Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Trinity,
At the Baptism of Zackary Lee Avey
If Anyone Keeps My Word, He Will Never See Death
Baptismal Sponsorship and the Faith of the Whole Church
Theme: You are your brother’s keeper. Keep the faith and hold Jesus’ Words for
his sake as well as for
your own.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen. In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives you a good and healthy reason to make
regular use of the ancient creeds in your worship: “Truly, truly, I say to you,
if anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus
gives you the one tool you need to raise you children and all the children of
this congregation faithfully in the Christian faith—a tool that guarantees you
will never fail your child or the children of this congregation in their
Christian upbringing: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My Word, he
will never see death.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives you a portal and a
doorway into life that will never die: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone
keeps My Word, he will never see death.”
Dear Christian friends,
Jeff, Karen, and Josh Avey have just taken on an enormous responsibility for
young Zackary Lee. Not only are they grandparents and uncle to this child, but
they have now also become this child’s baptismal sponsors—his godparents. You
heard these people pledge that they will, with the help of God, give their
ready attention and long-term aid to raising this child in the Christian faith.
I would hate for the rest of you Christians to get fooled by the promise these
three Christians made, or by the exhortation written in our baptismal liturgy.
Do not get the wrong impression from the words that I spoke to Jeff, Karen, and
Josh after they pledged their faithfulness: “Yes, with the help of God,” they
said. Then I said to them, “God enable you both to will and to do this faithful
and loving work and with His grace fulfill what we are unable to do” (LSB, 269).
I almost wish the words, “fulfill what we are unable to do” were never written
into our baptismal liturgy. “God enable [you sponsors to]… fulfill what we are
unable to do.” That is the part the rest of you Christians had better not let
fool you. Do not fall into the mistaken impression that, simply because Jeff
and Karen and Josh have sworn to be Zackary Lee’s sponsors, you therefore have
no role or responsibility in helping raise this child in the faith. TO THE
CONTRARY: you also are personally connected to this child’s life and you
beholden to him along with Jeff and Karen and Josh. You are the baptized of
Christ and this child now joins you in your soup. Don’t ever let him think he
is in this Christian faith alone.
There are, of course, certain things that Zackary’s baptismal sponsors will be
doing for him that none of the rest of us will be able to do as well as they.
We are able to give this child a baptismal banner, but his sponsors will be on
the front lines, drawing the banner to the child’s attention as it hangs on the
wall near his bed. We can teach Zackary his Sunday School lessons, but his
sponsors will be knee deep helping momma read him his bedtime stories from the
Old and New Testaments. We will, of course, provide the confirmation class for
Zachary—but his baptismal sponsors will be making sure the car gets filled with
gas and the memory assignments are completed.
All that being said, Jesus says to each of you Christians, and not merely to
Zackary’s baptismal sponsors, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My
Word, he will never see death.” Stated another way, Jesus is saying to you, “
If anyone holds My Word faithfully, that person will never see death.” With
these Words, Jesus wants you to know that:
1. The Word you personally have been given in your Baptism; the Word that
has been increasingly poured out upon you in the preaching of the church; the
Word you eat and drink in Holy Communion—this Word saves you from death. This
Word forgives you all your sins and cleanses you from all unrighteousness so
that you no longer have any reason or cause for death. The math is simple: 1)
The wage is sin is death (Romans 6:23); 2) your sin has been taken away by the
shed blood of Jesus, which is poured out for you in His Words; therefore 3)
because you sin is gone, you will not receive the wage of death. “Truly, truly,
I say to you, if anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death.”
2. The Word you have been given to keep and to hold does more than save
you personally. This same Word is also the power of God unto salvation (1
Corinthians 1:18) for those who hear you confess the faith. Stated another way,
your fellow Christians around you benefit greatly when you confess the creeds
in worship. When you confess the ancient creeds, these Christians around you
become the recipients of a divine miracle—the miracle of the Word—which passes
from your lips into their ears. When you confess your faith and the faith of
the whole Church in our Apostles’ Creed or our Nicene Creed or our Athanasian
Creed (as we have done today), you are giving the Words of Jesus to other
people around you. Stated another way, part of the reason you speak the creeds
is so that others around you may keep Jesus’ Words and hold Jesus’ Words and
never taste death.
3. “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My Word, he will never see
death.” The creeds will now become your every-Sunday gift to the little child
who was baptized today. “If anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death.”
These creeds are your every-Sunday gift to all the baptized of Christ. “If
anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death.” That is sponsorship role of
each Christian here, and not merely Jeff or Karen or Josh. “If anyone keeps My
Word, he will never see death.” That is your eternal gift to all the children
of the church, as well as to their parents.
Your personal role of confessing the Christian faith will become increasingly
essential for young Zackary Lee as he grows older. Right now, he is all gurgles
and squeaks, but those days will not last for long. That boy is going to grow
up to be a hardheaded boy (not merely because he is Jeff’s grandson! J). He’s
going to be a hardheaded boy because he is just as deeply riddled with the
incurable disease of sin as you and I are. Because of this inescapable sin that
we all possess, this child will become as horribly tempted as you and I are
tempted:
1. He is going to wonder whether this sin and forgiveness stuff that you
speak about in your creeds is really as important as you say it is.
2. He is sometimes going to feel as though death and resurrection are
fairly distant from his everyday life, and therefore not all that necessary to
talk about on Sunday morning.
3. He is even going to wonder about what the Christian church really has
for him. He might grow bored with hearing God’s Words. He might grow jaded
toward the liturgy of the Church. He might begin to think that Church is
somehow failing him and not giving him what he needs. (Please do not feel
surprised by that. It is not like other Christians have never felt themselves
tempted by such things—why should we think Zackary Lee will avoid the same?)
When the day comes that Zackary begins to wonder whether the ancient creeds of
the Church is truly important for him, be baptismal sponsor to this child. Join
with Jeff and Karen and Josh by confessing the faith; by praying that he not
fall; by holding the Word of God before Zackary’s eyes and ears; by pleading
with him using the Words of Jesus in today’s Gospel: “If anyone keeps My Word,
he will never see death.”
When that day comes when worship of the Church does not seem terribly relevant
to him, be baptismal sponsor to this child. When he begins to wonder what this
congregation has for him and when he begins to think that this congregation is
not giving him what he needs, ask this child, what does he seek and what
exactly does he expect? What does he wish to have from this congregation?
· Does he seek some form of entertainment, as many Christians have come
to seek it? If that is the case, tell him to go to a movie!
· Does he seek a circle of friends or people of common interests? If that
is the case, tell him to join the Boy Scouts. (I may sound a bit brash, but I
wish to force the question upon you: what is the purpose of this Church and
your place in it?)
· Be baptismal sponsor to this child, dear saints! During his darkest
days, ask this child if he wishes to have assurance that, no matter what
happens to him in his life, his God will never fail to love and care for him,
protecting him every hour. Ask him, does he wish to have power and defense over
the greatest forces in this fallen creation, forces that seek his destruction
and death? Does he want to know and to be assured that he shall rise to live
with his Christ in righteousness and purity forever? If so, then tell him he
has come to the right place. Point this child to his Baptism and tell him that
you remember this day: This is the day the Triune God adopted Zackary Lee to be
His child, in the same way that you also have been adopted to be a child of the
Trinity. This is the day that Jesus’ blood was personally applied to all of
Zackary’s sins, just as Jesus’ blood was personally applied to your sins. This
is the day the Holy Spirit gave
Zackary the Words of God to keep and to hold—in the same way that you have
been given God’s Words to keep and to hold. “If anyone keeps My Word,” says
Jesus, “he will never see death.”
When all is said and done, stand with this child in the solidarity of eternal
life. What is promised him is likewise promised to you. What is given to him is
likewise given to you. Here also is your forgiveness, your salvation, and your
life: “If anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death.”
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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