Isaiah 12:1-6/James 1:16-21/St John 16:5-15
Holy Baptism of Rebecca Diane Grandstaff
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Sing praises to the Lord, Isaiah says, for He has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. The Church sings; its just a fact. Her songs are not about her warm fuzzy feelings or emotions. There are times when her heart will swell with emotion when she sings. But there are other times - perhaps the majority of times - when you don’t feel happy, but instead sorrow fills your heart.
But the Church sings even when she doesn’t feel happy. And if you are singing with the Church and singing as the Church, then you will sing in sorrow and in joy, in disappointment and grief, in every emotional state. The Church sings through them all. For He has done gloriously.
The Church sings in response to the wondrous deeds of God. She sings to make them known - to remind those who already know them, lest they forget; and to announce to those who have not yet heard of them, that they may join in thanksgiving and grateful song. That they may be saved and join in the Church’s song with heart and voice; even as Rebecca is joined today to Christ, receiving the implanted Word, which is able to save her soul. She is joined together with you, dear Christians, his Church, who with united heart and voice proclaim the wonders God has done.
And Jesus gives us much to sing about in today’s Gospel. He is going to the Father. Last Sunday we heard of Ascension. Today we hear not only of the Ascension, but of the descent of the Holy Spirit - preparation for Pentecost. For they are all one blessed interconnected event - our Lord’s crucifixion, death, resurrection, ascension, coming of the Holy Spirit, and return in glory. Listen for them this way after the words of Institution; or consider the hymn you just sang, how it moves effortlessly from one stanza to the next, telling the great work of Christ for our salvation.
This is true praise and worship music! For this is the direction of Christianity: God gives; we receive. This is what James says in his epistle: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no salvation or shadow due to change.
The good Gift, the perfect Gift, is the gift of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who for us and for our salvation, came down from heaven. Laden with the sin of all, cloaked in Servant’s form, He led the devil captive. His suffering and dying was, in a sense, His going to the Father. Trusting in Him, therefore, our suffering and dying become nothing less than our going to the Father, too.
But risen from the dead, His going to the Father is also His ascension. It is to your advantage that He go away. For His ascension to the right hand of the Father is the catalyst for His sending of His Holy Spirit, the most precious gift that could ever be ours.
For without the Holy Spirit you would never know what sin is. Without the Word of God, to which the Holy Spirit is indivisibly tied, you would never believe that little Rebecca was conceived and born sinful and under the power of the devil.
Without the Spirit preaching this to you, convicting you of sin, revealing to you the depth of sin, you would think as the world does: these little ones are innocent and pure. But Jesus here says this is the office and work of the Holy Spirit - He is a preacher - and He convicts you of the core of all sin: the sin of unbelief. That by nature we do not trust in God. We don’t believe His promises. Thanks be to God that He reveals this to us and works in us repentance through His Spirit to sing: Create in me a clean heart, O God!
And this same Spirit preaches to you concerning the righteousness of Christ. The righteousness that He accomplished for you in going to the Father in His death and by His ascension. Righteousness is not first about us. Not about our keeping of the law. For even our best of deeds, Isaiah said by the same Spirit, are as filthy rags, a polluted garment.
No, righteousness, preaches God the Holy Spirit, is about Jesus. His perfect obedience, His suffering for your good, His innocent bearing your sin, His ascension from the grave and to the Father, His heavenly wisdom imparting. He is your Righteousness and Life. He is your Advocate and Helper. The Holy Spirit is another Paraclete; the One who declares to you through the Word the things of the Son; namely that the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are all yours by faith in Him.
And the ruler of this world is judged. Even today his spoils are taken from him, for Rebecca confessed that she renounced the devil and all his works and ways. And so do you, every time you confess the Creed. She was snatched from the devil’s jaws and Christ Jesus is her righteousness. He is her prefect fulfillment of the Law. He stands before the Father as her Advocate. The Holy Spirit reveals this. He tucks her in with Christ through her Baptism. His holiness clothes her with new garments, the robe of the kingdom, the gown of His beloved. This is reason to sing!
Yet you won’t always see it in her, Armie and Lesley. Neither will you see it in yourselves. No Christian ever does. We are always soiled with sin, in continual need of the baptismal cleansing and gift of forgiveness. St James offers some advice: Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. “Quick to hear” is not merely an exhortation to be better listeners. It is a reminder to make a regular habit of listening to the preached Word of Christ, by which the Holy Spirit takes what is Christ’s and declares it to you.
In this way the gift of faith given to Rebecca, and all the baptized, is nourished and sustained. As you can’t get all your body needs in one meal, but need to eat regularly, so you need a steady diet of Christ’s Word and promises. As Isaiah says, With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Wells. Plural. Again and again you draw. The richness of Christ’s mercy never runs dry. His gifts are more than can be given at one time, more than can fit into one sermon. And that’s why you sing and keep on singing. Every good and perfect gift continually keeps coming down from the Father.
You continue to hear and believe that Word of truth - that Christ has brought you salvation by His death and resurrection - and so you continue to sing that Word of truth. The Church sings. She sings of the on-going wonders God does in her midst. His mighty works of Baptism and His Supper. Shout and sing for joy, O daughter of Zion, for here in your midst, is the Holy One of Israel.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Holy Baptism of Rebecca Diane Grandstaff
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Sing praises to the Lord, Isaiah says, for He has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. The Church sings; its just a fact. Her songs are not about her warm fuzzy feelings or emotions. There are times when her heart will swell with emotion when she sings. But there are other times - perhaps the majority of times - when you don’t feel happy, but instead sorrow fills your heart.
But the Church sings even when she doesn’t feel happy. And if you are singing with the Church and singing as the Church, then you will sing in sorrow and in joy, in disappointment and grief, in every emotional state. The Church sings through them all. For He has done gloriously.
The Church sings in response to the wondrous deeds of God. She sings to make them known - to remind those who already know them, lest they forget; and to announce to those who have not yet heard of them, that they may join in thanksgiving and grateful song. That they may be saved and join in the Church’s song with heart and voice; even as Rebecca is joined today to Christ, receiving the implanted Word, which is able to save her soul. She is joined together with you, dear Christians, his Church, who with united heart and voice proclaim the wonders God has done.
And Jesus gives us much to sing about in today’s Gospel. He is going to the Father. Last Sunday we heard of Ascension. Today we hear not only of the Ascension, but of the descent of the Holy Spirit - preparation for Pentecost. For they are all one blessed interconnected event - our Lord’s crucifixion, death, resurrection, ascension, coming of the Holy Spirit, and return in glory. Listen for them this way after the words of Institution; or consider the hymn you just sang, how it moves effortlessly from one stanza to the next, telling the great work of Christ for our salvation.
This is true praise and worship music! For this is the direction of Christianity: God gives; we receive. This is what James says in his epistle: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no salvation or shadow due to change.
The good Gift, the perfect Gift, is the gift of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who for us and for our salvation, came down from heaven. Laden with the sin of all, cloaked in Servant’s form, He led the devil captive. His suffering and dying was, in a sense, His going to the Father. Trusting in Him, therefore, our suffering and dying become nothing less than our going to the Father, too.
But risen from the dead, His going to the Father is also His ascension. It is to your advantage that He go away. For His ascension to the right hand of the Father is the catalyst for His sending of His Holy Spirit, the most precious gift that could ever be ours.
For without the Holy Spirit you would never know what sin is. Without the Word of God, to which the Holy Spirit is indivisibly tied, you would never believe that little Rebecca was conceived and born sinful and under the power of the devil.
Without the Spirit preaching this to you, convicting you of sin, revealing to you the depth of sin, you would think as the world does: these little ones are innocent and pure. But Jesus here says this is the office and work of the Holy Spirit - He is a preacher - and He convicts you of the core of all sin: the sin of unbelief. That by nature we do not trust in God. We don’t believe His promises. Thanks be to God that He reveals this to us and works in us repentance through His Spirit to sing: Create in me a clean heart, O God!
And this same Spirit preaches to you concerning the righteousness of Christ. The righteousness that He accomplished for you in going to the Father in His death and by His ascension. Righteousness is not first about us. Not about our keeping of the law. For even our best of deeds, Isaiah said by the same Spirit, are as filthy rags, a polluted garment.
No, righteousness, preaches God the Holy Spirit, is about Jesus. His perfect obedience, His suffering for your good, His innocent bearing your sin, His ascension from the grave and to the Father, His heavenly wisdom imparting. He is your Righteousness and Life. He is your Advocate and Helper. The Holy Spirit is another Paraclete; the One who declares to you through the Word the things of the Son; namely that the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are all yours by faith in Him.
And the ruler of this world is judged. Even today his spoils are taken from him, for Rebecca confessed that she renounced the devil and all his works and ways. And so do you, every time you confess the Creed. She was snatched from the devil’s jaws and Christ Jesus is her righteousness. He is her prefect fulfillment of the Law. He stands before the Father as her Advocate. The Holy Spirit reveals this. He tucks her in with Christ through her Baptism. His holiness clothes her with new garments, the robe of the kingdom, the gown of His beloved. This is reason to sing!
Yet you won’t always see it in her, Armie and Lesley. Neither will you see it in yourselves. No Christian ever does. We are always soiled with sin, in continual need of the baptismal cleansing and gift of forgiveness. St James offers some advice: Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. “Quick to hear” is not merely an exhortation to be better listeners. It is a reminder to make a regular habit of listening to the preached Word of Christ, by which the Holy Spirit takes what is Christ’s and declares it to you.
In this way the gift of faith given to Rebecca, and all the baptized, is nourished and sustained. As you can’t get all your body needs in one meal, but need to eat regularly, so you need a steady diet of Christ’s Word and promises. As Isaiah says, With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Wells. Plural. Again and again you draw. The richness of Christ’s mercy never runs dry. His gifts are more than can be given at one time, more than can fit into one sermon. And that’s why you sing and keep on singing. Every good and perfect gift continually keeps coming down from the Father.
You continue to hear and believe that Word of truth - that Christ has brought you salvation by His death and resurrection - and so you continue to sing that Word of truth. The Church sings. She sings of the on-going wonders God does in her midst. His mighty works of Baptism and His Supper. Shout and sing for joy, O daughter of Zion, for here in your midst, is the Holy One of Israel.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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