By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, RectorFirst of all, let me welcome the families and friends of Eleanor Paige Matteson and Owen Jace Main. One of the parting words of Jesus to his disciples is to go out into all the nations and baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Among all the work that any church does, there is nothing more important than what we do here today.
Baptism is the welcoming of a person into the family of God in the body of Jesus Christ known as the Church. Vows will made on behalf of these two babies and the rest of us will renew our own baptismal vows. These promises bring us into relationship with God and each other by setting the priorities and values which we want to live into. To worship God. To study scripture and participate in the Eucharist. To resist evil and see forgiveness when necessary. To talk about our faith and proclaim the Gospel. To seek and serve Christ in all persons and love our neighbors. To strive for justice and peace, and respect he dignity of all people.
It’s a tall order. We’re not always able to do it well. Sometimes we don’t do it at all. But sometimes, we’re really quite remarkable in what we’re able to do in the name of God. It’s those moments that we strive for and pray for. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul begs them to open their hearts wide to the teachings he brings and the love of God he proclaims. Today we beg for this also - to open our hearts wide to the love of God and reflect that love by how we live in the world.
I must admit that when I looked at the lessons for today and saw that on a Baptism Sunday we have one from Job, I thought, “Oh no... maybe the Gospel will be better.” But there we have a storm at sea. Not much of an improvement. But given the weather lately, it might be appropriate than I first thought. But the more I thought about these lessons, the more I liked them and thought them perfect for today.
Job is a well known book of the Old Testament in the Wisdom literature. The Wisdom Books are specifically designed to teach lessons and Job is certainly among them. It has a peculiar beginning, in that Satan and God are talking, perhaps over tea, and God is bragging about Job’s righteousness. Satan says, “Of course he’s righteous, everything is going his way. I bet at the first sign of trouble he curses you.” It’s a bet that God was willing to make, and so began a terrible ordeal for Job that included a lot of mental and physical suffering. (This wager doesn’t place God in the most favorable light, I must say - but it sets the stage for the story about to unfold.) Job is visited by three friends and most of the book centers around their conversations. In a gross over simplification, Job’s friends spend a lot of time accusing him of having done something wrong to deserve his suffering. Job continually maintains he’s done nothing wrong. It’s a circular conversation that digs a hole deeper and deeper without ever getting out of it. In the portion we read, God intervenes “out of the whirlwind” quite angrily it seems telling them all that they can’t possibly know all there is to know, and suggests that they shouldn’t even be asking the questions of “why” when things go wrong.
Job seems to be written as a book to explain the existence of suffering but never quite explains it. Rather, the book seems to discourage the question. In the tradition of Wisdom literature, the reader has to wrestle with the answers. Rather than see the cause of suffering in this book, I see the tendency most people have in the face of it. Blame or self pity. We look for reasons to explain the origins of what is already there and spin wheels that might otherwise be used to get us moving beyond the issues.
I’ve seen people who, when confronted with a spouse’s infidelity continually torture themselves by asking “why”. The same questions occurs when a loved one dies, or some tragedy or setback happens. Some questioning is normal and a specific reason may be helpful, but when the answer is simply not knowable, obsessing over it keeps a person paralyzed. There are simply things we will never know and like Job and his friends we can go round and round trying to find answers that don’t exist, or accept reality and look for ways to move beyond the difficulties.
During my recent trip to South Africa, the evidence of suffering is everywhere. The reasons are vast and complex and stretch back generations into a mist of unknowing. There are times when we need to stop looking backward and start to look forward to solutions. In South Africa there are places of hope where that is happening. But there are also too many places where blame and self pity keep people locked in a place of paralysis.
The imagery of God calling out of the whirlwind is wonderful. When we are in times of suffering there is a crashing and confusion in our heads that might as well be a whirlwind. And this is where the story becomes important for a Baptism. We all know that life has joys and struggles. Baptism does not protect any of us from life’s hardships, and it’s no insurance against suffering. It is, however, part of the solution to maneuvering out of the storm. If you sense a segue to the Gospel lesson, yes it’s coming. Whether it’s God calling out of the whirlwind or Jesus calming the storm, the presence of God in the midst of life’s suffering and hardships is essential for us to hold onto to move beyond it.
Faith and prayer work. In these things we find strength and solutions to what confronts us. They do not turn back the clock and undo everything that may have been done, but they give us the strength to move forward and create an environment for healing to occur. In order to tap into these wonderful tools, a person needs guidance and support in developing their own relationship with God and the shape their faith and prayer will take. That’s why it’s so important that people have a community of faith that can help them. It’s into the Christian faith that Owen and Eleanor are being baptized because we believe the promises we’ve received through the Gospels and scriptures of God’s love for us and God’s driving intention that we live life fully and joyfully.
©2009 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ
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