Hidden Acres Camp
A few weeks ago, when I was meeting with you Ana Joy, to talk about your desire to be baptized, I asked at one point if there was a theme or image you would want for your baptism. Others have used a stone altar, or the light of a candle, and so on. You didn’t answer me right away. We went on to talk about other parts of baptism and what the service might look like. Suddenly, out of no-where, not connected to what I was saying at that time you blurted out ‘Butterflies!’ One word. This had been brewing inside your brain and imagination, and you knew in that instant what you wanted as an image for today, for your baptism, for your life. And what a perfect image that is.
We also chose the Scripture passage we heard in the dialogue from 2nd Corinthians 5. It too is the perfect passage for today. ‘If anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation: everything old has passed away. See! Everything has become new!’ Doesn’t that sound like the butterflies?
Janet already had us imagine what it must be like for a caterpillar to take that journey of transformation into a butterfly. There are so many parallels to the journey of faith and the transformation symbolized in baptism. What strikes me, is how clueless the caterpillar is – how they don’t know or understand what is about to happen to them, how they will be transformed. It is not in their imagination. All they know is that they need to take that time to rest, to cocoon and turn inward, to make their chrysalis, and to simply wait. I wonder if waiting is one of the more profound spiritual gifts we have, and one of the hardest for most of us. In that waiting comes transformation, comes the bursting forth of wings and colour and flight – at first tentative, and then fully claimed. It is a beautiful thing, and in the language of Paul, there is a new perspective, a different point of view.
Ana Joy, I have loved watching your journey of faith over these last years, and that shift from a childlike wonder and trust, to a questioning and fully engaged youth, actively engaged in the issues and questions of our day and our world, and what faith has to say to them. You are a sensitive and intuitive person. You get that quizzical look as you process things inwardly, in your own unique way, before speaking or acting. There is a depth there, a knowing what it means to watch and wait. I have seen you blossom and grow and be transformed by the love and grace of God. I have seen you claim faith and a strong set of values. You see and stick up for the vulnerable and those on the outside. Inclusion if important to you, and I loved your leadership a few Sundays ago in organizing and then artistically planning for our colourful origami doves in worship to celebrate our 10th anniversary of being an LGBTQ Welcoming Congregation. You are creative, honest, compassionate and real with people. You are ready for baptism.
When a caterpillar is transformed into a beautiful butterfly, it comes as a complete surprise, and it comes as a gift. They may have done some preparing, but it is not their own doing. In our Anabaptist tradition, we talk about baptism as an adult decision of faith, about making our own decision – and you have clearly done that Ana Joy. That is a good thing. But that is not the whole story. Baptism also comes as a gift, as a grace from God, as something not totally of our own doing. The early Anabaptists also talked about the ‘regenerated’, about the role of the Holy Spirit, transforming our lives, giving and gifting us with a new life in Christ. It is this language from Paul about the old passing away and everything becoming new – in Christ, that person is a new creation. Baptism is just as much about what God is doing in us.
Paul goes on in the 2nd Corinthians passage to name two more things that emerge from this transformation in Christ, this new creation. God through Jesus reconciles us to Christ and gives us that same ministry of reconciliation, and God invites us to be ambassadors for Christ, messengers. Our baptism, as significant a personal experience as it is, is also not just for us – it is to help us serve the world. This really is another one of our biblical Peace texts in our several month-long Peace series we have been in. It is all about Reconciliation. We have been given that ministry of reconciliation – to help people drop their difference with each other and make things right. Because we have been transformed, we can help others be transformed too. And we are called to be Ambassadors, representatives of Christ, to continue to grow and learn and serve our world.
My brother and sister-in-law and family lived for several years in Leamington. Every May and September, they would send us photos of the thousands and thousands of Monarch Butterflies at Point Pelee National Park, clustered on every branch of ever tree. It is a sight to see, and simply marvel at. Monarchs migrate. They don’t stay in one place. In Fall they migrate to the Transvolcanic mountains of central Mexico and pass right through Point Pelee, and than the reverse is Spring. Have you seen the photos at either place? Usually the life cycle of a Monarch is 3-5 weeks, laying their eggs on any milkweed they can find, and passing on to the next and next and next generation. But the Monarchs that migrate South bulk up and live 8-9 months to make that long migration trip and overwinter.
I wonder if we are called as Christians to migrate, not necessarily to move geographically, although that might be the case, but to see ourselves as being on a journey, on the way, always growing and learning and sharing our lives with those we meet. Your baptism Ana Joy, is one significant point and milestone on your journey. You have this cluster of family and friends and congregation around you, cheering you on. We do this in community. But your journey of faith will continue. You will migrate to all sorts of places and experiences and people and communities in your life. Sometimes it will be easy. Sometimes it will be hard. But you will bring this day with you. You will be an Ambassador for Christ. You will share that gift of the ministry of reconciliation. That’s what happens when anyone is in Christ, and that person becomes a new creation.
I want to end with a few words from the song you choose for your baptism, Be a Sower. We will sing that soon. It captures what this is all about:
Be a Sower, plant a see, let it grow into a tree, give it the love it needs
Be a listener, listen close when you find a friend in need; talk to Jesus
Be a dreamer, work for peace, with our neighbours, make change as God shows us how
Be humble and gentle and always keep looking for peace. Let’s be loving to one another. Join in God’s circle of peace.
Ana Joy, today you are joining that circle of peace, that gift of the Holy Spirit that will transform you and change you and make you a new creation. May you fly and explore our world as a beautiful butterfly, beloved of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.