This last week marked a unique anniversary in our country that has something to do with the baptism here today. It was twenty years ago this week that baby Jessica, in Midland Texas was pulled from a well after 2 and half days stuck down there. Pew research – a company that does polling on world events – said ten years ago that, around the globe, at that time, the only other story to have generated more interest and awareness was the death of lady Diana. So even after ten years, baby Jessica’s story was so well known that people still thought of it second only to Lady Di’s death.
Jessica McClure is now 21 years old and lives in Texas and is the mother of an 11 month old baby boy. And in a few years when she turns 25 there will be another event that happens. And it is that event that ties into the baptism of baby Dylan today. When she turns 25 Jessica will be given access to all the money that was sent to her during and after her ordeal in the well. It is quite a sizable amount, by most accounts somewhere close to a million dollars.
At age 25 she is going to get the benefit of the generosity of others that was shown to her as a baby. The generosity that as a baby and all through her growing up years she had no real understanding of or appreciation for. It is only now, as a mature person, that she can understand the significance of that generosity.
When we baptize(d) baby Dylan this morning he was given a gift that, as an infant, he cannot fully grasp or appreciate. In being marked as a Christian and given the gift of new life in Christ by faith, he has been granted a gift that is far more valuable than even a staggering amount of money, like a million dollars. Yet like Jessica at 18 months old, Dylan, right now, can’t understand what he has been given by God's generosity.
The blessing of new life for Dylan is not dependant upon Dylan’s ability to comprehend it right now. But a growing appreciation comes to all of us as we mature in the faith that we too have been granted in our baptisms. The word of God is made alive in us through the faith that comes to us that way. Look at the epistle lesson today from 2Timothy 3, look at verses 15-17 and read those with me please.
"and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Saint Timothy was raised from infancy being taught the word of God. And that word of God St Paul tells timothy, and us today, that word of God is able to make us wise, wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. We grow and mature in our faith as we grow in years, when we are taught God's word and learn to appreciate it as mature adults.
Think of the analogy of food. When we were Dylan’s age we were given food that was appropriate to an infant. But as we grow, we learn to eat different food, solid food, food that is for a mature person. So also with the food for our soul. We don’t stop with the milk you give a child. We learn to grow in faith and trust in the word of God as we read it and learn it and grow in it, as mature Christians. We should look to see ourselves, as it says in verse 16, as being trained in righteousness by God's word.
All scripture is God-breathed it says and is useful for teaching, correcting, training and equipping. None of those words, as they apply to scripture, suggest remaining on baby food do they? We, as a congregation are promising to put the word of God, the whole word of God, in Dylan’s hands and teach him to grow in faith. That growing in faith can’t happen for him or us, or any Christian if we don’t feed on God's word in a way that is appropriate for our age. These words tell us that we are to rely on God's word as the yardstick, as the tool to help us mature.
If you were able to attend the Strategic Ministry Plan meeting this last week, you heard Carol, our facilitator, tell us that the first two words of verse 17 are important to us. As we enter into the work of Strategic Ministry Plan this week in earnest, we do so, not as an end in itself, but it is done… so that. So that we may be prepared to move and act and grow according to our best understanding, as she said, of what God wants us to be about here at Mount Olive.
Looking back at theTimothy text, in verse 17, we are not given scripture to be trained or taught simply for our growth. No! Verse 17 says, it is what?... So That, the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. We are to grow and mature under the teaching of holy scripture, so that, we may go and do, not sit and stay.
Training is for a purpose, training is not an end in itself. Training is given so that, (there’re those words again), so that we may be prepared to act.
Lance Cpl. Zachary Mayo was a 20-year-old marine assigned to the aircraft carrier USS America. Very early one Saturday morning, this marine from Idaho went up on deck to get a breath of fresh air and a peek at the morning stars. He was peering over the side of the carrier when a sudden gust of wind caused a door to swing into him, knocking him overboard. He screamed for help, but no one on deck heard him. He watched the carrier disappear in the darkness. When his absence was discovered, the Navy sent out helicopters to search for him, but they finally gave up. Cpl. Mayo put his marine training to use by tying knots in his pants and inflating them as a life preserver. He bobbed for 36 hours in the Arabian Sea before he was finally found by Pakistani fishermen, who picked him up and brought him to their village.
The Cpl.’s training worked; his training saved his life; without it he would have died. And without putting his training into action, he would have died also. It would have been the height of foolishness for Cpl. Mayo to have said, ‘well, I’ve studied, and been trained in survival, but I don’t think I’ll use it.’ So also with us. We are given training in righteousness by the word of God, so that - we use it!
Again back to Timothy, chapter 4 verse 2, it says there to be ready in season and out. We are to be ready at all times. That is why we train and grow in the holy scriptures. In his first epistle, Saint Peter tells us to always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have. That hope that is ours is why we follow God's command to baptize. We baptize into the living hope that is ours in the name of Jesus Christ.
And that hope is why we train in the holy scriptures. We study, grow and mature, so that, we may be prepared to speak of the hope that is ours by grace through faith alone. So that, we may be ready to do the good works God has laid out for us to do. So that we can give away what Jesus has given to us.
What do you do to study and grow and mature in the faith? When and how do you train in the Holy Scriptures? It’s important to do that and to be intentional about that. Here’s one suggestion to use. Be diligent in reading portals of prayer every day, or another devotional, but use something like it everyday. That in itself is a sign of growing maturity. But again it’s important to choose to do that training.
Not everything in baby Jessica’s life has gone well the last 20 years. Her parents divorced within a few years of her rescue. One of her rescuers committed suicide, another one went on to build a criminal record. Jessica herself had to undergo many operations and she lost part of a foot as a result of her time in the well. But she has grown and matured through it all. And as the time draws near for her to be given the benefit of the generosity of others, what she says she wants to do with the money is to sign it over to a trust fund for her son.
She wants to pass the blessing she has received… on to her son… She has indeed matured beyond the toddler we all remember. But that has come at a cost. She has had to make choices and she has had to be intentional about maturing. We are also called to that in today’s letter to Timothy.
As we head into this week of Strategic Ministry Planning let’s remember this idea of being intentional about our maturing in the holy scripture. As Carol said last week let’s enter into this time through prayer. That’s what a mature Christian does when setting out on a new thing. Let’s move forward… in the faith we were baptized into; let’s move forward… in prayer and in the word, as Timothy said, so that, we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work; every good work that we do, by Jesus name.
In His name, Amen.