by Pastor Dan Baumgartner

Chapter One. We surrounded Jacob and his family at the first service. He’s only eight months old, but I hope that somehow it is one of his earliest memories- being surrounded and prayed over by the family of Jesus. His head had just enough water on it from the three touches of baptism to make the thin hair dark and stick together in little swirls. His forehead was still damp with the sign of the cross, “Jacob, you are a child of the covenant and have been marked as one of Christ’s own forever and ever.”

Earlier we had stood at the front of the sanctuary, hearing Jacob’s parents affirm their faith in Jesus. His mom, Jessica, had verbally given Jacob a scripture, one of my favorites from Zephaniah 3:17:

“The Lord your God is with you.
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you.
He will quiet you with his love.
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Jessica read off of a notecard while we all listened carefully to those good, rich, full words.

By the time we moved to the middle aisle and gathered around Jacob and his family, he was getting a little wiggly. As I prayed, Jessica quietly slipped the notecard to Jacob as a distraction. He immediately did what eight month olds are supposed to do – stuck it in his mouth. Then he started to gnaw on it. Imagine eating, not just any notecard, but one with those words on it. “The Lord your God is with you…” There couldn’t be a better meal.

When our congregation stood later in the service to read the sermon text from Ezra, we were doing the same thing. Oh, not with as much innocent naivete as Jacob. We didn’t stick pages in between our teeth. But nonetheless, we tried our best to eat God’s word, to ingest it and digest it and allow it to infiltrate and shape us and change us from the inside out.

Chapter Two. An hour or so later at the second service, it was time to baptize Elliott, also less than a year old. Elliott’s very presence in that spot reminded us of the holy ground we stand on as a worshipping community. His parents, Dan and Michelle, were married on that exact square of carpet in 2001. His big sister Emma was baptized exactly there 2 ½ years ago. We had a glimpse of being part of something bigger than any of us.

Elliott was docile, but fascinated by the people, the sounds and certainly the overhead fans of the sanctuary. When he was handed to me for baptism, he stared at me like I was the most interesting man in the world- I think it’s the beard. His eyes tracked everything going on, until he felt the water for the first time. “I baptize you in the name of the Father…”

That was the point at which Elliott’s instincts took over. He felt the first touch of water on his head. He turned his head and looked at the baptismal font, the bowl of water next to us. And immediately he turned from sedate recipient into active participant. He squirmed. He arched his back. Elliott wanted into the water. Now. Full body. I could practically feel him say “Whoa! None of this sprinkling stuff, let me just dive in head first!”

Hold nothing back.

When we talk about worship at Bethany, we often mention how many different ways God meets us. Different people, different Sundays, different parts of worship: prayer, silence, singing, scripture, sermon, sacrament. As a preacher I’m always grateful that it’s not just about the sermon. God is much more creative than that. The Word comes in so many different ways, if we are paying attention. Through so many different people. Even very small people.

Long ago, Saint Francis rather famously said “Preach the gospel at all times…and if necessary, use words.” On this particular Sunday, no words were needed. Eat God’s Word. Hold nothing back. Jacob and Elliott were eloquent.