"Into the Household of God"

The Feast of All Saints is one of my favorite days in the life of the Church. Not just because we get to sing, “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God” which features everyone’s favorite line, “and one was slain by a fierce wild beast!”, but because it’s one of the best days to baptize new converts to the faith. 

The baptismal liturgy found in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer is steeped in the traditions of the Church and rich with reminders of God’s redeeming love and the power found in turning away from sin and towards Jesus Christ. I enjoy taking the congregation through the liturgy, paying close attention to the examination of the candidates, the baptismal covenant, the prayers for the candidates and of course the thanksgiving over the water. But this year I will be focusing on the last thing said before the priest offers the peace. 

“We receive you into the household of God. Confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood.”

I love that declaration from the congregation. It is a powerful welcome that tells the newly baptized that they are no longer guests in the Church, they are co-workers in the vineyard. They are not just visiting, they have been asked to stay forever. This group of people, no matter how dysfunctional or weird, are now their family. I can’t stress how important it is for us as the Church to affirm this new identity of the baptized. Yes we are the Body of Christ. Yes we are the Church. But at the most basic level of community we are a family. 

"I can’t stress how important it is for us as the Church to affirm this new identity of the baptized. Yes we are the Body of Christ. Yes we are the Church. But at the most basic level of community we are a family." 

Preaching and teaching about this can be challenging because each person has had their own experience of family. Family means different things to different people. Family can be a source of strength and consolation, where we turn when the world has rejected us and we have nowhere else to go. But family can also be a source of deep pain as those who are supposed to love us unconditionally wound us and push us away. Each of us comes to the household of God with our own image and experience of family. It’s why the Church needs to be clear in its teaching what it means for us to live together in the household of God. 

It begins with being welcomed. Being welcomed by God into God’s family means remembering that God calls, invites, and even pleads with us to come to him. But God never forces. We can choose to reject God’s holy invitation and instead go our own way, remaining alone or finding another family that will claim us. The welcome is always there. All we need to bring with us is our need; our need for love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace. We do not need to bring a list of accomplishments or all the reasons we are loveable. God doesn’t love because we are worthy of love or because we have earned it. God loves us because we are his.welcome is enough. 

"We do not need to bring a list of accomplishments or all the reasons we are loveable. God doesn’t love because we are worthy of love or because we have earned it. God loves us because we are his.welcome is enough."

It continues with taking the first few steps towards growing in the Christian faith. Accepting God’s welcome and walking through the doors of a Church can feel daunting. I have nothing but respect for visitors who choose to visit a Church they have never been to, to share in a liturgy they may have no knowledge of, with a group of people they don’t know. It’s why the most important ministry of the Church, after prayer, is that of hospitality. Being open to the visitor, the stranger, the seeker, is the act of welcoming Christ himself. The visitor who decides to come back is now getting a glimpse into the life of this new family. They are watching closely how this family prays, talks to one another, works together, and lives in community. It’s here when the health of a faith community is revealed. How reverent and joyful is our worship? How focused are we on serving one another and the world? How is the love of God being revealed in the way we treat one another? And if the community is healthy then the one who’s accepted the welcome will be excited to share in their faith. 

As this visitor continues to grow in their knowledge and love of God and in deeper fellowship with the community of faith, they will face a crucial decision. Do they want to confess faith in Jesus Christ and join this faith community in the vital work of sharing the gospel? Will they continue to explore the history, traditions, and sacraments of the Church? If the answer is yes then it is the responsibility of the Church to prepare them to become part of the Body of Christ. 

It’s important to note that while I am talking about baptism, there are other ways that people become part of the Church. Some individuals have already been baptized but seek to reaffirm their faith or share in the sacramental rite of Confirmation. Others have been confirmed in other Christian communities such as the Lutheran, Methodist, and Roman Catholic Churches. In those cases a person would be “received” into the Episcopal Church by the bishop. And still others are already part of the Episcopal Church but may have been away from the church for a while, or as regularly occurs in my neck of the woods, they may have been active members of another Episcopal parish in another part of the country and have now moved and are looking for a new parish. No matter the reason, it is vital that we extend the welcome and respond to it with energy and urgency so that we meet people where they are in their faith journey. 

Becoming part of the household of God is a joyous moment. It is a privilege for a faith community to walk with someone who has heard God’s invitation and demonstrated the perseverance to answer it. It is fostering true connectedness in a world that is disconnected and disintegrated. Guiding people to share in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ so that they can receive eternal life is the holy work of every Christian and every Christian community. As we gather this Sunday for the Feast of All Saints, I urge us all to reflect on if we are bringing people into the household of God through our work, through our prayer, through our example.