Proper 9C1 Luke 10: 1-20
Baptism of Brody Potter Harris
Good morning. A holiday weekend,
and we might note for Brody’s Baby Book that on the occasion of his baptism there
were flags and parades and fireworks from sea to shining sea! Especially appropriate for a family so dedicated to the service of our country here on the eve of Independence Day. A celebration here in the Church
Militant, and we know in the realms of heaven, as the Church Triumphant joins
the choir with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. That’s poetry in a way, but also reality. It’s a simple thing that happens at the font,
but simplicity is often deceptive. There
isn’t anything more important in heaven or on earth than what happens when
Christian people gather faithfully by and in and through the waters of baptism
to be joined to the death and resurrection and eternal life of our savior Jesus
Christ. The ancient stain of our sin and
rebellion against God washed away by his sacrifice. The power of the Evil One turned to crushing
defeat. A truly new life begins!
Last Sunday in the second part of the 9th chapter of Luke we
turned a corner in the story as Jesus and his disciples come down from their
mountaintop experience of Transfiguration.
The time has arrived, his “hour,” and he “sets his face toward
Jerusalem.” Now begins the long
procession toward Holy Week and the
Cross. In last Sunday’s gospel reading
we’ll remember that the party attempted to stop on the first night in a
Samaritan village—but that they were turned away, refused hospitality. Just the beginning of what will be a steadily
gathering crescendo of rejection, opposition, persecution. The disciples didn’t handle the situation
well. We might say, not a very Christian response. They immediately
wanted to call down a blast of fire from heaven to punish and destroy the
Samaritans. Jesus calms them and
encourages them to continue on the journey in a different spirit.
This morning’s reading from the first part of Luke 10 gives us another
moment in this journey to Jerusalem. We
notice that in addition to his near circle of the 12 Jesus is accompanied by a
larger crowd. Here he sends a group of
70 two by two to announce his coming in the towns and villages along the way. The point not simply to arrange for lodging
and hospitality, but even more to preach the Good News and to recruit new
disciples. Repentance and the
forgiveness of sins. To announce that
the savior is on his way to Jerusalem. “The
harvest is plentiful,” he tells them. “The
laborers are few.” Even 70, traveling
two by two, won’t be enough to knock on every door. (So Brody doesn’t need to worry at all that
there won’t be anything left for him to do in the life and mission of the
church when he gets a little older and is ready to help!) At the same time the incident of the Samaritan
village is fresh in their memories, and Jesus reminds them of that as
well. There are going to be doors
slamming in their faces, and worse. “I
send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.”
There are some who will welcome
them and him, who will hear the word and receive it with joy. Others will turn away with a sneer, or worse. Being an ambassador of Christ isn’t going to
be all sunshine and fair breezes. There
will be opposition all along the way.
That’s the reality of the life we are dedicating Brody to here this
morning. Joy in the Lord, but not an
easy joy. To paraphrase the German
theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote about "Costly Discipleship," today we approach a “costly joy.”
The life of faith and obedience always to encounter cross winds and
storms and steep uphill climbs. Sometimes
the edge of the sword, even torture and death, and sometimes simply what
happens when you’re swimming against the tide of time and culture. Sheep in the midst of wolves.
The disciples are encouraged to be steadfast as they head out into
their mission. I’m reminded of the
wonderful verse in First Peter chapter 5 that is one of the set readings from
scripture in Compline, the Prayer Book service before going to bed at
night. “Be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he
may devour; whom resist steadfast in the faith.” I remember hearing that verse as a child and
being so caught up with it. A roaring
lion! It may be that we tell our kids as they go to
bed at night that there are no monsters under the bed or in the closet. But of course we know better. When Brody gets older we’ll need to explain
this to him: there are monsters. There
is a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
This is situation normal. Sometimes
the enemy out in the open, sometimes in deep disguise. The small Jewish villages of Chorazin and Bethsaida
and Capernaum might have seemed like friendly territory at first, certainly safer
than that Samaritan village. These were
the hometowns to many of Jesus’s disciples, right down the road from
Nazareth. Places where many are willing
to greet Jesus with a round of polite applause. He was a local boy, after all, from down the
road in Nazareth. But appearances can be
deceiving, and the spiritual reality sets them with Sodom and Tyre and Sidon
and all the great cities that have fallen under the shadow of darkness by
choosing the path of sin rather than the way of obedience to God. We expect our enemies to look like enemies, dangerous
monsters to look like monsters, lions to look and sound like roaring lions--but
the betrayal and rejection and opposition that the disciples will face will so
often come from those who are near. Who
look like friends and family.
So the word to Brody this morning—this isn’t an easy course we’re
signed up for. Starting right here at
this font. Fun baby pictures and balloons
and cake and family celebrations are entirely appropriate, but even so, this is
serious business.
Then in our reading this morning the conclusion of the mission of the
70. Pretty exciting. Even in a world of
monsters and wolves and roaring lions! If the disciples got failing marks at the Samaritan
village, this time things go much better.
The word is proclaimed with clarity and strength. The workers sent into the harvest to announce the transforming power
of the gospel--and “even the demons” scatter at their approach. Teacher Jesus writes a glowing comment of
encouragement at the top of the paper.
“A+, guys! While you were out
there, I could see “Satan falling like lightning from heaven.’” What you are doing in these little villages
along the road today may seem small. The
conversation with a villager. A quiet prayer
with someone ill or distressed or in
grief. A word of encouragement and
forgiveness and hope to one who is lost in sin and doesn’t see any way
out. To stand at the door of a home and
pronounce a blessing in the name of the Lord.
No headlines there. No
earthshaking miracles. But nonetheless
of eternal significance. You’ve seen
wonderful things happen around you, disciples and friends. Certainly worth celebrating. But celebrate this, that though these
victories seem small and transitory, they are recorded in heaven. Our cheers here simply a foretaste of the
abundant banquet of joy and feasting and
thanksgiving in the realms of the Father.
And you, and we, are part of that.
Here at this font on a summer morning.
What a joy and privilege. Thank
you, Mike and Anna, and Bradley and Brycen, two great big brothers, I know--and
our godparents and family and friends and good people of St. Andrew’s. The reality is that all creation, everything
in heaven and on earth, turns to this place and to this moment. To welcome the Lord to his holy Temple and
among his people and in their hearts and minds and lives, to hear and receive
his Good News. “I saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven.” A big deal. The key moment in the story. A joy and a privilege as disciples of Jesus
to be a part of it.
Now I would ask Brody Potter Harris and his family and his godparents
to come forward to continue the baptismal office.
No comments:
Post a Comment