O Lord, you have dealt graciously with your servant, according to your word. Teach me discernment and knowledge, for I have believed in your commandments.
- Psalm 119:65-66
A trifecta of baptismal waters cascaded recently. Because of that, the word “discernment” leapt off the page as an echo of a Sunday group meeting on Trinity Formation opportunities, Bishop Phoebe Roaf’s sermon, and a Baptism ceremony.
As to the Sunday morning discussion, the question posed to participants relative to Trinity Formation groups was how the specific involvement offers support in striving to live into the Baptismal Covenant. The Covenant was put forth as: “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ, seek and serve Christ in all persons, love your neighbor as yourself, and strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”
It was daunting to respond to this as the representative of the EfM classes as surely I had no thought of my Baptismal Covenant when I signed up for the class and could not locate any progress toward those enormous aspirations after four years. Until I realized that EfM does indeed move its participants forward to a glimmer of living into this Covenant with its overarching focus on justice and the transformative power of love. To name just a few of the hundreds of pieces of the puzzle that contribute to this: constant scriptural calls for love and righteousness; accounts of interfaith encounters and friendships; the need for people across faith lines to work together on social justice issues and the environment; the stirring words of Rabbi Heschel; the sometimes exasperating Theological Reflection exercise through which the everyday is transposed into theological thinking; and the respect and understanding of the faith backgrounds and stories of the class participants.
And then there was Phoebe Roaf’s sermon where she asked all to consider how we might live into the promises of the Baptismal Covenant and asked why we don’t more often use the beautiful resource of the Baptismal prayer that includes asking God to give us an inquiring and discerning heart. She suggested we pray for the wisdom of discernment to understand where we are going.
And following Phoebe’s sermon was the delight of precious babies being welcomed as new Christians in a ritual that so clearly lays out our faith. While reaffirming our own Baptismal Covenant we, so significantly, vow to support the newly-baptized in their faith. Commitments of great magnitude and responsibility.
In striving - or inching - towards living into the ideals set forth in the Baptismal ritual, it occurs that both discernment and support of the newly-baptized and the decades ago-baptized are necessary ingredients in a path full of needs and opportunities.
Musical Reflection - Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Eclipse 6
Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon these your servants the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace. Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen.
- prayer for the newly Baptized BCP p. 308
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