Sermon: Trinity 5 and Baptism of Sadie Ricks - 2020

12 July 2020

Text: Luke 5:1-11 (1 Kings 19:11-21, 1 Pet 3:8-15)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

For nearly five hundred years, and in a multiplicity of languages, we Lutherans have asked young and old to answer the question “What is the First Commandment?”  The answer is, of course, “You shall have no other gods.”  The next question is, “What does this mean?”  And the answer is: “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”

By the Lake of Gennesaret, we see Simon Peter fear God, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For Simon’s life was turned on its head the morning after he “toiled all night and took nothing,” but at the Word of Jesus, of the preacher who was using Simon’s boat as a podium, something supernatural happened.  By His command, bending to the will of God, so many fish were caught in Simon’s nets that two of his boats nearly sank.

His reaction was indeed fear: “Simon Peter… fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’”  Everyone saw this supernatural event and were “astonished.”  Simon and his two partners were called to a career change, to go from catching fish to catching men.  They had no idea what this would mean, but they “feared, loved, and trusted in God above all things,” and “they left everything and followed Him.”

We have seen something supernatural today as well, dear friends, though this miracle must be seen with the eyes of faith.  The same Jesus who called Peter and the apostles to preach the Gospel around the world, has called us to be the Church in this place, to make disciples by baptizing and teaching, to forgive sinners, to share the miraculous body and blood of Christ, and to raise the dead to eternal life.  And on this day, we witnessed eternal life given to little Sadie.  Like the miracle Simon Peter witnessed, this supernatural event involved water.  It also involved Jesus and the Word.  But instead of catching a large number of fish, we caught a single, small human being today, entrapping her in the lifesaving net of the Gospel.  Her old nature was drowned, and a new self emerged.  The Holy Spirit descended upon her, and she was truly born again, born from above, born of water and the Spirit.  We watched this happen right here in real time, in physical space, surrounded by unseen but present “angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven,” as she was washed clean in the blood of the Lamb.

And like Peter, James, and John, like her parents Aimee and Erik, like her sponsors Emery and Erin, like each one of us here in this holy house, this place of miracles where the Spirit descends and where Jesus is present – Sadie has become a disciple, called to “fear, love, and trust in God above all things” – God in the person of Jesus Christ, whom she follows.

Simon Peter’s prayer “Depart from me” was refused.  Our Lord will not depart from His beloved.  He assures us: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”  And when Sadie grows old enough to sing, she will repeat the words of the hymn: “God’s own child I gladly say it, I am baptized into Christ.”

We Christians don’t merely say, “I was baptized,” as if it were a past event that isn’t relevant to us today.  No, we say, “I am baptized,” for it is in the ever-present.  It is ongoing.  Once you are baptized, you are always baptized.  It is a reality that can never be undone, any more than the miraculous catch of fish that Simon and the others saw can somehow unhappen.  

Sadie is baptized into Christ, and so are you, dear friends.  You are a forgiven child of God, and you are a child of paradise.  And it is because you have been chosen and brought into the Lord’s family that you can call God, “Our Father,” that you can plead the blood of Christ as your atonement for being a “sinful man,” and you can indeed heed the call of the Holy Spirit to lead you to the cross, to guide you to the Word of God, to draw you to the Sacraments, and in death, to carry you to Abraham’s bosom.  And until Sadie is old enough on her own to “leave everything and follow Him,” Erik and Aimee, Emery and Erin, her grandparents and extended family, and each one of us in her church family will have the responsibility to pray for her, to teach her, to provide an example of faithfulness for her, to show her what really matters in this life: to be a disciple of Jesus.

The same Simon Peter who asked in vain for Jesus to depart from him, teaches us, by the Spirit’s inspiration, how to live out the Christian faith and life.  He teaches all Christians young and old to “have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”  St. Peter instructs us to remain in the faith by turning from evil, doing good, and by seeking peace.  

But even then, we are warned of persecution, of suffering “for righteousness’ sake.”  The apostle tells us that in such suffering, “you will be blessed.”  If Sadie lives a long life and if the Lord has not yet returned, she may well see the twenty-second century on this side of the grave.  Her world will be filled with inventions and wonders we cannot even imagine, but also terrible things that we can’t even conceive.  Through it all, she, like all of us, will depend on Christ’s beloved bride, the Holy Church, for sustenance and strength to walk the walk as a disciple of Jesus.  She may see persecution for the sake of her confession, as might any of us here.  But St. Peter, who left his boats and nets behind to follow Jesus says, “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”

We must prepare Sadie to make that good confession, that she may be a beacon of the love of Christ to lead others to salvation, that she too will read the Holy Scriptures to her own children and ask them the questions: “What is the First Commandment?” and “What does this mean?”

For like Elijah, dear friends, we understand that the Lord works through soft words, even a “low whisper” uttered by God almighty, whose still, small voice is more powerful than strong winds, earthquakes, and fire, stronger than the brag and bluster of this world, mightier than money and worldly fame.  

For that “low whisper” of God’s Word, spoken over little Sadie as water was poured upon her head, said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  We all saw the miracle.  We all bore witness to the supernatural.  And though we are all sinful men, we do not pray for the Lord to depart from us, but rather to abide with us, to abide with Sadie, to be her God whom she will “fear, love, and trust in above all things” both in this life, and in the world to come – even unto eternity.  Amen.

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