Dear Rose Park,
One of my favorite books is entitled, “Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, & Finding the Church” by Rachel Held Evans. Evans’ writing style has a bit of Garrison Keillor, Barbara Brown Taylor, & the Gospel of John all wrapped together. She’s witty, clever, thought provoking, and sincere. In one particular chapter she describes a conversation with a young man named Andrew who is excited about his upcoming baptism. She writes, “‘I honestly never thought I’d get baptized,’ Andrew confessed as he studied his half of the brownie. ‘I didn’t think I’d ever be good enough.’
I’ve read this chapter several times and every time I read this portion my heart aches. My heart aches for anyone who thinks that for one reason or another they would never be good enough to be sealed with God’s promises and be called a child of God. My heart aches for the person who thinks they’ve done too much of this or too little of that to cause a permanent separation from God. My heart aches for the person who is questioning God’s love for them. My heart aches for the person who is questioning their identity. I’ll let you read the entire chapter later to understand the specifics of Andrews story, but unfortunately, I’d imagine his feelings of unworthiness are far too common.
The feelings of not being good enough and unworthiness are far too common regardless of age, gender, race, or location but, the beauty of baptism is summed up in the words of our liturgy: For you, Jesus Christ came into the world; for you He died and for you He conquered death; All this He did for you, little one, though you know nothing of it as yet. We love because God first loved us. The beauty of baptism is that God is acting out of grace. We don’t need to do anything, nor can we do anything, to earn God’s grace because God’s grace is a gift for us. Notice in the liturgy, it is God’s action not ours that begins a relationship; it is God’s coming into the world through Jesus and it is Christ’s death and victory that allows for righteousness to unfold. For some reason though, we have twisted God’s grace into a model of earning so much that individuals like Andrew come to the unfortunate conclusion, I didn’t think I’d ever be good enough.
But praise God from whom all blessings flow that the waters of baptism cannot be earned or bought, but is graciously given as a gift from God to us. It is a gift given not only to infants but to individuals of all ages who desire to be in right-relationship with God. On June 28, we’ll be able to witness these promises when my daughter Winnie will be baptized. I’m sure I’ll tear up when I’ll hold her and speak the words of our liturgy because I’ll remember again that God’s promises are freely and graciously given, even when we know nothing of them yet.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark