Being and becoming children

A Sermon preached on August 20^th, Pentecost XI, at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

Holy Baptism: Ezekiel 36:24-28, Romans 8:14-17, Mark 10:13-16

Last week we had a young adult Baptism, this week our baptismal candidate is a child: David Leonard is 1 1/4 years old. Anglicans do both – is this yet another case of us not being able to decide? Are we Catholic or Reformed? Both! Is Christ really present in the Sacrament of bread and wine or is it just a memorial? Both! The Priesthood of all believers or Orders of ministry? Both! Baptism of adults or children? Both! Actually, these are not examples of Anglicans not being able or wanting to decide. Sometimes both is the right answer, just as Christ is both human and divine. Then of course there are cases where there really is only one possible choice, both doctrinal – one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism – and ethical and moral. In the recent events in Charlottesville, VA there was no “both” and there were not “many equivalent sides.” There was a right side and a wrong side, because racism, antisemitism, white supremacism and Nazism, whether new or old, are always wrong, as this our host country knows only too well. 

But as far as baptism are concerned, we recognize different paths and choices. Some people only come to faith later in life, and had parents who did not have them baptized, either to give their children a choice, or because the parents were not Christian. For others, the message we heard from Jesus in the Gospel has priority. “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” (Mark 10:14) Membership in God’s family through Baptism, is we believe equally open to children and does not require their knowledge or understanding at that time. However, David’s parents and godparents will promise to ensure that he is brought up in the Christian faith and life and so gains that knowledge and understanding.

When we met to talk about Baptism and to prepare the service, Jennifer and Fabio asked if I could include the following poem. It is called “On Children” by Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer from the turn of the 20^th century. 

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,

but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children

as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,

and He bends you with His might

that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let our bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Analyzing poems is almost as bad as explaining jokes. I make no claims to know what the poet was thinking, or what exactly Jennifer and Fabio like about his work. But there are three things I take from this poem …. And all three are also reflected in today’s readings:

1. While God is not explicitly mentioned in the poem, Kahlil Gibran was born and raised as a Maronite Catholic Christian.  When he writes, “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself,” Life has a capital L and is I think as much an image of the divine as the archer he mentions in the last verse. Our children are of course our children, but they are also the children of God.
2. “And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.” Children have a value and life of their own. Our role as parents and godparents is to love them, to equip them for life, and to help them fulfill their potential. For us as followers of Christ that includes, as David’s parents and godparents will promise, by their prayers and witness, to help him grow into the full stature of Christ.
3. “You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.” Our children are not supposed to be little copies of us. On the contrary, Gibran writes, it would be good if we could be like our children, at least in their open, hope filled, and expectant attitude to the future.

So how are these themes mirrored in the two New Testament passages we heard this morning? Well we do not have to look far to find the first idea in Paul.

In Romans 8, Paul says that everyone who has received and accepted God’s Spirit, is a child of God. This status of being God’s child is freely available to anyone who chooses, it is a gift. Part of that gift is the promise that we will share in Christ’s glory, that we will be given the same status as God’s only Son ….. but another part is the reminder that we do not know what life holds in store for us or for our children when, as Gibran puts it, they are sent forth like living arrows.

In the passage from Mark’s Gospel we hear clearly how important children were for Jesus and how indignant he was when his disciples tried to prevent them getting near Jesus for a blessing. In the society of that day, children had a relatively low status, but nor for Jesus who welcomed anyone who wanted to see and be with him.

Jesus goes beyond just welcoming children. He raises them up as an example to follow: “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15) What does it mean to receive the kingdom as a little child, what sort of childlike behavior is required? In the extract from Romans, Paul identifies the following qualities of the children of God. Fearlessness: “you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.” An attitude of joy at the great gift we have received: “When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Being both expectant and hopeful knowing that we are “joint heirs with Christ” and that if we suffer we will also be glorified with Christ. I also asked our Wednesday Bible group what they thought were the qualities that would allow us receive the kingdom of God as a little child, and they came up with the following list:  innate generosity, loving dependence, innocence, simple faith, trust, being open and receptive. 

As it turns out Baptism, adult or infant, is always about children. Whether we are still officially children, and some of us never seem to stop, we are all called to a childlike attitude towards our Lord: trusting, loving, open, and generous. David Leonard is already a member of one little human family by virtue of his brith. By water and by the Spirit of God we will now make him a member of a much bigger family, of Christ's Body the Church.

Amen.

Faith and promise

A Sermon preached on August 13^th, Pentecost X, at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

1 Kings 19:9-18, Romans 10:5-15, Matthew 14:22-33

Welcome once again to Noah and your family on the occasion of your Baptism. I know this church has a special meaning for your family as I discovered when your father first approached me five months ago about your baptism. Both he and his brothers were also baptized here in 1974. So I suppose that makes us a sort of Smith family church. 

Today’s New Testament readings are good ones for a baptism. Don’t worry Noah, I will not be asking you to walk on water like Peter, our font is far too small. The reason I say that is because faith is the focus of both passages: Matthew’s version of the story of Jesus – and his case also Peter - walking on water, the latter only briefly, and Paul’s discussion about the word of faith that we believe in our heart, and also profess and proclaim. And faith is also the focus of the Sacrament of Baptism: a public profession of belief and a set of promises based on those beliefs that we say we will try to fulfill. 

Let us look at the Letter to the Romans first. Paul addressed this letter to the Christian community in Rome that was made up of both Gentile and Jewish Christians. At this point in the letter, he is expressing his frustration that so few Jews has become Christians – after all did not Christ fulfill all the Old Testament promises? And so here, as in many other places, he uses passages from the Old Testament to reinforce his argument, particularly a passage from Deuteronomy, chapter 30. In it, Moses tells the Israelites:  

“Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.” (Deut. 30:11-14)

Look, Paul is saying, how easy it is to achieve the righteousness that comes from faith, much easier than obeying the Law. Just as Moses said, you do not have to go up to heaven – for Christ Jesus already came down from heaven to live with and for you. Nor do you have to descend into the depths. Christ Jesus did that by dying for you and destroying death’s hold. The word is already right here – all you have to do is speak it and take it into your heart. And that word, for Paul, is to confess that Jesus is Lord and to believe that God raised him from the dead. All you have to do is accept what God has done for us and still is doing for us. 

Unfortunately, it is not always as easy as it sounds. God requires not only passive acquiescence but also active confession: heart and mouth, faith and action. Speaking “I believe” out loud, telling others what we believe can be either embarrassing or even dangerous, depending on where we live and who we are talking to, but no less necessary. After all, if we do not tell anyone else, how are they to know? Or as Paul puts it in his “chain of evangelism”:

“How are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15)

In reverse order, that means that as baptized Christians we are sent to proclaim that Jesus is Lord so that others may hear, and believe, and be able to call on him. This commission is behind the question you, and all of us will be asked in a moment: “Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?”

But it is not only the “proclaiming” aspect of faith that is not always as easy as it sounds, but also the inward believing part. You will have doubts, Noah. I have them now and again. Peter had them. They are what caused him to become frightened and to start sinking. The life of faith that you begin today will be a mixture of joy and sadness, of assurance and certainty mixed with moments of fear and doubt. That is the true of us all. Even as we know from her friend and confessor of Christian icons like Mother Theresa. 

We all set off on our journey of faith with the aim of following Jesus and wanting to become like him. We want to bring his love, his power, his peace, his hope to a broken and hurting world. Then like Peter, in our case metaphorically, we look down, we let our eyes drop to the waves, we hear the strong wind, we feel it pushing us back, we notice the darkness surrounding us. We are afraid and we think we cannot go on, that in fact we have come too far and we begin to doubt that we are capable of continuing. Yet in the Gospel, Peter is only a step away from Jesus, who as we heard catches and saves him. In the same way, the moment when we feel most strongly tempted to give up, when our doubts start taking over, is the moment when help is just a step away or as Paul says “near you, on your lips and in your heart.” (Romans 10:8)

One of the questions you will be asked during the service is “do you put your whole trust in Jesus’ grace and love?” It comes just before the question “do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?” There is a reason for that. Following and obeying Jesus, trying to imitate him requires trust – even or especially when that seems the most difficult thing to so. 

Returning to Peter’s example, it means not looking down but looking straight ahead – keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, keeping our ears open for his words of encouragement, and keeping our will and heart ready to do what Jesus says. I cannot tell you what your specific calling may be, but we know what Jesus taught and the Church has made this teaching part of our Baptismal Covenant:  to serve him in all persons, to love our neighbor as ourselves, to strive for justice and peace among all peoples, to respect the dignity of every human being. We can do what Jesus says, with his help, and we can only do what Jesus says, when we trust him. 

Faith is at the center of both readings, and faith is at the center of Baptism. And while faith is something God wants from us – to believe, profess, and proclaim – it is also a promise. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved,” (Romans 10:13) Paul writes, and when Peter cries out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:30) Jesus does just that. 

So as it turns out, Noah, I wasn’t telling the truth. I do want you to walk on water, metaphorically. I do want you, and all of us, to do things that seem impossible or unimaginable on our own, in good times and in bad. To finish with the words of the refrain of one of my favorite songs, “You raise me up” that in part recalls today’s Gospel reading:

You raise me up so I can stand on mountains

You raise me up to walk on stormy seas

I am strong when I am on your shoulders

You raise me up to more than I can be

Amen.