Hello Church and friends of Saint Matthew,
Sunday morning was a “magical” feeling, according to Ian Charbonneau after his baptism. It was also magical for me as I considered the mystery of God in the water sprinkled on Ian’s head. The sacredness of Baptism is foundational to our United Methodist faith tradition. The UMC describes the sacrament of baptism as initiation into “Christ’s holy Church.” The questions asked of Ian are part of the tradition as well. Max asked, “Do you know that God loves you? Do you love God? Do you want to live your life as a follower of the Son of God, Jesus Christ? Today you are committing yourself to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.” One very important point Max made: “Neither Mary nor I are going to do the work. But the Lord Jesus Christ is watching. He is doing the work. And He is receiving you into His church.” God always does the work. God pursues a relationship with us, covering our lives with prevenient grace.
Prevenient grace happens just before we are aware that God is seeking us out. It readies us to respond to God’s presence in our lives. Justifying grace is that moment when we recognize that sin controls our lives, that we need salvation, and we walk into salvation from God through the door of justification. Wesley compared the knowledge that we need God to a porch—the step we take when we recognize that we need God, just before we walk through the door and into the house connected to that porch. All of this is a gift from God because God loves us. We cannot earn any of this; there is no work for us to do. We must only accept God’s forgiveness and God’s unconditional love. This is not an easy task, and for many of us, it is an ongoing process. Thankfully, God does not wait for us to do any work. It is already done.
Max’s sermon reminded me how very special it is to be a part of the Saint Matthew family. Your commitment to the church, to each other, and to the neighborhood inspires me, and I am blessed to be part of your lives. As we continue to grow in love and understanding, remember that all around us are people who need to hear about the love of Jesus Christ.
My deepest gratitude,
Mary