Last Supper, First Banquet

    One time on the way back from visiting our college mentor Noel King in Watsonville, a friend and I took the mountain road over the hill past Mount Madonna and into the countryside west of Gilroy. We pulled up short at a crossroads. There was a Mexican wedding celebration in progress and it filled the intersection … with music, laughter, food, and joy. We gladly pulled over and paused to take in the sights and sounds of the festivities before us. Yes, there was a mariachi band. As a singer friend of mine once said, when you hear mariachi music, you should have a beer in your hand. 

Maybe at a mariachi wedding mass...

48 years ago my cousin was getting married. Before the wedding the groom's brother and I drove across town to pick up the keg. Since it was a long drive Lonnie stopped to pick up a six-pack so we wouldn't get thirsty. We made it, there and back again. The wedding ceremony itself was a small affair; one less person and I'd've been best man. 

The party however was in the front yard of the shop, Blue Ox Millworks. The band set up on the back of a gooseneck trailer. And we made it through the keg. I guess if we'd run out Lonnie and I would've been back across town to get another one. Maybe less expensive. 

Because as we know, everybody serves the good stuff first, and once taste buds are coarsened, you can fill in with Old English 800, Burgie, or two-buck Chuck. 

The point is not the beer, or the wine. Maybe it's the party. We celebrated. Something joyous was happening - and has kept on happening ever since. 

There was definitely something to celebrate in that little hillside town in Galilee that day. And there was no reason to stop, if the refreshments held out.

A wedding is the beginning of a brave adventure. 

A Palestinian winemaker recently explained to a reporter why he’d named one of his new wines “Grapes of Wrath”: “The vineyard (in the middle of the West Bank) reminded me of the book by Steinbeck,” he said. “The delusion of opportunity on one hand, the resilience and the transforming of pain into opportunity.” 

[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/dining/drinks/palestinian-winemaker.html]

Marriage has many pains, as Dr. Johnson said, but celibacy has no joys.

Friends invited me to their Jewish-tradition wedding service, at the Camp Fire Girls headquarters in San Francisco. Under the shade of the huppah, they exchanged vows, and then stomped on a glass.

The Talmud says, “Mar bar Rabina made a marriage feast for his son. He observed that the rabbis present were very gay. So he seized an expensive goblet worth 400 zuzim and broke it before them. Thus he made them sober. (Berakhot 5:2 )”

In other words, it has been said, where there is rejoicing, there should be trembling.

[https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/breaking-the-glass-at-a-jewish-wedding/]

We know the trembling as well as the rejoicing. If we have been to a wedding, we know.

The Massacre of the Innocents, ordered by the king soon after Jesus’ birth, was just the beginning, of the suffering that he, and his Mother, would know in his lifetime. 

But weddings are the celebration that reminds us of the Song of Songs, in which we sing that love is strong, strong as death.  

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

    as a seal upon your arm;

for love is strong as death….

(Song of Solomon 8:6) 

The jars were empty; Jesus had them filled. Israel had come to the end of a long road. John was the last and greatest prophet of the old. New had come. The witness of Mary began the celebration. 

There was definitely something to celebrate in that little hillside town in Galilee that day. But of course there was something more going on. Something bigger. But somehow the same... in a couple of ways. There was something to celebrate, and the best wine, held till now, was certainly appropriate.

For at last and already time was coming to its fulfillment. In a simple town, in a smalltown wedding, among friends, the Messiah revealed himself. This was the first sign he performed in the village of Cana, in Galilee. He'd be back soon, and he'd heal a royal official's son. Who wasn't even there. He was down the hill by the lakeshore, an eight-hour hike away, past Tabgha, at Capernaum. Jesus just said to the man, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. (John 4:50-51) A second sign.

Is this small-town stuff? A wedding banquet is saved, a boy gets well.

Or are these the beginning of something great? These were the first two signs, in Cana, and eventually, the time for signs would disappear. But before it did, Jesus held up a cup of wine at another banquet, and said something unexpected (or dreaded): This is my blood shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. 

And soon enough it would not be a sign anymore, not a pointer to anything beyond itself, for Jesus' blood would indeed be shed, and if it pointed to anything, it pointed to itself, to the outpouring of love by God in that moment, and in all moments.

There was a wedding, a bringing together, a joining of two into one. And then there was a bigger banquet, where we were made one with God, in the wine, in the food, in the death, in the resurrected life, of the one who, unexpectedly, became the life of the party, and the reason to celebrate.

In Galilee at that time it was almost an act of defiance to have a wedding. Maybe in some ways it always is: for love is strong as death; Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. (Song of Songs 8:6-7) 

And the forces of death will be vanquished, in that very cup and that very bread, shared and broken, that at this first banquet and that last supper showed that in him was life, this life was the light of all people, and the darkness has not and cannot overcome it. (John 1:4, 5)

So - extra wine? A second keg? Or a crack in the midst of something ordinary, so that the light got in and shone upon us, showing us the truth that is beyond and behind every occasion of joy: the presence of the joyous one in our midst, hidden or revealed, that is God with us.

 

The proper preface for Epiphany:
Because in the mystery of the Word made flesh, you have 
caused a new light to shine in our hearts, to give the 
knowledge of your glory in the face of your Son Jesus Christ 
our Lord.

CEpiphany2 2025 
Episcopal Church of Christ the King, Tucson. 
Saturday 18 January 2025, 6pm
Sunday 19 January 2025, 8 & 10:30am

https://www.youtube.com/live/7_vdjKHj0No?feature=shared

• Isaiah 62:1-5
• 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
• John 2:1-11
• Psalm 36:5-10

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

"Last Supper, First Banquet" title courtesy Fr. Fred Masterman.

a wedding in Cana

Episcopal Church of Christ the King, Tucson. 
Saturday 18 January 2025, 6pm
Sunday 19 January 2025, 8 & 10:30am

• Isaiah 62:1-5
• 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
• John 2:1-11
• Psalm 36:5-10

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Before the wedding Eric's brother and I drove across town to pick up the keg. Since it was a long drive Lonnie stopped to pick up a six-pack so we wouldn't get thirsty. We made it, there and back again. The wedding ceremony itself was a small affair; one less person and I'd've been best man. The party however was in the front yard of the shop, Blue Ox Millworks. The band set up on the back of a gooseneck trailer. And we made it through the keg. I guess if we'd run out Lonnie and I would've been back across town to get another one. Maybe less expensive. 

Because as we know, everybody serves the good stuff first, and once taste buds are coarsened, you can fill in with Old English 800, Burgie, or two-buck Chuck. 

The point is not the beer, or the wine. Maybe it's the party. We celebrated. Something joyous was happening - and has kept on happening ever since. 

There was definitely something to celebrate in that little hillside town in Galilee that day. And there was no reason to stop, if the refreshments held out.

But of course there was something more going on. Something bigger. But somehow the same... in a couple of ways. There was something to celebrate, and the best wine, held till now, was certainly appropriate.

For at last and already time was coming to its fulfillment. In a simple town, in a small town wedding, among friends, the Messiah revealed himself. This was the first sign he performed in the village of Cana, in Galilee. He'd be back soon, and he'd heal a royal official's son. Who wasn't even there. He was down the hill by the lakeshore, an eight-hour hike away, past Tabgha, at Capernaum. Jesus just said to the man, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. (John 4:50-51) A second sign.

Is this small-town stuff? A wedding banquet is saved, a boy gets well.

Or are these the beginning of something great? These were the first two signs, in Cana, and eventually, the time for signs would disappear. But before it did, Jesus held up a cup of wine at another banquet, and said something unexpected (or dreaded): This is my blood shed for you, and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. 

And soon enough it would not be a sign anymore, not a pointer to anything beyond itself, for Jesus' blood would indeed be shed, and if it pointed to anything, it pointed to itself, to the outpouring of love by God in that moment, and in all moments.

There was a wedding, a bringing together, a joining of two into one. And then there was a bigger banquet, where we were made one with 

God, in the wine, in the food, in the death, in the resurrected life, of the one who, unexpectedly, became the life of the party, and the reason to celebrate.

In Galilee at that time it was almost an act of defiance to have a wedding. Maybe in some ways it always is: for love is strong as death; Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. (Song of Songs 8:6-7) And the forces of death will be vanquished, in that very cup and that very bread, shared and broken, that at this first banquet and that last supper showed that in him was life, this life was the light of all people, and the darkness has not and cannot overcome it. (John 1:4,5)

So - extra wine? A second keg? Or a crack in the midst of something ordinary, so that the light got in and shone upon us, showing us the truth that is beyond and behind every occasion of joy: the presence of the joyous one in our midst, hidden or revealed, that is God with us.

***

Of wine and weddings:

A Palestinian winemaker named one of his new wines “Grapes of Wrath”: “The vineyard (in the middle of the West Bank) reminded me of the book by Steinbeck,” he said. “The delusion of opportunity on one hand, the resilience and the transforming of pain into opportunity.”

 

[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/dining/drinks/palestinian-winemaker.html]

One time on the way back from visiting our college mentor and friend Noel King in Watsonville, Imam Bilal Hyde and I took the mountain road over the hill past Mount Madonna and into the countryside west of Gilroy. We pulled up short at a crossroads. There was a Mexican wedding celebration in progress and it filled the intersection … with music, laughter, food, and joy. We gladly pulled over and paused to take in the sights and sounds of the festivities before us. Yes, there was a mariachi band. As a singer friend of mine once said, when you hear mariachi music, you should have a beer in your hand. 

Another friend invited me to their Jewish-tradition wedding service, at the Camp Fire Girls headquarters in San Francisco. Under the shade of the huppah, they exchanged vows, and then stomped on a glass.

The Talmud says, “Mar bar Rabina made a marriage feast for his son. He observed that the rabbis present were very gay. So he seized an expensive goblet worth 400 zuzim and broke it before them. Thus he made them sober. (Berakhot 5:2 )”

In other words, as it has been said, where there is rejoicing, there should be trembling.

[https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/breaking-the-glass-at-a-jewish-wedding/]

We know the trembling as well as the rejoicing. If we have been to a wedding, we know.

The Massacre of the Innocents, ordered by the king soon after Jesus’ birth, was just the beginning, of the suffering that he, and his Mother, would know in his lifetime. 

But weddings are the celebration that reminds us of the Song of Songs, in which we sing that love is strong, strong as death.  

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

    as a seal upon your arm;

for love is strong as death,

    passion fierce as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

    a raging flame.

(Song of Solomon 8:6) 

The jars were empty; Jesus had them filled. Israel had come to the end of a long way. John was the last and greatest prophet of the old. New had come. The witness of Mary began the celebration. 

Are you sure?

Illustration thanks to Suzanne Guthrie, http://edgeofenclosure.org/epiphany2c.html

When we were in New York one October we met a couple on their honeymoon. At their wedding, before they exchanged vows, the officiant cautioned them: ‘Life is long. It wasn't for our forefathers and ancestors. When they got married, they'd say, “We're married for life,” and go for ten years and die. You guys are looking at a thirty or forty year proposition... If you stay healthy, you could be looking at each other for over fifty years. So I ask you one more time. Are you sure?’

“Absolutely!” 

At another wedding, in New York years ago, the preacher said this: “When two people in this crazy world are willing to commit themselves to each other for life, we’ve all got something to celebrate.”—Barbara Crafton 

You have been to some pretty good weddings I imagine – so have I. What was the most fun about them? It varied, didn’t it?

From the look of love on the groom to the bloom on the bride to the wedding guests’ hilarity and the cute little kids having a party of their own around about knee height of the grown-ups ... to the message of grace you may have received, or the grief you may have revisited, as you were recalled to past experience. But then you recover yourself – and are present to the day – and wish well with all others as the two take their vow.

But then comes a surprise: you are asked to make a vow as well. Yes, the third vow.

“Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these two in their union?”

“Yes, we will.”

When we are guests we bless and we receive a blessing –

We witness vows and we make a vow…

“Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?”

At the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus and his companions are invited guests.

He is not the bridegroom.

He is present at the wedding – of the couple and family at Cana, as he is at the wedding of God and God’s people.

And he is a bit - disruptive...

Jesus and his boys show up when the party has been going for a while and they’ve run out of wine.

“They have no wine.”

“Fill the jars…”

When the guests arrived they could have expected nothing like this. Not what happened when Jesus showed up. In those days the party – the wedding celebration – typically went on for a week. It may have started as early as seven days before Jesus and his followers arrived. But when the Messiah appears — this is when the fun really begins.

A party that was about to run out of gas – embarrassing for the host, out of wine – suddenly revived. And more than revived. What was old was transformed. What was old became new.

Okay, stone jars. Big jars. Great supply of water for washing your hands. You would want to do that every once in a while while you are eating and drinking for seven days with the whole town at a big party. But –

“Fill the jars with water.”

“Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”

The servants drew – and they knew. And Jesus’ disciples knew. They were in on the surprise!

What was manifested was a wonderful superabundant presence – indeed, as they soon perceived it, the very presence of God. In joy and laughter, and in blessing, God was there. In the midst of life. With us.

Bring us to the feast, guests with all the saints,

at the marriage of the bride that is Creation,

to the holy groom Emmanuel.

Guide us to the overflowing abundance

of your unexpected presence

as we ourselves are wed to Eternity.

 

JRL+

A version of this essay appears in the Sunday January 23rd 2021 issue of the Arizona Daily Star in the Keeping the Faith feature in the Home + Life section, on page E-3, under the title "Witnessing and making vows" and in the online edition under the title, "Make a commitment to yourself, others and God".

https://tucson.com/lifestyles/make-a-commitment-to-yourself-others-and-god/article_f13bc804-7886-11ec-842d-cbdeafe07448.html

Are you sure?

When we were in New York last October we met a couple on their honeymoon. At their wedding, before they exchanged vows, the officiant cautioned them: "Life is long. It wasn't for our forefathers and ancestors. When they got married, they'd say, like, "We're married for life," and go for ten years and die. You guys are looking at a thirty or forty year proposition... If you stay healthy, you could be looking at each other for over fifty years. So I ask you one more time. Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!" 

At another wedding, in New York years ago, the preacher said this: “When two people in this crazy world are willing to commit themselves to each other for life, we’ve all got something to celebrate.”—Barbara Crafton 

You have been to some pretty good weddings I imagine – so have I. What was the most fun about them? It varied, didn’t it?

From the look of love on the groom to the bloom on the bride to the wedding guests’ hilarity and the cute little kids having a party of their own around about knee height of the grown-ups ... to the message of grace you may have received, or the grief you may have revisited, as you were recalled to past experience. But then you recover yourself – and are present to the day – and wish well with all others as the two take their vow.

But then comes as a surprise: you are asked to make a vow as well. Yes, the third vow.

Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these two in their union?

Yes, we will.

When we are guests we bless and we receive a blessing –

We witness vows and we make a vow…

“Will allow of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?”

At the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus and his companions are invited guests.

He is not the bridegroom.

He is present at the wedding – of the couple and family at Cana, as he is at the wedding of God and God’s people.

And he is a bit - disruptive...

Jesus and his boys show up when the party has been going for a while and they’ve run out of wine.

“They have no wine.”

“Fill the jars…”

When the guests arrived they could have expected nothing like this. Not what happened when Jesus showed up. In those days the party – the wedding celebration – typically went on for a week. It may have started as early as seven days before Jesus and his followers arrived. But when the Messiah appears — this is when the fun really begins.

A party that was about to run out of gas – embarrassing for the host, out of wine – suddenly revived. And more than revived. What was old was transformed. What was old became new.

Okay, stone jars. Big jars. Great supply of water for washing your hands. You would want to do that every once in awhile while you are eating and drinking for seven days with the whole town at a big party. But –

“Fill the jars with water.”

“Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”

The servants drew – and they knew. And Jesus’ disciples knew. They were in on the surprise!

What was manifested was a wonderful superabundant presence – indeed, as they soon perceived it, the very presence of God. In joy and laughter, and in blessing, God was there. In the midst of life. With us.

L’chaim – to life – indeed!

What does Jesus bless?

-       This happy couple

-       This community

-       LIFE

HILARIOUS ABUNDANCE

breaks out as God’s presence

becomes manifest

as God’s glory

is revealed—

and the Jesus movement begins.

We are part of the Jesus movement. And the cause of God’s love in the world can never stop and will never be defeated. (Michael Curry)

That is what our gathering here today is about – and that is what the lesson of the gospel says. And it says more: not only will the mission continue, not only will it persevere, but it will thrive, in joyous abundance – in hilarious overflowing of the grace and love and mercy of God.

On that day in Cana, God was present – in companionship, in abundance, in overflowing joy.

God is present with us, now – in companionship, in mirthful abundance, and in overflowing joy.

So how are we to persevere in the abundant outpouring of joy that this sign presents?

How do we, his disciples, support and sustain the committed relationship of people to God?

In Baptism, Confirmation, or Reception, in every Communion, every feast, we draw on his abundance, his goodness.

We take Communion (bread and wine) not just for ourselves but for everybody in the Body of Christ – to sustain that Body…. (A Testing of Hearts, Donald Nicholl)

Just as we have been given and exercise our gifts not just for ourselves but to sustain and build up the whole body of God’s people, in relationship to God, our maker, sustainer, and redeemer.

The Spirit indeed is the chief sustainer of the faithful,

And itself divine,

A gift from heaven

And itself the giver.

Bring us to the feast, guests with you [Lord Christ]

at the marriage of the bride that is Creation,

to the holy groom God-among-us.

Guide us to the overflowing abundance

of your unexpected presence

as we ourselves are wed to Eternity.


__________________

Silent Bob Weds Gina and Terry. YouTube. Published on Sep 23, 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfP66Say5Zc accessed March 27, 2016.

wedding/gifts

 

Ever been to a wedding? One where the gifts piled up? Years ago Jackie and Glenn got married; and there was a table in the reception hall just piled with wedding gifts. I wonder if that was what it was like for Jesus and the disciples, as they came into the celebration of the wedding at Cana.

They’d traveled a long road up from the Jordan valley, where John was baptizing, and John had baptized them – all of them, including Jesus. Then John pointed out Jesus to some of his disciples, who were standing around, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” So naturally some of them went over to talk to him. And they stayed with him.

And then he said, “Follow me.” And off they went. When they got back home to Galilee, where some of them, including Jesus, were from, they found themselves invited to a wedding as guests.

What do you bring? Do you have a year if you forgot?

There they were – and the wine ran out.

In a desert town far from here there was a woman who was a legendary hostess. She had, as David Steele puts it, “the gift of throwing parties that combine food, decorations, music, and laughter to create an atmosphere of welcome, well-being, and love.” She had three daughters, and they learned this grace from her.

What is happening at the wedding party is that Jesus and his disciples are learning that grace too: from his mother. For there they were: at the beginning of his public ministry, she points out an immediate need – an opportunity, an invitation.

Jesus doesn’t say, “I don’t know how,” or “that’s not my job.” He does say, “Is that our concern? I’m not ready yet.”

He is not ready to be revealed for who he really is – not fully, not yet. But fullness is what is needed here. Abundance has an opening here. And his mother points it out to him.

She trusts him: “Do whatever he tells you,” she says.

Jesus begins to show he knows what it means to throw a party. Indeed, he shows what it means to bring new life, new laughter, new hope, new joy, when it seems like the party is over. “They have no wine.”

Over? The party is just beginning!

He takes what is there: six empty ritual jars, sitting there unused and ineffectual. “Fill them.”

What is drawn out of those once-empty stone jars is abundance, fullness, richness – a cup of blessing is brought to the chief steward. He knows what he tastes – it’s the good wine, at last.

All Israel has been waiting for this wine – for centuries.

This is where the party really starts to take off.

Each of us may find ourselves at a party with no wine, just some empty old stone jars left over from a ritual of the past that no longer works.

But into our lives if we welcome him comes the life of the party – the new life that fulfills life, beyond our hopes and dreams.

And each of us is called to bring something to the party (something we are given in the first place) – some steps in the dance, some gifts for the table, some action or word or service, that is our unique offering to the whole. Together we form, with what each of us is given to bring, a community of joy, love, life, and laughter.

All from the same source, those gifts come: and we find ourselves giving and appreciating gifts – and seeing them in each other – differently as we grow through life.

This is the community of Christ. This is the place where the fun really begins. Here life, love, and laughter take their place; here sorrows, doubts, shame, and darkness are banished at last.

“I am not yet ready,” Jesus says. He knew at that wedding-feast that the hour had not yet come, the hour when he would be glorified. For the hour of his glory would be the hour of the cross. There he would be fully revealed – for who he is. The splendor of his radiance, the glory of God, would shine through him. At that darkest of hours, God’s grace would be poured out for all.

Like the cup of salvation in the Psalms, the cup of wine at the Lord’s Supper, the cup of blessing that the Lord our Shepherd fills to overflowing. This wedding feast is the first celebration of the kingdom coming into our world.  A meal with Jesus at the head of the table is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet Isaiah prophesied, where everyone drinks their fill of aged wines strained clear.

(Isaiah 25:6–9)

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
   a feast of rich food, a feast of well-matured wines,
   of rich food filled with marrow, of well-matured wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
   the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
   the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death for ever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
   and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
   for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
   Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
   This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
   let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

The hour? Not yet: the best is yet to come.

In the meantime we raise a cup, a common cup of blessing, knowing his life, poured out for us, is the source of our life and our joy.

all along the lakeshore

 

He came toward us, walking along the edge of the water, and we knew he was the one John foretold. He said, “Follow me,” and we made our way to Galilee. First he took us to a party – a wedding celebration in a village near his hometown. His mother was there; we too were invited guests. And that party is where it all started.

He showed us who he was,

            who God is,

not by pointing,

but by a sign,

            a deed, an act,

that made a light to shine

            in our hearts.

It began to dawn on us:

He is the light of the world.

And in his light, we see light.

It began so simply, then:

with a party where the wine ran out.

His mother spoke softly to him,

and before we knew it, new wine

flowed. Wine beyond reasonable

            doubt? –

measure, a sure sign of kingdom of God

–      a miracle!

Where we had felt scarcity,

            he discovered abundance.

Where we had thought

            we were at the end of hope

He found new life.

Where there had been darkness

            he brought light.

If we felt dead, now

            there was life.

And so we follow him –

            we follow him still.

Grace is what you have when you run out –

            of money, of time,

            of your own resources.

Grace does not wait for you to ask;

            grace just comes.

Are you ready for it?

How could you be?

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.