah, Samuel. This Samuel, while set apart to be a servant of God also had a calling that was transformational to him. Perhaps you know the story, but as a child, during the night, Samuel heard a voice calling to him. He thought it was Eli but it turned out it was not. But it was God’s voice calling to him and telling him that things were about to change. God was going to act in ways that would reveal God’s true purposes.
We are called to live into this same calling as well. By our baptism, with that water on our forehead we too are called to be prophets, teachers, people of faith, people committed to the gospel of Jesus. For God has called us to live into this hope. God has called us to be set apart and live out our baptismal commitments. And the world needs us to do this. The world needs people of faith to live as if we truly believe in God’s love for us and for all people. We have been given a precious message and invited to live that in our times.
Hannah was desperate to have a child. But notice that when she had a child, Samuel, she dedicated him to live into the holiness of God. We have gathered here as the Synod of the Diocese of New Westminster… what do you believe that God is calling of us? What are we being invited to offer as prophets ourselves? What is the message that the society and world around us needs to hear from us? What are we called to bring into life through this Synod? Is it simply to be the Church in the ways we have always aimed to do that in the past? Or are we being invited into a new future, a new hope, a new purpose? Is the Holy Spirit still moving through and in us with wind and fire causing us to be a prophetic voice for our times? I really believe that she is.
May we have faith like Hannah to pray for God’s guidance and to live into God’s response. May we have faith like Hannah and dedicate ourselves to God’s grace and love. May we have faith like Hannah and see a much bigger picture for the world in which we live and that God’s love is needed and needs to be injected in so many different places it is impossible to name them all.
May we live into our baptismal calling to be the people of God.