I Corinthians 12:1 – 11 / Psalm 36:5 – 10 / John 2:1 – 11
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, January 16, 2022.
“GOD THINGS”
(Homily
text: I Corinthians 12:1 – 11)
Let’s
talk about “God Things” this morning.
We’re
gathered together here this morning to celebrate the baptism of a wonderful,
three-month old boy, a baby who is, by all accounts, a true gift from God. So,
we could say that this birth and this new life is truly a “God Thing”.
In
fact, all new life is a “God Thing”, God showing us His continuing care for and
love of the world and the people in the world. What a wonderful “God Thing” it
is to know that we are not alone on this earth, but that God continues to show
His presence among us with the gift of new life and the renewal of the creation
He loves.
Baptism
is a “God Thing”, to be sure. For in baptism, we realize that God is reaching
out to claim that person who enters the waters of baptism as God’s very own,
special and deeply loved individual. And, in baptism, we reach out to God,
asking God to claim this child for Himself. That, too, is a “God Thing”, to be
able, through the power and the agency of the Holy Spirit’s enlightening work,
to be able to be aware of God and the things of God, and to have God’s help in
bringing that person into a mature faith.
As
life unfolds, and this baby becomes a toddler and then a child, the parents and
godparents will all have a role in ensuring that this wonderful person comes to
know God personally and deeply. To be entrusted with that responsibility is,
perhaps, one of the most important things we can be about. To be able to carry
out that enormous work is going to require God’s help, and that, too, is a “God
Thing”.
This
parish church is a “God Thing”, for our main reason for being is to introduce
people to God and God to people, and to nourish that relationship. There is no
other work that we might do that is more important than that.
Life
always has its joys, and also its challenges, difficulties and even losses.
Yet, in the midst of good times and in not-so-good times, we can be reminded of
God’s presence in our lives. That, for sure, is a wonderful “God Thing”.
It’s
a “God Thing” when we realize that God has created each of us to have talents,
abilities and gifts that we can share with others. What this means is that none
of us will ever be in a situation where we will have all the answers, or all of
the gifts and talents necessary to meet the things that will come our way. St.
Paul makes this interdependent manner of our being together clear in his first
letter to the early church in Corinth.
God
gives us reminders, as we make our way through life, of His presence and His
power. In Holy Communion (also known, in various traditions, as the Mass, Holy
Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper), for example, we are reminded of our Lord
Jesus Christ’s death and victory over death by His rising to new life again on
Easter Sunday morning. That, for sure, is a “God Thing”, for the Lord’s coming
to new life again assures us that, we, too, will rise with Him to a new life in
God’s good time.
Thanks
be to God for all the wonderful “God Things” that make up our lives.
AMEN.
