ONE SMALL WAVE BRINGS A RIPPLE
Zephaniah 3: 14-20
JOHN 1: 29-34
December 12, 2021 – COMMUNION and BAPTISM
We come in need of our God; we come again needing Jesus. Those are your words friends … your words from this morning’s CALL to WORSHIP. Stated clearly before we joined together with a call to the world “O Come all ye faithful! Joyful and triumphant.”
We come in need of our God; the God of creation and the God whose love brought Jesus to us … the prophet Zephaniah shared the call to the faithful; a call to us on this day of baptism and of Holy Communion. Did you listen carefully? To God’s Word … knowing your need, my need, your neighbor’s need for God and for Jesus Christ whose birth is the reason that this season of global celebrating was created for. A need to be changed … to come back to God … to reject the world’s priorities … yes, to be faithful.
“Rejoice, Daughter Zion!! Shout Israel!! REJOICE and EXULT with ALL YOUR HEART!! The Lord has removed your judgment!!” And, today we come to the Lord’s Table aware, I hope, that God is ready to forgive our sins “Just AS WE FORGIVE those who have wronged us.” We confessed our sins focused on God’s power and love this morning … God gave us Jesus, His Son, to become our Savior from the world and from our sin. “REJOICE friends!! Rejoice in the Lord!”
Oh friends … dear friends … are you hearing the carol with more clarity this year? “O come let us adore Him …O come let us adore Him …” If you and I and every person who associates themselves with Jesus Christ actually heard the words “O come let us adore Him …. Christ the Lord.” Imagine what each of our small waves of adoration could mean to the world …. Imagine the ripple we would cause in the global tidal pool if our friends who have worshiped with us here at St. Paul’s in Malaysia, Pakistan, Uganda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Germany, England, Ireland, Mexico, Bolivia, Canada, and here in the United States were willing in this season of Advent and beyond to publicly share the adoration of Jesus Christ with us everywhere and anywhere.
We are each one small wave in the sea but we each make an active decision every single day as to whether we carry our faith into our lives <OUT THERE> … if we do then we can create a ripple for the Kingdom of God! We can bring change based on love!
By the way … I am curious this morning how many of you are on the ‘NET?’ You know the place where you share messages potentially with each person in the world? FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, SNAPCHAT, AOL MESSENGER, LIKEABLE CHAT, YAHOO CHAT, LINKED IN, BUFFER CHAT, eHARMONY, and many other internet related places of conversation that have taken over the world over these last few decades. I received a message from Konah in Liberia the other day … he has worshiped with us and might be today. As a boy I had to write letters to my pen pal Cathy in France that took weeks to get a response. I know all of you who are watching us online are online because … well because otherwise you’d not be worshiping with us today.
So, my next question is …. How many of you …. Ok, for this one I don’t need nor want a sharing of hands so answer it to yourself. HOW MANY of you have posted this invitation to St. Paul’s Christmas Eve services on your social media so that your friends know you are coming and that you want them to come with you? How many of you have asked a friend at work if they want to come or made a phone call … ok, so we don’t telephone anymore … how many of you have TEXT MESSAGED a friend asking them to come with you to church on Christmas Eve just because that is when we celebrate God not the guy with the red suit? And, that they should bring their kids too.
It doesn’t take too many small waves to create a massive ripple of change. When Pastor Derek Gatling challenged his church and me and then I challenged you to stop using your online world to attack specific individuals or groups of individuals whose views on politics differ from yours … did you? Or are the waves created by the evil powers of the world and beyond too tempting for you not to join with? Are you afraid that your friends might reject you if you don’t join their chants and that they will definitely reject you if you invite them to church? Or … or …. Are you afraid to even let them know of your faith? If you are coming to church on Christmas Eve will you take a SELFIE and then share it with your social media world? Letting them know your priority of the season? That you were in church before the unwrapping time.
Michael sure let us know his priority of the season. He wouldn’t let me push back the renewal of his baptism vows until 2022 … “Pastor Dave, can’t we fit it in now … like NOW!!!” Michael sensed it was the time … not on national television but here in this church … you should hear the joy in his voice talking about his faith in God and Jesus Christ. This baptism font is open for all this morning … renewal before friends and the church and God. You too can call me to ask to renew your baptism vows if you sense God calls you for that … John stated it clearly, “The One whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting on is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit! The Son of God!”
So, are you sharing the joy? Are you sharing your faith? There are some who claim God isn’t powerful enough to wrap God’s love around our first baptism but those are merely human voices. Michael was baptized as a child … here in this church ONE BAPTISM but a renewal is something different. It is very personal perhaps reflecting an awakening in faith or an opportunity to celebrate one’s faith or share one’s faith.
In February 2010 I was on the faith journey of a lifetime. Traveling along the roadways that Jesus walked. Our guide told us that our bus filled with clergy from a wide array of Christian denominations would be pulling up at AL-MAGHTAS. This is the site where supposedly John baptized Jesus. We were given an opportunity to go into the river to renew our baptism vows. I was honored when a couple of my clergy friends asked me to take them under the Jordan but I knew I had to … desperately needed to renew my baptism vows so I turned to my Southern Baptist pastor friend Charlie and asked … Charlie will you take me under the Jordan? And, he did … this photo was taken just after I came out of the water … JOY FRIENDS; absolute joy. The only witnesses to the actual moment were clergy friends and a lot of strangers who were also in the river but to me it was about God’s love … Jesus as Savior … the Holy Spirit was there … did you see Michael’s joy today? Are you the one small wave of joy that will lead someone out of the darkness and bring them to know the essential truth of God and of Jesus Christ … not hidden in a stocking hung by the fireplace but alive for all to experience? One small wave … unless you allow your faith to flow out into the stream of your world … those in your world may never come to believe in God nor in Christ with all the ramifications that come with non-belief and to think that we do that to our friends, our family members, our neighbors, and our co-workers as well as to strangers. We’d rather let them drown in the world’s cess pool than be cleansed in the waters of faith.
Are you ready to COME TO THE RIVER and PRAY? [1]“As, I went down in the river to pray. Studying about that good ole way and who shall wear the robe and crown. Good Lord, show me the way.”
Actually, it takes people of faith …. One-by-one to show our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, and our family THE WAY. The world sure won’t do it; the world does not want manger scenes on our lawns but smile at every Grinch Stealing Christmas who does. We eagerly go to see sites that reflect Chevy Chase’s movie about Christmas chaos and we invite friends to go with us but church? Christ? God? Even though there is a celebration in heaven today for Michael … the Evil power grimaces whenever faith is shared and Jesus Christ lifted up! But God “rejoices over us with singing and love.”
It should be no surprise to people of faith that only two of four Gospels share the birth story of Jesus; Luke the historian wanted to get the facts in place. Matthew provides a quick look at the story but our joy … our celebration … our faith has its beginnings with the grown up, teaching and preaching, and loving Son of God, Jesus Christ!
The Table of the Lord awaits you and me. Will you make it personal today as you take the bread and cup? Will you be praying all the way asking God to let your small wave turn into faith ripples this Christmas season and beyond?
AS we sing GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN to conclude worship today I invite you to step forward and place a hand in the pool of baptism and experience joy! AMEN