Lutherans often say, “We baptize infants like adults and adults like infants”, because God’s intense grace is what equalizes everyone.  For adults, baptism does not depend on believing enough, understanding enough, doing enough…  Christ’s undeserved gift is enough.  And that goes for children too.  God is the one who is initiating with these little ones and giving them what they cannot give themselves:  a new identity as

+ incorporated into Christ and his body, the Church,
+ initiated, adopted into God’s covenant people.
+ Called!  Chosen! Saved! Reborn!
+ Forgiven and freed to live without excuse,
+ ordained and set aside to be a minister of reconciliation,
+ marked with the cross of Christ forever,
+ and given the gift of the Holy Spirit.*

In this sense these little ones are no different than any of us, even though we are much older than them.  It is God’s pleasure to welcome us into a reconciled relationship through Jesus Christ.  But God never forces our hand, so, like in any relationship we can say ‘no’ to this love, and we will always have the choice throughout our life to receive or reject God’s saving love.

I know that infant baptism has not been the custom that many of us have grown up with, including myself, but this Sunday as baby Freya and baby Moses are baptized we are trusting that just as we provide food and care and love for these little ones without their cognitive choice, so too these babe’s heavenly Parent is also providing, protecting and claiming them as a beloved child of the Holy Trinity.

It is so important that Church of the Beloved gathers around Freya and Moses on Sunday evening for their baptism because God never baptizes us privately, but instead surrounds us with a community to belong to and grow in.  In their baptism we will call Freya and Moses by their Christian names, rather than their surnames, recognizing that they are born into a much greater family – the family of God.  And this is a profound moment for their parents too, for in this moment they become sister and brother through Christ.  Baptism is a radical equalizer of race, class and gender – even the very earliest Christian baptismal rites declared this by saying “In Jesus Christ there is no longer Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, female nor male.”  So in baptism we are all equal, we are all one in Jesus Christ.

Almost inevitably, several people will come up after the service and say, “I wish my baptism was like this”, or “I don’t even remember my baptism…”  But if there is one baptism in Jesus, this is your baptism.  You are being baptized with Freya and Moses.  You are not a passive observer, but an active worshiper and participant.  When you see these little ones dipped into the waters, trusting that they will be raised back out – you shall also see yourself receiving the grace of God.

*This is taken from Baptized, We Live… a great little book on Lutheranism as a way of life