Live in Christ

A Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20, Year B)
September 22, 2024

Text: Mark 9:30-37

Now, O Lord, take my lips, and speak through them. Take our minds, and think through them. Take our hearts, and set them on fire. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A few years ago, while my family and I were on vacation down at the beach, I had the privilege of performing not one, but two baptisms in the Gulf of Mexico.

As a priest, every baptism I get to do is special, but these baptisms were especially important to me.

I got to baptize my younger sister, Haiden, and her daughter, Everly, who was only nine months old at the time.

It was a day I’ll always remember.

We woke up on Saturday morning, ate breakfast, and got ready to head to the beach for the service.

But, before we left the house, I had some time alone on the front porch with my sister to talk with her about the significance of baptism.

By the way, this is something I do with everyone who’s preparing for baptism—not just members of my family.

We sat down, and I asked my sister, “Why do you want to be baptized?”

I asked her this question, not only because I wanted her to think about it beforehand, but also because I was genuinely curious.

Neither of us grew up going to church regularly. So, I wanted to know what she was feeling. I wanted to hear, in her words, why it was important for her to be baptized.

I think she was a little surprised by my question. Judging from her reaction, I cold tell that she didn’t quite know what to say at first.

But, after a moment of thinking about it, she told me, “I want to be baptized so I can invite Jesus to live in my heart.”

It’s probably the same, exact reason that lots of people have made the choice to be baptized.

I looked at her and gave her a little nod, and I said, “That’s a great reason.”

But, then I continued on.

And, I told her that baptism is about more than just inviting Jesus into your heart.

When we’re baptized, we take on a new way of life, and we make a commitment to abide in God’s love.

To live, not just for ourselves—but also for others.

Yes, we’re cleansed of our sins through the waters of baptism.

But, even more important than that, we become living members of Christ’s Body, called to do the work of building up God’s Kingdom.

When we receive the sacrament of baptism, we make a place for Christ to live in us, but we also promise to live in Christ.

We make a vow to love and serve Christ in all persons, just as we ourselves have been loved and served by God.

She looked at me as I explained all of this, and I think she understood what I was talking about.

After our talk, we made our way down to the beach, and I couldn’t help but express my gratitude to God for giving me this amazing gift—to be able to welcome my sister and niece into the household of God and to share this beautiful moment with my family.

During the first part of the service, we gathered near the water to hear the reading of Scripture and for the presentation of the candidates.

Then, after the prayers, we moved closer to the water, where I stood ankle-deep in the Gulf and said the prayer of thanksgiving over the water.

In that moment, I was moved to tears.

I think it had a lot to do with where we were and what we were doing, but I think it also had a lot to do with the weight of those words and the understanding that the sacrament of baptism connects all of us with something so much greater than we often realize.

In that prayer of thanksgiving over the water, we’re reminded of our salvation history and how the same God who delivered the people of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt is the same God who grants us freedom and peace in our lives.

We’re reminded in that prayer that the same Spirit who moved over the waters of creation and was present at the baptism of Jesus is present with us, here and now, breathing into us new life and new possibilities.

I was so emotional that I barely made it through the entire prayer.

For a moment, I thought I was going to have to ask someone else to say the words for me.

But, I made it through. And Haiden and Everly were baptized that day, and there was great rejoicing in heaven as we added two new members to the Body of Christ.

After the administration of the water, I anointed each of them with the oil of chrism, saying the words, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”

Then, we made our way back to the beach and shared the Body and Blood of Christ around a makeshift altar in the sand.

I wanted to share this story with you because I think it has a lot to do with what’s going on in our Gospel lesson for today.

Jesus is with his disciples.

And he tells them that the Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands. He will be killed, and then three days later, he will rise again.

This isn’t the first time the disciples have heard a prediction like this.

If you were in church last week, you heard a similar prediction made by Jesus.

He told his disciples, “that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

If you recall from last week, Simon Peter was having none of it.

He took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, but Jesus, being fully aware of his mission and what he came to accomplish in his ministry, rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind me Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

So, it’s no wonder that, in today’s Gospel reading, the disciples respond quite differently to Jesus after he tells them about what’s coming.

They say nothing.

They don’t understand what Jesus is talking about. If he’s the Messiah, how could he possibly be handed over and killed?

They probably thought to themselves, “If he dies, then all of this was for nothing.”

So, they don’t say a word.

They don’t question Jesus. They don’t ask him what it all means. They just pretend like it never happened and continue on.

As they continue traveling, Jesus overhears the disciples arguing about something, and when they come to the city of Capernaum, he asks them what they were arguing about.

Again, there’s silence.

Perhaps they were already aware of the fact that what they were arguing about was childish and unimportant.

They had been arguing amongst themselves about which of them was the greatest.

So, Jesus sat down and called them over and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

Then, as a way showing them what it means to live as a servant, he places a little child in front of them, picks it up, and says, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

In Jesus’ time, children were considered among the lowest in society. They had very little worth except for the fact that they would eventually grow into adults who could contribute to the community.

So, for Jesus to use a little child as an example was his way of saying that we’re called to serve everyone—but especially the lowest and most vulnerable among us.

I was recently reminded of a favorite quote of mine from St. Augustine of Hippo, who once wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Isn’t that great?

Let me say that again.

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Jesus doesn’t just want us to make a place for him in our hearts. It’s a wonderful thing to do, and it’s part of what it means to be a disciple.

But, most of all, Jesus wants us to rest in him—to abide in him.

To know that, no matter where we go or what we do, we belong to the Lord. We are a new creation, bathed in the waters of baptism, and empowered to live our lives as followers of Jesus.

What that means is that we don’t have to worry so much about being the greatest at anything—at least not according what the world says is great.

To be considered great in God’s kingdom, we don’t have to worry about whether or not we have more money or nicer things than the person next to us.

We don’t have to worry about being the most successful person at our jobs.

And, we don’t have to worry about being the most popular or influential person in our community.

It’s not that making money and being successful are inherently bad, but these worldly concerns can easily become distractions from what it is that we are truly called to do in our lives—what we’ve made a commitment to do.

To live in Christ, to abide in Christ—just as he lives and abides in us.

In all that we say and do—this should always be our first priority. 

To be considered great in God’s kingdom is actually pretty simple, and Jesus lays it out for us in today’s Gospel lesson in a way that’s easy to understand.

“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

Or, to put it another way—in a language that we Episcopalians are familiar with—If we want to be first in the kingdom of God, we must seek to serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.

It’s part of our Baptismal covenant—something we’ve all made a commitment to do.

To be great in God’s eyes means to live more fully in Christ, more fully into our lives as Christians. May God grant us the strength and wisdom we need to be faithful in our calling. Amen.