“And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

– Matthew 25:40

This past Sunday, we baptized thirteen small people, mostly babies, but also a toddler or two. And, as our liturgy directs, in the process of baptizing these children, we also renewed our own baptismal vows.

Years ago, in my first congregation out of seminary, Bill, the Rector, was leading a baptismal instruction session. After exploring with the families why they were baptizing their children, Bill commented, “Baptism is NOT a fire insurance policy.” In other words, baptism is most assuredly not about – if something happened to their child – keeping that child out of the fires of eternal damnation. Rather, Bill’s point was that our baptismal covenant is about our response to God’s abundant love and grace through how we live our lives now. It is about seeking and serving Christ in every human being in this time and place. It is about striving for justice and peace and respecting the dignity of every human being in our city, our country, our world.

A number of years ago, a popular trend was the WWJD bracelet – What Would Jesus Do? As clichéd as that phrase became, it’s still a good question to keep asking. When legislation proposes to drop medical insurance, reduce stewardship of God’s Creation, eliminate school programs for children with special needs, and sharply decrease support of housing programs, what would Jesus have to say about that? Perhaps he would start telling us a parable about a good Samaritan who cares for someone in need without having to assign blame. Or about a king who separates sheep from goats because the righteous have fed and clothed and visited him when they were doing it to others. Perhaps Jesus would simply hand us two fish and five loaves of bread as a reminder of God’s abundance and get us out of our addictive scarcity mindset.

Our call, our vocation, as followers of Jesus is to help ensure that people don’t get discounted, swept into the cracks, or overlooked. Living into our baptismal covenant should shape what we believe, what we think, what we do, what we support, and whom we choose to see, include, and prioritize in this world.

Most of our community partners are expecting deep funding cuts directly from the federal government as well as through the cuts that will snowball down through state and local funding. One response is for each of us to increase our giving to these organizations that help provide critical assistance to our most vulnerable neighbors. Another response is to volunteer at these partners with whatever gifts and talents we have to offer because they will need all the help they can get. Yet another way to respond is to advocate for change. Use your voice, your vote, and your purse. Contact your elected officials at all levels of government to share your views with them (https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials). Don’t be afraid to say that you are a Christian and that your views represent your faith. Remember that when you act as the hands, feet, heart, and head of Jesus, you have the gale of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, at your back. You are more powerful than you think you are.

And to borrow a part of the blessing that I will use this Sunday (as my last Sunday as one of the clergy on staff at Christ Church):

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen. +