Mtr Taylor Devine

Good morning,

“If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that could hinder God?”
Acts 11:17

This gift of baptism, a point of argumentation in this moment of Acts as we see here, is a radically unitive gift. Being baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, around the world and throughout the age, signals new life and hope, and a unity of people baptized into the Body of Christ.

Being baptized is also a locally communal occasion, who will support this person in their life in Christ? We will! I think I’m fascinated and exhilarated by baptism because it is such a clear vision of grace given through Christ. The commitment made for me and for many of us as babies, and by some as adults, is lived out in such varied ways, beyond our imagining at the time of that grace-filled moment.

This support offered by Godparents, Church family, friends and family is girded up by communal time together. The reciprocal pronoun “allelon” in the New Testament is used many, many times:
Live in harmony with one another (Rom 12:16)
Have the same care for one another (1 Cor. 11:25)
Bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6:2)
Put up with one another in love (Eph. 4:2)
Pray for one another (James 5:16)
Be hospitable to one another (1 Pet. 4:9)
Meet one another with humility (1 Pet. 5:5)

All of these make the most sense when routinely bumping into each other, encountering the Christ in the other. The possibilities are endless when living lives baptized, when our brothers and sisters extend beyond our most obvious circles. May we have occasioned to encounter one another in God's grace extended abundantly, to bear one another’s burdens, and share the light of Christ through our actions together.

Taylor

(The gathering of "one another" passages is from Called to Community, p. 87 and 88)