This past Sunday I had the rare privilege to baptize an 8-year-old in our Harbor District family. His brother was baptized two years ago, during the first summer of pandemic time (2020). He chose to be baptized by immersion (which I almost called intinction, both being a form of dunking!). Back when he was baptized the church was worshiping outside and remotely so his water was held inside a horse trough-type container. Well, his little brother remembers this day and decided that he, too, would like to be fully immersed when his baptism day came as well. His church, unlike many UMC’s, has a baptismal pool, which was warmed and filled for Sunday. I was nervous about the procedure after being warned that the bottom of this pool was slippery, was fairly deep, and that this 8-year-old could probably pull me down into the slightly murky water. Thankfully, this sweet child was ready with nose pinched by one hand while holding my forearm with the other. I was not rebaptized; he was mostly wet but managed to keep the very top of his head dry! I felt accomplished, having only been a part of a few dunking situations throughout my work. And, yet, I should feel pretty good, if I listened to what I had preached.
In the John passage from Sunday, Jesus reminds us that we will do greater works than He, as He was leaving to go to the Father. I shared this passage with my young friend, and the whole congregation, as a reminder of the superpowers Jesus bestowed on us. He blesses to go and do works as he has done, and even greater! And then we are given the power of the Holy Spirit in and around us! I was surely a bit pumped by the time I walked into that pool.
This Sunday the lectionary offers the gift of Psalm 8, one of my favorites to read and sing. A few years ago, at our last in person Annual Conference, some of you may remember that a group of clergy and laity from around our AC, sang a beautiful version of this song for our gathering. This psalm holds weight and mystery and speaks of who we as humans are (in the third person, it seems). The psalmist wonders aloud of the relationship between us, the created, and our majestic God who made us. We know the earth is huge, vast with a wide swath of sea and land; we humans are small when placed in such a magnificent and wide world. The psalmist reflects on this, asking “what are human beings that you are mindful of them, that you care for them?” I have often seen that question as a wonderful one, perhaps that I have considered more rhetorical. In my mind, God loves us because we are God’s creation. Period. Enough said. God created us as planned; we have fallen short, and yet God loves us still.
Yet I think I should probably hear what this psalmist is asking. We all want to know, at one time or another, why does God love me? Why was I created, what purpose do I have on this earth? Why are we all here? As I send my second child off to college this summer, I am reminded of those big questions that hit me a bit as I left home to find out “who am I?” after leaving parents and childhood behind. In fact, it seems many of us are reflecting on similar questions: do I work to live? Live to work? Is this hourly wage best? Maybe there is more to life than working. . . and more to life than being busy, burnt out. . . Why am I here?
While we are small parts of a huge world, we recall that God asked humanity to care for the earth and all that is in it. We are given a role, a responsibility; and the earth offers us beauty and connection to God. John Wesley reminds us (in his sermon “On Eternity”): “If we consider boundless space or boundless duration, we shrink into nothing before it . . . whenever you are tempted to fear lest you be forgotten before the immense, the eternal God, remember than nothing is little or great, that no duration is long or short before [God].” We are valued and loved and are all gifted for purpose in this world. The beauty of this psalm reminds us that to question us to consider, again and again, how greatly the Father cares for us.
We all know this but perhaps need to hear this message anew more than we know. The past few years have been tough. Our faith has been tested and we’ve used a lot of energy learning to live in the world. I hope we all take some time to rest, to be still and know, and use our imagination to see where our partnership in Christ will take us next!
I am grateful for all you who serve as beautiful disciples here in the Harbor District. I hope to see you at Annual Conference in Greenville!
