June 30, 2024 First Congregational Church at Auburn UCC
2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.,
8 I do not say this as a command, but I am, by mentioning the eagerness of others, testing the genuineness of your love. 9 For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. 10 And in this matter I am giving my opinion: it is beneficial for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something. 11 Now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. 12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. 13 For I do not mean that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality between 14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may also supply your need, in order that there may be equality. 15 As it is written,
“The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
In today’s lesson, from Second Corinthians, Paul calls all of us to faith lives of excellence. He calls us, in God’s name, to do our best. He says it’s not a command, but rather that it is good for us to do the best we’re able to do.
It not only pleases God, but it is good for us, to do good.
Now it’s one thing to hear, or read, or even know that this is God’s call for us – to be the people who do good – but it’s something else to respond to that call.
Today is a special Sunday, a day in which we are baptizing and taking in new members. Now, there are many reasons for celebration, but one – today’s focus – is this: baptism and membership are the most important parts of responding to God’s invitation to be people who do good.
We baptized Ryleigh, not because we believe she’s capable of knowing God’s call yet, but because we believe that God’s call comes to each of us even before we are capable of choosing between good and evil. We believe that children who are baptized can grow up as people who do good. We believe that their baptism shows that God loves them even before they have done anything to earn that love.
And we will receive our new members because they have found here a way to live into that way – to support their callings to bring good into our world.
Baptism, and membership in a local church, are two sides of the same thing – a publicly declared intention to follow the way of welcoming and inclusive love.
There’s some sense in which saying that is the really simple part of the process. The easiest thing about being baptized, even if we were to practice full immersion baptism in icy cold lakes in winter, is the baptism itself. The easiest thing about being a new member, even if you’re terribly shy, is standing up in front of the church and saying the words.
The hard part, the fun part, of being baptized, being a church member, is figuring out how to live it out. Being baptized, being a member, means we get to think about what we do, and why we do it. We get to figure out what kind of person God wants us to be, and discern how to get there.
Once we join up, we don’t have to figure out all this stuff for ourselves. We’ve adopted a way of living, joined a community where everyone has a voice, because God says everyone matters. We’ve set our faces towards a practice of generosity, because God teaches that everyone should have homes, adequate clothes, enough food, and opportunities to make useful lives. We’ve agreed to think things through, to see if what’s being proposed will make for a stronger community, will create a place of love and acceptance — because that’s what God is all about – accepting love.
Baptism gives a foundation to our lives. It’s said that the great reformer, Martin Luther, wrote the words “I AM BAPTIZED” on his desk in chalk, so that when he felt anxious or overwhelmed by his world, he could look at and remember God’s love, freely offered to him. Love is what it’s all about.
It’s harder and harder to live in peace these days. We look back at years gone by and think “we all got along so much better then,” but that memory is something of an illusion. Back in those wonderful days we remember, we worked hard to keep from seeing how the assumptions of that world kept people in boxes. Today we’ve opened the boxes, and we’re in a struggle to dissolve those dividing walls of ignorance and assumption. A recent essay on baptism put it this way:
We practice our baptism by sharing in the reconciling mission of God, reaching across racial biases, cultural traditions, political parties, economic status, and gender identity. We cross boundaries by following Jesus in service. We transcend divisions by trusting in the transforming power of the Spirit, poured out upon all flesh. (Baptize: David Gambrell, Follow Me – Baptize, Foundational Essay, 2021)
We set our hearts to live as honest people, kind people, thoughtful people, generous people, ethical people, because that’s the model we see in the Bible.
Yes, we know that’s hard to do. It means giving up our old assumptions, it may mean reaching out to people we learned to shun in years gone by. Changing ourselves is never easy. Neither is changing our world. Sometimes we hesitate to step out on this journey because we’re sure we will fail. And isn’t it better to not try if doing it is over our heads?
But here’s the good news. God loves us, win or lose, succeed or fail. God loves us absolutely, continually. We cannot lose that most important center of our lives, and so trying – reaching out in love to our world – is the clearest and best response to God’s everlasting love.
So let us rejoice that today we are declaring that we want to belong to God, to follow God’s way and to be God’s people.
Amen.
© 2024, Virginia H. Child
To Believe is to Care. . . To Care is to Do 