Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Go to iTunes or SoundCloud for Audio Podcast
Original Manuscript:
"Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight." That is what our Proverb says to us today.
Ephesians tells us "Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people, but as wise."
There's a theme in our readings today. It tells us not to stay in our ignorance, or our immaturity, but instead to grow in wisdom. Specifically, it tells us to grow in the wisdom of God.
That may be all well and good for us. But what about this young child in our midst who will be baptized at the service? How do these words help her? "Lay aside immaturity", how can she do that when she's not even at the point of being immature yet? How can she be wise when she doesn't know what wisdom really is yet?
The simple answer is that she can't. But then again, these words aren't for her. They're for us.
Our soon to be baptized is a sign to all of us. She's a sign to us about grace. Grace is a gift Jesus gives us, unmerited and often unasked for. We didn't ask God to make the ultimate sacrifice for us, but He loves us, so He did it anyway.
Our soon to be baptized didn't ask to be baptized. She didn't ask for her parents and godparents to take on the solemn vows of Baptism for her. She certainly didn't ask for all of us to take part, and we do, we all take part in raising her to never know a time when Christ Jesus wasn't in her life. But we do it anyway because we love her and because want what is best for her.
That means all of us have to continue to grow in our own faith. We have to continue to be more mature. We have to continue to learn to be wise. Because if we don't, how can she be?
The Psalm this morning says "Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Fear, in this case, meaning respect. What it really means is to know God intimately, to know who He is. It means to know that God is someone to be respected, and if we truly know the Law, Torah, we know that God does indeed love us all.
It is important, as the Psalm is saying, for our children to learn. Jesus showed that in His own ministry. And we are the ones that will teach her. So we have to be ready. We have to keep learning. We have to keep growing, and maturing, and striving to be wise. We have to continue to be formed in our faith. Bringing this child up to know Jesus and be in relationship isn't just a task for her parents. It's a task for us all.
That doesn't end with our newly baptized today, just as that doesn't start with her either. Part of our role as Christians is to hold each other up in our life with Jesus. So help each other when you know your neighbor is feeling down, and let us help you when you struggle. Just as Jesus calls each and everyone of us to be one in Him through our Baptism, so to are we all called to be one with each other as well. We are called not only to love God with every fiber of our being, but to love our neighbor as ourself.