Sermon

St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Durham, NC

1/8/06 - 1 Epiphany

The Rev. Scott A. Benhase

"I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him."

St. Peter's claim in this lesson from the Acts of the Apostles describes the reality of God's love for us. The fact that God shows no partiality in offering his love and forgiveness tells us a lot about God. God chooses to love all equally, even though we often choose to prejudice our love. This lesson is included on this celebration of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus because in baptism we all share in the riches of God's love and forgiveness, and we do so equally. Baptism is the great equalizer for us all. By virtue of our baptism, God has made us his royal priesthood and we've been fully grafted to the Body of Christ. Unfortunately, we don't always practice what we say we believe. Many have come to believe that some baptized Christians are better than others. This is done between churches as well as within churches. Some other people even think you have to be ordained to really serve Christ. Actually, all you need is baptism. 

In my first parish where I was rector I gave my bishop in Ohio a headache when I answered one question on the annual parish report. The question was this: "How many ministers serve at your parish?" I answered: "126, 1 ordained, 125 baptized." Needless to say, he wasn't amused. But my point was valid: All of us are ministers by virtue of our baptisms! Only a few of us are deacons, priests, and bishops. If ministry were left up to the ordained, we would be very poor at serving Christ as a Church. That means I'm not the minister of this Church. I'm no more the minister than any other person here. I'm one of many ministers at St Philip's. I'm a priest to be sure, set apart for a specific leadership role, but I don't have a monopoly on ministry. No one does. We all share in it together. When you refer to me as "the minister," you're demeaning your own ministry. My point is this: We're all ministers of Christ sharing equally in the riches of God's love and mercy and also sharing equally in our baptized call to serve Christ and his Church. God loves me neither more nor less because I'm a priest than he does you because you're a layperson. And God certainly doesn't love us more simply because we are Episcopalians. So, just as Christ was called to begin his ministry with baptism, we're also called to begin our understanding of ministry with our own baptisms.

I want you all now to take out your Prayer Books and turn to page 304 where we'll find the Baptismal Covenant. In a few minutes, when we graft new members to the Body of Christ by baptism, we'll all renew our baptismal covenant. It's important for us to see what we agree to do and be in baptism, so we'll know what we've gotten ourselves into and have a good idea of what we're called to be about.  We call this the Baptismal Covenant because God has established a covenant with us in our baptisms. A covenant is an agreement between two parties - kind of like a contract - where both parties agree to what's in the contract. The Bible tells us what God has said about this. God has said, "I'll be your God and you will be my people" and on page 304 and 305 we see the terms of the covenant God has made with us as the Church. It would help us if we'd read this covenant regularly, so we could remind ourselves about our agreement with God.

We need to ask ourselves one simple question: Are we keeping our covenant with God? Are we continuing in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers? In other words, are we involved weekly in our parish's life of worship? Or are we what I call "Christian rubberneckers." You know that term from what happens at a car accident. People drive by real slow and stretch their necks to see the wreck. Many treat their worship life that way. They drive by occasionally just to see what's happening. But the occasional rubbernecking can't sustain them in God's Word nor in the fellowship of his altar. For us to live out this covenant we need be with our sisters and brothers around the altar and we need to hear God's word regularly. The Body and Blood of Jesus can't be transmitted by e-mail, nor can you receive it through cable television - you have to be here. It's only in the fellowship of believers that Jesus is proclaimed and dined with.

Are we persevering in resisting evil, and when we fall into sin, repenting and returning to the Lord? In other words, are we taking seriously our own need to repent of the sins we commit? In our baptismal covenant with God, sometimes we take for granted God's forgiveness. We're tempted to treat it cheaply, taking for granted that God understands how sorry we are for our sins. We think God's a real good sport about it and doesn't hold it against us. But our forgiveness was bought with a high price and we cheapen it when we dismiss our need for repentance and amendment of life. God expects us to keep our part of the covenant and that means acknowledging our sinful behavior and then to actually do something about it - to change - to ask God's help. We live in a society where many people see themselves more and more as victims, so we are not encouraged to see our fault in things. We need to confess our sins to God on a regular basis.

Are we proclaiming by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? In other words, are we intentionally seeking through our words and actions to bring the message of God's Good News to other people? Some folk might hear this and think that we pay the clergy to do that for us? But God has called all of us to be ministers of Good News. God has called you to proclaim Good News just as God has called me to do so. I can't keep your covenant with God for you. Only you can do that. Besides you're much better than I am at telling and showing others what the Good News of Jesus has done in your life. After all, it's your life that the Good News has changed.

Are we seeking and serving Christ in all persons and loving our neighbors as ourselves? Are we really doing that? Or are we just seeking and serving Christ with those with whom it's easy? Do we love just those who are lovable? Heck, that's easy, anyone can do that. Jesus says that even the scribes and Pharisees love those who love them back. But what about that neighbor who is our enemy? Are we loving her? What about that neighbor who is dirty and repulsive? Are we loving him? This is where what we say we believe runs head on into our practice as Christians. Are we loving our neighbor, regardless of who she or he is, as we love ourselves?

And finally, are we striving for justice and peace among all people and respecting the dignity of every human being? Does injustice fill us with a "divine discontent" so much so that we actively engage ourselves in seeing injustice ended? Or have we given up and given in? Our covenant with God calls us to strive without stopping until the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our God. We can't lose heart in our covenant with God. We can't just role our eyes and say, "that's just the way it always is - nothing ever changes."  When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we pray that God's Kingdom will come "on earth as it is in heaven." Our covenant calls us to work for the coming of God's kingdom of justice and peace.

All these covenantal commitments mean that we share in Jesus' baptism, because sharing in his baptism is sharing in his death & resurrection. His baptism is our baptism. The Holy Spirit descended upon you and me when we were baptized and God was well pleased by that. What we do with our baptism is another story all together. We can choose to treat it nonchalantly or we can choose to see it as a call to share in the riches of Christ. AMEN.

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