“A Letter to
Nate”
by Bruce J. Johnson, pastor
Nathan
Scott Cordner
Dear
Nate:
Today is a
special day in your life and I suspect that you may sense that. You are up
early, got your breakfast, took your bath and out came this new outfit you
probably had not seen until today. I doubt that your mom consulted you on its
selection. Let me assure you that it is cool. I know that we are calling you
Nate but your actual name is Nathan, which is a form of Nathaniel. What a great
name and in the language of its origin, Hebrew, it means “Gift of the Lord.”
Indeed, you are! (By the way, your dad’s name is Matthew and in the language of
its origin, Hebrew, it means “Gift of God.”) That’s something else you have in
common, although most of us believe that, generally, no matter what a person’s
name might be and mean, all are gifts from God, children of God, and I hope
that you come to learn and believe that very soon, if you don’t already know
it! Kids know more than we think they know!
You are
such a source of great pride and joy to both your father and mother. They have
brought you to the sanctuary of the First Congregational Church in historic
As a
pastor, I love being a part of people’s lives and knowing so much about them,
especially on joyous occasions such as this one.
Nate, I
have been a part of your family’s life for some time now. Would you believe me
if I told you that way back on
Your dad is
also from town,
“Put off for tomorrow what you don’t
want to do today.”
He has,
however, turned out just great, no need to worry. He’s a good guy, a great
husband and as you know, a wonderful dad.
I had the
privilege of presiding at their wedding, again here in this sanctuary on
Both your
mom and dad have a wonderful reverence for nature’s beauty and what our
creative genius can do with land, shrubs and
flowers. Your home on
So, Nate,
as you can see, we know a lot about you and your family, and baptism is one of
those wonderful times when we get a chance to revel in all that is right and
good about life and love, faith, family and friendship.
I have
visited with you and your parents in preparation for this service and
sacrament, and your parents have simply glowed with pride and joy. That’s no surprise. I remember a terrific
quote by a man named David Wilkerson. He once said:
“Love is not only something you feel. Its
something you do.”
I like to
say, “Love
is as love does.”
Today, the
day of you baptism, we rejoice in all that loves does.
A few
moments ago, you were baptized. We did
this baptism after your parents acknowledged their belief in God and their
faith in Jesus Christ and after they promised to raise you in a Christian home.
All these are essential aspects of family life around your house.
In
addition, along with promises made by your parents, there are those made by the
community, now your family of faith. We stood and promised to help them raise
you through our prayers and support, through worship and Christian education.
You can’t image how we all feel, given this sense of belonging and shared
commitment to each other. Perhaps someday when you participate, as we do today,
you will know that same glorious feeling.
What makes
baptism so glorious are the truths it affirms. The central truth is that you
are in fact what your name means, a gift from the Lord, created out of love and
for love. This means that although you have been entrusted to us, you do not
really belong to us alone--YOU BELONG TO GOD. The essential relationship in your life must
be your relationship with God and our responsibility is to help you discover,
understand and deepen it so that it enlivens and enriches all other
relationships. We will attempt this as members of your family; some bonded by
blood, all by faith. The central theme of family life is love and the source of
that love is God and the best expression of it is to be found in the person and
life of Jesus of Nazareth, the risen Christ, to whom you are uniquely
connected. As you grow up in the church, you will hear the words ‘Good News.’
When you hear them, they will always be referring to the ‘good news about God’s
love in Jesus Christ.’ What is both good and news worthy about God’s love is
that when you know it, feel it, trust in it, you get to feel whole, healthy,
hopeful and very happy. You get to feel forgiven and safe, secure, free and
filled with peace. Faith brings with it a joy beyond description. Without it,
things can be pretty tough. Our prayer for you is that you will come to
experience and rejoice in this love and believe me, for a lifetime, God’s grace
will always be sufficient for you.
It almost
seemed too good to be true that the lesson appointed for today involved Jesus
and his disciples being caught off guard by a terrible storm while crossing their
own lake—the Sea of Galilee--- at night. We had a terrible storm on Friday and
you probably watched the wind and the rain over the lake from the safety of
your house. It was pretty wild, wasn’t it, equal to what was being described in
the Gospel according to Mark.
We often
refer to the life of faith as a journey, not always done during the light of
day but sometimes during the night. Sometimes we are not even sure why we take
certain trips or where we are going or what to expect when we get there. Indeed,
no matter which Gospel we choose, it is always about Jesus choosing ordinary
people to come follow him. No one actually knows where they are going. There are
no maps. There is no itinerary, but they do know with whom. That seems to be
all that matters. To be a disciple is to be on a journey with Jesus as your
companion.
Sometimes
it required crossing the lake, which is what they were trying to do, just
trying to cross the lake with this carpenter friend of theirs, something, as
fishermen, they must have done a thousand times before. On this trip, however,
the journey becomes perilous, as so many do. Because of the strength of the
wind and the size of the waves, they are scared to death.
Indeed,
when the waves beat against the boat in the storm, Jesus is asleep--- on a
cushion (another interesting detail!) But they’re scared to death. They woke
him up, asking two very important questions; questions that just about everyone
might ask at some point their lives.
The first
is
“Teacher, do you not care if we perish?”
What a
question to ask of the man from Galilee, and yet in the midst of the storms of
life, when we seem so buffeted by the winds and threatened by the waves, I
guess that it is our first inclination. We let fears have their way in our
lives and wonder out loud whether God really cares.
Nate, the
real challenge in all our lives is what we do when the storms rage and we are
afraid. Today on the occasion of your baptism we are affirming this simple but
profound truth. God does care and in Jesus Christ bring the power of love to
still the storm and bring us safely to shore. The story of our faith is that
God does care and Jesus has shown us that God does act. Love is as love does,
sometimes in dramatic fashion and other times in quiet but no less significant
ways--- bringing peace and new possibilities.
Finally, at
the end of today’s story, after the wind went silent and the sea smooth, the
disciples were simply amazed, so amazed that they asked yet another question:
“Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
If you
ever find yourself in that place, wondering who He is and amazed over what He
has done and maybe if why, pull out this letter, remember your baptism and be
reminded of these simple truths:
·
JESUS
IS LORD.
·
AND HE LOVES YOU TO A MEASURE BEYOND ANYTHING
THAT YOU COULD EVEN IMAGINE
·
YOU,
NATHAN SCOTT CORDNER, ARE HIS BELOVED GIFT TO US.
Your friend
in Christ,
Bruce J.
Johnson, Pastor