Today is a joyful occasion, a day for
celebration, a day of baptism!
For
many of us it is a family celebration. Particularly so for Peter and Natasha,
as with their daughter Hollie they bring their baby daughter Eve to be
christened in the presence of so many of their relatives and friends, who share
their joy in her.
For
Eve’s Godparents, for Janet McCarthy, Brenda O’Laughlin and Adrian Gordon it is a day when they
promise to encourage Eve in her life and in her faith. It is a day to celebrate
the start of a very special relationship they will have with her as she grows
up. My daughter, when she was small, didn’t understand what a Godmother was.
She called her Godmother ‘my bed-sitter’, because when she came to stay her
Godmother would sit on the end of her bed and have long talks with her. My
daughter loved those special talks. May you as Godparents be equally special
‘bed-sitters’ for Eve!
It
is surely right for families to celebrate as families. Our Lord Jesus Christ
himself was reared in a human family, and he took part in family celebrations
such as the wedding in Cana of Galilee.
But today is about much more than
just a family celebration.
St
Matthew’s Gospel tells us how Jesus after his resurrection commissioned the
apostles to make disciples of all nations, and to mark it by baptism. They in
turn passed on the commission to others, handing on the gift of faith to new
generations. And so we, as that part of Christ’s church gathered here today, as
Jesus’s disciples, pass on this gift to a new generation, to Eve.
We
are here to welcome Eve as a new member of Christ’s Church. Baptism marks the beginning of a journey with
God, which will last for the rest of her life. Whether we are family or not, we
celebrate that today. And as we renew our baptismal vows in a few moments, let
us reflect on our own journey, and let us be determined to support Eve’s
parents and Godparents as they guide her on her journey.
Eve will be baptised “in the name of the Father, and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit”.
Matthew
tells us that Jesus himself used these words. Those of us who are Anglicans share
this baptismal formula with most other Christians, including the Roman
Catholic, the Orthodox and most Reformed Churches. It is a symbol of unity
within the diversity of our denominations that we all baptise in the same
words.
We
shouldn’t see the Trinity as a static thing, I think. Rather, God reveals
himself in the Trinity as a dynamic cycle of loving relationships. The Father
and the Son loving each other; the Son and the Spirit loving each other; and
the Spirit and the Father loving each other.
May
Eve grow up to recognise God’s dynamic cycle of love reflected in her own
relationships!
According to Matthew, the last
words Jesus spoke to his disciples are these: “Remember, I am with you always,
to the end of the age.”
Jesus
was speaking to the apostles, but he still speaks these words to his disciples
today.
What
an amazing thing it is, that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, our friend and
brother, is travelling with us on our journey. Even when we are tired or
anxious, lonely or frightened, doubting or lost, Jesus is there with us, to
encourage and support us, to love us.
The
loving Christ journeys with Eve, and with every one of us. Let us give thanks
for it, and let us celebrate it!
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