Sermon: Rorate Coeli (Advent 4) and the Baptism of Ella Bagley - 2018

23 December 2018

Text: John 1:19-28 (Phil 4:4-7)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

There is a pattern in life of waiting for a long time, and then one day, out of the blue, ready or not – everything changes.  We see this in the Holy Scriptures, as God had been promising the coming of the Messiah since the days of the fall in Eden.  And so, year by year, generation by generation, century by century, and even millennium after millennium – mankind waited.

Especially the children of Israel, whose prophets had been declaring His coming, had been waiting.  And then, for about four hundred years, the prophets fell silent.  Silent, as the people of Israel, the remaining part of them who had been conquered by the Babylonians and then the Persians, were later conquered by the Greeks and then by the Romans, and they waited.

And then, Christmas came.  The Messiah was born.  And then, John the Baptist came, the Messiah was announced.  And then, the Messiah came to John to be baptized – and the world has never been the same since.

Our lives follow this plan of waiting, and waiting, punctuated by incredible and sudden changes as God works in our lives.  How many children cannot believe how long they have to wait until Christmas finally arrives.  It is so close, and yet so far away.

Nothing typifies this waiting like a pregnant mother.  In what seems like an eternity, the mother’s body literally transforms into a life support system for a new person.  Before long, she cannot even recall a time when she wasn’t pregnant.  And then, it happens.  The child is born.  The most miraculous and wondrous thing is within the realm of the ordinary.  For each one of us experienced birth, and so did our mothers and fathers.  Little Ella was born into this broken, fallen world, like all of us, as a poor, miserable sinner.  She carries in her body the mortality and the sinful nature of her parents, her grandparents, and all of her ancestors dating back to Adam and Eve – just like all of us.  And like all of us, we were born waiting – waiting for salvation, waiting to be born again, waiting on the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue us.

Ella’s wait is over, for her old nature has been drowned and has been replaced by her new nature in Christ Jesus.  She was born again by water and the Spirit.  Her parents, Chase and Caili, brought her into the world, and they have now brought her into the heavenly realms: the most miraculous and wondrous thing is within the realm of the ordinary.

Ordinary water, ordinary baby, ordinary parents, ordinary church.  But at the same time, all extraordinary.  For “the water is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word.”  The baby is a child of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and bearing the sign of the cross upon her head and heart.  The parents are two who have been made into one flesh, bearers of a new soul, and given the godly calling of father and mother.  The church is a collection of sinner-saints who gather around an altar, a font, and a pulpit – holy places where sins are forgiven and the dead are raised.  

And, dear friends, our sins are forgiven and the dead are raised by our Lord Jesus Christ, the very reason the entire world is now awash in lights and carols and the joy that cannot be contained within the Christ and within His Church.  

Our wait for the Messiah to be born is over.  And now things are changing rapidly.

In our own day and age, we are indeed seeing great changes, as evil is on the rise and the church is under attack – both here and around the world.  In our grandparents’ day, being a Christian was an honor, whereas today, it is seen by the world as a curse.  Ella will be accused of being a bigot.  She will be laughed at for believing the words of Scripture.  She will be derided if she has children of her own and brings them to the baptismal font decades from now.  And this is why, Chase and Caili, your job as her parents is crucial.  You will teach her that this day is, for her, sacred and life-giving.  For you were right to seek Ella’s baptism.  Just as any parents would seek a cure if their beloved child were suffering from a deadly disease.  You brought her to the waters of holy baptism, by which our Lord Jesus Christ cures her of the curse of sin, and has given her everlasting life as a free gift.  And now your job is to keep Ella in the faith – the faith that to which you committed her by renouncing the devil, his works, and his ways.  You will teach her by your words and your deeds.  You will teach her right from wrong, good from evil, and to hold fast to Christ and to her baptism.

For resisting evil is what we all must do.  Even when it hurts.  Even when it costs.  Even when it seems we are fighting alone.

We aren’t fighting alone, dear brothers and sisters.  We are the church, the assembly of those whom Christ has redeemed by His blood.  We come here to find strength in numbers, to look at that baptismal font and remember our own baptisms, to hear the proclamation of the Good News issuing forth from this pulpit, and to commune in the true body and blood of Jesus at the altar, that our faith may be strengthened unto eternal life.  For just as the birth of the baby is only the start – the child must be fed and nurtured and loved and sheltered and educated – so too must the child be fed and nurtured on the Word of God, loved by God’s people who gather as a flock around her Shepherd, sheltered by the safety of being redeemed by Christ, and educated: taught the faith that was given to Ella by grace on this day, December 23, in the year of our Lord Twenty Eighteen.  

Chase and Caili waited a long time for Ella to be born, but like all children, she was born suddenly, and like all Christians, she was born again suddenly: three splashes and a single sentence, and it was all over.  And yet, embedded in those words of Jesus, the Word of God Made Flesh, is the same almighty power that brought about the creation of the universe.

As we wait for the coming of Christmas, we call to mind that we also await the return of our Lord.  We wait for eternity to begin, for it can begin for any one of us, or for all of us, in the blink of an eye.  And we are ready, dear friends, for just as we have renounced the devil, Jesus has defeated the devil.  Just as water was poured upon us to cleanse our hearts, water from the spear gushed from the heart of our Lord at His victorious death in destroying the devil, his works, and his ways at the cross.  We make the sign of the cross as a victorious reminder of our baptism.

And as we await His coming, which will be just as inevitable and unstoppable as a child coming into the world, let us remember that God took human form, the form of a newborn baby, born into this broken, fallen world, was baptized for us, died for us, rose again for us, and gives to us everlasting life through the sacrament of Holy Baptism, as the most miraculous and wondrous thing is within the realm of the ordinary.  

For there is a pattern in life of waiting for a long time, and then one day, out of the blue, ready or not – everything changes.  We wait for our Lord in joyful anticipation, in hope, always rejoicing, always bearing the sign of the cross and the unfurled banner that proclaims before God, man, angels, and demons: “I am baptized” here in time, and there in eternity.  Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.