​Prelude
Welcome and Announcements
*Call to Worship                                  Psalm 29:2-4
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due God’s name.
Worship the Lord in holy splendor.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters.
The God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful.
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
 
*Hymn    475      Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing                     
 
Prayer of Confession
Lord, have mercy on us.
Remember the promises you made to us in our baptism,
forgive our sinful ways
and heal our brokenness.
Set us free from all that enslaves,
and raise us to new life in Jesus Christ,
that we may be your faithful servants,
showing forth healing love to the world,
to the glory of your holy name.  Amen.
 
Hymn   698  Take, O Take Me As I Am
 
Assurance of Pardon
Hear the good news!
In baptism you were buried with Christ.
In baptism you were also raised to new life with him,
through faith in the power of God
who raised Christ from the dead.
Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.
The old life is gone and a new life has begun.
Friends, believe the good news of the gospel:
your sins are forgiven. Be at peace.  Amen.
 
First Reading       Isaiah 42:1-9
 
Time With Our Young Disciples
 
Gospel Reading      Matthew 3:13-17
The Morning Message
 
The Christian liturgical calendar offers a lot of options for worship between Christmas Day and Ordinary time that begins several weeks later. You can observe the Epiphany, when the wise men reached the Holy Family, the Slaughter of the Innocents, the Flight into Egypt, the Presentation in the Temple, and the Baptism of the Lord.
 
Last Sunday was the official observance of the Baptism of the Lord. We celebrate it today along with the renewal of our own baptisms.
 
Like many of you, I don’t remember my baptism in October of 1956 at Enslow Park Presbyterian Church, but there are mementos- a tiny white New Testament, a tiny white dress, a certificate of baptism, and at least one black and white picture.
 
While a person may be baptized at any age, we usually practice Infant Baptism, or Paedo-baptism.  It is a comfort and blessing to some and a frustration to others. It is a blessing to know you have been marked as God’s own from your earliest days and  will early in life  come to  understand that nothing in all creation can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
But, infant baptism can be frustrating, because we don’t remember it and it is our practice to only administer baptism once. This can be unsatisfying  in some circumstances. Maybe we never received the Christian nurture our parents promised. Maybe we have had some spiritual experience and would like to mark it as a new beginning with baptism. Understandable, but not ordinarily done.
 
If you depart from the Presbyterian Church and affiliate with a church that practices Believer’s Baptism, you may be required to submit to baptism by immersion.
 
Full disclosure: I received all my seminary preparation for ministry through an American Baptist Seminary. That’s another story for another day, but, it is my reality. The trustees of the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia had a vision to prepare  ministers serving churches in West Virginia in the most thorough way possible. So they worked for years to establish a part-time program which would allow students to continue working while studying for a Master of Divinity Degree. And I was all by myself as a Presbyterian in a Baptist cohort. But, as iron sharpens iron, we all emerged with a better understanding and appreciation for the other’s faith and practices.
 
Baptism in American Baptist Churches, and that’s the only type of Baptist Church with which I am familiar, practices the ordinance of Believer’s Baptism, meaning  candidates for baptism have reached the age or maturity to make their own decision to follow Christ.  As an act of obedience, a person is fully immersed in water, making a public expression of an inward reality of having been united with Christ.
 
For our Baptist friends. baptism symbolizes death and burial of the old life; resurrection into the new life with Christ; unity with Christ; and remission of sins.
 
As to Presbyterians, we point to what scripture declares in Ephesians;  that God claimed humanity as God’s own “before the foundation of the world.” We point to additional texts that witness to believers, along with their whole households, being baptized.
 
Both believers and their children are included in God’s covenant love. We are a covenantal faith. The foundation of this faith comes from the relationship God established with Abraham and Sarah back in Genesis. God promised to be their God and they would be God’s people. So, with that as background, we Presbyterian and Reformed believers understand that we are always beloved children of God. Though we sin, we are never “lost.” We are always and forever God’s own unless and until we reject God.
 
So, the baptism of children witnesses to the truth that God’s love claims people before they are able to respond in faith. Baptism usually occurs in infancy, though a person may be baptized at any age. Usually parents bring their child to church, where they publicly declare their faith in Jesus Christ and their desire to have their child baptized. The parents promise to raise their child to know, serve, and love the Lord and the church promises to help the parents in that responsibility.
 
The water that is used symbolizes three accounts from the Old Testament Scriptures:The waters of creation, the flood described in the story of Noah, and the Hebrews’ escape from slavery in Egypt by crossing the Red Sea. All three stories link humanity to God’s goodness through water.
 
Baptism signifies:
The faithfulness of God
The washing away of sin
Rebirth
Putting on the garment of Christ, thus special clothes. In the early church, confirmands were baptized naked and then wrapped in a new white robe to symbolize “being clothed with Christ.”
Being sealed by God’s Spirit, recalling the Spirit descending on Jesus as a dove when he was baptized in the Jordan
Adoption into the covenant family of the Church
Resurrection and illumination in Christ
 
We accept as valid the baptisms of persons baptized in other Christian churches, so long as they are officiated in the Trinitarian Formula, which goes like this, “You are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
 
The Spirit’s work is not finished at the moment of our baptism. There is ordinarily a long and full life ahead. It due time, each baptized child should have the opportunity to move more deeply into the faith, through worship, education, fellowship and service, and profess their faith as believers in a rite of Confirmation. They confirm the earlier vows made for them.
 
If we receive the sacrament as children, we may recall it by witnessing the baptisms of other children, youth, and adults and by participating in a renewal service such as we will this morning.
 
I mentioned earlier that these Sundays after Christmas provide for a wide range of scripture lessons and sermons. We move quickly through the season of Jesus’ early life and arrive at his baptism by John in the Jordan as an adult. This was Jesus’ moment of commitment and obedience. The Holy Spirit descends upon him as a dove and the voice of God is heard declaring that “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”
 
So, at the beginning of both the calendar year and early in the liturgical year, we go back to our spiritual beginning as a way of identifying with Jesus, of being called and equipped to be God’s beloved children.
 
In the renewal rite we reject sin and promise to live in accordance with God’s ways, to remember God’s gifts of love, forgiveness, new life, and hope, and to re-commit ourselves to God through Jesus Christ.
 
Sometimes we invite folks to come to the baptismal font and dip their fingers in the water, maybe touching our heads or lips or hearts with that water, or to draw a shell or rock from the font to hold in your hand or place in a pocket to remind you of your baptism and the renewal of your vows.
 
My sister says we are currently in a “Quademic” with RSV, flu, Covid, and pneumonia all arriving at once. So, it would not be prudent for all of us to dip our fingers into the same water today. I will walk down the aisle and sprinkle some water with a sweep of my arm.
 
Last Sunday afternoon I had turned on EWTN, the Catholic Channel, hoping to catch some sacred music. They do beautiful concerts on Sundays. But what I found instead was a service in the Sistine Chapel. The Pope had invited members of the Vatican staff and guards to bring their infant children to be baptized in that old and glorious place, on the Baptism of the Lord Sunday.It is a Vatican tradition. I watched as these beautiful young couples brought their children to the font, stating their intentions,  before holding tiny, not so tiny, sleeping, wailing, still, and squirming babies over the water, receiving the sacrament which unites them with Christ and initiates them into the household of faith, a household of which we are also a part.
 
Twenty one. He baptized twenty one babies. And I felt completely drawn into this moment, remembering the baptisms of my own children, the baptisms of friends’ children, and those I have baptized.
 
All of them, and us, washed free of our sins, grafted unto the body of Christ, welcomed into the family of faith, and marked as Christ’s own forever.
 
 
*Hymn    482    Baptized in Water
*Affirmation of Faith             The Apostles’ Creed  p. 35
*Hymn   581    Gloria Patri  
 
Sharing Our Joys and Concerns
Pastoral Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
 
Renewal of Baptism
Through baptism we enter the covenant God has established.
In that covenant God gives us new life.
We are guarded from evil
and nurtured by the love of God and God’s people.
In embracing that covenant, we choose whom we will serve,
by turning from evil and turning to Jesus Christ.
I ask you, therefore, to reject sin,
to profess your faith in Christ Jesus,
and to confess the faith of the church, the faith in which we baptize.
 
*Renunciations
Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world?                  I do.
Do you turn to Jesus Christ, accept him as your Lord and Savior,
trusting in his grace and love?      I do.
Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love?
                                        I will with God’s help.
 
Water will be sprinkled over the congregation with the words,
              “Remember your baptism and be thankful.”
 
 
 
 
 
Presenting Our Tithes and Offerings
*Hymn  606   Doxology
*Prayer of Dedication
As your Son Jesus came to bring light to the world’s darkness, we bring our gifts to you this day. Transform them into light for the lost, bread for the hungry, relief for the hopeless, compassion and care for the forgotten and oppressed. In joyful service, let us bear Christ’s light into the world. Amen.
 
*Hymn   289    Blessed Assurance
 
*Charge and Blessing
Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
With all humility and gentleness,
with patience, bearing with one another in love,
making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit.
Go now in peace to love and serve the Lord.  Amen.
 
*Postlude

The snowy weather this week reminded of the snow, ice, and inconveniences that greeted us right before Christmas in 2022.
 
We were so excited to have a new baby in the family that year. I had purchased her first Madame Alexander doll. A soft-bodied creation, the right size for almost one-year-old Freya to hold and cuddle. A Lego village with at least 800 pieces for Tad. A telescope for Briar, safely packed in a box the size of a small piano.
 
But Christmas passed and New Year’s too and the gifts all sat in our living room unopened because they didn’t make it to their destinations. The weather and illness and blended family arrangements played havoc with our plans to visit children and grandchildren. We had to let it go…we would see them soon. And we’ve learned over time to be content with what is. We had many pleasures of the season to enjoy and were most thankful for the blessings which have came our way.
 
Do you remember the Christmas of 2022? All day long on the 23rd and 24th, I received texts and calls from church and neighbors and family reporting various problems being encountered due to the severe winter weather. On Christmas Eve I joked that some of you deserved extra credit for coming out on such a frightfully cold night, knowing you would be returning to a cold house or a cold house with frozen water pipes or a cold house with frozen water pipes and no electricity.
 
But, for those moments together, all was calm, all was bright.
 
In the moments following Jesus’ birth, all was calm, all was bright. The gospel writers have told us that Mary swaddled and fed her newborn son with tender care and Joseph guarded their safety. Stabled beasts and grazing sheep filled the place with pungent warmth. Lowing cattle and cooing doves sang lullabies to the newborn babe, a straw-filled manger for his bed.
 
And all was calm. All was bright.
 
But, not for long. Just a few days after singing Silent Night, the glow of candlelight on our faces, we come to Matthew’s story of terror and furtive flight.
The world into which Jesus is born is full of brokenness. The stain of human sin is all over the world God created and called “good.”
 
Real life involves pain and suffering. Not one of us is spared. Evil is real and every generation faces a Herod or two.
 
Back in December of 2013, the world watched with horror the atrocities taking place in Syria. The war produced record numbers of refugees…people fleeing for their lives. According to Unicef, one Syrian baby was born in a refugee camp every hour. The weather was bitterly cold and an outbreak of polio further threatened everyone. The need for medical care, food, clothing, and shelter overwhelmed relief organizations.
 
More than one million Syrian children in that year were declared refugees. Children. Children whose grandparents might have given them presents in some other year. Children whose parents and grandparents may have taught them to sing carols or entrusted little hands to place the Christ child in the family nativity set.
 
When all was calm and all was bright.
 
Rachel wept for the children of Israel. Who is weeping now?
 
Who is weeping for the young and the old and the sick and the bombed out in Gaza and Ukraine? Who weeps for those Central and South Americans who risk everything to find solace somewhere? Who weeps for the neglected and abused on our own blocks? Who weeps for all our brothers and sisters in California who have lost so much?
 
Who weeps that all is not calm. All is not bright.
 
Pastor Sharon Blezard says, in a sense, we are all refugees…aliens in a foreign land, a place that is not our ultimate home. Years ago, at the Beverly Hills Church, one of the beloved members told me about the song he wanted sung at his funeral. “This World is Not My Home.” I assured him that this world had benefitted by his presence and not to plan on leaving it anytime soon. He complied but we did eventually have to let him go to that other world, to the tune of his requested song.
 
The truth is, he had it right. We, who call ourselves Christian, are citizens of that other realm as surely as we are citizens of this one. We dwell in tension between discipleship and culture, faith and fantasy…the temporal and the eternal. Such is the story of faith.
 
Jesus escaped the death Herod sought for him. Thank you, God.  But, the powers of the Roman Empire and the powerful religious leaders of his day would seek to destroy Jesus for the duration of his brief life.
 
Sharon Blezard reminds us that most of us have some insulation against the harshness of life. We have family, or work, or a faith community to support us.
 
Jesus, as far as we know, never married. Although his mother, Mary, seems to have been present for the entirety of his life, we hear little of a relationship with Joseph, the man who raised him, who taught him the faith and a trade.
 
We don’t think Jesus had any children and we know he owned no property and depended on the hospitality of others for room and board.  Jesus, we are told, had no place to lay his head.
 
And yet, this infant king we celebrate, who grew in wisdom and stature, full of grace and truth, was God incarnate. The Savior of the world, Emmanuel, God-with-us, walking around in skin and bones. He modeled a way of life that lifted up the refugees and dispossessed, the needy, the un-loved and the un-lovely, all to usher in the reign of peace.
 
Jesus established the kingdom of heaven right here on the earth…laid out for us the possibility that all un-holy terrors of might and fright may be vanquished by selfless love and sacrifice.
 
If you have never heard me say this before, hear it now, on the first Sunday we gather in the new year, the world should not be divided over love and who deserves our help. The country should not be divided over love and who deserves our care. And the church, for heaven’s sake, should not be divided over love and being the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus Christ when people are in need.
 
So, on this 3rd Sunday after Christmas, as we sit among the season’s beauty, we acknowledge the disasters suffered by God’s children around the globe and right now in California. See the plight of today’s refugees, for so many have nowhere to go, no comforts, no work, and precious little hope. Weep for the children…and their mothers and fathers.  Pray for all those who are being called on to help. For those who are responsible for providing services. For all those in positions of authority, that they may work together to meet the peoples’ needs. Respond if you are moved to help.
 
But don’t stop there.
 
Set your intentions on hope, peace, joy, and love. Bow your knee, your head, and your heart, and lift them to God and God will fill you with purpose and power and praise for the Word made flesh, who came that we might live, never only for ourselves, and never only for Christmas and its innumerable blessings, but for its Christ.
 
May you be richly blessed in the days and months ahead.  Amen.