Loading...Years ago – when I was in graduate school and a bit of a firebrand (but in a polite way) – I found a button that I put on my school bag: “Ordain women or stop baptizing them!”
Keep in mind that this was the mid-90s and I am part of the ELCA which has been ordaining women since 1970, and the Episcopal Church has been ordaining women since about 1977. Yet, I still encounter people who are not quite sure if women should be pastors (and, that’s me being “nice”).
One of the reasons I love the button (which I still have) besides the obvious – ordain women! – is that, in our baptisms, we are all ordained, set apart, called, and given tools to do ministry and to serve. By virtue of our baptism, we each have a vocation.
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In the sacrament of baptism, a bunch of promises are made.
Think back to your own baptisms.
Now, if, like me, you were about six days old or so, you probably won’t remember it. But, if you were an older child, a teenager, or an adult, you probably do remember that day.
You – or, your parents on your behalf –
made the promise that you would worship, pray, study, learn, serve, forgive, love, advocate, and work for justice in the world.
God made the promise – the more important promise and the one that came first – to love, forgive, love, be preset, love, comfort, love, give abilities, love, forgive again, love, fill your life with joy, love. Oh, and did I say “love”? (Please note, God never promised you a rose garden, nor did God promise you money or other material wealth. And, God did not promise you a life of ease that would be without suffering.)
In our baptismal covenants,
not just the one time, but every week (in words of Confession and Absolution or in a Thanksgiving for Baptism) and everyday,
we make a commitment to be disciples of Jesus:
to walk in The Way;
to practice everyday what it means to be a beloved child in God’s kingdom;
to listen for and pay attention to the whispers of the Holy Spirit.
Discipleship means that we learn, practice, and follow.
Classically speaking, there are “marks of discipleship”;
disciplines such as worship, scripture reading, intentional study, stewardship, witness/evangelism, prayer, service/acts of caring, tithing, and forgiveness.
The Church did not just make these up.
I did not just make these up.
These are things that Jesus taught his followers – as we read about in the Gospel stories.
Frankly, we cannot do them all. At least, we cannot do them all well.
Especially not at first. This is one reason that we call them “practices”. We practice them, just like a music student practices his or her instrument to get better.
But, these marks of discipleship are part of our journey in our life with Christ. They are part of the life into which we were baptized. As Paul so elegantly and passionately states in his letter to Christians in Rome, baptism into the life of Christ is not easy. Listen to Romans 6:1b-4: “Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
In other words, we have a new life in baptism with Christ.
In doing so, our old life has died: the life that’s about getting ahead,
holding grudges,
caring only about our own needs (or those of family) without considering others,
materialism, and
being right and righteous.
As Jesus says to his disciples as he gives them instructions in preparation to send them out into the world,
being a follower and disciple is hard!
It is counter-cultural and may be counter intuitive.
It can mean that you might even be divided from your family!
(Now, that might feel like good news to you if you come from an unhealthy family with destructive or hurtful patterns and behaviors. But, for others, division from family because of faith can be painful and difficult.)
Before we grieve for the life we’ve died to
or the family we might be divided from
remember that this “death” leads to newness of life:
Hope, Joy, Reconciliation, Life, Love.
As well as the tools that we can use to life this transformed life that Christ has given us:
tools to share healing with those who feel broken,
tools to share love with those who feel unworthy or unwanted
tools to share hope with those who feel lost or despairing
tools to share joy with those who are anxious or afraid.
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I invite you now to pull out the Book of Common Prayer from the pew racks and turn to page 304, The Baptismal Covenant. We’ll begin about ¾ way down the page. I’ll ask y’all these questions and invite you to answer.
Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
I will, with God’s help.
Whatever the scope of our work and ministry –
the cup of cool water
witnessing to the life-giving power of God
sharing the breath of Holy Spirit giving creative life
offering a word of compassion and kindness
breaking and sharing bread at this Table and others –
you are living deeply in your promises and covenant,
you are serving as the baptized, alive people of God,
and you are living with the mark of Christ and the seal of the Holy Spirit as the transformed people of God.
Peace be with you as you go!
Amen
