St. Paul uses the term adoption in his letter to the Ephesians to describe God’s relationship to the people of Ephesus – Paul says that God destined the people of Ephesus for adoption as his children.
I’m guessing he uses the word adoption—because they would have been Gentiles or non-Jews who weren’t part of God’s family initially. They had to be adopted, grafted into the family.
Paul also says to the people of Ephesus in the letter we heard a few moments ago—that God has been planning this adoption for a really long time- this isn’t a spur of the moment decision, but in fact it has been a part of his plan all along—Paul uses words like before the foundation of the world to describe God’s plan— Paul says to the Ephesians “he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.”
Today [at the ten o’clock service] we will celebrate two Christian adoptions—well there not really adoptions because we don’t really call them that we call them Holy Baptism—Jennifer and Ariana will be grafted—adopted into the body of Christ, the family of God.
We believe that baptism is an adoption of sorts where God takes the baptized to be part of God’s family.
I also think that it’s safe to assume that God has been thinking about Jennifer and Ariana for a really long time- that maybe even before the foundations of the world God had this in store for them- that they would be a part of God’s great family.
When you really think about it-- Adoptions changes the trajectory, the direction of lives—if a child is born to a drug addicted mother who can’t take care of the child and then adopted into a healthy stable family— the trajectory of that life is changed immeasurably and probably for the better. If a child is born half a world away and spend its first few months with limited human contact sitting in a crib in an orphanage—the trajectory of that child’s life is going to change when a family comes halfway around the world to choose that child to be a part of that family and begins to love and care for that child like it needs to be loved and cared for.
I think in some way Baptism changes the direction, the trajectory of our lives. We have been adopted into this new family- as we live this new life we begin to hear and encounter a God who loves without exception--- we learn that no matter what warts we have God loves us. We learn that No matter what secrets we hide we have a God who knows those secrets but says I love you anyway. We learn that No matter what inadequacies we harbor deep inside we have a God who says that we are good enough.
God chose the Ephesians before time began- to be a holy and blameless people. Baptism reminds us that God chose us before time began to be a holy and blameless people to be good and God-like people.
Baptism not only changes the trajectory of our lives but also the trajectory of our world—because it unites us to a God who has a dream for this world.
Baptism makes us a part of the family with family values that can change the world, family values that can bring the dream that God has to fruition.
We are adopted into a family that says things like all flesh deserve dignity that all humanity, every single person who walks the face of this earth has value. We are adopted into a family that challenges us to do things like love our neighbor that challenges us to choose to be generous rather than to be stingy--- to choose forgiveness when we would really like to ball up our fists and lash out-- to choose peace instead of war.
We are adopted into family that dreams of a world were not soul will go to bed with empty stomach- we are adopted into family that challenges us not to judge folks by the color of their skin but rather by the content of their character.
These are just a few of the dreams that I believe God has for this world—we being part of God’s family get to participate in that, to be part of that dream, to live that dream- The trajectory of our lives is changed and we get to change the trajectory, the direction of the world. Wow--Folks, what a privilege and what honor --that we get to do that work.
AMEN
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