1 Samuel 17.1-11; 17.38-50
The Baptism of a child is always, a day of celebration …
Prayers and promises … songs and sermons … food and festivities.
Markus Christian Thomas von Thun-Hohenstein
Young Man, we pray for your wellbeing … body and soul … we make promises to you, that we’ll do our best:
We promise, a roof over your head, a comfy bed, loving arms, kindly words, good schools and safe neighborhoods …
We promise: books to read, bikes to ride, games to play.
We promise you a childhood … a pathway to the years that stand before you … to make the most of yourself, to dream all the dreams of a child … good dreams, dreams of discovery and courage, dreams of bravery and adventure, the dreams of the heart, and the dreams of the mind.
We promise: to provide for you all that we can … and you, dear boy, provide us a future, beyond our years and time …
when we have retired from the journey,
when we have laid down our burdens,
you will continue the good fight,
you will run the race of life.
Markus Christian Thomas, you will build upon what we’ve built … tear down a few things no longer needed, and build anew what we could’t even imagine.
You will write your books, and sing your songs … and discover more of God’s good world …
You’ll find solutions to the problems that vexed us … you’ll find your way to the stars …
Like us, you’ll discover your own foolishness and failure.
Young Man, just like us, you will know yourself to be flesh and bone … you will learn the deep lessons of humility, honesty, kindness, and love.
As I write this sermon, I think of the young boy David … and his five smooth stones …
He’s the youngest of the family … his elder brothers are engaged in battle with the Philistine armies …
Goliath, a giant of a man, bellows his challenge - find someone to fight me to the death … and if you win, my soldiers will surrender to you … and if I win, you will surrender to me.
Who will fight me?
No one volunteers … except one boy … full of youth’s energy and confidence … I’ll do it, says he … I’ll fight the giant.
The boy is brought to King Saul … the king is amazed, and says to the boy, Here’s my armor for you!
But the armor is too big … which is to say, We can’t wear anyone else’s armor … a good lesson for all of us …
A child born unto us - we have our dreams for them … we want them to do well, be well, win the day …
We feed and cloth them, we school them and take care of their needs … but they will never wear our armor … what fits us will never fit them …
A new generation finds its own resources and abilities … the child in our arms discovers who they are, and what they possess, the skills of their heart and mind …
David isn’t a solider, he’s a shepherd …
He’s used to the elements - cold at night, hot during the day … seasons of chilling rain and wind-blown snow … prowling lions of the night … cliffs and crevices in the mountains … danger at every turn of the way …
David is already prepared … in his own way … he has his sling … at his feet, five smooth stones … it’s all he needs …
David confronts the giant, sends a stone hurtling to its mark, the giant falls … the day is won, victory gained, peace at last.
A young boy, a sling, and five smooth stones.
We know the rest of the story, David goes on to more victories and greater things … he’s not perfect, by any means, but his faith remains clear and focused … when King Saul fails and dies, David is called to be the next King of Israel … the mantle of leadership falls upon his shoulders, he leads the nation for forty years …
As for Markus Christian Thomas … what will he do?
Discoveries to be made.
Adventures to be had.
Goodness to embrace.
Mistakes to be made.
Love given, and love received.
The future will unfold for him …
In the meantime, we do what we can to insure a good future.
What every generation has done before us … we take up our tools, hitch up our jeans, take a deep breath, face the world square on … and go to work.
There are giants to defeat.
Battles to win.
Life to be lived.
Look for the good, and we’ll find it.
Search for opportunities, and they’ll appear.
And if, as we work, we can transmit life into our work,
life, still more life, rushes into us to compensate, to be ready
and we ripple with life through the days.
Even if it is a woman making an apple dumpling, or a man a stool,
if life goes into the pudding, good is the pudding
good is the stool, content is the woman, with fresh life rippling in to her,
content is the man.
Give, and it shall be given unto you
is still the truth about life. … D.H. Lawrence, 1929
Paul the Apostle wrote: be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the LORD, because you know that in the LORD, you labor is not in vain.
We live, we work, we go to church … we rise in the morning to take up the tasks of life … we grab a quick lunch, or cook a pot of stew … we retire at night, and lay me down to sleep, and pray the LORD my soul to keep.
We have what it takes …
our shepherd’s sling
five smooth stones …
the courage of Christ and the love of God …
For Markus Christian Thomas … and for all the children of the world.
Hallelujah and Amen!
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