Pentecost 16 - Baptism and First Communion

Sermon for Hope Episcopal Church
The Reverend Martha Frances
Year B, Pentecost 16, Proper 20
24 September 2006
Baptism and First Communion
10:30 Service

Text: Mark 9: 30-37
Other Readings: Wisdom 1:16-2:1 [6-11] 12-22; Psalm 54; James 3:16-4:6

Jesus took a little child and put it among them; & taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."

Just as Jesus welcomed a child, so I welcome the children today as we prepare for the baptism of Tobe & for Chidera's first communion. Come on up & join me so we can talk. All of us-even the grown people-need to be reminded why we celebrate both baptism & also communion.

Back before Tobe was born, we prayed for his good health when his family was expecting him. God has been with Tobe ever since before he was born, & we even prayed for him when he was still in his mommy's tummy. Now we ask God to anoint him & claim him as God's own with the sacrament of baptism. When we place water on his head & I mark the sign of the cross on his forehead, we are showing in front of all the people here the blessings God gives each of us.

Someone once said it takes a village to raise a child, & we at Hope are Thobe's village. We are his church family. When John & Maureen bring Thobe to the baptismal font to be baptized, they are allowing us all to share in bringing him up as a Christian who knows & loves Jesus & wants to share Jesus with others. Just as you children might be looked after by any of the adults here at Hope, we all promise to help Tobe grow up to be big & strong & to feel Jesus' love & the love of his big church family.

In a few minutes, we're all going to make some promises to help Thobe's parents & godparents in helping him grow into a loving young man who knows he is precious to God, just as all of you are. First, we will turn our backs on evil in all its forms & then turn to Jesus. We will promise to come together to worship, learn, pray, & share communion as often as possible. We will promise to help each other avoid evil & sin in its many forms. We will learn how to share the stories of Jesus with others. We will find ways to share Jesus' love with others, both our neighbors & those who live far away. Finally, we will work together for all people to be at peace with each other & have equal chances in life. No one can do all these things alone; we need one another. That's why we're a family.

Now there is an old-fashioned word for baptism of a child: christening. The part of a baptism that is the christening is the naming of the child. Tobechi's name includes God's name-the "chi" means God. Each of us has a Christian name (name several), & then we have a family name (mention the family names). When we are christened, it's like we also take the name "Christian." If we remember that we are each named Christian, then we can remember that we're all family.

But the other day as I visited with the Ndubuisi family, I realized that we're all in the process of being Christened-putting on the name & the clothing of Christ. As we live together in community, we are growing into wearing the name Christian more & more. Christening is a life-long process, & we're all becoming christened throughout our lives.

When we worship together each week, the center of our worship service is Holy Communion. From the beginning of our lives, our parents bring us forward for a blessing. Eventually, we join with others around the altar-which is like a large family table-to share Jesus' body & blood with the rest of our Christian family. Chidera will receive communion for the first time today, & we celebrate with her. Of course, we only have one small wafer of bread & sometimes a sip of wine, but these small tastes are enough because they represent Jesus' feeding us from his very body so that we may be filled with Christ to strengthen us to act more & more like Christ in the rest of our lives. When we break the bread & pour out the wine, we remember that Jesus' enemies killed him yet he rose again to give us all new life. We celebrate Jesus' new life, so our communion is joyous as we let Jesus renew our lives again & again. Jesus told his disciples to take communion as often as we can which is why we offer communion every Sunday. In a little while, we will join Chidera as she begins this new step in her Christian life, & she will have a whole church-full of family to grow with as she & the rest of us are progressively christened. Thanks be to God.