Follow me.
It was what Jesus said when he first invited them to be his disciples. And it is what he says at the end of the Gospel of John, again to the disciples, after the resurrection.
Follow me.
After that first Easter, the disciples returned to their old haunts, their old ways. Even after Jesus came into that locked room twice, they did not go as they were sent.
Instead some spent a night fishing and catching nothing. But in that third encounter with Jesus, they head through the water to shore and share a meal, with the Lord.
Through the waters and meal – communion again with Jesus is realized in these acts. Baptism & Eucharist in water & a meal – is what Jesus does to reconnect with them again.
And after Jesus gets Peter to think about his love, how he is called to feed the sheep, he says to all of them
Follow me.
The third century author and church father, Tertullian, tells us, “But we little fish, who are so named in the image of (our ichthys) Jesus Christ, are born in water and only by staying in the water are we saved.”
That water is our baptism. That water is what Peter swam through to get to Jesus. In that water is the great catch that the disciples had. That water of baptism, is our life and faith, something we grow into and live out of.
That baptismal water is what will be poured over Violet Jane Panoli this morning. It is to their baptism, that our four confirmands yesterday reaffirmed their vows; taking on what their parents and Godparents said on their behalf at their baptisms.
For as Tertullian once said in a sermon, “Christians are made, not born. Christianity does not come naturally…you get Christians out of the baptismal font.”
Our faith is made in that holy water. It is that baptism that guides our faith forward to follow Jesus.
But to sustain our faith, it must be done with intention and love.
And it will not always be an easy journey to live out our faith.
Among the horrors of the Nazi regime during World War II was a plan to euthanize all mentally and physically challenged children and adults throughout Germany and its occupied territories. Bishop Clemens August von Galen in the Rhineland exhorted the people of the region to take into their homes or find hiding places in their barns for all the exceptional children and adults being cared for by Church-related schools and institutions - and then dared the government to try to find them.
In a sermon preached in his cathedral on July 20, 1941, Bishop von Galen called all to resistance.
"At this moment we are the anvil rather than the hammer. Other men, strangers, renegades, are hammering us . . . Ask the blacksmith and hear what he says. The object which is forged on the anvil receives its form not alone from the hammer but also from the anvil. The anvil cannot and need not strike back: it must only be firm, only be hard! However hard the hammer strikes, the anvil stands firmly and silently in place and will long continue to shape the objects forged upon it. If it is sufficiently tough and firm and hard, the anvil will last longer than the hammer. The anvil represents those who are unjustly imprisoned, those who are driven out and banished for no fault of their own."
Our discipleship often calls us to be the anvil: to sacrifice our own safety and security to absorb the blows directed at the poor, the vulnerable, the powerless.
The disciples at first resisted. They feared. They held back. Jesus would visit them three times, to encourage them, guide them, push them onwards in their ministry. It is why he asked Peter 3 times – do you love me? Feed my sheep. Be the anvil.
In resisting injustice, in remaining constant in seeking what is right, we are shaped in the spirit of Jesus' servanthood and formed in his Gospel of justice and mercy. To be an authentic disciple of Jesus, living out of our baptism, means to put ourselves in the humble, demanding anvil-strong role of servant to others, to intentionally seek the happiness and fulfillment of those we love, regardless of the cost to ourselves. For Jesus says to you and me from our baptism:
Come follow me.
Today, we join Violet, her loving parents & godparents, our 4 recently confirmand members of this parish, wherever we are, church or school, work or play, driving or resting – the question – Do you love me? Is the same.
In the words of the great Anglican & Abolitionist, William Wilberforce: “It makes no sense to take the name of Christian and not cling to Christ. Jesus is not some magic charm to wear like a piece of jewelry we think will give us good luck. He is the Lord. His name is to be written on our hearts in such a powerful way that it creates within us a profound experience of His peace and a heart that is filled with His praise.”
And with the Lord in our hearts: in what we say & do we have the work of Christ to do in our world today. Let us hear his words for each of us today:
Follow me. Amen.
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