WEBVTT 00:00:02.009 --> 00:00:07.889 Well, howdy. When I was growing up, we had a 00:00:07.889 --> 00:00:10.009 joke in the family, and you may have had the 00:00:10.009 --> 00:00:12.650 same one as well. Hearing your middle name in 00:00:12.650 --> 00:00:16.050 public from your parents was not a good thing. 00:00:16.809 --> 00:00:20.230 If a parent were to say, Jason, well, that could 00:00:20.230 --> 00:00:25.089 be a good thing. Jason, here's a toy. Jason, 00:00:25.230 --> 00:00:29.429 happy birthday. Jason, good job. But if they 00:00:29.429 --> 00:00:33.520 said, Jason Marino. That meant something wasn't 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:36.399 okay, especially if it were in public. I know 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:40.159 my last name They know my last name, but if it 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:46.420 goes Jason Marino Oh I did something wrong now 00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:51.219 they were to say Jason Abelardo Marino Then things 00:00:51.219 --> 00:00:55.679 were going downhill fast and yes Abelardo is 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:58.740 my middle name. The a does not actually stand 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:02.740 for awesome Sorry that I lied to a few of you. 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:06.680 And for the record, my cousins heard their middle 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:11.019 names much more often than I did. But here's 00:01:11.019 --> 00:01:14.859 what's funny. When we baptize someone, we also 00:01:14.859 --> 00:01:18.060 say their full name. Only this time, it's not 00:01:18.060 --> 00:01:22.319 for scolding, it's for blessing. Today, we are 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:25.739 baptizing one of our babies. When babies are 00:01:25.739 --> 00:01:28.219 baptized, there's always this moment when the 00:01:28.219 --> 00:01:31.379 pastor says their full name out loud. It's not 00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:34.239 a nickname or a shortened version. It's the full 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:37.700 name, spoken carefully and clearly, followed 00:01:37.700 --> 00:01:40.599 by, I baptize you in the name of the Father, 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:44.379 and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. That 00:01:44.379 --> 00:01:47.000 name, spoken with the water, becomes part of 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:51.140 their story. These are such tiny people. What 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:53.620 sins could they possibly need forgiving though? 00:01:54.140 --> 00:01:58.659 But the reality is that we are born into brokenness. 00:01:59.060 --> 00:02:01.680 And we need to be immersed in the Word of God 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:05.819 from the very beginning. See, we are born into 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:10.020 sin. From that moment on is that we're realizing 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:13.580 our need to be forgiven. But from the moment 00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:16.580 when we are baptized onward, no matter where 00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:20.240 life takes them, that name is wrapped in the 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:24.680 name of Jesus. It's a naming and a washing. both 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:28.259 at once. We may not understand the words that 00:02:28.259 --> 00:02:31.199 are being spoken yet, but the water is still 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:35.080 on us. As Christ says that he is bringing salvation 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:39.460 to those born in sin, good news that is announced 00:02:39.460 --> 00:02:42.740 to all, even those who cannot yet see or hear 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:47.240 before Christ reaches them. See, this is not 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:51.629 about saying that we can only believe whenever 00:02:51.629 --> 00:02:55.469 the words are making complete sense. As their 00:02:55.469 --> 00:02:58.870 parents raise them to know Christ from then on, 00:02:59.409 --> 00:03:02.349 there is no point at which these children are 00:03:02.349 --> 00:03:04.789 led to believe that grace is not theirs yet. 00:03:05.650 --> 00:03:09.610 See, their confirmation of faith later affirms 00:03:09.610 --> 00:03:11.669 that God has been speaking into their hearts 00:03:11.669 --> 00:03:15.250 and minds from the very beginning. This is not 00:03:15.250 --> 00:03:18.009 something where they would be able to then wonder 00:03:18.300 --> 00:03:22.699 Did I accept Jesus enough for him to be there 00:03:22.699 --> 00:03:27.080 with me, but rather that God has always been 00:03:27.080 --> 00:03:29.939 speaking to them even before they understood 00:03:29.939 --> 00:03:34.759 the words? That's what sainthood really is. Not 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:38.500 perfection, not recognition, not achievement, 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:44.300 but being named and washed by God. Let's start 00:03:44.300 --> 00:03:47.629 at the end of the story. to really understand 00:03:47.629 --> 00:03:50.889 what's going on. The vision from Revelation. 00:03:51.710 --> 00:03:53.810 Remember, this is a vision of what will happen 00:03:53.810 --> 00:03:56.629 when Christ returns and makes all things new. 00:03:57.289 --> 00:03:59.150 This is the time when the resurrection brings 00:03:59.150 --> 00:04:02.310 us back to celebrate with Christ no matter what 00:04:02.310 --> 00:04:05.629 happened before. See, John looks and sees a great 00:04:05.629 --> 00:04:08.530 multitude that no one can count from every nation, 00:04:08.710 --> 00:04:11.409 tribe, and language standing before the throne 00:04:11.409 --> 00:04:14.879 dressed in white robes. It's easy to imagine 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:18.300 that this crowd is full of perfect people dressed 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:21.819 in white, people who got everything right, who 00:04:21.819 --> 00:04:25.819 lived these flawless lives and did amazing things. 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:28.839 This is often what we get from some churches 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:32.240 that venerate the saints. But when the elder 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:36.220 asks, who are these? The answer has nothing to 00:04:36.220 --> 00:04:38.920 do with their own works. These are the ones who 00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:41.720 have come out of the Great Tribulation. They 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:44.319 have washed their robes. and made them white 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:47.240 in the blood of the Lamb. These are people who 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:49.899 have been through it. They've known suffering 00:04:49.899 --> 00:04:54.480 and loss, doubt, and failure. They're not perfect 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.800 people who finally earned a seat in heaven. See, 00:04:57.819 --> 00:05:01.180 in the midst of all those struggles, I am positive 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:05.040 that they did not do everything perfectly in 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:08.279 their lives. But you see, they're forgiven people 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:11.279 who were carried there by grace. They're not 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:13.600 shining because they were sinless. They are shining 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:16.439 because they were washed. Their robes are white, 00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:18.560 not from their own effort, but from the blood 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.639 of Christ. Did you catch that? Their robes are 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:25.819 white because of dipping them in blood. What 00:05:25.819 --> 00:05:28.699 kind of a washing is this? It's like when you 00:05:28.699 --> 00:05:31.319 try to scrub out the yellow dinginess of white 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:35.360 clothing, trying harder cannot make them white. 00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:37.279 I always wondered why it was that there were 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:39.259 those little bottles in the store that said, 00:05:39.420 --> 00:05:46.279 Bluing. Not bluey. Bluing. See, the bluing of 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:50.660 royalty is needed to counteract the stains. But 00:05:50.660 --> 00:05:54.899 what about the red of blood? It counteracts the 00:05:54.899 --> 00:06:01.540 green of envy, jealousy, decay, mold, sin. Only 00:06:01.540 --> 00:06:04.220 the red of the blood of Christ can cleanse them. 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:07.860 Their story didn't end in perfection. It ended 00:06:07.860 --> 00:06:11.529 in grace. But notice that they were coming out 00:06:11.529 --> 00:06:13.810 of the great tribulation, the tribulation of 00:06:13.810 --> 00:06:16.410 a world caught up in sin, a world that attacks 00:06:16.410 --> 00:06:19.329 anything made of light with darkness. These are 00:06:19.329 --> 00:06:21.990 people who know what it means to struggle, to 00:06:21.990 --> 00:06:24.850 suffer. How many of them were mistreated in a 00:06:24.850 --> 00:06:27.290 world that only values aggression and cruelty, 00:06:27.610 --> 00:06:30.110 a world that ignores those who cannot pull themselves 00:06:30.110 --> 00:06:32.730 up by their own bootstraps and force their way 00:06:32.730 --> 00:06:35.569 along? How many of them died in the midst of 00:06:35.569 --> 00:06:38.470 exhaustion, maybe even died from exhaustion? 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:41.639 How often do people find themselves wondering 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:45.639 if God even remembers their name, remembers their 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:49.339 turmoil and strife? If we rewind from that vision 00:06:49.339 --> 00:06:52.879 of glory though, we find Jesus on the mountain 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:56.459 in Matthew, speaking words to ordinary people, 00:06:56.860 --> 00:07:01.959 fishermen, mothers, wanderers, doubters, words 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:04.399 that sound upside down because he calls them 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:07.529 blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed 00:07:07.529 --> 00:07:10.149 are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Can 00:07:10.149 --> 00:07:13.250 we imagine what all they have said and done in 00:07:13.250 --> 00:07:17.649 their lives? The times out on the ocean when 00:07:17.649 --> 00:07:20.350 they can't catch any fish, they still have bills 00:07:20.350 --> 00:07:22.589 to pay and the words that come out of their mouths 00:07:22.589 --> 00:07:24.709 are things they wouldn't want their mothers to 00:07:24.709 --> 00:07:27.329 have heard. The times when mothers wondered how 00:07:27.329 --> 00:07:29.529 their children are going to turn out and cry 00:07:29.529 --> 00:07:32.990 out when their children seem to forget who had 00:07:32.990 --> 00:07:36.899 named them. And why it is that they're not meant 00:07:36.899 --> 00:07:41.220 to be disconnected, but rather belong. But what 00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:43.860 about the times when the wanderers wish they 00:07:43.860 --> 00:07:46.480 felt like they belonged? The wandering children 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:49.980 who went off on their own, doubting whether they 00:07:49.980 --> 00:07:53.160 had a place. Or the times when doubters look 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:55.600 at the world and think that nothing makes sense. 00:07:56.040 --> 00:08:00.300 And yet, how can they be blessed? The world calls 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:03.279 people blessed when they're powerful, successful, 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:07.139 and admired. But Jesus calls people blessed when 00:08:07.139 --> 00:08:10.040 they're humble, grieving, and hungry for righteousness. 00:08:10.740 --> 00:08:14.079 That's not weakness. That's belonging. See, the 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:17.199 blessed are those who have nothing left to prove. 00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:19.699 The ones who depend on God because they know 00:08:19.699 --> 00:08:23.220 they cannot do it alone. The blessed are those 00:08:23.220 --> 00:08:27.519 who admit when these things are true, even as 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:30.529 so many other people act rich. happy and bold 00:08:30.529 --> 00:08:34.509 and things that have no real consequence. The 00:08:34.509 --> 00:08:36.610 blessed are the ones who don't have anything 00:08:36.610 --> 00:08:39.370 to hide behind or help them to avoid reality. 00:08:40.769 --> 00:08:43.149 This means that being a saint, being blessed, 00:08:43.750 --> 00:08:47.049 isn't about achieving holiness. It's about receiving 00:08:47.049 --> 00:08:50.049 mercy. It's about living life with open hands 00:08:50.049 --> 00:08:52.750 instead of clenched fists. It's about trusting 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:56.450 that even in mourning, even in hunger, even in 00:08:56.450 --> 00:08:59.529 struggle, You are still named and loved by God. 00:09:00.330 --> 00:09:02.590 So the saints are not people who got it all right. 00:09:03.090 --> 00:09:05.350 They're people who learned to live by grace, 00:09:05.730 --> 00:09:07.889 trusting there was still life on the other side 00:09:07.889 --> 00:09:11.789 of death and suffering. And that means every 00:09:11.789 --> 00:09:16.190 one of us who clings to Christ is included in 00:09:16.190 --> 00:09:21.570 that word, saint. So if we rewind even further, 00:09:22.230 --> 00:09:25.490 before the struggle, before the sorrow, before 00:09:25.490 --> 00:09:29.580 the strength, We come to the beginning baptism 00:09:29.580 --> 00:09:35.139 Every baptism begins with a name God doesn't 00:09:35.139 --> 00:09:37.440 say get your life together and then I'll claim 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:40.419 you and you know Make a strong enough effort 00:09:40.419 --> 00:09:44.080 to to really really get me and love me enough 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:48.799 God says your name first and then he makes you 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:53.960 new No one baptizes themselves. It's I mean, 00:09:54.100 --> 00:09:56.720 could you just imagine? a little baby trying 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:59.679 to come up and like climb up the baptismal font 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:02.600 and kind of dunk himself in there, you know, 00:10:02.820 --> 00:10:06.860 get all washed around. Thing is, we are all brought 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:12.179 by parents, sponsors, family, friends, the church 00:10:12.179 --> 00:10:15.399 community. We're brought to the water because 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:20.940 others have been brought before us. See faith 00:10:20.940 --> 00:10:25.179 is always passed down Grace always reaches through 00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:27.779 the generations one generation to the next the 00:10:27.779 --> 00:10:31.759 next someone always is the one bringing us to 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:35.360 know Christ Jesus Someone is always bringing 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:41.600 us there See We're brought Because that's what 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:45.580 it means to be part of all the saints See in 00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:51.179 baptism God gives us a new name His own. He marks 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:53.700 us with the cross of Christ forever. We are washed, 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.720 not because we're ready, but because we're His. 00:10:57.559 --> 00:10:59.700 And that's where the life of blessing begins. 00:11:00.259 --> 00:11:04.419 Not in earning, but in receiving. It's a place 00:11:04.419 --> 00:11:06.879 where God says, you are mine. And that's what 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:09.360 makes baptism such a powerful picture of grace. 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:12.539 We don't climb our way to Christ. Christ comes 00:11:12.539 --> 00:11:15.639 to us. We don't achieve sainthood by striving. 00:11:16.100 --> 00:11:19.919 We receive it by being brought. Every saint before 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.240 us was carried the same way by those who had 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:24.220 been carried before them, and even for those 00:11:24.220 --> 00:11:27.139 who were baptized as teenagers or adults. We 00:11:27.139 --> 00:11:30.980 know Jesus because someone brought us to him 00:11:30.980 --> 00:11:34.419 just as they were once brought. We were all brought 00:11:34.419 --> 00:11:37.039 when we had nothing, when we knew nothing about 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:40.279 God, and God had to speak into our hearts before 00:11:40.279 --> 00:11:43.679 we could speak in return. Even Billy Graham, 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:47.059 for all of his proclamation, he had to first 00:11:47.059 --> 00:11:50.570 be told of who Christ was in that tent he stumbled 00:11:50.570 --> 00:11:54.649 upon before he could ever share Christ with anyone 00:11:54.649 --> 00:11:58.509 else. So if we move forward again from the font 00:11:58.509 --> 00:12:02.110 through the struggle toward the glory, what does 00:12:02.110 --> 00:12:05.090 it mean to live as those who are named and washed? 00:12:06.149 --> 00:12:08.509 It means remembering that your worth is not in 00:12:08.509 --> 00:12:11.909 what you've done, but in who calls you his. It 00:12:11.909 --> 00:12:14.110 means knowing that when you stumble, when you 00:12:14.110 --> 00:12:17.509 sin, when you fall short, you don't lose your 00:12:17.509 --> 00:12:21.460 name. Think of Peter. He denied even knowing 00:12:21.460 --> 00:12:25.179 Jesus. Not once, but three times. When the rooster 00:12:25.179 --> 00:12:28.259 crowed, Peter saw himself for what he was. A 00:12:28.259 --> 00:12:32.679 failure. A coward. A sinner. But when Jesus rose, 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:34.899 he didn't come back with anger or shame. He came 00:12:34.899 --> 00:12:39.019 back with Peter's name. Simon, son of John, do 00:12:39.019 --> 00:12:41.720 you love me? He said the name out loud as if 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:45.360 to say, you are still mine. Peter's name didn't 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.779 depend on his success. It rested on Christ's 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:51.419 forgiveness. And that's what grace looks like, 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.480 a name that stays even when you've fallen and 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:57.679 then calls you back into righteousness. Or take 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:00.980 Jacob. Jacob's whole story was built on running, 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:04.360 tricking, deceiving, grabbing blessings that 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:07.460 weren't his. But in the middle of a long night, 00:13:08.100 --> 00:13:11.360 God met him and wrestled him to the ground. And 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:15.100 there, right in the middle of his struggle, God 00:13:15.100 --> 00:13:18.940 gave him a new name. Israel. The name didn't 00:13:18.940 --> 00:13:22.059 come after Jacob got his act together. It came 00:13:22.059 --> 00:13:24.980 in the middle of the wrestling. And that's what 00:13:24.980 --> 00:13:28.240 grace does. It meets us in the struggle and names 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:32.580 us anyway, giving us a new future. Or David, 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:35.940 a man after God's own heart, and yet a man who 00:13:35.940 --> 00:13:38.980 committed adultery, who arranged a death to cover 00:13:38.980 --> 00:13:42.000 his sin, who broke nearly every commandment he'd 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.299 once sung about. Yet when he finally collapsed 00:13:45.299 --> 00:13:48.919 before God, he prayed, created me a clean heart, 00:13:49.059 --> 00:13:53.179 O God. And God did. David didn't lose the name 00:13:53.179 --> 00:13:55.980 of being beloved. He didn't lose his place in 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:59.679 God's story. God's mercy covered him. Not by 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:03.320 erasing his past, but by redeeming it and then 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:06.779 changing him. And it's not just ancient saints. 00:14:07.100 --> 00:14:09.879 In every generation, people get marked by failure. 00:14:10.299 --> 00:14:13.200 Once upon a time, it might have been a divorce, 00:14:14.019 --> 00:14:17.519 a scandal, not fitting the mold that society 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:22.639 called respectable. Today, it might be not measuring 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:25.960 up to perfection, the perfect parent, the perfect 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:28.700 marriage, the perfect career, the perfect track 00:14:28.700 --> 00:14:32.240 record, the perfect faith. We live in a culture 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:34.860 that loves to define people by what went wrong, 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:39.429 but Grace refuses to use that ink. In baptism, 00:14:39.610 --> 00:14:42.789 God writes his name over yours in water and promise. 00:14:43.330 --> 00:14:47.070 He doesn't erase your past. He renames your future. 00:14:47.429 --> 00:14:50.610 He doesn't wait until you're spotless. He washes 00:14:50.610 --> 00:14:53.730 you while you're being a flawed human. The name 00:14:53.730 --> 00:14:57.909 you receive there, beloved, child of God, saint, 00:14:58.830 --> 00:15:02.570 that name holds even when life gets messy. So 00:15:02.570 --> 00:15:07.139 when you fail, when you fail, When you're marked 00:15:07.139 --> 00:15:09.679 by something you wish you could undo Remember 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:13.000 you are still named when the world calls you 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:15.799 by your mistakes God still calls you by the name. 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:20.080 He gave you at the font his own That's why All 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.820 Saints Sunday. Is it just about remembering those 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:25.320 who've gone before us? It's about remembering 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:28.639 who we already are the named and watched people 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:35.110 of God So on this All Saints Sunday this baptism 00:15:35.110 --> 00:15:39.350 Sunday. We don't wait until someone has died 00:15:39.350 --> 00:15:42.950 to call him a saint. We live our sainthood now. 00:15:43.370 --> 00:15:45.549 Not because we're finished products but because 00:15:45.549 --> 00:15:48.870 God has already begun his work in us. The same 00:15:48.870 --> 00:15:51.909 God who washed us in the beginning will one day 00:15:51.909 --> 00:15:55.529 welcome us at the end and in between he gives 00:15:55.529 --> 00:15:58.909 us the grace to live each day as his blessed 00:15:58.909 --> 00:16:04.019 named and washed people. So someday We'll see 00:16:04.019 --> 00:16:07.080 that multitude dressed in white and when we do 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:10.700 I think we'll notice something Those robes are 00:16:10.700 --> 00:16:13.980 not bright because the people were spotless They're 00:16:13.980 --> 00:16:17.159 bright because of the one who washed them and 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:19.740 each voice in that crowd from every time and 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:23.799 place Will carry the same name the name of Jesus 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:27.779 the lamb who calls us blessed And when that day 00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:31.320 comes and the lamb calls you calls out your name 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:36.059 It won't sound like judgment. It'll sound like 00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:38.419 home. Thanks be to God.