When I prepare candidates for baptism I walk them through the liturgy of Baptism and provide a running commentary. Part of this is simply stage direction to help the liturgy run smoothly- when does one stand, when does one sit and when is it time to come to the font. But the more important aspect of the preparation has to do with what it all means. Whether we are preparing candidates for baptism, confirmation, ordination or a wedding knowing what we are doing and why is important. Sacraments are not just words. The liturgies in which sacraments are enacted are not just isolated events. Sacraments do something, and they take place in a context. Sacraments acknowledge, and effect, a radical change in character.

Ordinary tap water becomes invested with powerful stories of creation, freedom and salvation, and those who are baptized are marked and sealed as Christ's own forever. One moment they were not Christian (however charming they may have been) and in three quick splashes they become part of the Body of Christ, part of us. At any Eucharist wine and bread are elevated and offered and they carry us from St. James to an Upper Room in Jerusalem, long ago, and the presence of Christ among is as real as when he sat with the disciples on the night before he died. "Do this, in remembrance of me," he said. And we do, week after week. When we gather for a wedding, two people come to the altar, one thing leaves- a couple joined in Covenant by mutual consent, with God's blessing and a promise from the community of loving support, no matter what.

The majority of the words we say in any Episcopal liturgy come directly from Scripture. We are constantly alluding to one story or another. Sunday by Sunday, week by week, generation by generation - the same words pour over us like a stream of holy water that never ceases to offer refreshment and never fails to form those who truly listen and are willing to be shaped.

When I prepare couples for marriage I always say that the wedding is over in a day, that the flowers will wilt, and the wedding dress will go in the attic but the bond they have made before God, and the faith community, is meant to endure as a visible sign of Christ's love in the world. I also tell each couple that making a marriage is hard work. It requires presence, intention and perseverance.

Isn't interesting that in both sacraments, baptism and marriage, everyone is asked for their consent, promises to do a wild variety of things -with God's help- and that the congregation is asked to promise to support them in their new status? This is true in ordinations and confirmations as well. Why…because we live and move and have our being in community. It is in the gathering that God comes to us. It is in our intention and interactions over time that we are formed. It is by mutual consent and ongoing fidelity that the seemingly impossible becomes possible.

Think of those smooth stones we have all seen, pebbles that have been tumbled in a river, formed by water and by time. The rough edges have been made smooth. The true character of the stone has been exposed as it becomes polished and is made bright. None of this happens in a day, nor does a single stone sitting alone far from the river ever become smooth and polished. The tumbling together, the flow of the river and the passage of time are all necessary to turn rough rocks into polished, gem like stones.

James Barrett and Hayley Dyer will become Christians this day. By water and the Word we will raise them up from death into life, from person's seeking inclusion to full members in the Body of Christ. And we will promise to support them and their parents, not just in this day, but in this journey of formation.

Every Sunday the Altar, the Cribbery, the Sunday School and the congregation are here. We are set up to offer, and receive, the Body of Christ, to form Christians, to encourage and support one another through the chances and changes of this life. We gather to break bread, have fellowship, say prayers for one another, and to be taught so that we might be equipped to face the realities of life with joy and with hope. It's an awful lot of people and stuff to try to take to the baptismal candidates houses every week. So why don't we agree to gather here instead: Sunday by Sunday, year by year.

Now, lest the two families feel they have been singled out, let me encourage and remind us all that each of us here present has made a promise. James and Hayley need all of us to keep showing up too. James and Hayley need us to show them what serious Christian discipleship looks like. It is from all of us that they will form their impressions of Christianity and puzzle out what it means to lead a holy life. We are engaged in serious and life changing work. We are taking on a weighty responsibility. We need each other's help.

Life will deliver all kinds of challenges. People we love will get sick and die. Things we care about will pass away. We will be disappointed, disillusioned and betrayed. But will get bruised we need not be broken. The words of eternal life are spoken in this place. The living God promise to be with us whenever two or three are gathered in His name. Let us not pass up the weekly chance to find hope and meaning, strength and solace, joy and the expectation that, in the end, are shall be well for ourselves, our children, and our neighbors in the faith.

Do not imagine that we are trying to suck all the joy out of this day by such sober talk. We are not. Life in its fullness holds challenges as well as joy and our theology has to be large enough to support both. We gather in Church not for pious platitudes to make us feel good but for water and words that give us eternal life. We gather not to ignore the power of sin and death but to proclaim Christ's victory over both so that we might believe we can live. This is the deepest of Good News, the most real apprehension of reality, and a hope and light that cannot be extinguished. AMEN.