NR 15-04-07
Talk: Ellie’s Baptism
Story: In her famous book and film, “The Hiding Place” Corrie ten Boom tells the story of a Dutch Christian family - her family, who had a heart for the Jewish people
Her grandfather Wilhelm started a weekly prayer group in 1844 in the city of Haarlem, near Amsterdam for the salvation of the Jews.
And this weekly prayer meeting continued uninterrupted until 1944 - when the ten Boon family were sent to a concentration camp - for helping Jews to flee from the Nazi persecution in Holland
Corrie tells a curious story about her father Caspar ten Boon.
When the Jews were forced to wear the “Star of David,” Casper lined up for one.
He wore it because he wanted to identify himself with the people for whom he and his family had been praying for all those years.
He was prepared to be so completely identified with the Jews that he was willing to wear a sign of shame and suffer persecution for the sake of the people he loved.
He didn’t HAVE to wear the Star but chose to.
And in the same way, Allan and Paula have brought Ellie here for baptism not because they HAD to - but because they want to identify with Christ’s Church here on earth
They also want Ellie to grow up as a Christian too
Baptism is not simply a sprinkling of water on a baby’s forehead. Rather it is all about identifying with and living the Christian life.
In our reading this morning. Paul by now an old man could look back on his life and say
“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race and have remained faithful” (2 Tim 4:7)
The key to the Christian life is not just the beginning but completing the course.
Sir Francis Drake’s prayer goes to the nub of it:
“O Lord God, when you give to your servants to endeavour in any great matter - grant us also to know that it is not the beginning but the continuing of the same to the end until it is thoroughly finished which yields the true glory…” -Sir Francis Drake (1540-1596)
The Christian life is a great matter – and Allan and Paula have given Ellie a good start this morning by bringing her here for baptism
We too as the Church have welcomed Ellie into the Church
But it is Ellie’s parents and family that will have the responsibility of bringing them up in the Christian faith
So there are three aspects to the baptism that I’d like to look at today..
1. We need to Pray
2. The Nature of the Christian faith and
3. The commitment to bring up Ellie up in the Christian faith
1. Our commitment to pray
All of us can pray for Ellie. We can pray for her to take up her Baptismal vows made here today when they are old enough.
Story: My aunt Molly was a Roman Catholic nun and she used to pray regularly that I and others in my family would become Christians.
For 17 years her prayers appeared unanswered, until at the beginning of Jan 1972, I became a Christian. Later on my sister Sue also became a Christian.
I would like to encourage you to pray. Prayer is extremely important because God has chosen to work through prayer.
Our prayers are something precious to God
Being a Christian is not something we do in isolation.
We need one another to keep going – to support each other in the faith
2. What is the nature of the Christian Faith to which Ellie has been committed?
Vows have been made today on behalf of Ellie. In them we have spoken about
i. Renouncing the works of evil and
ii. Turning to Christ
We live in a Post Christian culture, where to be a Christian is to swim against the current
The essence of the Christian faith is this:
1. We have a broken relationship with God in our natural state. We call it sin – our wrongdoing. And this has separated us from God.
2. But the Good News is that Jesus died on the Cross to reconcile us with God.
The penalty of sin was death but Christ has died in our place to free us from that sentence of death and give us life.
Story: A Korean Pastor told me this story some years ago, when he came to Switzerland.
In the 4th century AD in Korea a man had two sons. The elder rose to become Chief Justice in the land and the younger became an infamous bandit.
The elder brother loved his younger brother but was unable to persuade him to change his ways.
Eventually the younger son was caught and brought before his brother, the Chief Justice.
Everyone in the courtroom thought the younger brother would get off - because it was well known that the Chief Justice loved his brother
But at then end of the trial, the Chief Justice sentenced his brother to death.
On the day of the execution, the elder brother came to the prison and said to his brother “Let’s swap places”. The younger brother agreed thinking that once they realised that it was the elder brother, the execution would not go forward.
On the younger brother went up on the hill to watch proceedings.
As he watched, his brother was brought out at dawn for execution and to his horror his elder brother was executed in his place.
Filled with remorse, he ran down the hill and told the guards his name and that he was the criminal who should have been executed.
The guards replied.
“There is no sentence outstanding on anyone with that name – you are free to go”
In the same way, Christ has died for our sins so there is no sentence outstanding. All we have to do is to accept his death in our place.
But accepting Christ’s death on the Cross has its consequences.
And we remembered that as we signed Ellie with the sign of the Cross.
It is not a carte blanche to do what we want. God wants us to live a godly life
We are all called to invite Jesus into our lives as our Saviour and Master – to follow his ways. To become his disciples.
It is this Christian life that Paul calls a race.
Like a race it requires full commitment –ask any marathon runner. And it requires endurance to the end.
3. It is important that Ellie is brought up in the faith
We want to see Ellie not just being involved in church but being a committed Christian
What is the difference between involvement and commitment?
Story: I may have told you this analogy to explain the difference between involvement and commitment.
In bacon and eggs, the hen is involved but the pig is committed
If we are going to be committed Christians we need to read the Bible regularly
I would encourage you, Allan and Paula to read Ellie the BIBLE regularly because that is where she will learn how to live the Christian life.
It is through reading the Bible that Ellie will learn to walk in the Christian faith.
Conclusion
Let us pray
Father today is the BEGINNING of Ellie’s journey of faith.
We as the Church want to ACCOMPANY her on that journey in PRAYER
It is our prayer is that she will TAKE UP her
baptismal vows when she is older
We pray that she will INVITE Jesus in as
her SAVIOUR and her MASTER as she grows up.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen
