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What
do Crazy Horse, George Washington Carver and John Hancock have in
common? What do you have in common with them?
History
reveals that these three men were men who stood by their
convictions. They moved through life with confidence and courage.
They were persons with high moral character. It is my hope that this
is what you and I have in common with these three men.
What
you and I do have in common with these three men is that we are all
adopted. They were adopted by loving people and welcomed into a
loving family. You and I were adopted by a loving God into His
family.
Ephesians 1:5
“In love God predestined
us to be adopted
as His children through Jesus Christ,
in accordance with His pleasure and will.”
This
morning we baptized Christopher. We did this because Jesus said,
“Therefore
GO and MAKE disciples of all nations, BAPTIZING them in the name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
and TEACHING them to OBEY
everything I have commanded you.
Baptism
is a sign and seal of our adoption into the household of faith, the
church. Baptism is a sign and seal that we BELONG.
We
have a need to belong be it a sports team, civic group, fraternity,
sorority, club, or a family. Belonging gives us a sense of purpose,
acceptance, encouragement, and self worth just to mention a few
things.
Belonging
also requires responsibilities. There is also a price to pay for
belonging and sometimes the price is not good. I am certain in
schools throughout this country there are youth who will do whatever
it takes to be a part of the in crowd or sit at lunch the table
where the popular youth sit. Sometimes belonging means a change of
clothing or hair style, but sometimes it means a change of values
and a change of beliefs.
Gangs
are a perfect example of what I am talking about. Young people join
gangs because the need to belong. They need to be accepted. Their
need is so great they are willing to do just about anything gang
members ask them to do. Should a gang member have a change of heart
and desire to get out the gang it usually means death for him.
Belonging
to Christ is by far the best choice you and I or anyone could make.
There are absolutely NO negatives in belonging to Christ. By
belonging to Christ you are accepted by our loving God who sent His
Son Jesus to die for you. Belonging to Christ brings all the things
we long for: love, acceptance, a sense of purpose, encouragement,
and self worth AND responsibilities.
Jesus
identifies those responsibilities as,
“Therefore GO
and MAKE disciples of all nations, BAPTIZING them in the name
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
and TEACHING them to OBEY
everything I have commanded you.
Our
first responsibility is to make disciples. The best way to do this
is to be disciples. Being a disciple means that you are willing to
follow Jesus; that you have a desire to daily learn God’s Word and
will; that you want not to know about God but to know God, to have a
personal relationship.
Think
of it in these terms. Two people go out on a date. Since the first
date went well a second date is planned. The relationship progresses
and the two people fall in love. Their love for each other leads to
a desire to spend the rest of their life together. So they make a
decision to get married.
This
brings me to our second responsibility which is to baptize disciples
in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost as we have done this
morning. Baptism is a visible sign that we have been adopted, that
we belong to Jesus. Baptism is a public declaration that you belong
to Jesus as a wedding ceremony is a public a declaration that you
belong to each other.
What
comes next is fulfilling those vows. What follows is living out
those promises. This brings me to our third responsibility. Teach
them to obey everything Jesus has commanded.
This
is exactly what we have promised to God that we would do for
Christopher. It is the same promise we make every time we celebrate
the sacrament of baptism. We promise to “instruct the person being
baptized in the truth of God’s Word and in the way of salvation; to
pray for the baptized and teach them to pray; and to train the
baptized by our precept and example, through the faithful worship of
giving and the offering of our gifts to the glory of God.”
We
are called to teach not just God’s Word but to teach OBEDIENCE to
God’s Word. Jesus said,
“If you love me
you will obey what I have commanded.”
This
is the toughest of challenges. We will fail, but because we belong
we will be forgiven and we will not give up. Obedience means
changing. Obedience means that we will not conform our beliefs and
our attitudes to fit those of our culture, but that we will be
transformed by God’s word. Obedience means that we are never going
to be satisfied with our love for God until we love God with ALL our
heart, ALL of our soul, ALL of our mind, AND ALL of our strength;
and until we love our neighbor as ourselves. Obedience means that we
are going to make a priority making disciples, baptizing and
teaching obedience of God’s commandments.
Why
are we going to do this? We are going to do this because we
BELONG
to Jesus Christ.
How
are we going to do this? By take Paul’s advice in Colossian 3:12-17
seriously. Paul said
“Put on, as
God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness,
lowliness, meekness, and
patience forbearing one another and, if one has
a complaint against another, forgiving each other;
AS the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.
And above all put on love, which binds everything
together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were
called into the one body.”
Reverend Richard Hayes Weyer |
