You Are God’s Work of Art
RCL Baptism of Christ C
10 January 2016
Saint Faith’s Anglican
Church
Vancouver BC
Dear Cooper,
Gemma, Lucy, Madelyn and Sadie,
I am writing this letter to you on
the day of your baptism. My hope is that
in a few years you will read this letter or perhaps your parents will read it
to you. It’s important that you know
something about what happened today and what it can mean for your whole life.
In baptism the Christian community
welcomes people, some young and some older, some rich and some poorer, into a
life with God. Now all people have a
life with God; all people are God’s children.
What baptism does is to bring people into a community that knows that
God is alive and working in us and through us, a community that knows that all
people are God’s children and, most importantly, a community that is committed
to helping all people become the people God means for us to be.
This sounds very nice, but it is not
an easy thing to do. There are people in
the world who do not believe that we are all God’s children. And there are people who aren’t willing to
help their neighbours become all that God means for us to be. In baptism your parents chose to have you
marked as one of God’s helpers so that God’s love for everything and everyone
might be shared.
But remember what I wrote: Being one of God’s helpers is not an easy
thing to do. It’s very hard to do this
alone and there are many things we have to learn in order to help God well.
When you were baptized, we read some
words from one of God’s helpers who lived more than two thousand years
ago. We don’t know his name, but his
words are part of a book called ‘Isaiah’ that is in our Bible, our collection of holy stories and holy words. Isaiah
wrote to the people who lived in Israel a long time ago and who were having a
very difficult time. In fact, they were
living like refugees in a land that was not their own. But they heard that there was a possibility
that they were going to return home to the land of Israel. They were very excited, but they were
afraid. They knew that things would not
be easy for them.
Through Isaiah God spoke to the
people and promised them that they would not be alone. Let me share some of the words Isaiah wrote
for God: “Do not fear . . . I have
called you by name, you are mine. . . . Because you are precious in my sight .
. . I love you. . . . Do not fear, for I am with you . . . everyone who is
called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Cooper, Gemma, Lucy, Madelyn and
Sadie, as you grow older, you may not always know that God loves you and that
you are precious in God’s sight. But you
are not alone. You have your parents and
your families, but you also have us, the Christian community. We are here to stand by you and with you as
you face all the challenges of growing up.
We are here to help you become who you are meant to be as one of God’s
works of art.
It’s a funny thing to say about a
person, isn’t it? But you and I and
every human being are God’s works of art.
Art helps us see the beauty of God’s creation and to explore what it
means to be part of that creation. But
unlike a painting that hangs on a wall or a sculpture, God is never finished
making us. Every day, every year, God
shows us how to grow up so that we can make the beauty of God’s creation known
more clearly. Even adults have things to
learn.
I know that you will grow up
surrounded by the love of your family.
But my hope is that you will also grow up surrounded by the love and
wisdom of the Christian community. You
are very special to us. We want you to
work with us to help people see how God loves this world. We want to help you grow into a person in
whom God’s life shines into this world.
So Cooper, Gemma, Lucy, Madelyn and
Sadie, welcome to the Christian community.
May you become the person God truly wishes you to be. May you love and be loved. May you know that you are never alone,
especially in those times when you may think you are. For today you were marked as Christ’s own
forever and God never forgets a promise.
As always in
God’s love,
Richard+
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