Baptised and loved as God's children!

Acts 3:12-19, 1 John 3:1-7 & Luke 24:36-48

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

We heard last week from Father Peter of the complete amazement of the disciples at the sudden re-appearance of Jesus - an understandable reaction!  We heard also of Thomas, who in his very human way found the whole situation just too much to take in, and had the same kind of doubts that many of us probably would have had…….needing to see and hold Jesus for himself before he was able to believe that it was really happening.

In our reading today from Luke’s gospel Jesus once again appears to the disciples. Perhaps to say that he “appears” is actually pretty inadequate, conjuring up, as it may, an image of smoke and mirrors, an illusion……nothing more than a magic trick! Yet here he is, right in front of them (they are probably rooted to the spot scared stiff), telling them to reach out and touch the reality in front of them. Touch and see his hands and feet. This was no illusion……Jesus was right there, standing before them. The same Jesus who only a few days before had endured the most horrendous torture and execution was now standing with his disciples, speaking and sharing a meal with them. These were not the actions of a ghost or the result of the disciple’s imaginations!

 In the confusion of that room where they were gathered, Jesus reminds them once again that everything that had happened (and that continues to happen) is in fulfilment of scripture. His death and resurrection were not in vain, there was a divine purpose to all that was happening. A purpose that would bring about repentance and forgiveness and ultimately reconcile humanity to God.

Today we celebrate with Louis and his family as we welcome him into the church family. As promises are made on his behalf he becomes a child of God. As our second reading from the First Letter of John says, “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are” (1 Jn 3:1). We add our support and prayers to those of his parents and Godparents as he begins his journey of faith through baptism.

And of course, through baptism we are all children of God! It has been said many times from this pulpit, that the love of God for each of us is so completely and absolutely unlimited in its depth that we can barely comprehend it.  And we are called children of God, not simply because we woke up one morning and decided on a whim to come along to church……we are called children of God because he first loved us and draws us to himself. That love is an unconditional love!

We are not always understood by those outside the church, sometimes perhaps, we don’t even fully understand ourselves. And like children there are times when we sometimes fight and argue, but none of that takes away the love of God for us. We are called not only to stand with and support one another, but also to walk alongside. As we are often told by Father Andrew…..take a look around you, see who is sitting in front or behind you. It is these people who we are united to in our own baptism; it is these people who are our sisters and brothers in the family of Christ. We walk this journey of discovery together. It is through our baptism that we symbolically bury our old sinful self and are raised up into our new life in Jesus. We become reconciled to the one who created and loves us, and we are called not to keep that love for ourselves, but to proclaim it from the rooftops that it is available to all.

Yet sometimes perhaps, going back to the disciples in the room, confused and not really understanding what was going on, we too are full of doubts and insecurities. It’s natural enough to want to be in control of things and fully understand what is going on…..but at that moment in time that simply wasn’t happening for the disciples. This was a group of people who had spent the last few years following their Lord. They had lived with and supported one another, at times they had disagreed and agued with one another. But at the end of the day this group of stalwart disciples was momentarily thrown into complete confusion and fear by the reappearance of the Lord they thought was dead!

 This was a whole new experience for them that completely defied everything that common sense and logic told them. Even when they reached out and touched Jesus they weren’t fully convinced he was real until he ate with them. As on so many other occasions Jesus used the opportunity of a shared meal to help them understand the reality of what was in front of their eyes.

May we, as we support Louis in his baptism, and perhaps recall our own baptismal promises, know more fully the reality of what it is to be children of God. May we allow his love to overcome our own doubts and insecurities, and may we each become vessels by which his love is poured out to others.

+ In the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

AMEN