October 12, 2008

People of Promise; Child of Promise
a sermon on Acts 2.36-39
by David C. Mauldin
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Mobile, Alabama

What a difference faith makes! It makes all the difference in the world in how you look at things and what you understand them to be. I’ll give you a few examples.

The church: What is the church? Is it an association of like-minded individuals? We have enough in common and we like one another enough that we come together for religious and social reasons? Is that all the church is? Or is there more—something you need faith see—something real, something true, but something you need faith to recognize? Is the church God’s people, whom God builds by his Word and Spirit?

If you have faith, you know it is. We are not here by accident or preference. We are here because God has brought us together. What binds us together is much more than that we happen to like one another. “People are nice, and I feel comfortable” only gets you so far. We need a stronger bond. We need the strong glue of God’s will and his Spirit to hold us together the way God intends.

The church is God’s people, created and built up by God. But you need faith to believe this.

Baptism: What is baptism? Is it a ritual of initiation? Certainly it is. But is it also more than that? A ritual of initiation is something we do. What about God? Does he do anything when we baptize someone? Faith says he does. Faith says baptism is a sacrament by which God unites a person with Jesus Christ. God takes his promises and he seals them on our hearts and he says, “You are my child. These promises are for you.” Faith must come for the baptized person. Baptism is ineffective apart from faith. Yet we Presbyterians don’t worry about whether faith comes before or after baptism, because we look to God for that. We look to God to give us faith and to preserve us in faith. Yes, we have a response to make; but God’s grace is always primary. So when we baptize Baker this morning, we are doing more than dedicating her to God … more than claiming her as our own … more than asking God to give her faith someday. We are putting our faith in God’s promises and trusting him to seal those promises in her heart. That takes faith. Anyone can perform a ritual of initiation. Baptism takes faith.

What about your responsibility for those who are baptized? You support the church, you show up most Sundays, you encourage Baker as she grows. You are nice to the children here generally. Is that enough? Have you done your part if you do these things? No. Maybe this would be enough, if we didn’t have faith. If we were a social club and we initiated someone, our obligations might be minimal. But we have faith. We know we are God’s people. He has brought us together. And baptism is a lot more than initiation. And our responsibility for those who are baptized is greater. When a child, or an adult, is baptized in our church, we become God’s partners in nurturing that person in faith and commitment. People who volunteer to teach or help with kids, who get to know the children and remember birthdays and that kind of thing, who give and work in the church, who set a good example, who pray for our children regularly—the people who do all that, they are fulfilling the minimum of our obligations. You heard right, the minimum. God gives to us the blessing of children, and with that blessing comes a terrible responsibility. Our job is to nurture and love each child, to teach them the Christian faith in a compelling way by our words and example, and to instill in them the certain knowledge of God’s grace—so that they know down deep in their heart (more surly than they know anything else), “I belong to God. I am his child, because God loves me and Jesus died for me. He has a purpose for me. He has made me strong to serve others in his name. In life and in death, his grace upholds me.”

God holds us accountable—all of us. Let’s suppose you realize the gravity of this obligation, and you’d rather avoid it. So when we get to the part of the baptism service when I ask the congregation if you will support Baker and do your part, you don’t say anything. You just remain silent, maybe mouthing the words so your neighbors won’t catch on. If you don’t take the vow, are you off the hook? Not a chance. God has brought us together. He has made us a church. And he has given Baker to us and us to Baker. God doesn’t allow weaseling. You can run from God’s call. You can pretend you are not called. But the one thing you can never do is make yourself not called.

Imagine someone God called to be a pastor. For convenience we’ll imagine he is a guy. Well, this guy doesn’t really want to be a pastor. So he reasons, “If I take vows of ordination, then I’ll have to keep them. If I don’t, I’m in the clear.” Is he right? No. God has called him. God will hold him accountable for how he answers that call. This may seem a bit heavy handed, but God is God after all. You may just want to come on Sundays, visit with friends, hear the outstanding preaching we get nearly every week here at Westminster, and wish the children well. What do you think, is that enough? Or are these children your children too, in the sense that you have a divine obligation toward them? … What answer does faith give?

Faith makes all the difference. And let me hasten to say that the answers to all these questions are not like beauty; they are not in the eye of the beholder. It is not that with faith we see things one way and without faith we see things another, and both are equally valid. Truth is not relative because God defines truth. If everything is relative, or if faith is wrong, then nothing we do today matters at all. We’re wasting our time. But if faith is right—and I say it is—then this is the second most important day in Baker’s life—the first being the day she puts her faith in Christ or the moment she realizes she already has.

I believe. I believe God raised Jesus from the dead. I am more certain of that than anything else I know. I believe in God’s power. I believe in God’s promises. And I believe God’s promises are for you … and for me … and for Baker.

I believe that when God told the serpent in the Garden of Eden, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel,” God had Baker in mind. Of course he was talking about Jesus. He was hinting at a Savior to come. Christians have always read this verse this way, as a promise of the coming Savior. In the aftermath of humanity’s rebellion against God, before all the dust had even settled, God promised a Savior. This Savior is Jesus. Yet when God made the promise, he had Baker in mind. He knew she was coming. He knew she would need a Savior.

I believe that when God told Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” he had Baker in mind. God was creating for himself a special people. He knew Baker was coming and he wanted her to be a part of it. That last part about all the families of the earth being blessed is the most important, because even as he was creating a special, exclusive people, God had the whole world in mind. That promise was ultimately fulfilled by Jesus, who is both Israel’s Messiah and the Savior of the world. His death and resurrection opened wide the doors to God’s family. It does not matter whether Baker is a physical descendant of Abraham or not, and if so how directly. What matters—what makes one a part of God’s people—is faith. You are Abraham’s offspring and an heir to his promise if you have faith like he had, a faith that trusts God’s promises.

I believe that when Jacob dreamed of a stairway into heaven, and God passed the promises on to him, that God had Baker in mind. And not just Baker, but you too … and me as well. God knew us before we were born. He had no illusions about our goodness. He knew the sin and selfishness of our hearts. And yet he loved us, enough to want to rescue us and clean us up and transform us into the people he created us to be. We have to die and be resurrected before we get to that point, but such things are easy for God. Do you believe that? Do you believe God had you in mind when he gave his great promises? I do.

I believe that when God promised to build King David a house, meaning a dynasty, so that one of David’s descendants would always rule over God’s people, that he had Baker in mind. She’s not the promised ruler. Jesus is. But God knew Baker, and he knew she would need a king. He wanted her to live in a world of peace and justice and goodness, and he knew such a kingdom—the kingdom of God—required a king like no other: with the wisdom of God, the power of God, the holy justice and the mercy of God. So he made the promise and fulfilled it by sending Jesus … for Baker … for you … for me.

I believe that when God promised to bring the exiles home from Babylon, he had Baker in mind. Despite all appearances, God wasn’t finished with his people yet. He never will be. God is faithful. We are not, but he is. Besides, the Savior was still to come, the Savior who would set us free not from Babylon or Rome but from sin and death. When God gave his people a new beginning, somewhere in his mind was Baker.

I believe that when God, through the prophet Jeremiah, promised a new covenant, he had Baker in mind. Jesus mentioned this promise specifically when he gave his disciples the cup at the last supper: “This is the new covenant in my blood.” He was telling them, and us, that his death was the beginning of this new covenant. His death made it possible. And when he went to the cross, he did it for Baker.

I believe that when God, through the prophet Joel, promised to pour out his Spirit on his people, he had Baker in mind. This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost. Through his Spirit God creates and empowers his people today. Peter told the crowd that day that this promise is for Baker. He said, “"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” That includes Baker. It includes her big sister Lexi. (Never forget the older sibling.) It includes her parents … and you—all of you—and me. It is a promise for everyone, for all who will receive it, for all who have the faith to trust God to do it.

I believe. Do you? Do you believe God’s promises? Bo you believe in forgiveness of sins and the life everlasting? Do you believe in God’s on-going work in the world? Do you believe God is here today, calling you to faith, calling you to a new way of life, calling you to service? Do you believe we are God’s people, not here by accident or choice? Do you believe God claims us as his own in the water of baptism? Do you believe Christ died for you and rose again so that you might become the person God created you to be, loving and enjoying God forever?

I know it is asking a lot. It would be easy to sit back and watch what we do and say, “A man poured some water on a baby’s head because that’s how Christians initiate people.” You need faith to see more than that. Faith makes all the difference in the world—all the difference in eternity too. I believe. Do you?

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