A sermon for a baptism
Luke 6: 27-38
The editorial at the beginning of the latest New Philosopher magazine entitled ‘The Unlived Life’ begins this way:
It’s an interesting reflection on the choices we make and when we think about it of all the different choices that you could have made this morning you chose to come here.
Now as I think about the many alternative choices there are some very attractive ones.
Starting with you could still be tucked up in bed. You could be at home with a tea or coffee enjoying a good book. You could be out to brunch with family and friends. You could be lying on a beach after an early morning swim in the surf. You could be riding your motorbike up Mount Nebo, which is a popular option as we hear every Sunday.
All are more than viable options. And I hope that you do not hear them as an invitation to leave early.
Instead, you chose to be here. You chose to come to church. P(mum) and N(dad) you chose to bring your daughter B(daughter) for baptism. And some of you chose to come to support P(mum) and N(dad) and B(daughter) in this moment.
The implication of the article in the New Philosopher suggests that for all of us our presence here has its origins in all the choices that we have made through life.
This means that choices made by the families of both P(mum) and N(dad) must have opened the door to this possibility of today when they were still children. Whether visiting church with grandparents or fond and sentimental memories of Sunday School - choices were made.
But whatever small or large choices have led you to this point B(daughter)’s birth and her baptism are the kind of moments when we all pause and take notice of what is happening in life. We take stock of who we are, where we are, and what we are doing in life. It is a moment of existential reflection. And, in this baptism, we celebrate God’s choice for B(daughter).
You see whilst we may think we are making all the choices baptism reminds us about the choice God has made for us. Listen again to these words which describe God's choice not simply for B(daughter) but for each one of us. As I says these words substitute your own name when I say "you".
This congregation has as its vision “Growing lifelong disciples of Christ” which by default means that we know that none of us have arrived. None of us are perfect. We gather each week curious about God’s choice for us in Jesus and how we can connect with God more deeply. The promise of the Jesus found in the gospel of John is that the Holy Spirit comes alongside us to guide us in our journey of life.
But the journey of life as we all know is not an easy one. As we think about the life that is laid out before B(daughter) it is likely that she like all of us will be asked the question what do you want to be when you grow up? Do you want to be a nurse or a plumber or electrician or a teacher or a preacher? Do you want to be something else be an astronaut, a physicist, a deep-sea diver, an influencer, a singer, a dancer?
As interesting as the question ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ is, I wonder today whether a more interesting question for us today is ‘What kind of person will I be?’ By this I mean what sort of values will she have, how will she behave towards herself, others, and the world around her?
The world into which B(daughter) has been born continues to change rapidly and there are many challenges that lie ahead. As I thought about this, I reflected on my own daughter who is now 18, about to turn 19. I reflected on what the world was like 19 years ago when she was born. As much as I would like to ignore it, life was vastly different in 2006. But looking ahead what might it be like when B(daughter) turns 18 in 2042? The year when she is just leaving school.
Given I don’t have a crystal ball that can see into the future I had a conversation that would have not been possible for me 2 years ago.
I asked Chat GPT about life for a girl baptised today in 2042. Many of the responses of the program were unsurprising and non-committal. It seems Chat GPT likes to sit on the fence. Some of the key themes were the impact of climate change, changing society and culture, geopolitical challenges, and a changing marketplace in terms of jobs.
Two things which did stand out though were, firstly, the impact of artificial intelligence as it becomes even more deeply embedded in our daily lives. The question of what it means to be a person in an artificial world is becoming a more pressing one day by day. And, secondly, the need for her resilience and adaptability in this evolving world.
These two aspects stand out as pertinent when it comes to being in church today. As I said before, this congregation is committed to “Growing Lifelong Disciples of Christ.”
Being a person of faith isn’t about having arrived. Rather, it involves a constant curiosity and yearning after a deeper sense of connection with God and what it means to be a person in this changing world.
One way of doing this is contemplating the words of the Bible. When we look closely at the Bible reading that we heard today there are three phrases that are worth us thinking a bit more about. These phrases may give some ideas for P(mum) and N(dad) to think about as they nurture B(daughter) in her journey through life and build her resilience and adaptability. These are:
• Love your enemies.
• Do to others as you would have them do to you.
• Do not judge.
It may seem strange to highlight the phrase love your enemies
at a baptism but at the heart of the Christian faith is the conviction that God is love. In the book of 1 John we read, “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them”. But love as U2 sang in their song ‘Walk on’ Love is not the easy thing! Loving those who are like us and who like us is not that hard but leaning into loving those who are different from us and those who don’t love us back is hard work
In the well-known passage from 1 Corinthians 13, often used at weddings, Paul reflects on the meaning and depths of love:
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
In his book What Can Love Hope For? Bill Loader explains how being open to God’s love changes us. He writes:
“For it is in opening ourselves to God's generosity, to forgiveness and acceptance, that we become free from preoccupation with ourselves and with concern for our own status. We are able then to have space and energy to respond to others in love, to love our neighbours as and because we love ourselves. Love creates love.”
Setting B(daughter) on a journey of discovering the depths of God’s love for her, is so important. Often, we hear a phrase said about a person that they are their own worst enemy. The proliferation of mental health issues speaks to us about the need for people to understand that they are loved and learn to love themselves. Loving our enemies might start with loving ourselves but it also leads towards loving others, even the people that we find unlovable.
This brings me to my second point which is: Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you take a moment to look at the screen this teaching of Jesus is sometimes called the golden rule. What is really interesting about this teaching is that it appears in each of the major world religions in slightly different forms and is part of nearly every culture.
The reason that I point this out is it whilst I believe that Jesus is the centre of relationship with God, I also believe that God works in mysterious ways through all peoples. This fundamental teaching found in all these different religions challenges human beings to view how they behave towards each other by considering it how any of us would like to be treated. Which I believe is grounded in love, respect, caring, and kindness. If as human beings we actually followed this teaching the world would be a much better place. Just as loving your enemy is not an easy thing neither is following the golden rule. Both teachings when grounded in how God has chosen for us invite and empower us as followers of Jesus to seek to live towards others in a better way.
This brings me to the third and last point which is not to judge others. And hopefully you will see a thread of connection that goes through the three things that I've highlighted.
For me to speak about not judging others in the context of a church service carries with it both a level of hypocrisy and more than a little irony. I am just going to make this call. Church people are really judgey people. Even though Jesus teaches us not to judge one another we are really good at doing it. I grew up in congregations and have been in ministry for close to 30 years. I have never come across a church community in which people don't judge each other. And ironically, I am being judgy about church people by saying this and I imagine some people are judging me for saying this. But it's part of our reality because when I go into communities beyond the church the reality is this problem of being judgey has existed in every friendship group, every club, every business, and every school that I have a been part
It seems that judging others as human beings is part of our DNA. If we are to love our enemies and we are to live in love and so live in God, then we need to move beyond our judgement of others and into acceptance and kindness and care. And if we are to treat others as we would wish to be treated, we need to look beyond any judgments that we make about them, including how they behave towards us, and seek to love them by how we act towards them.
The choice of God for us is found in Jesus’ life lived for us and the invitation for us to follow him. P(mum) and N(dad) your choice to have B(daughter) baptised celebrates God's choice for her and for each one of us. It is my hope and prayer that you would take seriously the invitation of this congregation to be part of our journey of curiosity as we continue our journey growing as lifelong the disciples of Christ. That you would continue to explore what it means to nurture her as a person who might learn to love not just those who love her but those who she might find unlovable. That you would continue to explore what it means for her to grow up treating others as she wishes to be treated. And that you would help her to move beyond judgments that we make about each other into being able to do the first two of those things.
We as a congregation have committed to being here to support you in nurturing B(daughter). And it is my hope and prayer that we will still be here in 2042 in some form for B(daughter) to grow into that relationship with God and make her own choices about the God who has chosen her.
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