St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

A sermon preached by The Revd Bruce W. B. Jenneker on the First Sunday of the Year, 13 January 2008, in St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

Today is the First Sunday of the Year. This is not what we are told by the calendars on our walls at home and those on our desks at work. As far as the world out there is concerned, this is the second Sunday of the year, not the first. Of course, for us Christians the new year began 6 weeks ago, on the first Sunday of Advent. We call today the First Sunday of the Year, because it is the first ordinary Sunday of the year – so far the Sundays have been the Sundays of Advent and Christmas.

The discomfort caused by this discrepancy between the Church Calendar and the secular calendar is salutary – it is a discomfort that does us the world of good. We are in the world but not of it, Jesus said. Our life is governed by a different set of rules, we march to a different Drummer, our citizenship is not of this world, but of the kingdom of God.

It is about our citizenship of that kingdom that I want to speak to you this morning. In a few moments we shall move across to the font to baptize young children, making them members of Christ's Body and welcoming them into Christ's family. We and they will renounce the power of the world to distract us from God's purposes. We will declare our allegiance to Jesus Christ as the Saviour of our souls and the Lord of our lives. We will commit ourselves to being Christ's witnesses in the world, citizens of Christ's kingdom and agents of Christ's reign.

What happens to us when we pass through the waters of baptism is overwhelming, something far greater than we can comprehend or imagine. So, in order for us who are already baptised to be renewed by these waters and claim the power of this sacrament, I suggest three simple ways into its meaning: it is a renewal, it is a gift and it is a commitment.

Baptism is renewal because in it we are redefined. One aspect of the mystery of baptism is that in it a Child of God becomes a member of the Body of Christ. Every child that is born is God's child, whether that child is born into a Muslim, Jewish or Buddhist family. In baptism a child of God and becomes identified with Jesus Christ and is enlisted for Christ's kingdom. Passing through the waters of baptism God's child becomes, by water and the Holy Spirit, a new creation, human still but filled with Christ's Spirit. Fragile, vulnerable and fallible still, but empowered by Christ's victory over sin and darkness and death. As we gather around the font on this First Sunday of the Year, the question is simple, are you being renewed? Are you being changed day by day into Christ's new creation, living a pattern of forgiveness and compassion? Are you being changed day by day into a beacon of hope in a negative world? That is the first question – Are we being renewed?

Baptism is a gift because in it we are given the grace of God. How easily those words fall off our lips – the Grace of God. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the love of God, we say so frequently. But do we allow the meaning of this triple blessing to lay hold of us, to infuse our knowing and our being? By passing through these waters we are given grace – and that grace is nothing less than the extravagant love of God lavished upon us to strengthen us to face each day and the demands it brings, to bear us up when we fall down, to be a light on our path when all is dark around us, to turn our weeping into joy. As we gather around the font on this First Sunday of the Year, the question is simple, are you claiming the gift of grace that is being given to you, are you letting grace fill your life, rule your life, bless your life? Are you allowing yourself to be filled with grace, brimful and running over? That is the second question – Are we being filled with grace?

Baptism is a commitment – a covenant in fact. It is a reciprocal contract in which Christ is our loving Saviour and we are loyal subjects of Christ's reign. We are quite ready and willing for Christ to be our loving Saviour, aren't we. We long for Christ's care, we pray for Christ's protection, we want Christ's forgiveness. But are we as ready to fulfil our part of the contract, to be loyal subjects of Christ's reign. In a world plagued with corruption are we ruthlessly honest, utterly trustworthy and enduringly upright? In a world in which rape violence against women are commonplace do we speak out when women are victimised, do we challenge male domination and speak out against prejudice wherever we find it? In a world in which millions are starving and more are hungry, are we advocates for the fair and just distribution of the earth's resources so that the gap between rich and poor is removed and poverty abolished? It is easy to say that these are big problems and we are small people with few resources – but how much do you pay the teenager who washes your car, or the lady who cleans your home? Are you vigilant against discrimination and bigotry when your colleagues jeer and your friends jest? This is the third question – Are we changing the world, bit by bit and moment by moment?

After the baptism at the font, the water will be brought and placed here at the head of the centre aisle. As you approach to make your communion, we invite you to dip your hand in the water and make the sign of the cross on your forehead. As you do this, remind yourself that you too passed through the life-changing waters of baptism, and as the water drips down your face, allow yourself to be renewed, open yourself to receive the gift of grace, and rededicate yourself as a loyal subject of Christ's reign.

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