Baptism of our Lord (A) – Acts 10
I love having all the kids come up here for the children’s sermon. It’s a sign of hope in an awfully messed up world. What kind of a world are we raising our children in? (Or, if you’re a younger worshiper today, what kind of a world are we growing up in?)
Yesterday morning, in Tucson, AZ, a United States Representative, a congresswoman, decided she wanted to get some feedback from her constituents. So she set up some time for people to come and talk to her outside of a grocery store. And a young man, college age, showed up with a gun and opened fire. The congresswoman and twelve other people were injured, and six people were killed, including a good friend of hers who was a federal district court judge and a nine year-old girl who had just been elected as president of her elementary school student council, and wanted to learn a bit more from this congresswoman about the political process. What kind of a world do we live in where this can happen?
One of the articles that I read said that certain factors in the story make it appear that the kid who did this probably had some kind of severe mental illness–schizophrenia, or some related disease–and all this makes me wonder: How in this society can we let a kid grow up without being diagnosed and getting the help that he needs? Where did he get a gun in the first place? And how many other shootings were there yesterday that didn’t make headline news?
It’s not new news though, is it? A year ago today, I was headed to Mexico City with the seminary for a class on peace and justice in Latin America, and I had no idea what I was in for. Two weeks of being bombarded with violence and corrupt governments and disaster in Latin America and I felt like I was being drowned by evil. On Thursday in confirmation class, we talked about keeping God’s name holy, and we discussed some of the ways that people have used God’s name to commit terrible things: The German church’s grudging acceptance of the holocaust, or the use of scripture to promote racism and slavery and the subjugation of women in this country, or back even further, the Spanish Inquisition and the crusades and–
No, we live in a messed-up world, and even in Jesus’ time it was just as bad. The Romans were hard rulers of Israel. They taxed the people so heavily that no one could crawl out of poverty. The Israelite people were so unimportant that their punishment for insulting a real Roman citizen could be as much as death–for just an insult! And the Roman army was always present as a constant reminder that any freedom they thought they had wasn’t real, but was just an illusion, or a gift given by the Roman government that could be taken away at any time.
This was the setting in which, one day, a short time after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the Apostle Peter is visiting someone, sitting up on the rooftop (which is a weird detail, but maybe they did that back then), waiting for lunch to be ready, and dozing off. And in a dream, a messenger from God comes to him and says, “Three men are going to show up at the door. They’re looking for you. Don’t be afraid, don’t hesitate, go with them, and do what they say.” And Peter wakes up at the knock at the door. He goes with them, and finds himself at the home of Cornelius, a Roman centurion. Not just the bad guy in our story, but a commander of the bad guy’s armies!
I can imagine how Peter felt. In fact, the shortness of his first answer back in verse 28 shows that it doesn’t matter that God said, “don’t be afraid, don’t hesitate,” Peter wants to get out of there and as quickly as possible. But Peter makes a decision–an important decision, a history-changing decision. Peter decides to trust God, who has brought him there, and to tell Cornelius and his whole household about Jesus Christ and the Good News that has come through him. This Jesus that healed people. This Jesus that was killed and was resurrected. This Jesus that brought forgiveness of sins.
And through this incredible decision, this decision that must have been terribly hard for Peter to make, healing begins, and a new relationship begins. And not only that, but as Peter is talking, the Holy Spirit comes and falls on all those who are gathered there. Cornelius and his household are baptized, and they become the very first gentile (non-Jewish) followers of Christ ever.
God chose to work through Peter in that small way. And while the Roman armies still came in the year 70 and took Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, I’d bet that Cornelius’s armies weren’t the first in line at that attack. And the fact is, had Peter not decided to trust God and preach the Good News, and bring healing, and seek peace and justice, none of us gentiles would be sitting here today.
What an incredible gift God gave Peter that day: The opportunity to bring such new life to the world. It’s the same opportunity that you and I have in our Baptism. Those things that Peter did? It’s what we promise in our Baptism. Listen for it in the words that Pastor Dan says today, the promises he reads, as we gather around the font and celebrate the Baptism of Declan Kenny. The promises that his parents and sponsors make, that we as their congregation promise to help and support them in, is to teach him the scriptures and to bring him to the Lord’s table, and to do these things so that he can learn to, “trust God, proclaim Christ…care for others and the world…and work for justice and peace.” That’s what that little child will have the opportunity to do in his life, and that’s what opportunity you and I all have too.
And we do. We go out into this world, into our homes, and families, and children, and our jobs, and our volunteer places, and our church too, and we bring new life. What an awesome opportunity God has given us. Sisters and brothers, this IS a messed-up world. But it’s a world that has hope in Christ, and we are that hope. God has called us and given us the privilege of helping Him to bring new life in every corner, to be the very hands and feet of Christ. How will you do this incredible work of ministry today, and this week, and this month, and every day of your life?