Why should we get baptized? Furthermore, why should we even come to church? I mean, what’s the point of going somewhere holy when we are not even close to being ‘right’ with God, sometimes?
These are all questions asked ubiquitously throughout society. Many young people question their worth in terms of God’s love. “I’m just so messed up, right now…I feel like I can’t come to church because I’ve done so many bad things, made so many mistakes.” Guess what? Me, too. The problem with our faith isn’t that it’s too small—it’s that our expectations of ourselves are too great. So many people feel as though God expects perfection before entering into Baptism, Confirmation, or even the church doors. That simply is not the case. That’s when God wants us the most—to meet us where we are, in the trenches of sin, fighting to keep our heads down and ascend to the next level of maturity so that we can consider entering the holy spaces we so desperately want to attend.
Yet, our own failures keep us from getting closer to God. God doesn’t care where you are at any given point, in terms of desiring you. God’s desire for us is deeper than any ocean and wider than any plain. The only thing God desires is for us to love each other, love Him, and love ourselves. That’s it. When we start living into that notion of perfect imperfection, we begin to see ourselves as God sees us, even if only a fraction of that image: The created, beloved, unique miracles of an understanding and amazing Creator.
So why come to church? Because you go to the doctor when you’re sick—you go to church when you’re seeking. Why be baptized? Because you take a shower to refresh your body, using water—you take on water and oil on your head to refresh and realign your soul. Why be confirmed? Because you constantly state your beliefs on facebook and everywhere else, just so people know where you stand—in confirmation, you’re saying that you believe in your baptism and will treat everyone with dignity, everyone with love, everyone as sister or brother.
In short, the answers are easy—accepting grace is hard. If God believes you worthy of His love and desire, of forgiveness and grace…who are you, who am I, to disagree?
Come and see.
Come and be changed.
Come to the table and receive the food your starving soul has desired for so long.
Come. Practice Resurrection.
Faithfully,
Fr. Sean+