May 1, 2005; The Sixth Sunday of Easter Readings: Acts 17:22-31; 1 Peter 3:8-18; John 15:1-8; Psalm 148:7-14.   The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith God is Glorified Today "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples." Everyone who seeks to follow God through the Christian faith is on a journey of becoming a disciple of Christ. For a person of faith, the process of becoming a disciple is a lifelong endeavor. It is an endeavor to God's glory. Our victories and our struggles--all that happens in the process--is to the glory of God. In our culture that focuses on individual achievements, it can be counterintuitive to value the process, in all of its complexity. Today God is glorified by the baptisms of Paul Thomas Basinger, Maximilian Inger Fulmor, and Jude Inger Fulmor. Baptism is the rite of initiation into the community of faith. It is the beginning. Baptism is not an end in itself. It is not something that needs to be done so that it can be checked off the list. Far, far from it. Baptism is the beginning of new life as a member of the body of Christ. Today these three will be marked as Christ's own forever. No matter what happens in their lives, they will be united with God through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit always and forever. No matter where they go or how messy the process might be, they will supported by the prayers of the faithful and embraced by God in a distinctive way---a way that was made possible by the Easter mystery. Through Jesus Christ, we have become branches of a vine; we have become part of a community that lives and breathes because the vine gives us life. God is glorified when we become disciples. God is glorified when we bear much fruit. Again, we must be careful not to hear these words in the context of our culture, but rather in the context of God's grace. The fruit that we are to bear are not our personal achievements, but rather the result of a life lived in communion with our Lord and with each other. The fruit of the Spirit, which we hear about in Galatians (5:22-23a), is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When we bear this fruit the rest of life takes care of itself. If you have been alive for any amount of time, you have noticed that it is not always so easy to love, to be gentle, patient, and self-controlled. A life of faith is a process of learning more and more how to live in a way that allows the Spirit to produce this fruit in our lives. Through baptism one is sealed by the Spirit and marked as Christ's own forever. We are started on a path that leads to great peace and joy. Through Jesus Christ, God has provided the way and the means to a life embraced and transformed by love. This is the gift given to Thomas, Max and Jude today. We hear Jesus say to us all today, "Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." "Abide in me." Be with me, remember me, trust in me and rest in me---Jesus tells us. "Abide in me as I abide in you." Jesus is with us always--abiding in us--no matter what. Life presents many distractions, and we need to be reminded to abide in the One who makes the fruit possible. Days like this, when we reaffirm our faith by welcoming new Christians through baptism, we have a chance to remember our baptisms. We have a chance to remember that we have a choice to abide with Christ. You and I are part of something much bigger than ourselves. Jesus tells us, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." When we abide with Christ we are able to live in a way and to do things that have eternal significance. God is glorified by the process of our discipleship. Today God is particularly glorified by the baptisms of Thomas, Max, and Jude. Amen.