Readings: Acts 16.16-34 Paul and Silas in jail; John 17.20-end
I once met a vicar, a well known vicar in his time, who told me that he never rehearsed wedding couples. He liked them to be ‘putty in his hands’! I think you will be pleased to hear that that is not my line! Nor the line of Hampstead Parish Church! I just put the wind up bride and groom in other ways! pause ‘It is not the prerogative of the bride to be late’! And you know that bit where the vicar says: If you know any just cause or reason … Well, if anyone says anything at that point, the wedding has to stop! Did you know that? pause Of course having said all this, clergy do actually greatly enjoy preparing couples for marriage and conducting their weddings! It is perhaps the most important turning point in their lives, and in all the heightened emotion of taking this leap of faith in one another, clergy form a strong bond with them! At the wedding rehearsal I also say to them: All will be absolutely well – no matter what happens! If anything does go wrong it is nothing to worry about! You’ll just have a wonderful story to entertain your grandchildren with – if not everyone else too!
Last year I conducted a wedding service here. Bride and groom had made their vows, and we were moving towards the exchange of rings. The best man began rummaging in his pockets. Yes, got them! When suddenly those rings slipped out of his hand and rolled on the floor!
The stunning bridesmaid – the bride’s twin sister, leapt from her pew and grovelled on the floor to find them – never mind her elegant dress! At the end of the service, the somewhat shaken best man, came over and said to me: Thank you so much for saying last night: It doesn’t matter whatever happens!
Why have I told you this story? Well, I think baptism is also something like getting married. pause The service we are so pleased to be conducting this morning, this service publicly declares the most profound relationship between God and his creation. Between God and Charles. It begins with setting the seal of God’s love relationship with Charles, sealing that relationship with the oil of chrism, blessed by the Bishop at the Maundy Thursday Eucharist in St Paul’s Cathedral. The seal of everlasting love in which Charles is held, come what may. The rituals of this sealing, of course do not create that relationship between God and Charles, just as the wedding service does not create the relationship between bride and groom. These relationships are already established. Yet something very powerful has happened. The people involved experience the grace of God – the sacrament. And life is different because of it!
We now move to the baptism itself. Baptism, the symbolic washing in water, acknowledges that for all of us, life is messy. No matter what it might look like from the outside, even the most polished among us, all of us will experience at some point in our lives, failure and suffering as we progress on our journey through life. In baptism we look forward and receive the promise that whatever we get wrong, whatever our darstadly deeds, they need never be the end of the story. As we trust in God, receive the Holy Spirit, God will open our hearts and minds to the new opportunities God is always laying out before us – in all our circumstances. All our failures. The promise of life ever renewed.
Thank you Charles for coming among us this morning. As we welcome you into the family of Hampstead Parish Church, we ourselves, we are at a turning point, for last Sunday we said a very sad goodbye to our vicar who has retired. Your presence among us, and your baptism, point us forward, remind us that new life is always there ahead, waiting for us.
Our story this morning from the Book of Acts, Luke’s account of the very first Christian communities, our story tells us of an unexpected and highly dramatic baptism! Flogging, imprisonment, shackles, yet because of the depth and power of the love Paul and Silas have experienced in belonging to Christ, in belonging in their Christian community, no matter they are beaten and in jail, they can but raise their voices in praise to God! And an earthquake shakes their prison doors open! They are free! pause But they do not run for it. Their thoughts are not for themselves, but for their jailer, to stop him harming himself for fear of what might happen when the authorities discover he has failed in his duty, that their prison is empty! The guard is astonished by their kindness and responds with all his heart to the message of his astonishing ‘guests’! He bathes their wounds, feeds them, -and he and all his family in turn, receive baptism into Christ from his very prisoners incarcerated for such crime! What an amazing experience to remember and tell down the generations!
Here we have another important part of the sacrament of baptism! The remembering and the telling. Of course Charles is too young to be remembering for himself, but he will have some symbols, symbols to hold onto, and know that know that his baptism did happen! A candle, and a certificate. And hopefully, his parents and godparents will explain to him what it all means! For baptism is indeed a very great gift to make any child! The certain knowledge that their whole lives are held in the love of God! And to remember this each time they falter, each time life gets tough. The sure knowledge that they are never alone.
Finally, at the end of our service, Charles you will receive a candle, symbol of the Light of Christ which lights our way! Lights not only our way, we now carry the responsibility to hold that light high that others may also see it, experience its power for good, come close to the heart of God.
Today is a special Sunday in the Church’s calendar. The Sunday after Ascension. The Sunday before Pentecost! Pentecost when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church! And our Archbishops have asked us all especially this coming week, have asked us to hold so to speak, our own baptismal candles high! Hold them high in prayer that the communities around us might also, experience the Light of Christ!
To help us do this, we have put together a prayer for each day this week, praying for a particular aspect of our life together. You’ll find them in a leaflet at the back of church, and if you’re on our email listing, you will receive that prayer each day arriving in your mail box! It’s good to share. And it’s good to pray together. If you are able you might like to join those who pray together each day at 9.00 in the morning and 5.00 in the evening, here in church in the side chapel.
I’m very grateful to Mark and Abby for that story to tell you about their wedding! They did laugh! As we remember our experiences they shape us for good or ill. Our vicar Stephen reminded us last Sunday that the shaping of our lives through our shared experiences together with him, and how we allow that remembering of them to ‘dwell in us richly’, these things will support us in the days – and months, which lie ahead. You can read his sermons in the May magazine …
We too with Paul and Silas, have a very great deal for which to sing our own hymns of gratitude! Let us do that! And thank you all for being here again this morning! We honour our vicar the best by building now on his immense work amongst us.
Diana and I look forward to working with you all.
So as we now proceed to Charles’ baptism, we are reminded of the good news we have to tell! Amen.