For the majority of us in this room, it was a number of years ago that a priest or bishop poured water on our foreheads and announced that we were baptized “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.” Some of us growing up in other denominations of the Church may have been fully immersed in a tank or even in a honest-to-goodness river, like Jesus was. Some of us were baptized as infants and have no recollection of any part of the event, while others of us were baptized as teenagers or adults and remember every single detail of the event.

No matter the time, place or specifics – most of us here have been baptized. But what does it really mean to be baptized? What does it matter whether we are or aren’t baptized? And what does baptism have to do with “real life” – the lives we all live most of the time - when we’re not here at St. Andrew’s?

These are good questions for today because today is a baptism day at St. Andrew’s. At the 10:30 service, we will celebrate the sacrament of baptism for two absolutely adorable little girls – Kieryn and Dakota. Kieryn is the daughter of Sean and Kathy Caviness and the granddaughter of Keith and Karen Russell. Dakota is the daughter of Joe and Debbie Beeler. Kathy and Sean are known to many of you; Joe and Debbie moved to Greensboro from Ft. Lauderdale not that long ago.

Sean, Kathy, Joe and Debbie give their daughters the greatest gift they will ever give them as they present Kieryn and Dakota today to be baptized. For today, Kieryn and Dakota will be “sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.” What will be going on during the sacrament of baptism is God’s doing – we are only the agents and witnesses of his work. It is God who will be giving Kieryn and Dakota his gift of new life and his gift of lifelong membership into the Body of Christ, the Family of Christ that is the Church.

So what does it really mean to be baptized? It means that, as the Apostle Paul said to the Romans, that nothing in this world will separate us – ever – from God’s love, care and concern for us. The mistakes that we make, the sins we commit – all the ways we fall short of what God hopes and dreams for us – even our self-centeredness and the ways in which we act as if the world revolved around us and our opinions… in the end… it won’t matter. For Kieryn, for Dakota, and for all of us – the essential reality – made known in baptism - is that we belong to God and he loves us. Nothing can change that reality.

But how often do we really stop and think about that? Those of us that are adults have witnessed many baptisms over the years – but how often do we stop to think of ourselves as baptized too? How often are we gratefully aware that we are loved for who we are right now this very minute – for all our gifts and graces and despite all our faults and failings. When was the last time you reminded yourself or were reminded that you – each of you – are a child of God – loved completely and without condition? That is what grace is – and the reality of that kind of incredible undeserved love ought to make each of us simply weep with gratitude.

A story is told about the great 16th century reformer Martin Luther who lived in a time when the Church seemed to be unraveling at its very seams. Everything was being called into question and the stakes were enormous. In the times when he felt the most despondent and the most fearful, “he would take a piece of chalk and write in large letters on his desk, ‘I HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED.’ He would thus remind himself that as a member of Christ, Christ had already given to him all the grace he needed to walk in this hard and heroic New Life… but this above all: that he was God’s child forever.”

So what does baptism have to do with “real life” – the lives we all live most of the time - when we’re not here at St. Andrew’s? To get at the answer to that question we need to think about the reaffirmation of faith we make every time we celebrate the sacrament of baptism. The Baptismal Covenant has two parts: the first is the Apostles’ Creed – a very ancient statement of faith and the second part are some questions and answers. To put it bluntly, in the Baptismal Covenant, we state what we believe and then are asked to put what we believe into practice.

If you want to follow along, and maybe you should, turn in your prayer books to pages 304-305. In the first part of the Baptismal Covenant, we state our faith in the Trinity: in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and our belief in the holy catholic Church. In the second part of the Baptismal Covenant, we promise, as members of the Church, to strive to lead a Christ-like life. There are five pledges we make in this second part of the Baptismal Covenant. Specifically, asking God’s help, we promise (1) to continue to be part of the church, (2) to resist sin and evil, (3) to live out our faith through both our words and actions, (4) to look for Christ in every human soul, and (5) to be reconcilers and peacemakers.

This is a very high calling. When you think seriously about what we’re being asked to attempt here, it really ought to make us stop and catch our breath. It’s also why we make these pledges using the words, “I will, with God’s help.” Let’s go through it one more time. Our high calling, our calling as baptized persons, in striving to live a Christ-like life is to (1) stay connected to the church, (2) to resist evil and sin, (3) to live out our faith through our words and actions, (4) to look for Christ in every human soul, and (5) to be reconcilers and peacemakers.

This is our high and noble calling. This is why baptism matters. In baptism we are given the grace of the Holy Spirit, we are marked as Christ’s own forever, and then we are called to live our lives in a whole different way and with an entirely different perspective.

But we can’t end with just this, because even as the life of a Christian is a noble and high calling, we are also given the presence of Christ himself to sustain us day by day. This presence, of course, is what the gospel lesson is all about. “I am the bread of life,” Jesus says. Those who have been baptized into Christ, just as Kieryn and Dakota will be today, are also invited to be sustained and nourished by Christ through their communion, their holy communion, with him.

We’re marked as Christ’s own forever, branded with the sign of the cross on our foreheads. We’re loved deeply, fully, completely. We are to share that love, made concrete in the promises we make in our baptismal covenant. And finally, we come to the altar rail where the presence of Christ enters into our bodies through the medium of bread and wine. Baptized into him, and in communion with him, we leave here today to represent Christ in all we think, all we say, and all we do.

Kieryn and Dakota, welcome to our family, the church. May you grow in Christ’s likeness day by day, as we help your parents and grandparents, bringing you up in faith. May you find here at St. Andrew’s Christian friends of all ages who will love and cherish you in the same way you are loved and cherished by God. And for all the rest of us, may we lavish our love not only on Kieryn and Dakota, but on each other and on the world.

God – you’ve given us so much – give us one thing more – a grateful heart.

Amen.