Sermon
St. Simon’s on the Sound
December 24, 2017
Luke 1:26-38
This is quite an incredible morning. The Fourth Sunday of Advent, Christmas Eve morning, and the day on which we will baptize baby Hawkins Hatchee Hale in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
In just a few minutes, amidst the joyful anticipation of glorious angels singing, shepherds standing amazed and trembling, and the arrival of the Christ child in a manger in long ago Bethlehem, we will receive baby Hawkins into the household of God – right here at St. Simon’s on the Sound. We will anoint this beautiful child with holy oil and charge him with the lifelong baptismal calling to confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with the world his eternal priesthood.
This is most assuredly a WOW moment in time – sort of like a perfect storm but in the very best sense of that concept. This morning is a time in which our Advent waiting and watching for the birth of the baby Jesus coincides with the arrival not only of the Christ child in a manager in far away Bethlehem; but also, the baptism of baby Hawkins. The arrival of this the newest member of God’s kingdom in the here and now. Two blessed and joyful events that remind us of our own baptism, our own call to confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with the world his eternal priesthood.
Holy Baptism is just that. It is Holy. It is a sacred moment - the act of full initiation into Christ’s Body, the Church, by water and the Holy Spirit. In this Holy moment, the sacred bond which God establishes with each one of us in Baptism becomes indissoluble.
In the words of the Catechism, "Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us as his children and makes us members of Christ's Body, the Church, and inheritors of the kingdom of God."
Through the rite of Holy Baptism, we are reminded that God was made man in Christ so that he could be among us – be one of us. We become profoundly aware that God reconciled himself to us through the gift of his Son Jesus Christ - God made man - God among us; and, through Christ and our baptism by water and the Holy Spirit, we are reconciled to God. We are reconciled to God through his love for us in the gift of his incarnation - the gift of his Son, Jesus, and the gift of baptism into God’s church.
Once baptized, we are members of God’s family – heirs of God’s eternal kingdom. Once baptized, we are anointed as God’s priests, called to go forth into the world living the life that Christ modeled for us, so many years ago.
Once baptized we are bound to our baptismal vows to continue in the apostles’ teaching, and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers. To persevere in resisting evil, and whenever we fall into sin - fall away from God - to repent and return to the Lord. To proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ. To seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves. To strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.
There is still more in this powerful initiation that we call baptism. That more is our presence. Through our presence, we are an integral part of this sacred ceremony. We participate by making a promise. A promise that is filled to the brim with responsibility and accountability. As we witness the baptism of baby Hawkins, and affirm, “we will,” when questioned by Fr. David, we commit to do all in our power to support him in his life in Christ. With our support, Baby Hawkins joins the baptized of all who walk together in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Baby Hawkins, and we - all of us - by our vows are now bound irrevocably and inextricably, to Christ, to God. God is now with us, in us, behind us, and before us with every breath that we breath; with every step that we take. And, we are in Him, with every breath that we breath; with every step that we take.
Several years ago, in Haiti, I had the honor to baptize a little girl. An infant really, perhaps 4-5 months of age. I was serving at the temporary altar of a church that had been completely destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. The priest was Pere Kerwin Delicat, now the dean of the cathedral in Port au Prince. There were two babies to be baptized - one girl and one boy. Pere Kerwin began the baptismal ceremony with the boy, completing the entire liturgy before asking the family of the infant girl to come forward. Once they had gathered around the baptismal font, Pere Kerwin directed the mother to give the child to me, and he said: “You do the girl.”
I was completely taken aback. In a kind of daze, I reached forward to take this tiny child who was encompassed by a massive crinoline filled baptismal dress. Panic set in - I could not feel the baby through the dress - would I drop her once the mother took her hands away?
Somehow, I managed to gather most of the dress and the head of the child in my right arm - I had to go on faith about the child’s body because I really could not feel it through all the fabric. Pere Kerwin held the prayer book for me. It seemed that I was ready to get on with the baptism.
However, I want to mention that it was August. The temperature was about 101 degrees and the humidity about 98 percent; and, we were outside under a tarp. Pere Kerwin and I had been in our vestments for over 45 minutes. I had also preached. We were both perspiring quite heavily.
As you can imagine this was not what one would call a great moment in time for me to be performing a baptism. Sweating heavily, speaking in a foreign language, holding a great mass of crinoline in which was swathed a beautiful baby girl, my glasses sliding down my nose - well, I will let you come to your own conclusions about how I was feeling.
And then, something incredible happened. I can only call it the arrival of the Holy Spirit. As we progressed through the baptismal liturgy, all discomfort fell away. And, when I poured water on the child, baptizing her in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit - au nom du Pere, et du Fils, et du Saint-Esprit - I experienced a mystical moment. A moment that really cannot be described. A moment in which I could feel God with us - God blessing us - God’s light and love surrounding us. The Holy Spirit descended upon us.
I have never felt that way before - and never after.
I believe that what I experienced in Haiti, is what we should all experience not only at our own baptism, which we probably cannot remember, but at every baptism in which we find ourselves a participant - both as we witness a child, or an adult, baptized; or, as we, through the baptismal liturgy, renew our own baptismal vows. It is an experience that, I pray, we will all share in just a few moments when we baptize baby Hawkins. And, it is an experience that we should all share later today as we come together to witness the arrival of the baby Jesus, in the manger. The birth of Jesus, God’s gift to us.
Baby Hawkins has brought us a great gift on this the Fourth Sunday of Advent. He has brought us the gift of experiencing in the here and now the powerful impact of what it means to be a member of God’s kingdom. His baptism is an outward manifestation of our Advent prayers and reflections - “Purify our conscience, Almighty God by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming may find in us a mansion prepared for himself.”
Are we ready? Have we prepared ourselves for this great gift, and this great commitment to a way of life that is based on our baptismal vows? Have we emptied ourselves of distractions, pettiness, and anger? Have we prepared a mansion for Christ within our hearts and our minds and our souls. A mansion where he can flourish and from which he can go forth through us and our way of being in every day, and with every breath?
In this glorious moment of baptism that we are about to witness let us pray that we experience that mystery of the Holy Spirit descending upon us, filling us with the glory of God. Let us pray that this mysterious and most powerful moment leads us in amazement to the manger in Bethlehem later this evening when we witness the Christ child born anew. Let us pray that our hearts and minds, so filled with the Holy Spirit and the gift of God among us, will lead us, renewed in our own baptismal vows to be faithful witnesses continuing forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Let us pray that these glorious moments stay with us throughout the coming year, continually guiding us - continually lighting our path and filling our hearts and minds with God’s love for us and for the world.
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
Howard Thurman
