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.
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wait is over, for her old nature has been drowned and has been replaced by her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.
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