July 8,
2007 Sermon
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
The Gospel lesson for today gives us a pretty clear picture about
evangelism or spreading the word about God. As the Church today, that
is a huge part of our job description and what we want to be about, so
it's interesting to notice the different pieces of Jesus' evangelism
plan, and then to think how we can enact some of it into our own
evangelism strategies.
First of all, notice that Jesus didn't do it alone. He used his disciples, at least 70 of his ordinary human followers, to go ahead of him and announce that the kingdom of God was near. Evangelism is not a job for one, but many.
Secondly, Jesus moved about. He didn't hang a sign saying, "I'll be at this spot at 9:30 every Sunday morning" or "Come to me". He went to the people. He sent his disciples to the people. Evangelism takes us out of our comfort zones.
Thirdly, Jesus made it clear that 100% success rates were not realistic. Some people would welcome the disciples and others would not. Evangelism is about doing what you can with those who are willing. Finally, Jesus empowered his disciples to do incredible things in his name - proclamations, exorcisms, healings. Evangelism is about sharing Jesus with those who might not know him yet.
It's this empowerment that I want to focus on today. One of the most obvious and most common ways that we are empowered to take Jesus out into the world is through worship where we are on a weekly basis strengthened by God's word and Holy Communion. Less often, like today, we are reminded publicly of how we are empowered through God's gift of baptism.
As we witnessed Ava's and Valerie's baptisms today, we are reminded of our own baptisms and the power we still receive through them. Let's take a closer look, piece by piece, at the service of baptism and see how we are empowered by it to be sent out into the world.
The first part of baptism has to do with making promises. Whenever a parent asks me to baptize his or her child, I always meet with them first to make sure they understand the promises they will be making for their child in the service of baptism. It really is no small undertaking as they promise to surround their child with God's faithful people at church and in daily life, teach their child, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and the 10 Commandments, put Scripture into their child's hands and teach their child how to pray. These are some of God's tools for strengthening our faith. As we hear parents make these promises to their children, we're reminded that someone made that same promise for us at our baptism. We're reminded that God still uses these tools to empower us for ministry to all of God's people.
Profession of faith is the next part of the baptismal service and it's empowering because it helps us get on the right page. We're clear about whose power we are denying in our lives. We renounce the devil, rebellious forces and sin. We're also clear about who exactly it is that we believe in. We believe in the Trinity -- God, our Heavenly Father and Mother; Jesus, God's son, who died on the cross to take away the sins of the whole world; and the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Advocate, our Holy Guidance Counselor who gifts each of us with unique talents and skills.
Next comes the water. In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther reminds us that our baptisms are not a one time event, but a daily dying and rising with Christ. Let's be truthful. None of is has or ever will be able to live a perfectly sin free life. We have our good days and we have our bad days. The great thing about baptism is that it reminds us and reassures us that anything we do that we're not so proud of can be washed away and made clean by God. Every day, God gives us a clean slate where we can begin again -- try again. Baptism is not meant to be a one day event, but a reminder of our life's cycle of living in the world. We're cleansed, we sin, we say we're sorry and we're forgiven. We're cleansed, we sin, we way we're sorry and we're forgiven.
After the washing, we enter into a time of prayer including a laying on of hands. We pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to help the newly baptized navigate in this world. We pray for wisdom, discernment, guidance and joy. We pray that anything described as women's intuition, luck, coincidence, serendipity, fluke, chance, destiny, fortuity or fate would instead be known as the Holy Spirit's movement in our lives. We pray for the knowledge to recognize the way in which the Holy Spirit speaks uniquely to each of us.
Next, oil is used to make the sign of the cross on the forehead of the baptized. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever. This is why we can go out -- because we take Christ with us wherever we go. We are marked with Christ, we are marked as God's own child and this gives us the power and protection to move about in the world.
Finally, there is the welcome into the body of Christ -- into the family of God. How many of you have ever been to the circus? If so, you've seen the trapeze artists fly through the air with the greatest of ease. It looks fun, but also a bit scary and dangerous, so it's always good to know that there's a safety net in case someone falls or misses a hand grab. Going out into the world as a Christian can be scary, too. Sometimes it can feel like we're flying through the air totally out of control and with no idea who is going to grab our hands and help us out.
Baptism provides a huge safety net in our Christian lives -- a safety net of support as we are empowered and sent out. We're going to use Ava as our example today, understanding that what is true for her is true for all of us. Every single one of us has made a promise to her today -- her parents have, her sponsors have, and we as her community of faith have. We have told her in front of God and of one another that we will support her in her faith and growth as a child of God. All of us make up her safety net.
No doubt, each of us will fail at times. We won't be able to keep our promises perfectly. But, God will. God has named her His beloved child and is always the last thread in her safety net -- the thread that will never break. This promise of a safety net -- which we all have -- empowers us to go out into the world, knowing we always have each other and God to fall back upon when it gets too difficult or scary.
Today, in worship and specifically in the service of baptism, we have been strengthened to go out and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the world. Where have you been empowered to go? Who have you been empowered to tell?
Amen.
First of all, notice that Jesus didn't do it alone. He used his disciples, at least 70 of his ordinary human followers, to go ahead of him and announce that the kingdom of God was near. Evangelism is not a job for one, but many.
Secondly, Jesus moved about. He didn't hang a sign saying, "I'll be at this spot at 9:30 every Sunday morning" or "Come to me". He went to the people. He sent his disciples to the people. Evangelism takes us out of our comfort zones.
Thirdly, Jesus made it clear that 100% success rates were not realistic. Some people would welcome the disciples and others would not. Evangelism is about doing what you can with those who are willing. Finally, Jesus empowered his disciples to do incredible things in his name - proclamations, exorcisms, healings. Evangelism is about sharing Jesus with those who might not know him yet.
It's this empowerment that I want to focus on today. One of the most obvious and most common ways that we are empowered to take Jesus out into the world is through worship where we are on a weekly basis strengthened by God's word and Holy Communion. Less often, like today, we are reminded publicly of how we are empowered through God's gift of baptism.
As we witnessed Ava's and Valerie's baptisms today, we are reminded of our own baptisms and the power we still receive through them. Let's take a closer look, piece by piece, at the service of baptism and see how we are empowered by it to be sent out into the world.
The first part of baptism has to do with making promises. Whenever a parent asks me to baptize his or her child, I always meet with them first to make sure they understand the promises they will be making for their child in the service of baptism. It really is no small undertaking as they promise to surround their child with God's faithful people at church and in daily life, teach their child, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and the 10 Commandments, put Scripture into their child's hands and teach their child how to pray. These are some of God's tools for strengthening our faith. As we hear parents make these promises to their children, we're reminded that someone made that same promise for us at our baptism. We're reminded that God still uses these tools to empower us for ministry to all of God's people.
Profession of faith is the next part of the baptismal service and it's empowering because it helps us get on the right page. We're clear about whose power we are denying in our lives. We renounce the devil, rebellious forces and sin. We're also clear about who exactly it is that we believe in. We believe in the Trinity -- God, our Heavenly Father and Mother; Jesus, God's son, who died on the cross to take away the sins of the whole world; and the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Advocate, our Holy Guidance Counselor who gifts each of us with unique talents and skills.
Next comes the water. In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther reminds us that our baptisms are not a one time event, but a daily dying and rising with Christ. Let's be truthful. None of is has or ever will be able to live a perfectly sin free life. We have our good days and we have our bad days. The great thing about baptism is that it reminds us and reassures us that anything we do that we're not so proud of can be washed away and made clean by God. Every day, God gives us a clean slate where we can begin again -- try again. Baptism is not meant to be a one day event, but a reminder of our life's cycle of living in the world. We're cleansed, we sin, we say we're sorry and we're forgiven. We're cleansed, we sin, we way we're sorry and we're forgiven.
After the washing, we enter into a time of prayer including a laying on of hands. We pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to help the newly baptized navigate in this world. We pray for wisdom, discernment, guidance and joy. We pray that anything described as women's intuition, luck, coincidence, serendipity, fluke, chance, destiny, fortuity or fate would instead be known as the Holy Spirit's movement in our lives. We pray for the knowledge to recognize the way in which the Holy Spirit speaks uniquely to each of us.
Next, oil is used to make the sign of the cross on the forehead of the baptized. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever. This is why we can go out -- because we take Christ with us wherever we go. We are marked with Christ, we are marked as God's own child and this gives us the power and protection to move about in the world.
Finally, there is the welcome into the body of Christ -- into the family of God. How many of you have ever been to the circus? If so, you've seen the trapeze artists fly through the air with the greatest of ease. It looks fun, but also a bit scary and dangerous, so it's always good to know that there's a safety net in case someone falls or misses a hand grab. Going out into the world as a Christian can be scary, too. Sometimes it can feel like we're flying through the air totally out of control and with no idea who is going to grab our hands and help us out.
Baptism provides a huge safety net in our Christian lives -- a safety net of support as we are empowered and sent out. We're going to use Ava as our example today, understanding that what is true for her is true for all of us. Every single one of us has made a promise to her today -- her parents have, her sponsors have, and we as her community of faith have. We have told her in front of God and of one another that we will support her in her faith and growth as a child of God. All of us make up her safety net.
No doubt, each of us will fail at times. We won't be able to keep our promises perfectly. But, God will. God has named her His beloved child and is always the last thread in her safety net -- the thread that will never break. This promise of a safety net -- which we all have -- empowers us to go out into the world, knowing we always have each other and God to fall back upon when it gets too difficult or scary.
Today, in worship and specifically in the service of baptism, we have been strengthened to go out and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the world. Where have you been empowered to go? Who have you been empowered to tell?
Amen.