By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, Rector
It's a pleasure to welcome the immediate and extended families of Arden Murphy and their friends to St. George's this morning. It's a special day for several reasons. First, as the psalmist has written, this is the day the Lord has made, therefore let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Second, as the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the St. George's community celebrates the holiday today with a meal in the parish hall following the service. We're a little more relaxed than we will be as the week progresses and before we all go our separate ways it's nice to be together to give thanks.
Third, on the Liturgical calendar this is the last Sunday before Advent, and it has a special name. It's called Christ the King Sunday. The lessons for the day and the music choices focus on the theme of Jesus as Sovereign. More on that later.
Last, but in no way least, we are baptizing a little baby today named Arden Murphy. She was born in August and her parents Jessica and Chris have been coming to St. George's for a couple years, usually at 8 a.m. I believe the realities of nap time have begun to alter your lives a bit and we're seeing you at 10:30 more often. Little bundles create big changes. So here we are, and welcome to one and all.
I must admit that I automatically feel a bit apologetic to those of you who are new or visiting St. George's and that a word of explanation is needed for the choice of readings today. As I said earlier, since it is Christ the King Sunday the lessons are geared to that theme. Normally for baptisms different readings are assigned and some that are much less foreboding and grim. Usually they're happier.
For example, I would not normally have chosen Jeremiah to shout "woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" Nor would I have chosen the crucifixion for a happy baby day. But, like so much of life, we take what we're given and see how we can make it work.
Baptism, its symbols and vows bring a person into the church community. Not only the parish of St. George's, but the worldwide community of believers. But Christians are a motley crew with a wide range of beliefs and not always a gracious tolerance for the differences. Never the less, now matter what our creeds or beliefs are, we are united by the person of Jesus. That one life connects us all. We believe that God acted in the world in a unique way, and touched the lives of everyone on the planet in an act of love so profound that it radiates through the centuries and draws people to its light.
Love is that light. The very first act of creation noted in Genesis is when God made the light and said it was good. It's astounding that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, to quote John, that all who believe will have eternal life. Beliefs change and grow over time. They differ from others. Even those who claim to be the most traditional hold onto beliefs that have changed over time. The constant however, is that God loves the world. And God loves Arden. Those two statements are basically what Baptism is about. It's our way of telling her that, and reminding ourselves of the same truth as it applies to us.
In a way baptizing a baby on the feast of Christ the King may be very appropriate. Because without making that simple statement, there would be nothing to baptize her into.
One of the seeming contradictions of Jesus' life is the death of the King in the manner of a criminal. Yet, it demonstrates that sovereignty is not a measure of material or military strength. It's about union with God which transcends all the trappings of this life and goes to the core of our spiritual being. There is much more to us than the body, what we wear and what we eat or how we act and react in the world. At our deepest core is love and how we nurture it and reflect it in the world. That is the spark of God in us.
The crucifixion is a contradiction of what one expects of a King, but it's not a contradiction in the language of love. Parents do what they need to do to protect their children and God does what God needs to do to protect us, even if that means going to the deepest canyons of human fear and cruelty to say I still love you even here.
Jesus between the two thieves becomes a microcosm of the world. There he is between the ones who believe and the ones who don't. Scripture tells us the two on either side of Jesus were thieves. It doesn't say what they stole, but it must have been pretty bad to end up on a cross. All the rest of us may not be thieves of that ilk, but I dare say we all have one or two things that we regret and demonstrate that we are not without sin, to quote a phrase. None of us are going to be throwing any stones. Between each other, people in the world and even within ourselves there is always a tug of war between these two criminals - those who scoff at the power of love and those who depends on it and want to be remembered by it. In our deepest selves this tension exists at one time or another. In the world of contradictions in which we live this tension exists all the time. In business, at school, or in our families, these tensions exist. The good news is that God is there and despite the fallibility of people and even the intention to kill that which is good and loving, the power of God, the power of love cannot be killed and will always rise. That's why it's sovereign. And that's what we tell Arden. It'll be more convincing to her if we believe it. And we're more likely to believe it if we stay close to the source of it -- in prayer and meditation, in song and fellowship. If we practice reflecting God's love in the world through kindness and understanding, justice and generosity. Sometimes it's easier than others, and we may drift, but whenever we get back into the swing of it, we feel better.
The Murphy's are a sailing family. I had prepared a series of sailing metaphors but decided to spare you, metaphors of safe harbors in stormy seas, and stories of Jesus' calming the waves, that sort of thing. But I do want you to look up at the ceiling of this church. The section in which you are seated is called the "nave". It's from the Latin for "ship". If you use your imagination you can see the inside hull of the ship. There are a lot of stories in scriptures about boats and the sea since that was part of their everyday life. I realized I didn't need to come up with sailing metaphors since the most important one is the one we are now gathered in. It is a safe place for Arden to meet Jesus and for all of us to voyage together. We fuss from time to time, but on the whole we play well together. We pray, sing and eat together, and we try our best to reflect the love of God together. So for these things we give thanks, we praise Christ the King, we welcome Arden on board and look out on this wonderful day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Amen.
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