October 15, 2007

Sermon for Proper 23, Year C

Mark Dyer is the retired bishop of the diocese of Bethlehem and a professor emeritus at Virginia Theological Seminary. In a class called The Holy Spirit and the Church he shared this story. “I received a phone call not long ago from a man who knew me back when I was the bishop in Bethlehem. He was calling to ask a theological question. ‘I’m joining the pagan church and I’d like to undo my Christian baptism from when I was a baby, how do I do that?’ ‘You can’t,’ Bishop Mark replied, ‘our Prayer Book and our theology clearly state, “the bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble.”[1] It can’t be undone.’ Needless to say the man on the line was not convinced and not very happy, but he couldn’t offer the man anything else.”[2]

This morning we formally welcome Halle ___ _______ into the family of St. Paul’s, the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast, the Episcopal Church, and most importantly, we welcome her into the Church Universal, the Body of Christ. As Bishop Dyer alluded to in his story, we, as Episcopalians, have a theology of baptism that says, “Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church. The bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble.”[3] The vows taken by her parents and God-parents state that they will raise her as a part of the Body, so that she might come to know Jesus Christ and follow Him in due time.[4] As a part of the Body of Christ, we too, take a vow, that we will “do all in our power to support her in her life in Christ.”[5] We all have a part; parents, God parents, family, friends, ministers, fellow 7:30 people, and yes, even the 10 o’clock crowd has a part to play as Halle is initiated into the Body of Christ.

But as the story from Bishop Mark reminds us, life is full of surprises, that faith is a lifelong journey. How many of us can claim a spotless record from our baptism on? How many of us can say that our faith has been perfect and that we have followed Jesus each and every step along the way? None of us can make that claim. It is impossible; we will stumble and we will fail. Paul, writing to Timothy is keenly aware of this, and offers Timothy a reminder: “The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself.” This is one of the first Christian hymns still in existence. It was most likely sung in some of the earliest baptismal services; a way of sharing the hope of Christ; God’s ever-present faithfulness in times of trouble.

This hymn was used by Paul in a time of persecution. Paul writes to Timothy from a Roman prison in the midst of a particularly harsh persecution by Emperor Nero. Some Christians are being slaughtered for their commitment to Jesus while others are running away, denying Jesus as their Lord. Paul takes a strong stand against those who deny Jesus to avoid punishment, “he will also deny us”, but is very aware the ups and downs of the long journey of faith, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.” It seems as though there is something “about denial [that] is so powerful as to forfeit God's favor, [but] faithlessness just produces more and more and more divine compassion”[6] Or as Tom Wright puts it, “There is a world of difference between being blown off the ship’s deck by a hurricane and voluntarily diving into the sea to avoid having to stay at the helm.”[7] For Paul, by using this hymn, it is clear that doubt is not a deal breaker.

Which brings us back to Halle, it brings us back to the man who called up Bishop Dyer, but perhaps more aptly, it brings us back to ourselves, for doubt stands on the shoulder of each of us. The indissoluble bond of baptism seems, from time to time, to at least be diluted. Faith is hard to come by. At times it feels like God has forgotten us, or we have forgotten God, which way it goes, it doesn’t matter. We are not denying God in the midst of persecution, but our faith is lacking. It happens for an infinite number of reasons; for me it happens when I read stories like the gospel lesson for today. I’ve spent the whole week struggling with miracles; why some get them and some don’t. As I dug deeper, I found that it wasn’t miracles I was struggling with, but faith; why did Jesus have to say, “Your faith has made you well?”

It brought back to me my greatest “what if?” My longest-lingering missed opportunity. At my field education site, I led a class for seekers. We came up with some fancy name like, Finding God in Spite of the Church, and the church, God bless them, got really excited about it. Many long time parishioners came to see who would show up. Others came to learn how to speak the language of a seeker. They hung up flyers at the grocery store and the post office; even sent a press release to the local newspaper. One seeker showed up. [it seems as though no one actually invited anyone] She was the product of a Catholic mother and a Zoroastrian father; to say she was a little confused is a gross understatement. She came asking one simple question, one that sat heavy on her heart for a long time, one that I'm afraid still sits there, "how do I find faith?"

"It is a free gift, you don't need to find it, it is given freely," came the response from our knowledgeable group.

"Isn't that the arrogance of having it?" She replied, "I've been searching for it and it hasn't been offered to me as a free gift.”

We fumbled around for a suitable answer, but never found one. In light of her situation, faith seemed so easy for the rest of us, and try as we might, we couldn’t explain to her where it had come from.

She never came back.

I’ve spent this past week struggling with faithlessness. I’ve found it hard to face a God who, seemingly arbitrarily offers the free gift to some and not to others, who gives healing and wholeness to some but not to others. It has been a tough week. But, as Paul promises, in the midst of my faithlessness, God was faithful. By the grace of God we are privileged to join God in welcoming Halle into the Body of Christ this morning. By the grace of God I was reminded of those hours of lecture and debate that shaped my theology of baptism. By the grace of God Bishop Dyer’s story popped back into my mind and the indissoluble bond between God and humanity by way of the Holy Spirit flooded my consciousness. I was reminded that even to the point of taking vows in a pagan faith, God will not leave us. The Holy Spirit whose work begins at baptism (or even before) hangs on despite failure after failure; faithful despite our faithlessness.

And so, after a week of struggle, I feel like the tenth leper today. I’m aware that God has restored me again this week; that he has, once again, remained faithful while I wandered for a while. Like one sheep out of ninety-nine or one coin out of ten he sought me out; stood with me in my doubt, and welcomed me back with open arms and a party! I know that I am not the only one whose faith has waivered this week. I know that I am not the only one who, like the tenth leper is here today to offer thanksgiving to the one who remains faithful, to the one who heals us despite our faithlessness, to the one who while we were still sinners came to save us. And I know that I am not the only one who is excited to sing praises with the rest of the body of Christ as we welcome the newest member of Christ’s one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church who one day too, we are assured, will come to know God’s faithfulness. Thanks be to God!



[1] Book of Common Prayer 1979, p. 298.

[2] This is from my memory and gets to the gist of the story, so let’s call it a paraphrase of class notes from ST1C Fall Semester, 2006.

[3] BCP, p. 298.

[4] Ibid., p. 859.

[5] Ibid., p. 303.

[6] Patrick Hall AIM Conversation 11 October 2007.

[7] Paul For Everyone: The Pastoral Letters, p. 104.

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