“…the Lord opened [Lydia’s] heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. ‘If you consider me a believer in the Lord,’ she said, ‘come and stay at my house.’ And she persuaded us.” (Acts 16:14-15)
Vine family,
It takes a church to baptize. This is true, whether the baptized person is a believing adult or a child in a believing household. We at The Vine have received the Lord’s leading into an Anglican tradition that does both. So this Sunday, you’ll notice a different pattern of worship because we will baptize the child of someone newly attending The Vine. She is a part of a believing household, and in New Testament times would have been baptized herself (see above). Why is this God’s pattern? The short answer is:
God’s grace for the individual is family-shaped.
In other words, no person is a spiritual island. Your birth or adoptive family is of course a primary part of what shapes you (for better and for worse). Those who believe in Jesus and their households, are plunged into the church family, the context of grace for your formation and healing. We support and promote one another’s faith. But the church often forgets this commitment.
In his book It Takes a Church to Baptize, Scot McKnight observes that discipleship has been negatively impacted by the “decentralizing of the family and replacing it with the individual ego.” In other words, we’ve left ourselves spiritually malnourished when we isolate ourselves. Baptizing our children is an ancient practice that pushes against modern hyper-individualism.
On Sunday, we will make promises to foster the spiritual formation of this girl, as will her biological family. This is a sober commitment and a joyful moment, which is why Anglican Baptism happens in the middle of worship! Here is how I’d like to invite you into the moment:
- Renew your own commitment to Jesus. Through the rich liturgy on Sunday, hear and speak the words for yourself, re-codifying your faith as you “renounce the devil” and “turn to Jesus Christ.”
- Remember your own baptism. The grace of God brought you new life, and gathered a new family around you at some point in your life. Who are those people? Praise the Lord for them!
- Remember your promises. Sunday, the church will respond by saying “We will!” to support this girl in her life. Take such a calling seriously, and become one of those people for her and all our children.
I don’t remember my own baptism; I was 0 y.o. But through my life’s years—those in faith and those in direct rebellion to God—the grace of my baptism was at work. God’s families were gathered around me to foster something that I desperately needed, though at times didn’t want: faith. It takes a church to baptize.
God’s peace on your home,
Rev. Michael+