Baptism exhortation

Matthew 10:37-39: He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

Baptism looks like a quaint family ceremony. Parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents gather to bring a new child into the cozy family circle.

In fact, baptism doesn’t affirm the family but tears it in pieces. In baptism, Jesus comes with a sword to cut the umbilical cord and claim your child as His own. Jesus comes with water to bear your child away. Through baptism, we share in the death of Jesus, which is death to flesh and the fleshly family.

In a few moments, you will hand your son over to me for baptism. When I hand him back, he’ll be marked as a son of his heavenly Father. I will hand him back not to his parents, but to you, his foster parents.

Pastor Sumpter has talked about family mission. Your family has a particular vocation and purpose, and your family’s mission is one piece of the mission of God. This is the highest possible calling. God is determined to restore and glorify His creation, and we share in His cosmic renovation by having and raising godly children. Our family stories are caught up in the story of the universe. It’s breathtaking.

Left to itself, though, your family can’t be part of that story. By bringing your child for baptism, you confess that you are inadequate parents, that your child is a sinner and that you can’t save him, that your whole family has to die. By bringing your son to this water, you confess that your home has to be torn down and rebuilt.

At the same time, baptism is a confession of faith. Your family must die, but Jesus says that death is the paradoxical path to life, including family life. Your family is demolished and then renewed by baptism, by the sword of the Word. Your family is cut in pieces, so that it can be swept up by the Spirit in the mission of God.