7th Sunday after Pentecost

Baby Alices Baptism

Baptism of Baby Alice

1. In a few minutes we will baptize little Alice, and have officially welcomed her as a member of our
community of faith. What is Baptism? What does it mean to be baptized?
Baptism is the ceremony by which we officially become Christians, affirm our belief in Jesus Christ, and, as
followers of Christ, join him in his mission to reconcile all of creation with God. Jesus identified a number of
people, his apostles and disciples, and called them to follow him. Baptism makes us Jesus disciples. In
baptism, we make a life-long commitment to live as Christians.

2. So, why do we baptize babies? Shouldnt we wait till Alice is a grown woman, and let her
decide? Some Christians do.
Babies are born totally helpless and incapable of taking care of themselves. It is up to their parents to
anticipate the babys needs and take care of all of their needs: what should Alice eat? What should she
wear? Should she be vaccinated?
Parents make all the decision for their children until the children become adults. The children will develop
their independent personalities. Wait till she turns 2 and discovers the power of the word NO. Yet you will
very likely send he to school, even if she does not like it, because parents know that the future of their kids
will depend of hem getting a good education. You are not going to tell her, o, wait till you are 18, they you
can decide whether or not you should learn to read and write
So, since it is our responsibility we take care of all the needs of our children, why should we ignore their
spiritual needs? As Christians we believe that our children are not just little animals, but have spirits, souls.
As they grow it is not merely their bodies that need nourishment, but also their spirits. So in our church,
parents baptize babies because they believe that it is their responsibility to take care of all their needs.
Alice will have the opportunity to make her own decisions about religion when she grows up, but in the
meantime, we want to make sure that just as she is fed material food, she is also fed spiritual food.

3. Why do we have Godparents? What is their role?

The traditional explanation is that, if anything should happen to the parents, the godparents would step in and
take on the responsibility to help this child grown up as a Christian. But there is more to it that that.
Baptism is not a private matter, it is a communal event: we, on behalf of the whole church, will make a
commitment to God, to this child and to her family that we will all help to bring her up as a Christian, watch
over her and support her for the rest of her life. So, the godparents represent us, the entire community as we
pledge to watch over this child and help her grow physically as well as spiritually.

Baby Alices Baptism

2. In baptism we make a commitment to follow Christ, to become his disciples. What
does that mean?
Let us turn to todays Gospel for some clues. In this passage we read that Jesus sent 70 of his
disciples ahead of him to prepare his way. These were not the apostles, the leadership, they were regular
believers like us.
a. Jesus told them, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. He is talking about work. To be a
disciple, a Christian means to work. Christianity is not a spectator sport. We are not Christians
by virtue of coming to church on Sunday, we become truly Jesus disciples when we leave this building on
Sundays and practicing our religion at home and in the workplace every day of the week. Last week we
read in the Epistle to the Galatians that St. Paul summarized the whole of religion in one sentence, love
your neighbor as yourself, that does not come naturally, we have to work at it.
b. In sending out his disciples Jesus tells them to deliver a message of peace. At the time of Jesus,
the Romans kept the world at peace. The Romans killed their enemies, turn the countryside into a desert
and called it peace. Jesus peace is not achieved by killing the enemy, that only causes more hatred and
desire for revenge. Peace comes when we accept others as they are and help them achieve their
fullest potential: love your neighbor as yourself.
c. The final sentence I would like to comment from this Gospel passage is, the kingdom of God
is near. The rule of God on earth is getting nearer every time our society becomes more just,
more merciful, more inclusive. And slips away every time our society turns more selfish and
more resentful: love your neighbor as yourself. That is beginning to sound like a refrain isnt it?

3. The baptismal covenant we will renew in a few minutes commits us to work hard to make
the little corner of the world we live in a better place for Alice and for all our
children and everyone elses children
. The fullness of the kingdom of God will be achieved in the next life, but our baptism as Christians
does not allow us to sit back and watch the world go to pieces.
. We are called to bring Jesus message to our world by being peacemakers and putting our
faith in action by loving our neighbor as ourselves.