SPEAKER_03: Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and blessed be God's family, now and forever.
SPEAKER_03: There is one body and one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
SPEAKER_03: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_03: Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.
SPEAKER_03: By the infinite or Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: The Lord be with you.
SPEAKER_03: Let us pray.
SPEAKER_03: Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_03: Grant that all who were baptized into his name may keep the covenant they have made and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior, who with you in the Holy Spirit lives and reigns one God in glory everlasting.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, while you're being seated, I'd like to invite children that are game to come up for the children's sermon.
SPEAKER_03: Look at this positive peer pressure.
SPEAKER_03: It's fantastic, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
SPEAKER_03: Alright, so it's a baptism day.
SPEAKER_03: And we're gonna get to do at least two of these.
SPEAKER_03: And I've got this cool thing here, and we've got that thing that's a real shell.
SPEAKER_03: Does anybody know why we use shells?
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, what do you think?
SPEAKER_03: We do use them to baptize people.
SPEAKER_03: We do.
SPEAKER_03: So that one's gonna hold the water, and this is a little scoop that I can use to put it on somebody.
SPEAKER_03: But why shells?
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's hard to know.
SPEAKER_03: You know, shells do a lot of different things.
SPEAKER_03: Used to be that people thought the world was flat.
SPEAKER_03: Have you heard this before?
SPEAKER_03: And people thought the end of the world was Spain.
SPEAKER_03: And if you walked too far off of Spain, you'd fall off the world.
SPEAKER_03: This is true.
SPEAKER_03: So when people would go to Spain, they would pick up a shell and bring it home and tell their church and their people, look, a souvenir from the end of the world.
SPEAKER_03: You guys have been to the end of the world.
SPEAKER_03: Well, no, because we know it's round, right?
SPEAKER_03: We know it's round, so we couldn't do it.
SPEAKER_03: But people started using shells to baptize because they say baptism is what takes us outside of our world.
SPEAKER_03: This one's really cool because one of our astronauts, Catherine Thornton, flew it out of the world.
SPEAKER_03: So this piece of silver left the atmosphere because what we say we do with this thing is out of this world.
SPEAKER_03: That's what we say.
SPEAKER_03: Now, what happens at baptism?
SPEAKER_03: Like, what do we do?
SPEAKER_03: What's going to happen?
unknown: Like, put water on the baby's head and like devote their life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we put water on the baby's head and devote their life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_03: Do the babies get to choose that?
SPEAKER_03: So wait a minute, we're taking their choice away?
SPEAKER_03: That doesn't sound nice.
unknown: They get to choose later.
SPEAKER_03: Ah, they get to choose later.
SPEAKER_03: Hey, here's a good question.
SPEAKER_03: Can you choose whether God loves you or not?
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's why we do it for babies.
SPEAKER_03: We say you don't have a choice.
SPEAKER_03: God's gonna follow you everywhere you go.
SPEAKER_03: And hopefully one day you'll say, I want that.
SPEAKER_03: But we're all gonna watch it and say, that's true.
SPEAKER_03: This is true if you're an adult in the room.
SPEAKER_03: You have no choice over God's love for you, it goes everywhere.
SPEAKER_03: Why do we use water?
SPEAKER_03: What does water do?
SPEAKER_03: It could carry the Holy Spirit, that's good.
SPEAKER_03: Okay, so we need water to grow, right?
SPEAKER_03: We use water to clean.
SPEAKER_03: What else do we do?
SPEAKER_03: We could use water to clean and heal, right?
SPEAKER_03: Hey, use water to live, and boy, it's Texas, so let's not pretend it doesn't get hot here.
SPEAKER_03: And you use water to cool off, right?
SPEAKER_03: And you use it to drink.
SPEAKER_03: This is all good, right?
SPEAKER_03: So look, that's all normal water, and what we're gonna ask God to do is something special with the water.
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna say, God, hey, refresh us with new life.
SPEAKER_03: So we need refreshing in the summer, we need some refreshing now.
SPEAKER_03: That's why we leave that out there for everybody during the week.
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna say, God, we need water to grow, so make this water grow our spirits.
SPEAKER_03: And we know that we use water to wash off, so we're gonna say, God, if there's anything that we don't need to carry, it'd be great if you'd help us wash it off, right?
SPEAKER_03: Maybe it means we did something wrong, but maybe it means we're just worried.
SPEAKER_03: Be great if we could wash our worries away, right?
SPEAKER_03: So we're gonna do the same thing we do with regular water.
SPEAKER_03: Last thing about the shell that I want to tell you that's really neat.
SPEAKER_03: Um do you know what happens when a clam, even a big one like that, when it gets irritated?
SPEAKER_03: It closes and then it does something.
SPEAKER_03: It makes a pearl.
SPEAKER_03: And you know what's really irritating to a clam?
SPEAKER_03: Sand, right?
SPEAKER_03: Sand is really, really irritating.
SPEAKER_03: Do clams like to keep their pearls?
SPEAKER_03: It turns out clams don't really need to keep their pearls.
SPEAKER_03: But this is a really interesting thing.
SPEAKER_03: Do you ever have people that irritate you?
SPEAKER_03: Any of you have siblings?
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I have people that irritate me.
SPEAKER_03: Umsually when somebody irritates us, we'd like to spit them out.
SPEAKER_03: But when somebody irritates God, God makes them beautiful.
SPEAKER_03: God turns a piece of sand into a beautiful pearl.
SPEAKER_03: And this is our great reminder about what we get to do together because all of us are irritating sometimes, and God finds us and makes us more and more beautiful.
SPEAKER_03: So that's what we're gonna ask God to do.
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna say, God, help us to treat each other like pearls or make them pearls.
SPEAKER_03: Help these two kids that we're gonna baptize grow up to be full of the Spirit, full of life, nourish their spirits, and if anything gets in the way, wash it away.
SPEAKER_03: And that's what we get to do today.
SPEAKER_03: Thanks for coming up and being bold.
SPEAKER_03: And when we get to the baptism, I'll invite you back up if you want a front row seat.
SPEAKER_04: A reading from Genesis.
SPEAKER_04: So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Haga.
SPEAKER_04: And he placed it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away.
SPEAKER_04: Then she walked away and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
SPEAKER_04: When the water in the skin was gone, she thrust the child under one of the bushes.
SPEAKER_04: Then she went and sat herself down before him, some way off, about the distance of a bowshot.
SPEAKER_04: For she said, Let me not see the death of the child.
SPEAKER_04: So she sat before him, and she lifted up her voice, and she had wept.
SPEAKER_04: And God heard the voice of the boy, and the messenger of God called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What troubles you, O Hagar?
SPEAKER_04: Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
SPEAKER_04: Arise, lift the boy, and hold him with your hand, for a great nation of him I will make.
SPEAKER_04: Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.
SPEAKER_04: She went and filled the skin with water, and let the boy drink.
SPEAKER_04: The word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_04: Psalm 34, 1 to 14.
SPEAKER_04: We will read responsibly by the heart verse.
SPEAKER_04: I will place she who is God at all times.
SPEAKER_04: Her praise shall ever be in her.
SPEAKER_04: I will glory in she who is strength.
SPEAKER_04: Let the humble hear and rejoice.
SPEAKER_04: Proclaim with me the greatness of she who is exalted.
SPEAKER_04: Let us exalt her name together.
SPEAKER_04: I sought she who saves, and she answered me, and delivered me out of all my terror.
SPEAKER_04: Look upon her and be radiant, and let not her face into be ashamed.
SPEAKER_04: I called in my affliction, and she who are her ears heard me, and saved me from all my trouble.
SPEAKER_04: The messenger of she who saves encompasses those who revere her, she will deliver her.
SPEAKER_04: Taste and see that she who is a delight is good.
SPEAKER_04: Happy are they who trust in her.
SPEAKER_04: Revere she who is God, and you that are her saints.
SPEAKER_04: For those who revere her lack nothing.
SPEAKER_04: The young lions suffer want for food and star, but those who seek sheep lack no good thing.
SPEAKER_04: Come, children, listen to me.
SPEAKER_04: Who is the woman or man that desires life?
SPEAKER_04: Keep your tongue from evil.
SPEAKER_04: Turn from evil and do good.
SPEAKER_00: Reading from Corinthians, now hear this the one who sows sparingly, sparingly will also reap.
SPEAKER_00: The one who sows in abundance in abundance will also reap.
SPEAKER_00: Each one must give as decided in your heart, not out of reluctance or under pressure, for God loves a cheerful giver, and the power of God is able to grant you every gift abundantly, so that always having enough of everything you all may abound in every good work.
SPEAKER_00: As it is written, God scatters generously and gives to the poor.
SPEAKER_00: God's righteousness endures forever.
SPEAKER_00: The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness, enriched in every way for every kind of generosity which will yield through us a thanksgiving to God, and for the offering of this ministry does not only supply the needs of the saints, but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.
SPEAKER_00: Through the character of this ministry, you all glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ, and by the generosity of your companionship with them and with all others.
SPEAKER_00: The word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_03: Glory to you, Lord Christ.
SPEAKER_03: Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by her, the Spirit, into the wilderness.
SPEAKER_03: Forty days was he tempted by the accuser, and nothing ate he, not one thing in those days.
SPEAKER_03: And when they were at an end, he was ravenous.
SPEAKER_03: And the accuser said to him, If the Son of God you are, command this stone that it become bread.
SPEAKER_03: Jesus answered him, It is written, Not by bread alone do the children of earth live.
SPEAKER_03: Then it raised Jesus up and showed him all the dominions of the world in a moment of time, and the accuser said to him, To you will I give all their authority and their glory, for to me has it been given, and as I will I give it to any one, thus, if you will worship me, it shall be yours.
SPEAKER_03: And Jesus answered, saying to it, It is written, The Holy One your God shall you worship, and God only shall you serve.
SPEAKER_03: Then it took Jesus to Jerusalem and placed him on the highest point of the temple, saying to him, If the Son of God you are, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, God's own angels will command on your account to protect you, and on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.
SPEAKER_03: Then Jesus answered, saying to it, It is said, Do not put the holy one your God to the test.
SPEAKER_03: And when every test was at an end, the accuser departed from Jesus for a season.
SPEAKER_03: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country, and he began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by every woman and man.
SPEAKER_03: The gospel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_03: And I'm not going to defend the choice in the lictionary, but I uh I sort of think it was absolutely on purpose.
SPEAKER_03: Reminder the lectionary presumes you know the story, which is Jesus' cousin John has invented a practice.
SPEAKER_03: And it does seem like John invented this.
SPEAKER_03: Jewish people at the time of Jesus were very concerned that they would pick up ritual impurities throughout the day, and said that they would take up to five, sometimes even more ritual baths to wash that off.
SPEAKER_03: These were not full of soap.
SPEAKER_03: They were like 50-gallon drums with water, and the idea was that you could sort of decontaminate yourself by getting in.
SPEAKER_03: John invents a new practice.
SPEAKER_03: One baptism for the forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_03: This is novel.
SPEAKER_03: It's public, it's not private, it's in the middle.
SPEAKER_03: It's not about ritual impurity, it's about sin.
SPEAKER_03: And we read that Jesus wants that.
SPEAKER_03: So he goes.
SPEAKER_03: He hears the voice from heaven saying, This is my son, my beloved, and then we fast forward to the next thing is he tests his new identity in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_03: And I gotta say, I love doing baptisms because they're so beautiful, aren't they?
SPEAKER_03: I mean, really, I don't know if you realize this is a real shell.
SPEAKER_03: It's 175 pounds, and it's sort of like the birth of Venus every time we do this, right?
SPEAKER_03: Like somebody comes in and comes out like Venus, resplendent, and here's God with you.
SPEAKER_03: And look, we use.
SPEAKER_03: I mean, this is water from the actual Jordan River, but it's from upstream where it's clean.
SPEAKER_03: It looks really good, right?
SPEAKER_03: And in the picture's everybody's sweet and serene, and it's just really lovely.
SPEAKER_03: Um except the Jordan River is really dirty, actually.
SPEAKER_03: Like it's brown and it overflows so often it could sweep you away.
SPEAKER_03: And people in the ancient world didn't wear like lovely white gowns.
SPEAKER_03: They went in naked, which I don't think I would want to do.
SPEAKER_03: And people in the ancient world were very afraid of putting their head under water because there was a thought that water is full of chaos and evil spirits and they could seize you up.
SPEAKER_03: Did you know all of this?
SPEAKER_03: I'm not making this up.
SPEAKER_03: So the ceremony is going to be beautiful.
SPEAKER_03: But I think there's also this reality, and we know this all too well, because we have an idiom in English.
SPEAKER_03: We say, that was a baptism by fire.
SPEAKER_03: And I think we're reading about Jesus' baptism by fire.
SPEAKER_03: So he has this moment of clarity God loves me.
SPEAKER_03: The Holy Spirit comes down, and then, as is often the case, clarity doesn't last all that long.
SPEAKER_03: I don't think I'm wrong about that.
SPEAKER_03: I think even our most extraordinary moments, we find ourselves wishing they would go on repeat a week later.
SPEAKER_03: So Jesus goes out, and this is maybe helpful to think through because John says this is the baptism for the forgiveness of sin, and we know that Jesus is like us in every way, but without sin.
SPEAKER_03: So why would he want that?
SPEAKER_03: And maybe this is helpful to say that we use the word sin now in a way that it was not used in the Bible.
SPEAKER_03: So sin comes from two words in the Bible: a Hebrew word hatat, a Greek word hamarsha.
SPEAKER_03: In Hebrew it can mean two things.
SPEAKER_03: So let me walk you through all three things that sin can mean, and hopefully we'll see why Jesus would maybe want it.
SPEAKER_03: So the Hebrew word is Hattat, and it either means it comes from archery, like you aimed for the bullseye and you hit the first ring.
SPEAKER_03: So you missed the mark.
SPEAKER_03: It doesn't mean you were a moral failure, it just means things didn't turn out like you'd hoped.
SPEAKER_03: So I don't want to get on anybody's nerves here, but when Oregon lost that game, they sinned.
SPEAKER_03: Because they didn't mean to.
SPEAKER_03: You see, they didn't mean to.
SPEAKER_03: They were trying to be undefeated the whole year and it didn't work.
SPEAKER_03: You may say, Mike, that's watering down the word.
SPEAKER_03: That's what it means.
SPEAKER_03: So what's the worst response to sin?
SPEAKER_03: Is you put your bow down and you quit.
SPEAKER_03: The proper response is, I can practice more intentionally.
SPEAKER_03: I can practice well.
SPEAKER_03: And look, we all know this is what's fun about March Madness.
SPEAKER_03: Sorry for the sports metaphors, every team has a bad day.
SPEAKER_03: And sometimes a team has one good day, and it's their only good one all year, but they have it in the first round, and it's exhilarating.
SPEAKER_03: And our lives don't exist in one moment, they exist it day by day by day.
SPEAKER_03: So no matter how good you are, you will probably miss the mark, which means you will sin.
SPEAKER_03: And the question is, what do you do when that happens?
SPEAKER_03: Do you become bitter?
SPEAKER_03: Do you give up?
SPEAKER_03: Do you stop?
SPEAKER_03: Do you blame other people?
SPEAKER_03: I mean, this is how we often react.
SPEAKER_03: Other definition of a ta in Hebrew is it means to carry a heavy weight.
SPEAKER_03: Now, that could be literally, and it could be, and I would tell you that if you go on a serial killing rampage, that is a burden that you have imposed on society, and I would say to your own soul, because hey, humans don't do well when we kill other humans.
SPEAKER_03: But this could mean also not just that you did something wrong, but my life is full of burdens like regret.
SPEAKER_03: If you've had a child, I think you know what it's like to carry a burden.
SPEAKER_03: If you've been married more than a couple of years, I think you know what it's like to carry a burden.
SPEAKER_03: Because it's hard.
SPEAKER_03: So maybe Jesus has got some burdens he'd like to lay down.
SPEAKER_03: Don't you have burdens you wish you could lay down?
SPEAKER_03: I do.
SPEAKER_03: Sin as a burden.
SPEAKER_03: The last word we get in the Bible, this is in Greek, the word's hamarsha, and it means your tragic flaw.
SPEAKER_03: Tragic flaws are so entertaining that there are plays about them.
SPEAKER_03: You may not remember reading Oedipus Rex in high school, but you probably did.
SPEAKER_03: Oedipus the king, his tragic flaw was hubris, that is, trying to be more than he was.
SPEAKER_03: Now, probably everybody knows, because we're in church, you probably know somebody whose tragic flaw is giving.
SPEAKER_03: We love that they give and they're generous, but do you know people who give so much that they'll never receive?
SPEAKER_03: Why is that a tragic flaw?
SPEAKER_03: Because you can't be in relationship with them.
SPEAKER_03: So they give to their own detriment.
SPEAKER_03: Do you know people who are so creative, they always think outside the box, and sometimes when they get frustrated, they turn to rebellion because they just want to do a different.
SPEAKER_03: By the way, I'm talking about myself.
SPEAKER_03: So sometimes our gifts cast big lights and they cast big shadows.
SPEAKER_03: And the word for that in the New Testament is sin.
SPEAKER_03: So maybe Jesus, I mean, I'm just gonna say maybe, Jesus didn't have the moral transgression, but did Jesus want to lay down a burden?
SPEAKER_03: I guarantee you he did.
SPEAKER_03: Because he grew up born out of wedlock, and I bet people called him that word we don't use anymore.
SPEAKER_03: Starts with a B, and I bet you he wanted to lay that burden down.
SPEAKER_03: Jesus was a carpenter for 30 years, and it seems like he decided not to do that anymore.
SPEAKER_03: Like he decided what he was going to focus on instead.
SPEAKER_03: I don't know what Jesus' tragic flaw was.
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
SPEAKER_03: And maybe that was wrapped up in his vocation, but I think, given the way that the Bible uses the word sin, it is very possible that Jesus wouldn't, well, be done with it.
SPEAKER_03: And I think the beauty is we use this clean water, we talk about pearls, and we talk about shells, and the truth is I wish in a moment I could lay it down for good.
SPEAKER_03: I wish that were true, but friends, it's not true.
SPEAKER_03: You know this to be the case.
SPEAKER_03: My first placement out of seminary was in a drug rehab facility for mostly black clients.
SPEAKER_03: This was in Atlanta, mostly addicted to crack.
SPEAKER_03: Sobriety does not come in one wash.
SPEAKER_03: Sobriety is a journey that takes every day of your life.
SPEAKER_03: And it is so much work that the message of sobriety is we don't think about tomorrow because we'll get overwhelmed.
SPEAKER_03: We think about today.
SPEAKER_03: Because if I think about having to do this work for 365 and a quarter days a year for the next 45 years of my putative lifespan, it's crushing.
SPEAKER_03: So we do one day at a time, which I think is why we ask God for our daily bread, not our annual bread.
SPEAKER_03: This description of baptism, this is Jesus testing what he's just seen.
SPEAKER_03: This is the baptism of fire.
SPEAKER_03: These are the waves of chaos that come to him to see, are you really laying that down?
SPEAKER_03: Or are you just gonna pick it right up?
SPEAKER_03: Are you really changing the way you aim and shoot and target?
SPEAKER_03: Or do you just take a breather and you're going back to your habit?
SPEAKER_03: Are you really limiting your tragic flaw?
SPEAKER_03: For the sake of your light and the world, or are you gonna go back to shadow casting?
SPEAKER_03: Now, these temptations you've probably heard of, and they don't sound that tempting to most of us.
SPEAKER_03: I mean, after all, is there anything morally wrong in changing stone into bread?
SPEAKER_03: I actually think that would be kind of neat, right?
SPEAKER_03: It would be a great fun at parties.
SPEAKER_03: Look what I can do.
SPEAKER_03: And look, in a place where people are uh impoverished and don't have food, it would be really, really useful.
SPEAKER_03: After all, the disciples are expecting that a Messiah is going to come and solve their problems for them.
SPEAKER_03: And if you could turn, well, rocks into bread, well, there'd be plenty to eat.
SPEAKER_03: So most scholars will tell you that this is Jesus being tempted to be who other people want him to be instead of who God wants him to be.
SPEAKER_03: I'm still on that journey in my own life.
SPEAKER_03: My dad's been dead for three years, and his voice is louder in my head than my own.
SPEAKER_03: I don't know if you have those voices in your head from your parents about who you want to be.
SPEAKER_03: They're not even always bad, right?
SPEAKER_03: But we have to discern who we are versus who they wanted us to be.
SPEAKER_03: We have to discern who God is calling us to be over what we've settled for.
SPEAKER_03: I'm actually want to offer you an interpretation of this from Stephen Charleston, who's a Native American bishop.
SPEAKER_03: In the Native American culture, the oldest thing, the elders on earth, are rocks.
SPEAKER_03: So this is a temptation, says Stephen Charleston, for Jesus to use his elders as commodities to be exploited.
SPEAKER_03: That might sound really crazy, except if you've read the Hebrew Bible, anytime there's like a really powerful event, they raise up a rock called an Ebenezer to bear witness.
SPEAKER_03: So actually I think they share some of the same perspective.
SPEAKER_03: And I don't know if you're like me, but boy, sometimes I meet people and I think, what can you do for me?
SPEAKER_03: Instead of, who are you?
SPEAKER_03: That is certainly how we introduce ourselves to one another in America, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03: And what do you do?
SPEAKER_03: Because I'd like to know what I can do with you.
SPEAKER_03: Are you ever tempted to approach somebody as a commodity that will help you with your goals?
SPEAKER_03: I rarely come out of the water on that one, if I'm honest.
SPEAKER_03: And this is going to sound really liberal, maybe it is, but we have a history of treating the earth as minerals to be extracted instead of as beauty to be protected.
SPEAKER_03: Thank God for national parks.
SPEAKER_03: I hope we don't lose them, because the goal of the park system is to make sure that we don't sacrifice beauty for strip mining.
SPEAKER_03: Why do we need that?
SPEAKER_03: Because we do it.
SPEAKER_03: We would do it in a second.
SPEAKER_03: So, by the way, is that sinful?
SPEAKER_03: I'm going to say yes it is.
SPEAKER_03: I'm going to say it is.
SPEAKER_03: So, this is Jesus' first test.
SPEAKER_03: How will you approach people as cogs in your machine?
SPEAKER_03: Or as subjects created and loved by God.
SPEAKER_03: Then we get this other bit.
SPEAKER_03: And you'll notice that when the word Satan was used, I read the translation because the Bible did not have in mind this red thing with a tail and a pitchfork that came from Dante and John Milton.
SPEAKER_03: The word Satan means accuser, and the word devil means slanderer.
SPEAKER_03: Now you may need a red thing to do that for you.
SPEAKER_03: I don't.
SPEAKER_03: That voice is in me already, right?
SPEAKER_03: I don't need a thing on my shoulder.
SPEAKER_03: I've already got it in my brain.
SPEAKER_03: So the slanderer shows up to Jesus and says, I'll tell you what, bow down to me, and you can have all the kingdoms of the world.
SPEAKER_03: And let's not pretend that the devil owns the world, or we're all slaves to the devil.
SPEAKER_03: That mythology comes way after the scriptures and is not scriptural at all.
SPEAKER_03: I mean, really, this is probably something like you can have it all if you do it quickly and efficiently.
SPEAKER_03: Just take up the sword and you'll win.
SPEAKER_03: You ever tempted that the means justify the end?
SPEAKER_03: Boy, I am.
SPEAKER_03: I am tempted that the means justify the end.
SPEAKER_03: I would like to be efficient and quick.
SPEAKER_03: I'd like to get the right thing done right now.
SPEAKER_03: Maybe this is Jesus saying, I'm not going to pick that burden up.
SPEAKER_03: I'm going to lay it down.
SPEAKER_03: Even if that means it costs me my life.
SPEAKER_03: By the way, it will.
SPEAKER_03: Cost him his life.
SPEAKER_03: What about this third one?
SPEAKER_03: You know, jumping off the temple, which is about the size of our building, 45 feet tall, and coasting to the ground, sounded like a great idea when I was a middle school boy.
SPEAKER_03: But Jesus is now 30.
SPEAKER_03: So what's the temptation here?
SPEAKER_03: It's probably not a flair for the dramatics.
SPEAKER_03: It's something, frankly, much less glamorous.
SPEAKER_03: God's just told Jesus, you're my beloved child, and you I'm well pleased.
SPEAKER_03: And I know I've said this before, so you probably already know the answer.
SPEAKER_03: How many times do you have to confirm a rule in math to prove it?
SPEAKER_03: Infinitely?
SPEAKER_03: How many counterexamples does it take to destroy a rule?
SPEAKER_03: One.
SPEAKER_03: And I still have the days where I say, prove it.
SPEAKER_03: I know better than to say it out loud.
SPEAKER_03: This is my internal dialogue, but I act in ways sometimes that say, how about you prove it today?
SPEAKER_03: I mean, really, maybe this is a temptation about the security of God's love.
SPEAKER_03: If you don't live in that space insecurity about God's love, I don't really have anything to say to you.
SPEAKER_03: You should be the priest.
SPEAKER_03: I live in that space all the time.
SPEAKER_03: Sure, I know it on paper, but effectually, it's just sort of hard at our worst to think that God loves us.
SPEAKER_03: Kind of hard.
SPEAKER_03: I'd like to think it was hard for Jesus, because that means, well, he's like me.
SPEAKER_03: I'd like to think it was hard.
SPEAKER_03: I've even had family members who purposefully tried to test my love.
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
SPEAKER_03: I don't know that they put it in on paper, but boy, they would self-sabotage themselves in a second because they thought they weren't worth it.
SPEAKER_03: And they wanted to get it over with soon that I would reject them.
SPEAKER_03: So they put me to a test.
SPEAKER_03: Have you had somebody like that?
SPEAKER_03: Your life seems like Jesus did.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and so I wonder about these temptations, this baptism by fire.
SPEAKER_03: The truth is, without the baptism by fire, let's just go back to what we were used to.
SPEAKER_03: When the scriptures use the word fire, they never use them in a sense of torture or punishment.
SPEAKER_03: The point of heat is to burn away the dross.
SPEAKER_03: And I will say sometimes I'll start to heat up and my hair will get scorched a little bit, I'll get uncomfortable, and then I'll withdraw before I was transformed.
SPEAKER_03: Before I was transformed.
SPEAKER_03: It's because I didn't stay with the work long enough for it to recreate me.
SPEAKER_03: I'm pretty sure that's why we have these other two readings today.
SPEAKER_03: You notice what Abraham does with water.
SPEAKER_03: He washes his hands of his wife and child and sends them out to die.
SPEAKER_03: When we formally wash our hands of somebody, we've become Pontius Pilate, not Jesus.
SPEAKER_03: You notice that water is life, and God's going to give it to Hegar.
SPEAKER_03: So the question is, do we join God in giving life or do we use water so we feel better about turning away from other people?
SPEAKER_03: That's a baptism by fire, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03: I hate to tell you this, the church hadn't done real well over the ages with it.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we have washed our hands of other people wholesale rather than pursuing them to give them life.
SPEAKER_03: We get this other bit from 2 Corinthians.
SPEAKER_03: That God lives, loves a cheerful giver.
SPEAKER_03: Now, because the holiday season's over, maybe you shouldn't raise your hand because some of you have family members in the room.
SPEAKER_03: I don't always give cheerfully.
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes I give out of guilt.
SPEAKER_03: Particularly during the holidays.
SPEAKER_03: Don't raise your hand.
SPEAKER_03: But anybody else give the guilt gift of obligation over the holidays?
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's fine.
SPEAKER_03: That's what human beings do, but what does God love?
SPEAKER_03: God loves giving with cheer.
SPEAKER_03: Not because of how the person will receive the gift, but because frankly, we thought of them and wanted to offer it.
SPEAKER_03: God does not give us anything out of guilt or obligation.
SPEAKER_03: It seems like God actually loves us.
SPEAKER_03: It seems like God actually enjoys giving us grace, no matter whether we open it or defile it or whatever we do.
SPEAKER_03: Why did God like to do it?
SPEAKER_03: Because God thought you might enjoy it.
SPEAKER_03: You tickled God to give you grace.
SPEAKER_03: Boy, and if you're like me and it doesn't always tickle you to give gifts, it's time to get under the water.
SPEAKER_03: It's time to be under the water so we can be recreated.
SPEAKER_03: Because frankly, isn't life too short to give a bunch of gifts you didn't want to give anyway?
SPEAKER_03: What if we gave the ones that, wow, we just were happy to give?
SPEAKER_03: The scripture says, those who give with abundance get abundance, and I don't think that means they gave everything they had.
SPEAKER_03: I think the abundance is the abundance of spirit.
SPEAKER_03: Some of the most delightful gifts I've given were the cheapest ones.
SPEAKER_03: But they were so full of thoughtfulness and joy.
SPEAKER_03: So full.
SPEAKER_03: Now listen, as a as your priest, I'll tell you, we'll take either kind of gift here.
SPEAKER_03: I just want you to know, right, that part of going under the water is rubbing away that other kind so our spirit can be free to give the other kind.
SPEAKER_03: To give the other kind.
SPEAKER_03: And yes, you know, I think the truth is, like you heard me say to the kids, there's something really glorious about when we irritate God, God making us beautiful.
SPEAKER_03: Something really glorious about that.
SPEAKER_03: And it's a lot of work.
SPEAKER_03: It is like so much work that I can only think about one day at a time.
SPEAKER_03: Because if I think about loving my Uncle Philip like that for the rest of his life or mine, there's no way.
SPEAKER_03: But maybe I could do it today.
SPEAKER_03: Like just for today.
SPEAKER_03: Maybe I could take the people and the behaviors that irritate me and with the grace of God turn them into something beautiful.
SPEAKER_03: And I'm not just talking about other people, because the truth is the person that irritates me most is usually the one I look at in the mirror.
SPEAKER_03: And what if we were able to do what God does?
SPEAKER_03: And take those irritating things and surround them layer by layer until they are resplendent with love.
SPEAKER_03: That's why we do these publicly, to remind us we're in on this.
SPEAKER_03: That's why we do these with kiss.
SPEAKER_03: Because if you look at an infant as a human being and don't have some compassion, it probably means you're a sociopath.
SPEAKER_03: Because we have evolved as mammals to care for our young.
SPEAKER_03: We practice when it's easy, but the hard work is when you leave to see your spouse at their worst, your kids having their heads spin around and didn't even mention that co-worker.
SPEAKER_03: But what if, boy, this practice we could say, there you are, sweetie.
SPEAKER_03: You're just like that little baby.
SPEAKER_03: You're just like that little baby that God loves.
SPEAKER_03: And maybe that takes a lot of work.
SPEAKER_03: I'm sure it does.
SPEAKER_03: Which is why we're going to be nourished off the table after this.
SPEAKER_03: We're going to be nourished in spirit to do that work.
SPEAKER_03: You're going to see the beauty in just a minute.
SPEAKER_03: It's beautiful.
SPEAKER_03: Keep that when we leave, and let's work on.
SPEAKER_03: It for ourselves, for our neighbors, for God.
SPEAKER_03: Let's actually lean in to being baptized with a little fire this year.
SPEAKER_03: So I'm going to invite our two families to come up now and join us around the font.
SPEAKER_03: And this is going to seem really evangelical of me, but anybody else out there that wants to be baptized today?
SPEAKER_03: If there is, come on up.
SPEAKER_03: We'll do it now.
SPEAKER_03: Any kids that want a front view, you're welcome here at the rail or in front of the show.
SPEAKER_03: You don't have to come up, but you're invited.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, and congregation, I warned you already, I'm going to renew your baptism when we're done too.
SPEAKER_03: So I'm going to sprinkle this water on you so that you can remember.
SPEAKER_03: Not only are you loved by God, but God loves you so much that God would like to make you beautiful.
SPEAKER_03: Okay, we are ready.
SPEAKER_03: So we're going to do James first.
SPEAKER_03: The candidates for holy baptism will now be presented.
SPEAKER_03: Okay, and now Aurora.
SPEAKER_03: I present Aurora and Johnson to receive the sacramental baptism.
SPEAKER_03: Now this next question is especially for you all and other members of the family and friends.
SPEAKER_03: Will you be responsible for seeing that these children you present are brought up in the Christian faith and life?
SPEAKER_03: Will you, by your prayers and witness, help these children to grow into the full stature of Christ?
SPEAKER_03: And this is for everybody in the room.
SPEAKER_03: This is our chance to renew our own baptism, which is again why we do this publicly, so we can remember.
SPEAKER_03: Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?
SPEAKER_03: Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?
SPEAKER_03: Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?
SPEAKER_03: Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?
SPEAKER_03: Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?
SPEAKER_03: Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?
SPEAKER_03: This is why we do it publicly too, because everybody should say we will and mean it.
SPEAKER_03: Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support James, Aurora, and one another in your lives with Christ?
SPEAKER_03: Then I invite you to join me in standing and let us join with those who are committing themselves to Christ and renew our own baptismal covenant.
SPEAKER_03: Do you believe in God the Father?
SPEAKER_03: I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_03: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
SPEAKER_03: Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER_03: Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers?
SPEAKER_03: Will you persevere in resisting evil and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
SPEAKER_03: Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ?
SPEAKER_03: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
SPEAKER_03: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?
SPEAKER_02: Let us now pray for James and Aurora, who are to receive the sacrament of new birth.
SPEAKER_02: Deliver them, O Lord, from the way of sin and death.
SPEAKER_02: Open their hearts to your grace and truth.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Fill them with your holy and life-giving spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Keep them in the faith and communion of your holy church.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Teach them to love others in the power of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Send them into the world and witness to your love.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Bring them to the fullness of your peace and glory.
SPEAKER_03: Lord, hear our prayer.
SPEAKER_03: Grant, O Lord, that all who are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ, your Son, may live in the power of his resurrection and look for him to come in glory who lives and reigns now and forever.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: The Lord be with you.
SPEAKER_03: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
SPEAKER_03: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water.
SPEAKER_03: Over it, the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation.
SPEAKER_03: Through it, you led the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise.
SPEAKER_03: In it, your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us through his death and resurrection from the bondage of sin into everlasting life.
SPEAKER_03: We thank you, Father, for the water of baptism.
SPEAKER_03: In it, we are buried with Christ in his death.
SPEAKER_03: By it we share in his resurrection.
SPEAKER_03: Through it, we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_03: Therefore, in a joyful obedience to your Son, we bring into His fellowship those who come to Him in faith, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and now sanctify this water, we pray you by the power of your Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_03: That those who are here cleansed from sin and born again may continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Savior.
SPEAKER_03: To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory now and forever.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: So we're going to do one at a time.
SPEAKER_03: We're going to sing one at a time into the kingdom of God, and we are going to start with you, sir.
SPEAKER_03: James, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: James, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked as God's very own forever and ever.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Let's sing James into the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: James.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Okay, there we go.
SPEAKER_03: There we go.
SPEAKER_03: Aurora, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked as God's very own forever and ever.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Alright, let's sing Aurora into the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_03: God claims you.
SPEAKER_03: God helps you, protects you, and loves you too.
SPEAKER_03: We this day do all luxury.
SPEAKER_03: A child of God you always be.
SPEAKER_03: Aurora, Aurora, God claims you, God helps you, protects you, and loves you too.
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
SPEAKER_03: If you turn in your red prayer book to page three hundred eight.
SPEAKER_03: Page three hundred and eight.
SPEAKER_03: Or if you turn in your bulletin to page six, that might be easier.
SPEAKER_03: We have this lovely prayer for our baptisans and a welcome.
SPEAKER_03: And then I'm going to come and help you remember your own baptism.
SPEAKER_03: So let us pray.
SPEAKER_03: Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit, you've bestowed upon James and Aurora, your children, the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to new lives of grace.
SPEAKER_03: Sustain them, O Lord, and your Holy Spirit, give them inquiring and discerning hearts, the courage to will and persevere, the spirit to know and love you, and the gifts of joy and wonder in all your works.
SPEAKER_03: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Let us welcome the newly baptized.
SPEAKER_03: We receive you into the household of God, confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood.
SPEAKER_03: And this is for everybody else.
SPEAKER_03: I'm not baptizing you, but I'm reminding you of your baptism.