June 12, 2005; 4th Sunday after Pentecost Readings: Exodus 19:2-8a; Romans 5:6-11; Matthew 9:35-10:8; Psalm 100.   The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith God's Treasured Possession God said to Moses regarding the covenant with the Hebrew people: "you shall be my treasured possession...Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation." Through the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, we too are God's treasured possession, a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. God loves all people. God created the whole earth and every person; therefore, all people are in relationship with God whether they believe that or not, whether they are Christian or not. When a person is baptized, he or she is united with Jesus Christ in a way that is distinctive; the person becomes God's treasured possession in a special way that is for all time. The person is sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ's own forever. Today we welcome Janet, Shari, Larry, and Brendon in to the fellowship of Christ's body, the church. God has always loved you and been with you. Today you become part of God's priestly kingdom and God's holy nation. This is a great gift to you, but also to the world. You become priestly in the sense that you are being baptized for service. We believe in the priesthood of all believers. Those who are baptized make a covenant with God; we make promises to go forth from this church as ministers of God grace—of God's Good News for our world. Those who are baptized become holy in the sense of being set apart—not set apart as better than others, but set apart for service—for ministry. As Christians we are God's treasured possession in the world because we have promised to reflect God's love to all. As Janet, Shari, Larry, and Brendon make their covenant with God today, we, who have already been baptized, will renew our baptismal covenant. We will say what we believe about God using historic, traditional language; this is language that says a lot, but we recognize that words can not fully explain the mystery of God—God is and does much more than we can ask or imagine. Then I will ask us all five questions. "Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?" "Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?" "Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?" "Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?" "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?" There is a lot to baptism, isn't there? These are five extremely important questions because to answer "Yes" and really seek to do these things can bring peace and justice to our world, to our communities, and to our families. It is not easy to do these things; that is why we answer, "I will, with God's help." One of the ways that God helps us is by bringing us into the fellowship of the church—into a community of people who can support us as we seek to grow in love for God and all people. Some faith communities speak about becoming a Christian through baptism as necessary or one goes to hell. In the mainstream of the Episcopal Church, we do not believe that non-Christians are going to hell. We believe that God loves all people and is in relationship with them—Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and even secular gentiles (that is all those who say that they are 'spiritual' but have no actual faith tradition). Remember, the whole earth belongs to God—not just Christians. We do believe in hell; it is defined in the prayer book as separation from God—in this life and in the life to come—but that separation is something people choose, not God. God will always choose us—all people. So if God loves everyone and chooses everyone, why become a Christian? Why be baptized? Baptism unites us to God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. No question about it. Baptism opens to us so much grace—the grace of relationship to God and the fellowship of the Christian community, and it gives us purpose in life that makes us holy—set apart for ministry. We become Christians to follow in the way of Jesus. When an adult is baptized it is in response to knowing the love of God through Jesus Christ and wanting to acknowledge that relationship that already has started. In our Gospel reading we heard that Jesus had compassion for the crowd because they were "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Jesus came to be our shepherd. Once we have accepted that grace in our own lives, we, like those first disciples, are sent out to minister to others. What a high calling—to be God's treasured possession set apart for service. Amen.