First Sunday After Epiphany
Sun 8, Jan 2006
(Baptism service for John Scott "Jack" Williamson)
Isaiah 42:1-7
Psalm 45:2,6-7
Acts 10:34-38
Mark 1:4-11
Children's Sermon: Heidi described baptism as being similar to a tea bag.
Sermon: (Frank Eberhardt)
If you feel like a smouldering wick, there's good news. If you're barely hanging on, if you're burned out, there's hope. When we lose our sense of direction, there's good news. The good news is that Jesus was baptised. Jesus became sin for us. Because of Jesus, we can be baptised, and God can say to us, "You are mine and I am pleased in you."
Students asked Martin Luther what he did to handle those situations where he felt distressed or tense or upset. Luther replied that he only had to remember that he was baptised, that he was God's child, and that even if he didn't feel it, God would still call him His child. We describe people by saying, "He's a saint." "He's a jerk." "He's a Lutheran." "She's portly." We name people things like Ivan the Terrible and William the Conqueror.
The baptismal font is a reminder of our baptism.
George Washington Carver went before the House, before the Ways and Means Committee, describing all the ways peanuts could be used. You wear peanuts, drink and eat peanuts, and peanuts could be made into plastic. Everyone was ridiculed before the committee. In his case, they made racist comments about him putting peanuts into his watermelon. The insults stung. The chairman even said, "In my state, we don't listen to his kind." George Washington Carver was a bruised reed. But Carver remembered God. He saw his individuality in God. He was given a 10 minute opportunity to speak more about peanuts. After he had used the opportunity, he was given more time. And more.
We are children of God, and that gives us confidence.
A German theologian wrote a poem entitled "Who am I?" He asked something like "am I one type on one day, and another type on another day? Or am I supposed to be one type all the time and be a hypocrite? Either way, I belong to God."
A little girl broke a vase. It was a family heirloom. Her mother specifically told her not to touch it. When she broke it, she cried. Her mother came into the room, and when she saw her crying, she held her and said, "I'm glad you're not hurt." This girl discovered that she was the true family heirloom.
If you think you're something, you eventually become it. We're children of God. God sees all people as people he loves, and the sin is just something that someone he loves did. He separates the sin from the sinner. To live the life of someone who is forgiven, that is our license.
There were two boys. One lived in Illinois, the other in Eastern Europe. The boy in Eastern Europe was an altar boy, and he spilled the communion wine. The priest slapped him and said, "Get off the altar, you clumsy oaf." This boy later became Joseph Tito, a racist dictator. On the opposite end, the boy from Illinois spilled wine, and the priest cleaned it up and said, "it happens." He forgave him and said, "You'll make a fine priest." The boy was Fulton J. Sheen, a famous minister.
God sends his spirit into our hearts and changes lives.