Baptism Sunday - Rector's Rambling for September 16, 2018

Today and next Sunday are sacramental milestones for St. John’s Church, and also will be remembered.

This morning we have the great grace to baptize four people!  Two are of children, following our Lord’s admonition to “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14 [“Suffer” meaning to allow, to permit, or not to forbid or hinder.])  The late Fr. Louis Tarsitano wrote in his book “An Outline of an Anglican Life: Lessons in the Faith and Practice of the Anglican Church”:

Remember, God does the work in all sacraments, so children were circumcised under his commandment in the Old Testament, including his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ (Luke 2:21).  It is pure arrogance for human beings to declare that children are not called by God to new life in him.  Thus, following the commandment of our Lord and the consistent Scriptural witness of God’s good will towards children, the Apostles baptized entire households, including the children, from the first days of the Church (Acts 10:48; Acts 16:15; Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:16).

The two other baptisms are of adults, and I think that their circumstance will become more and more common in the Church.  Neither baptized as children, they grew up on the periphery of, or outside the church, but God in His great providence has brought them into this New Covenant with himself through their newfound faith.  Through an interesting set of circumstances they have entered our fellowship, and I think that this will become a more common occurrence in the future.

Church attendance, and denominational fidelity, have declined precipitously in the last 46 years.  In 1972 less than 10% of those surveyed said they “Never Attended” church services.  In 2016 that number was over 25%.  More and more people, particularly the younger people brought up outside of the Church, know little to nothing about the Faith in Jesus Christ that saves us from sin and death.

Today we celebrate four new members of the body of Christ, and pray that we learn ways to attract people into a relationship with Jesus Christ through the interpersonal relationships that open hearts and minds to hear Jesus and to follow Him.