Scripture reading: Exodus 12:21-27.

Sermon text: Matthew 19:1-15.

Our nation lost 2 heroes this week. First, Donald G. Clarke died in Northport on Tuesday. Colonel Clark of the Marine Corps flew with then-Lieutenant Gerald Ford and later with “Pappy” Boyington of the famed Black Sheep Squadron in World War II. (Some of us of a certain age now have a theme song stuck in our heads.) Although Colonel Clark served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, he considered his greatest achievement the creation of the Toys for Tots program, a program run by the Marine Corps that provides Christmas toys for underprivileged children every year. Colonel Clark submitted the report leading to the program’s creation in 1948.

The second hero to die this week died on Wednesday. After serving with a celebrated Army Air Force unit in World War II, Colonel Arthur “Kit” Murray flew in the X-1 program with Chuck Yeager. On 28 May 1954, Murray flew the X-1A to 90,440 feet and became the first human to see the curvature of the earth. Colonel Murray then managed the X-15 program and trained future astronaut Neil Armstrong.

When we look at the child we’ve dedicated today, we have high hopes of a great future and great accomplishments. She may not achieve fame as Colonel Clark or Colonel Murray; she may never start a national program or see space. Yet, our baby today has a  wonderful mark of achievement in her life already:

God knows her.

God knew this baby would come into the world. Of all the families He could have chosen to bless with her presence, God chose this family. And of all the congregations He could have chosen to celebrate her dedication today, God chose to bless us with this glorious honor.

The Scriptures today reinforce God’s care for children. Anyone who wonders whether God cares for children should read the passage from St. Matthew, where Jesus scolded the disciples for their actions against the children seeking His blessing. Jesus’ words still apply today: “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

We find that Jesus believed in the power of the family. I believe Jesus’ teachings regarding divorce prove more poignant when we dedicate a baby girl to the service of His Church. Men in Jesus’ day often considered women little better than property, meaning men often divorced their wives with only the flimsiest of reasons. Jesus elevated women by forcing the men in His hearing to consider women as their equals in God’s eyes. God created “male and female” and expected each to hold the other in honor and love. The Holy Spirit would later lead St. Paul to eliminate the curse of Genesis 3 when He inspired St. Paul to write, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27-28).

We find that Jesus believed in the preciousness of children. If first-century Jewish society degraded women, it pushed children even further down the hierarchy. Few rabbis in Jesus’ time would have paid attention to children, considering them unworthy of their time. Jesus, however, elevated children by blessing them. Lest you think this an unimportant event, I would remind you that the events of St. Matthew chapter 19 occurred on Jesus’ way to Jerusalem to die for our salvation and rise again to achieve our victory over death.

In this passage, we see Jesus’ care for the child we’ve dedicated today. We know this dedication service will not guarantee her salvation; she will have to confess Jesus as Lord on her own volition, in her own time. Instead, we know that Jesus cared enough for her to die for her and rise again for her.

This brings us to another great blessing with this child. God has placed her in the care of this congregation. We carry the responsibility of demonstrating God’s love to her every Sunday. We carry the responsibility of teaching her the Scriptures, for in the Scriptures she will find eternal life in Jesus, her Lord. We carry the responsibility of encouraging her family to see Sunday as an opportunity to worship, not as an obligation or an option. We carry a responsibility to help them grow spiritually, encourage them emotionally, and care for them in every way possible so this baby will never doubt the love of God for her soul or the love of Mother Church for her life.

New Hope has borne this responsibility in this community for 172 years now. We’ve nurtured generations of the families in this community, celebrating births, marking deaths, and meeting around the Communion Table to break bread as a spiritual family. Today, we do so again, knowing that Jesus has called us to unite in Him and given us cause to celebrate in the birth of this blessed child, a child given to us through the grace of our loving Father.