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Waters of New Life
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1 June 2008 We are a people of covenant. When we enter this building by the sanctuary doors, we are greeted with a covenant that articulates the promises made by the members of this congregation. Many of your names are included underneath it, and when we add new members, as we did last week, they sign that same covenant by extension in the huge ledger that is opened on the communion table—another symbol of our covenantal relationships. Covenant: those promises made by God to humankind, promises made by peoples of faith to their God, promises made by peoples of faith to one another. Understandings of covenant were at the heart of one of the major streams feeding the United Church of Christ—the Congregationalists. We don’t have time this morning to detail the contributions of the other three streams—that will have to be the subject of other sermons. But because today we celebrate not one, but both of the sacraments recognized by the United Church of Christ, and because our scripture speaks of God’s covenant with Noah and his family, I am speaking to that part of our UCC heritage. One of the Congregationalist’s most insistent teachings is that a church must be made up of people who have the clear intention of living together in Christian community under mutual covenant. In addition, these Congregationalists understood that the Christian life is one of continual transformation. We could say that they were the original “God is still speaking” campaign. Functionally speaking, this means that we seek to be responsible to God and to each other, that we seek the welfare not only of the members of this congregation, but also of the broader human family. Over these past several weeks, we’ve been reminded that as members of the body of Christ, we all are connected to one another. When we celebrate, as we do today, the baptism of this beautiful child of God, when we celebrate the opportunity each of us has to sit at the welcome table, we feel good, and these connections within our covenant feel strong. But I don’t have to tell you that these same connections have been far less comfortable as we struggle with the sound-bite treatment of one of our denomination’s most outspoken pastors, or the appalling ridicule of one of the country’s most effective female senators by a guest in the pulpit of our largest congregations. Clearly, we don’t always do our part in the task of covenant keeping. Conversations with UCC members across the nation and across the political spectrum make it clear that we have felt deluged by the media, strangers in a strange land. Noah is not the only one to find himself deluged, adrift in life-altering circumstances for a seemingly endless period of time. We know, of course, that the story of Noah isn’t historical; it’s mythical. But surely that sense of being adrift, of being overwhelmed by the violence of Babylon’s complete destruction of Jerusalem is how the Hebrew exiles in Babylon felt when they told the story of Noah. Surely that sense of being adrift is how the millions of Cyclone Nargis victims feel. Surely that sense of being adrift is how the single mother of three feels when her utility bills are beyond her means, or even when the needs of young children overwhelm the energies of their parents. The story of Noah is our story every time we find ourselves overwhelmed and unable to change the realities that surround us. The story of Noah is our story because isn’t just a story of being overwhelmed. After all, even though nearly everything familiar is gone, Noah is not alone. There are all of the animals, all the things that creep along the earth…along with the eternal question—why didn’t Noah swat both mosquitoes?! Noah also still has his immediate family. And Noah has God. Our story reminds us that even in the most overwhelming times, even in times when we do violence to one another and to the very earth beneath our feet, God is more than present with us. Noah’s story reminds us that God takes the initiative and sustains us until the waters ebb, until the crisis has subsided and new life begins to take root. This story of covenant, of being in relationship, is also the story of baptism. God takes the initiative, and we respond with great joy, knowing that this child is already loved as one of God’s own. We respond with promises of our own, promises that as a faith community, we have a continuing responsibility for her; we covenant that we will show God’s love for her and for her family in concrete ways. That is our vision, that we are bound together in a community of mutual love and caring through which God works with the gifts of renewal and re-creation. Thanks be to God! |