AEaster7

People of Coolidge, why do you stare up into the sky? He will return, in the same way as he left. And he won’t be mistaken for a bird, or a plane, or a superman here to save us one by one by silly means. 

As he ascended, Jesus gave his disciples, and that means us, a job to do: a commission, to take his message to all people, at home right here, and beyond our comfort zone or even our knowledge. 

We know this town, its people; we know ourselves. And yet we do not know what is coming. Not really. Though we may fear or gleefully await a change, or strive to keep the faith with what we know and love. 

But there is more to the story than that: we have something to share, a story to tell, to every new person that walks through that door, and a new story to tell to every one we may see week after week. It is the good news of the story of the glory of God. It is from the beginning the story of God’s love for us, his people, and his people includes everybody. 

Today we welcome a new person into our company. Last month she was only ten days old and here she is to be baptized.

In the story of the Church it is an unusual day to be baptized, or for anything to happen. Last week, or last Thursday, we began to accept that Jesus, who arose on Easter, is no longer with us. 

We do not see God in Christ face to face. We must seek him in each other – and in the stranger we meet on the road, or in the hospital, or at the diner. He may help us, we may help him. But the image of God is in each one of us. 

Next Sunday, the feast day of Pentecost, the Church celebrates a new beginning. You will notice that in our first lesson today things have already begun. Returning from saying good-bye to Jesus outside town, the disciples, including women, and the eleven apostles, begin to gather for prayer. They meet in an upper room, perhaps the very one they met on the night he was betrayed, Jesus’ passion beginning.

They gather in prayer. They will go on gathering in prayer and telling the story of Jesus, and of the life that ends not in despair but hope.

At Pentecost the promised Spirit will arrive in dramatic fashion. If you are down at San Xavier del Bac Mission Church, sometime. look for the painting on the wall of the disciples, each with a tongue of flame above his head. This shows us visually what happened internally. 

They began to understand that the Spirit was within, and working in them, to bring that commission into action that Jesus had left them with. Left us with. To take the message home and to the whole world.

This morning we receive a new member into our midst, a new Christian, a new person, a new human being. One of God’s own delight. Evelyn. Our duty to her as to all new Christians is to remind them of their baptism. What it means. 

And it means, among other things, that you are God’s delight. You are loved by God. And we try to show that in how we welcome you into our company. We are the company of God’s delight: the creatures he has made and in whom is his joy. 

We show God’s delight in us, God’s love for us, in part in how we are together as one; one people, called together in faith by our own baptisms. We too, Evelyn, have had water splashed on our heads, oil spread on our foreheads, and our names proclaimed as God’s own. 

Together as one family, one people, with one God father of all. Christ prayed for us, that we might be one. 

You are one of us. You are one of us, now, and forever.

A visible sign of that unity will be our prayer together, in the Eucharist and in the Lord’s Prayer, as we all together say those words that our Savior taught us.

Simple words; but they cover everything. 

They begin with praise for God and prayer that the will of God will happen – among us, and in part through us. As we pray, we are called to help bring into visible being that kingdom of God, reign of God, that we pray will become realized here. And we pray for our daily needs. And we pray for forgiveness, as we surely know we need it. But forgiveness as we forgive others and ourselves. And again we pray, acknowledging that that kingdom is already here; already real. Glory. 

Watermelon seeds - and grandmothers. 

When I was young Grandma Maxine came to visit.

She taught us two things on that visit. One was how to spit watermelon seeds. We were eating watermelon, the four boys, out on the back lawn, and she asked, do you know how to spit watermelon seeds? No. Well, let me teach you. She lined us up at the edge of the lawn. Just past it was a place my father had put down rich soil for a new garden. We ate - and got the seeds into our mouths - and we spat.

The seeds launched out into th new soil beyond the lawn's edge - and disappeared. But six weeks later - watermelon. First the vines, then the melons.

The other thing she taught me was the Lord's Prayer. It took a little longer for that to bear fruit.

And now, using the exact same words my grandmother taught me, the traditional words, let us pray.  

As our Savior Christ hath taught us, we are bold to say,

Our Father, who art in heaven,     hallowed be thy Name,     thy kingdom come,     thy will be done,         on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,     as we forgive those         who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation,     but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom,     and the power, and the glory,     for ever and ever. Amen.

***

• Acts 1:6-14
• 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
• John 17:1-11
• Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36

https://sermonoats.blogspot.com/2012/04/seeds.html

For St Michael's Episcopal Church, Coolidge, Ariz. May 17th 2026. JRL+

© 2026 John Leech

Baptism on Pentecost 2018

What does it mean to be baptized? How many of us even remember the occasion? If we don't we are blessed if there are some around us who do: who can say to us later, we remember when you were baptized and this is what we undertook. Not only to remind you of your baptism, of your Christianity, but to remind you of your humanity. Baptism is an occasion to call each one of us and all of us to our best selves - in the presence of Christ. It is a call, as we will find when we recite four baptismal promises, to become fully ourselves in several ways, not as individuals only or tribal members but as human beings. Alone and together we are all in the image of God. In baptism we are called to remember this solidarity - and this individuality. Will you - on behalf of the newly baptized and as members of the house of faith, recall the devotion expressed in the body and bread, the cup and the blood, the oil, the water, the story, and the people, that mediate grace to you - that bridge you between sacred and simple? These little things - these words, these actions, these tastes, and touches - draw us near to the holy - and nearer to being fully ourselves. So go now and prepare - for a life of joy and sorrow, of hope and faith - of hope beyond any surrender, and of faith in what is beyond imagining but abundant in each of us - the enduring presence of a gracious and faithful - and loving - God.

Hidden

seed, yeast, treasure, and pearl

A man sows seed in a field. It starts small, but grows.

A woman hides yeast in a big batch of flour, but it shows itself: it causes the whole batch to rise.

A man discovers that a field holds a treasure and quickly quietly giddily goes to buy that field and claim the treasure.

Equally foolishly a businessman liquidates his assets to devote all his resources to the acquisition of a single pearl.

Two children lean over a basin and get their hair wet.

Yet somehow all these people with their outrageous gestures of abandonment to joy find themselves fulfilled far beyond the dreams of avarice.

The little bitty seed outgrows all expectations and furnishes the nesting place for birds of all the air.

The little leaven is enough to season ⅔ of a bushel - plenty of bread for everybody. (Is this one of Jesus’ lakeside feasts?)

These two clever fellows with their secret deals - a treasure in a field, a pearl of great price - outmaneuver themselves, right out of the market, for now they have nothing - nothing but the one thing that matters above all else.

Leaving the rest behind, they find that one perfect pearl, that seed of a great tree, that hidden hoard of unreasoned happiness, that overwhelming blessing of bread, that redeems all of life.

The one thing that matters.

For hidden in all these parables is the one true thing that makes all else make sense: the same thing that two little kids are dedicated to today: following Jesus.

That is what the kingdom of heaven means: a way of living that makes sense of life.

And behind it is an unbreakable promise by the maker of all things:

I will never leave you. I will never stop loving you.

In the midst of your worst trials and tribulations, your greatest loves and greatest fears, I will stay by your side.

That is God’s promise to all of us: that now that we have called upon him,

Nothing can separate us from the love of the Eternal One. Nothing is that strong.

And so the stamp is indelible. The watermark is unerasable. The oil stain cannot be washed out.

You are marked as Christ’s own for ever.

July 30, 2017.

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost.

Proper 12, Year A.

Baptism

Romans 8:26-39

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46

The Parable of the Mustard Seed. (31-32)

The Parable of the Yeast. (33)

The Parable of the treasure hidden in a field. (44)

The Pearl of Great Price (45-46).

You are God’s beloved child

You are my Son, the Beloved;*

    with you I am well pleased.

Who are you? I am a beloved child of God – and so are you!

You are God’s beloved child.

Jesus after being baptized came out of the water and

heard the words

You are my Son, the Beloved: with you I am well pleased.

I wonder what the others heard but

I know what Jesus said to them.

He turned and said the words he dedicated his life to proving:

You are God’s beloved child.

We know he said this without benefit of videotaping or recording equipment –

Because of them he went on to live his life and in every action he took:

Proclaiming God’s kingdom 
of reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and peace;

Healing the sick, raising the dead,

Standing up for the truth at the cost of his own life – 

He said to the world, that

your life is precious in the sight of God. 

You are no accident –

And he has chosen you, holds you in his heart

God has yes, broken you,

Like Bread at the Eucharist,

As Bread for the World, 

Parted out and shared

That all may find life in the abundance of your giving,
like Jesus in his gifts of his self-offering abundance and

overflowing life and love.

God has taken, blessed …

Blessed you, given you hope, 
filled you with good things, 
not least the joy of life.

We look around us and see poverty or blessing, scarcity or abundance.

But God keeps filling our cup of blessing,

Offering us the warmth of his love,

The sustenance of his grace,

The comfort of his kindness,

The joy of his mercy, and

The fellowship of his Son, taken, blessed, broken, …

We are given as well, to the world,

We are distributed as instruments of his peace,

As manifestations of his peace,

As harbingers of his kingdom.

We come to the font and to the table,

Knowing we are imperfect, oh so imperfect beings.

We are taken – chosen,

blessed,

broken,

shared out – given,

for the life of the world depends on us,

Not in a bad way, not in a status way to make us special,

any more special than anyone else.

We are special as all are special and God has always loved you best.

 ***

When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:15b-17)

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. (1 John 3:1)

You are born into God’s family (in baptism),

Heirs of heaven’s life and joy: wake up and celebrate!

 

The Feast of the Baptism of our Lord - Year C 

Isaiah 43:1-7;  Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22.

Robert Fuller, Homilies from the Heart, Year C (Tucson).

Henri J. M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World (New York: Crossroad, 1983).

Trustees of the Future

 

A generation ago the sociologist Peter Laslett reported to a committee of Parliament on the concerns and needs and challenges facing a cohort of British subjects: those approaching, reaching, or living in retirement. Based on extensive research he identified a new “Third Age” of life: after childhood and youth, younger adulthood, and before old age. (Awkward terminology is a sign of the freshness of his ideas.) These older adults he called, in their potential, “trustees of the future.”

What he saw was an era of, potentially, personal fulfillment, after the work of earlier adulthood – its responsibilities, demands, and rewards – a time of freedom to pursue goals broader in scope and longer in vision than the immediate tasks of career and household.

Older adults, especially those in retirement, gain perspective based on not only longer experience of the past, but on the possibilities of the future. They may have the ability to contribute uniquely to a vision of a hopeful future. That is the challenge of a generation.

As we all affirm, children are the future. How to make that the best future possible is the job of all of us, the whole family, the whole community, and, the whole people of God.

Indeed, we will be welcoming two young new members into the household of God, when we celebrate the sacrament of baptism on the feast of the Baptism of our Lord, January 13, 2013. 

When we affirm, at Baptism, that we will do all in our power to support these persons in their life in Christ, we are taking on this task, as a community, in the power of God.

We cannot affirm, without God’s help, that we will be able to see this through. But with God’s blessing upon us and the presence of the Holy Spirit among us, we should be able to take on this challenge.

This is one, concrete, immediate way that we the people of God can respond to the calling to act, think, and pray as “trustees of the future.”

As we move into a new year in the secular calendar and in the life of the church, let us also move forward into a new sense of our unity in faith and action, our common mission.

The mission of the Church is the mission of Christ: to restore all people to unity with God and each other – and to aid all people in living into the fullness of life in abundance.

Peter Laslett, A Fresh Map of Life: The Emergence of the Third Age  (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991) 7, 196.

For the Gospel Grapevine, parish newsletter of Saint Alban’s Episcopal Church, Edmonds, Wash. (Epiphany 2013)

JRL+

He has been raised - and we with him

He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. The most scrupulous of scholars will affirm that as historical fact. But --

We would know nothing of Jesus if he had not been raised from the dead. As it is nothing can stay the same; for we do know of him – and we know him. Because he has been raised from the dead, our faith is alive.

Our faith is in a living Lord – and that makes all the difference. He is alive – and so he is not just a historical figure – to be studied as just another man. He is alive and is alive in us. He is not a mere memory – someone to talk about from the days of a distant past. He is a presence. His influence is all around us and on us and in us.

Jesus is not so much someone to talk about – as someone to meet, not so much someone to know about – as someone to know, and not so much to know – as to be known by.

We may begin by learning about him, studying him, discussing his impact on us, but we wake up to his living presence at last; we know him and trust him. 

(The above draws on William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark. Revised Edition. The Daily Study Bible Series. Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1956. 368-369.)

From this point on our lives do not stand still – they move. For our faith is in a living Lord – always moving, changing, revealing new wonders for us to discover, new delights for us to enjoy and share with him. We take joy in his presence in others; we delight in the creation he unfolds; we pause in wonder at the depths of his love.

Truth deepens within us – and so we too are ever changing, growing, developing, and maturing in faith, as we walk with him on the path to Jerusalem and beyond.

Where will we go from here? What happens to us – but to grow in faith? Even as we age physically, we can be growing spiritually. We find ourselves on an upward path, toward his glory, toward knowing him at last in fullness— being known ourselves.

What little we know of the resurrected life of the individual we shall learn in the gospel lessons of the next few weeks – the season of Easter. What we know of the resurrected life of the community – of the Body of Christ that is the Church – we shall study from the Day of Pentecost all the way through to the feast of All Saints. It is a long green growing season in which we see the resurrection of our Lord and its implications for life played out in the life of the believers, our lives.

From our baptism we begin on the journey of faith, the journey into freedom. It is a long journey, a pilgrimage: to become perfected in our faith, to be sustained in the Spirit, and to grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ.

Today we welcome a new person into the journey, together with us – a new pilgrim into our company of travelers – as we together walk the way of Jesus – and as we welcome the newly baptized so we deepen and reinforce our own commitment as followers of the cross, as heirs of hope, as witnesses of the resurrection.

Today we baptize a new member of the household of faith. We take a vow on her behalf. Her parents and godparents undertake to raise her in the faith; the congregation undertakes to support them in this effort – and to see her grow in Christ. This is our job. This is part of the work of a Christian community: to see its new members grow in faith and grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ.

During the sacrament of Holy Baptism,

The Celebrant asks the parents and godparents:

Will you be responsible for seeing that the child you present
is brought up in the Christian faith and life?

And each of the Parents and Godparents responds:

I will, with God's help.

And the Celebrant asks:

Will you by your prayers and witness help this child to grow
into the full stature of Christ?

And the Parents and Godparents each respond:

I will, with God's help.

But then the Celebrant addresses the congregation, saying:

Will you who witness these vows do all in your
power to support these persons in their life in Christ?

And the People say      We will.

It is that third vow I want to talk to you about today. What it means for the newly baptized, for her parents and godparents, for you – and for the community around you. We are each of us - and all of us - called into a ministry of support for baptized persons in their life in Christ.

As a people of God, as a welcoming, Christ-centered community of faithful believers, we are called to embody and fulfill our own baptismal promises. These are the promises of the Baptismal Covenant, which we will reaffirm in just a few minutes. We are called – as God’s people – to become the good news for the people in our community.

We are the ones who will act as super-godparents of the faithful – not just this child and her sisters but all persons who come to us seeking the life of faith, the good news of Christ.

“We will!” the people say. We say it with all the good will in the world, but what will it mean? In coming days after the liturgy what difference will it have made to say this?

“We will” comes as the ‘third vow’ in the rite of baptism, as it does in the rites of marriage and ordination. It comes after the candidates, or the parents and godparents speaking on their behalf, have said, “I will.”

It is the undertaking of the congregation – to uphold and support these people in their pledge.

What will it mean after the service –?

There is no indication in the Book of Common Prayer that this third vow is to be taken any less seriously, or carried out with less of a will, than the vows that precede it in the rite.

At baptisms we are used to parents, godparents, sponsors, witnesses and/or presenters to take a role. This is not a private, family ceremony, but a service of the church and public. It is not simply giving something special away – it requires responsible incorporation of new members into the community of faith.

Grace is what we want to impart – not cheaply nor wantonly entered into but advisedly and soberly, with a reasonable intention to guide us. The minister, the priest, must have, indeed, a ‘founded hope’ (in the felicitous Roman phrase) that the child shall be raised in the faith. This hope must be founded on vows not only individual but congregational.

Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their new life in Christ?

We ask those who are to be baptized to come forward. We call them out of the congregation, saying, Come forward. You sponsors come along too; and we will pray for you, and we will work with you, and walk with you, in the newness of life you now seek.

The congregation, represented by the sponsors, continues to monitor the progress in faith and newness of life, offering material and moral support and guidance as needed.

This rite of baptism has a meaning for the whole congregation, as the people of God in whose context and presence these sacramental rites take on living form, incarnating the grace of God in the middle of them, and bringing home to the congregation as well their role in the ongoing support of the newly baptized, as they continue to pursue and enact the vocation these vows represent.

This ritual provides an opportunity for the church to take responsibility for its growth and development as a welcoming, Christ-centered community, and to take pride in faith and fellowship, moving forward into a hopeful future, a future where the members of the church embody and enact the reign of a just and loving God in their relationships with each other and in their service to the community and the world, individually and together.

How then can these ‘third vows’ be made sufficiently explicit (and lavish) to engender a sense of meaning and responsibility in we who take them?

Conversion – the continuing turning, turning home which is the Christian life – means taking responsibility for an area of one’s own growth and development. This day’s work, this baptism, can yield new insight into the meaning of the baptismal covenant, not only for the person being baptized today but also indeed for the whole people here assembled.

This is the hidden opportunity of the ‘third vow’. There are plenty of charming examples of a celebrant chiding the people, ‘say it again, this time with feeling’, but beyond emotion and stage theatrics, what lasting change can be effected by taking this vow?

And what help and support and affirmation might the newly baptized expect to receive after the service is over?

The idea of sponsors or witnesses to baptism allows for some willing individuals to represent and model for the congregation the affirmation that all make together and the support that all undertake before God in solemn assembly to carry out.

The people of God have work to do, in praise and prayer and service, which we affirm and renew in this sacramental liturgy? Let’s put some ‘oomph’ into ‘we will’ – and vim into our vows, and power into our prayers. 

Will you pray for this child and her parents?

Will you make her - and all children - welcome in church?

Will you get to know the family and walk with them through good times and challenging times?

Will you participate in the education of this child - and all children - as Christians?


Will you who witness these vows do all in your
power to support these persons in their life in Christ?

And the People say      We will.

Amen.

Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Acts 10:34-43
Mark 16:1-8

Easter Day * April 8, 2012

JRL+

This sermon owes a lot to the Rev. Dr. Susan Marie Smith, who taught a course on worship at the San Francisco Theological Seminary in 2011. Some of the ideas come from a paper that I wrote for her class.