wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] 'Hoping and waiting to be claimed by God'

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Note #7736 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

'Hoping and waiting to be claimed by God'
GA03046

'Hoping and waiting to be claimed by God'

Assembly preacher talks of the risks, and sure benefits, of Baptism

by Eva Stimson

DENVER, May 26 - "The Christian tradition has never been at ease with the
story of Jesus' Baptism," the Rev. Amy Miracle, associate pastor of Central
Presbyterian Church in Denver, said in her sermon during Monday's General
Assembly worship service.

	The theme of the service was water and Baptism. In her sermon,
"Mistaken Identity," Miracle recounted the story from the Gospel of Mark of
how Jesus came to the River Jordan to be baptized at the beginning of his
ministry: "The place was swarming with sinners, real sinners," she said.
"Then Jesus showed up - and got in line with them."

	Because we don't like being labeled "sinners," she said, we have a
hard time understanding why Jesus, the perfectly obedient Son of God, would
risk being identified with a crowd of sinful people. "It's one thing to talk
about God's love for sinners," she observed.  "It's another thing to risk
being mistaken for them."

	In today's culture, the word "sin" is used more often in connection
with desserts than flawed human beings, she pointed out. "We assume we're
basically nice people who make mistakes."

	Admitting our sinfulness and presenting ourselves to be forgiven and
baptized is "a scary thing," she conceded. To illustrate, she shared a
childhood memory: Before she got contact lenses to correct her extreme
nearsightedness, she wore glasses with thick, "Coke-bottle" lenses.  When she
was at the beach with her family, she would leave her glasses on a towel
while she went for a swim in the ocean.

	After swimming, however, she couldn't see well enough to find the
towel; she would stand uneasily at the ocean's edge until one of her family
members came to "claim" her.

	Miracle compared this experience with the experience of Baptism: "The
waters of Baptism leave us vulnerable and exposed, hoping and waiting to be
claimed by God. The wonderful thing is, we always are."

	The service also featured music by the Rocky Mountain Children's
Choir.

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