Epiphany IIC sermon

The Second Sunday after Epiphany-Year C
January 17, 2010
A letter to MaryHelen Smith/Miriam Ozerden upon the occasion of her baptism.
Dear MaryHelen/Miriam,
I am writing you this letter because you will probably not remember this very important day in your life, the day of your baptism. This day is the beginning of a journey for you that you will follow into and through your own death. You will journey through valleys and over mountains; your way will be both smooth and rocky. Sometimes you will dance and rejoice along the way and at other times you will feel so weary and heartbroken that you don’t know how you can go on.
As your community of faith, your parents and godparents, your family and all the people of St. Peter’s by-the-Sea will soon pledge to do all in our power to support you in your life in Christ beginning this day and every day into your future. What that means is that, on the days when you cannot remember some very important things about yourself and your relationship with Christ, we will remember them for you and we will remind you of their truth.
We will remember that you are God’s beloved, chosen by God and called by name before you were even born. In your baptism, your parents and godparents and all of us are embracing that for you; on your behalf, we are saying back to God, “yes, she is your chosen and beloved, and we thank you for choosing her,” and we will help you discover your own grateful response as you grow.
We will remember that God’s promises for Israel are also true for you; that “the Lord delights in you.” Even when times seem to be difficult, God will not forsake you. And if there are times in your life when you cannot believe it, then trust us, and we will believe it for you.
We will remember God’s promise for you, of God’s steadfast love and the promise of refuge in God, and we will remind you when you forget.
We will remind you that God gives each person different gifts through the Holy Spirit for the purpose of building up the common good, and we will try to help you discover your gifts that you may share them with us and with all the world.
We will teach you about Jesus and about the stories of the faith, how his glory was revealed to be a glory of ridiculous abundance in his first miracle at the wedding of Cana, and about how his ridiculous abundance continued even into dying on the cross for the sins of the whole world and then in three days, destroying the power of death with the power of God’s love in the resurrection. And you will have much to teach us of these things as well.
We will walk beside you as your brothers and sisters in Christ as we all seek to follow Jesus and as we seek to be his agents of healing and reconciliation in this needy and broken world.
During those times in your life, when darkness weighs upon you like a tomb, we will hold up the mirror before you that you may once again see that the light of Christ, our Savior who is the light of the world, shines within you and will light your path into the dark.
We will help you remember that every time that you lift your shining face to God with your hands outstretched to receive the bread and the wine, that you are being fed the body and blood of Jesus who loves you, so you may go out into the world to share that love with others.
We will remember this for you, and for ourselves, and for all the beloved of Christ, because it is who God calls us to be, it is what it means to be Christ’s body, the Church…those who remember and proclaim the good news of God’s transforming love to others and to the whole world.
And you will do this for us and for others as well.
And so the Epiphany blessing is appropriate for you, MaryHelen/Miriam, this day as well as for all of us: May Christ the Son of God be manifest in you, that your light may be a light to the world. May it be true this day, and every day into your future.


Peace, Melanie+