This weekend JD and I will be taking our confirmands on a retreat to Camp Lake Stephens. There, they will receive some instruction about our United Methodist faith, our understanding of worship & the sacraments, and our understanding of Scripture. As I look forward to this weekend, I also look ahead a couple of months from now. These young men and women will be making a decision to become a part of the United Methodist Church and will confirm their faith as their own. I’m drawn to the baptismal vows from our Book of Worship that were most likely spoken over them at their baptism and which their parents agreed to keep for them as they raised them up in the faith and service to the Lord. These vows are always a good reminder of who we are called to be as followers of Christ. And since we’re in the middle of a sermon series entitled “Your Calling,” I thought it would be good to reflect on them again. Here they are:
Do you renounced the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?
Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?
Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations and races?
Will you remain faithful members of Christ’s holy church and serve as Christ’s representatives in this world?
As members of this congregation of the United Methodist Church, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, you gifts, your service, and your witness?
That’s some heavy lifting right there! I don’t have time to go into all the details about what each question means for our faith and practice (that might be a future sermon series!). But as I consider the questions, it occurs to me that a lot of times my faith and Christian practice rarely lives up to the expectations of those baptismal vows. How often do I stand up to the evil that is in this world instead of trying to ignore it and life a quiet, peaceful life? How often do I desire to cling to my sin? How often do I keep silent when I see evil, injustice or oppression attack and hope that no one notices? Do I truly believe that Jesus died for my sins, and that my promise to serve him as Lord means that I am not in control? How well do I represent Christ in this world? When I consider the baptismal vows that I and many others in the church have taken (and too often forgotten!), I realize that the Christian life is not a quiet, peaceful one to be lived out in relative anonymity. Instead, it is to be lived out on the front lines of the battle for people’s lives and souls. It is dangerous, it is captivating, and it is anything but easy. And yet our youth are getting ready to affirm that they too will join the battle and fight for the Lord. I only pray that as a church we have properly enabled them and will continue to support and encourage them along their journeys.
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