God has no grandchildren

Romans 8:15 - Holy Baptism

Episcopal Church on Edisto

Proper 14, Series 14

August 7, 2016

Father, you restored us to life by raising your Son from death to

life on the first day of the week. May we on this glorious
Sunday morning, who hear your word, always be strengthened
to respond and to show forth your glory, in the name of Jesus
Christ our risen Lord. AMEN.
Have you ever been harpooned? In commercial whale fishing,
the place where the harpooner stands is called the pulpit.
Manya helpless person in the pew on Sunday morning might
feel like a speared fish, harpooned by a preacher in the pulpit. It
is true that Jesus said to his disciples: FOLLOW ME, AND I
WILL MAKE YOU FISH FOR PEOPLE. (Matthew 4:19.) He did not
say, I will make you harpooners of poor fish.
On the other hand, sometimes we need to be harpooned, pierced
to the quick, awakened out of our sleep. God does this delicate
heart surgery, however, not from the pulpits of His church, but in
the everyday life that you and I experience. It is in the world,
His world, that we come face to face with the hard and harsh
realities of life. It is in the world that we experience joys and
heartaches, the pleasures of companionship and the
disappointments of friendship, the compassion of our human

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community and the inhumanity of man for man. It is in the

world that the harpoons find their mark.
Well, this morning in the Episcopal Church on Edisto we are
having a whale of a celebration! Not only do we have the
privilege of sharing in this Holy Eucharist, but also we have
participated in Holy Baptism. This service brings families
together - the family of Louis and Gene Gentry and the family of
the Episcopal Church on Edisto. This occasion gives me an
opportunity say something about our relationship with God and
something about what is not our relationship with God.
I have been told by many people that being a grandparent is a
wonderful experience. You may want to check with Gene and
Louis about this. It is often described in this way. "It is having
all of the fun of parenthood with none of the responsibilities."
This would certainly exclude God as a grandfather or
grandmother. Unfortunately many children, and even
some adults, see God as a benevolent "grandfather" - indulging
our appetites and spoiling us with surprising delights. This
grandparent figure is not the God of the Old Testament or the
Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

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God has no grandchildren. Let me repeat this: God has no

grandchildren!
No one reading the Old Testament story of Moses and the
Hebrews in Egypt, or Jeremiah lamenting the fall of Jerusalem,
or following the events of Holy Week could say that God is not
involved in the lives of his people - in their pain as well as their
joy.
There is another false concept in thinking about God as a
grandparent. As a parent or grandparent, we can pass on many
things to our descendants. They are the inheritors of many
family traditions and customs, family heirlooms and property,
but we cannot bestow on them our faith, our trusting relationship
in God.
This is a quality of life which can only be experience in a direct
one-to-one relationship with God. We cannot inherit our
parents faith. God is not a grandparent ... and we cannot be
grandchildren.
What relationship we have with God cannot be handed down or
given by even a loving parent. St. Paul tells us YOU HAVE

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RECEIVED A SPIRIT OF ADOPTION. WHEN WE CRY,

ABBA! FATHER! IT IS THAT VERY SPIRIT BEARING
WITNESS WITH OUR SPIRIT THAT WE ARE CHILDREN
OF GOD, AND IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS, HEIRS OF
GOD AND JOINT HEIRS WITH CHRIST.

(Romans 8:15-16)

Natural children do not need to be adopted. Paul laments over

his own people. I HAVE GREAT SORROW AND
UNCEASING ANGUISH IN MY HEART. (Romans 9:1) God's
richest gifts are bestowed on them, but they failed to grasp the
greatest gift - the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world,
Jesus the Christ.
Henri Nouwen, the Dutch-born theologian, called Baptism, the
path of freedom. When parents have their children baptized
they indicate their desire to have their children grow up and live
as children of God, and brothers and sisters of Jesus, and be
guided by the Holy Spirit.
Through birth a child is given to parents; through baptism a
child is given to God. At baptism the parents acknowledge that
their parenthood is a participation in God's parenthood, that all

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fatherhood and motherhood comes from God. Thus, baptism

frees the parents from the sense of owning their children.
Children belong to God and are given to the parents to love and
care for in God's name.

It is the parents' vocation to welcome their children as honored

guests in their home and bring them to the physical, emotional,
and spiritual freedom that enables them to leave the home and
become parents themselves. Baptism reminds parents of this
vocation and sets children on the path of freedom.

(Henri J. M.

Nouwen: Bread for the Journey, 1997.)

What then can we bestow upon our children and our children's
children? First - an example! We can only witness to the power
of our faith in God through the example of our lives. Example:
When I was a young person, I remember children coming to
Sunday School, being dropped off by their parents. The children
would get out of the car and the parents would return home. The
children would be picked up following Sunday School. What
lesson was being taught? God and his church are for children.
When I become an adult, I too can remain home to read the
comics and the sports in the paper.

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Make no mistake about it. Children sense what is important by

what we do, not by what we say. I love the admonition of St.
Francis: Proclaim the Gospel. If necessary, use words. We
proclaim the Lordship of Christ in our lives to the world around
us by the way we live our lives.
Second - we can pray for them. Example: My Godmother,
Gertrude, on the occasion of my ordination in 1961. "I
have prayed for Colton every day since his baptism." What was
the impact of her prayers on my life? And remember - I did not
know it about this intercessory prayer life until I was 26 years
old! Did that have an influence on my vocation? I dont know
and yet?

(pause)

By the way, my Godmother was Jewish!

What about Noemi? Witness to your relationship to Jesus

through your relationship with those around you. Take Noemi
with you in your times of prayer with God.
SUDDENLY JESUS MET THEM AND SAID, GREETING!
AND THEY CAME TO HIM AND TOOK HOLD OF HIS
FEET, AND WORSHIPED HIM. (Mathew 28:9) Mary Magdalene

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and the other Mary had hands-on experience of the risen

Christ. And they told that experience to others. St. Luke says
YOU ARE WITNESSES OF THESE THINGS. (Luke 24:48) You
cannot give faith, but you can tell and show others. You can
witness to it! We would not be here, sharing in this Baptismal
rite and Eucharistic celebration, if former generations had not
witnessed to God through their faith. Pass it on! In this
baptismal service, the celebrant addresses the parents and
godparents (and you by implication as members of this Christian
family): Will you by your prayers and witness help this child to
grow into the full stature of Christ. And their response? Our
response? I will, with Gods help. (Prayer Book, page 302)

Let us pray:
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery has
established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all
who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christs Body may
show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the oly
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Reverend Dr. Colton M. Smith
One Bishop Gadsden Way, Apt. 346
Charleston, SC 29412