“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”  These words are from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans.  As Christians, each one of us is called by God to live our lives, not for ourselves, but for the glory of God.  St. Paul goes on to remind the believers in Christ that we are all special, because God has given to each of us specific gifts for spreading the kingdom of God. Because all of the gifts that God has given to each of us are important in the Church’s mission of reaching all peoples for Christ, we are all of great value. St. Paul writes, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God assigned.”

Today, we will be bringing a new member, Michael Joseph Bosch, into the family of God through the act of baptism. Although Michael is only four and a half months old, he is of great value to the Church and to fulfilling the purpose of God’s plan in this world. Before the earth was formed, the birth of this child was ordained. I do not say this just because he is my grandson. It is because each and every one of us was placed here on earth by the Lord for a special reason. We are all a part of God’s plan. St. Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴just as he chose us in Christ^* before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. ⁵He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” How we choose to live out God’s plan for our lives is up to each and every one of us, but we are all sent here by the Lord to do what is right in His eyes.

To begin one’s life as a baptized member in the holy, catholic and apostolic church is a wonderful blessing. It is setting a child in the right path. Or as some would say, ‘It is starting life off on the right foot”. St. Paul compared Christian baptism to the Jewish Rite of Circumcision. Circumcision is done to male Jews when they are eight days old. The rite of circumcision incorporates the infant into the Jewish community both physically and spiritually. Through infant baptism, both girls and boys are brought into the fellowship and membership of the Church. For example, to become a member of the Episcopal Church, one must have one’s baptism recorded in the Parish Register. This is because baptism is recognized as the rite of passage into the Body of Christ. Whether a person is baptized in a Baptist or a Roman Catholic Church, it is the act of baptism that connects the members of the Church through Christ.

In St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.”

The act of baptism is more than a physical expression of an inward change. The act of baptism is the rebirthing of our spirits into new creations in Christ. Through the waters of baptism we are recreated. The corruptness of our mortal bodies is nailed to the cross of Christ. Having died in Christ, we arise from our baptism through His resurrecting power as members of the Body of Christ. The spiritual transformation that takes place within the waters of baptism births inside of us life eternal. We join with Christ and are seated with Him in all of His fullness as joint heirs in heavenly places. St. Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians, beginning in chapter two, verse four, “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us ⁵even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ^*—by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.”

As fellow members of the Body of Christ, the responsibility of newborn Christians rests on all of us to help in nourishing them. Not only do newly baptized members need to be properly instructed in the teachings of Christ and the traditions of the Church; they also need to be encouraged in using their gifts of the Spirit for the Lord. In the reading today from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, he tells us what some of these gifts are. St. Paul writes, “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.”  

Each of us has been given at least one of these gifts. We do not yet know what Michael’s gifts all are, but in time they will be seen. Although I am leaning towards compassion and either exhortation or prophecy as two of his gifts, because he is quite cheerful, which is a sign of the gift of compassion and he is already speaking passionately - even though we have not yet been able to interpret his speeches. Of course, these could be just the musings of an indulgent grandmother; but I do know that whatever gifts Michael has been given, after his baptism they belong like Michael to the Lord. All we have to do is to love Michael and to encourage him to use his gifts for Jesus, Michael’s new best friend. Today as we renew our baptismal vows, may the Lord lay upon our hearts the importance of bringing others to the recreating waters of baptism and to encourage one another in using our gifts of grace.