“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple.” [Luke 14:26-27]

Our Gospel lesson offers some pretty unusual benchmarks for discipleship, using some rather odd language to talk about such things as putting God first, and valuing our commitment to Christ above all else. The key, or course, as is displayed so prominently on our bulletin cover and proclaimed in our text, is the cross. Take up the cross in Matthew 10:38. Carry the cross in Luke 14:27. Follow in the way of the cross in Mark 8:34. Matthew, Mark, and Luke say it differently, but these texts make it clear that the cross is key. More to the point, God’s grace is key. That’s why Christ came. That’s why Christ died. That’s why we’re a part of this grand idea called the story of salvation. This is the key that we lift up with our celebration of Baptism. As we begin our new program year with Rally Day at Zion, let’s begin by going back to basics, reflecting on the key role of God’s grace, which we celebrate with the sacrament of Holy Baptism.

Aidan Christopher and Kendall Elisabeth were born to Jen and Mason Brown earlier this year on a beautiful day in June, June 6th to be exact. I will always remember the sight of their proud dad coming directly from the hospital and walking down that long hallway into my office to tell me the news. Now that was a day filled with Good News! Jen was doing well. Aidan and Kendall were absolutely perfect. The joy in Mason’s voice, on his face, in his eyes: it was a sight to behold, as are the sight of Aidan and Kendall, two perfect babies, who have been joining Jen here at worship for quite a while now.

I love baptisms. Many of us think back to those special days when our own kids were baptized. I think of Austin, with his Uncle Charles preaching at the Lutheran Church of the Cross in Cincinnati way back in 1985, and Anna, with her proud dad preaching, and her Uncle Obie and Aunt Joanne sitting right up front, fresh arrivals from Argentina to take part in Anna’s special day back in October of 1988. Baptisms are great events for Lutherans, as we are all reminded of the Good News that we are saved by grace through faith as a gift lest we should boast in ourselves and not in the Lord, who has given so much to give us the gift of new life, true life, God’s life through Jesus Christ. Austin has become a fine young man, heading into his fifth and final year as a Finance major at Northeastern University, already signed to a full-time job to begin the day he graduates next June. Anna is a beautiful young girl, young woman, beginning her second year in college at Ohio State University, turning her gift for working with young children into either social work or early childhood special education, looking forward to another great year in the classroom for her and a great year on the gridiron for the Buckeyes.
God would certainly be proud of these children, children that He claimed as His own long before they did anything to deserve His grace or earn His favor. That’s precisely the point. God’s grace comes first, and long before any of us has done anything to deserve it. Whether we’re talking about Aidan or Kendall, Austin or Anna, Dick or Bruce Findlay, or the brothers Reiss, Laura’s three uncles, sons of Zion, three of whom became Lutheran pastors: God’s grace comes first. Long before we’ve done anything to distinguish ourselves, God’s grace has made us special, holy, His own.

Aidan and Kendall are perfect babies, but that’s not why God loves them, surrounding them with His grace, embracing them with His love, offering the gift of true life and promising a share in His life, the life that will never end. That’s what makes baptism such a wonderful celebration in the life of the church, and for all the baptized, including Aidan and Kendall. We celebrate the Good News that it is God’s gracious initiative, God’s choice alone, that is responsible for God’s entering our lives as a loving Father, whose love knows no bounds to the distance He will travel, to the expense He will incur, to the sacrifice He will bear in order to say that our lives are in His hands, and that His love and His life are in us, solely because of what Jesus has revealed and embodied as God’s Son, our Lord, and Savior.

We all know that the free grace God gives, the free grace we celebrate with the gifts God gives with Baptism, was very costly. This is what Paul is writing about in Philippians, when he records that classic Christian hymn about the Christ’s cross and God’s love. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [Philippians 2:5-11] Paul is saying that the costly grace of God cost Christ the comfortable splendor of his heavenly throne. It cost Christ the full powers of divinity that he shared freely with his Father in heaven. It cost Christ the kingly power that was his as a full partner in His Father’s sovereignty.

This is what Paul is saying when, in talking to the baptized, he writes, “Have the same mind among yourselves that was in Christ Jesus our Lord,” who, though he shared completely in God’s divine life, did not count equality with God the essence of life, but he emptied himself of all heavenly privilege. It wasn’t enough just to leave heaven behind to become human, but he was born in the humblest of circumstances, and lived the life of a servant, a slave. Being found in human form, he humbled himself becoming obedient, perfectly obedient, obedient unto death, and not just any death, but death on the cross, with all the suffering, the sense of abandonment he felt, the reality of betrayal he experienced, being rejected and ridiculed, falsely prosecuted and horrifically persecuted through condemnation, crucifixion, and finally, death. That’s the costly grace of God, given freely as a gift. But it is also as a calling. Paul isn’t just saying think this way. He is calling us to live this way. This is what we hear Jesus is telling us in the Gospel of Luke. “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my discipleship.” The Cross of Christ and the call to the service go hand-in-hand. That’s how it was for Jesus. That’s how it is for us.

Baptism is a gift and a call. Our choice as Lutherans to baptize babies emphasizes the gift. Aidan and Kendall are absolutely beautiful. But they’re being beautiful isn’t the point, except to inspire our praise and our gratitude. Their complete dependence and utter helplessness is the point of this celebration. They will, no doubt, grow up blessed; and when they’ve grown, they will be a blessing through the lives of service they offer. But it is God’s grace that sets this in motion, and sustains us along the way. Our celebration today also includes several additional aspects of the gifts we acknowledge. There are three key elements clearly on display. I am not talking about the Father, Son, and Spirit, although these are three key elements of Baptism. Rather, I am talking about God’s grace freely given, the commitment of parents, and the support of this community.

These gifts, celebrated with Baptism, are intended to open the eyes, and hearts, and lives of the baptized to the power of God’s love, by living it and sharing it. God’s grace, committed parents, a caring community: these are the gifts we celebrate with baptism. All of us, like Aidan and Kendall, need to be filled with God’s love, nurtured by those who love us, and supported by the community of God’s people if we are going to become the kind of people that God desires, that those here gathered hope, that we ourselves expect.

Our Baptismal Service is bold with hope and bold in prayer as together we commit ourselves to becoming the good soil in which faith is nurtured, and Aidan and Kendall are blessed to grow in their appreciation of all that God has given them the beauty of creation, the blessings of salvation, and the knowledge of His love. Listen to the prayer we offer, when, with the laying on of hands, we ask God to fill the baptized with “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, the fear of the Lord, and the spirit of joy in God’s presence.” These gifts will indeed make their lives full, and get them on the way that will lead to true life, to which God adds the promise of eternity, just because He is that gracious, that loving, that interested, involved, and engaged in our lives.

Saved by grace through faith as a gift: that’s the Good News we celebrate with Baptism. Aidan and Kendall are certainly the recipients of the gifts that come with this Good News; but even more importantly, they are the occasion we have set aside to reaffirm what we all have learned as being so basic for life and salvation, namely, the Good News that God acts first. His love is ours: never doubt that. This love is not ours if we believe it. It is ours: believe it … in Jesus’ name. Amen