Trinity 24
I take as my text today, from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians:
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,
being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the
knowledge of God; strengthened with all might,
according to his glorious power, unto all patience and
long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the
Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be alway
acceptable in Thy Sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.”
Today, with the baptism of an infant, we witnessed something very special
in the life of that child, indeed, in the life of the Church.
We welcomed George Fenimore Quinn Kurland into the Family of Christ to
become, with us, a joint heir to the kingdom of heaven.
This is such a special occasion, for we have witnessed the rebirth of a child
just recently born!
George Fenimore Quinn, as small and innocent as he is, has died to sin with
Christ, and has risen with Christ to a new life in a new family; he has been
indelibly marked by the Holy Spirit as a Christian, and as such, he has
become an heir, a partaker with us “of the inheritance of the saints in light.”
The passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians which we read today is
quite fitting for this occasion.
In it, Paul offers up a prayer for the congregation that they might be
empowered, not only to understand God’s will but to do God’s will. His
petition is that with the knowledge of God’s will, they might use that
knowledge and wisdom in a way that will result in right conduct.
By this right conduct, he meant that they would strive to make their faith in
Jesus Christ active, not passive.
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Furthermore, he prays that they would, through God’s Grace, possess three
great qualities that mark a Christian: fortitude, patience, and joy.
Fortitude means not only the ability to bear the things in life that afflict one
but also to turn them into glory, to deal triumphantly with anything that life
throws our way.
Patience is best described as long-suffering, the ability to deal with the
unpleasantness, malice, and cruelty that people may display in such a way as
to never become bitter; never to lose our spirit of hope for others and,
especially, our love for others.
And, joy as a radiance that no circumstance can overshadow, not just
joyfulness when things go right but a joy that cannot be taken away by
circumstance.
As the passage comes to a close, Paul gives thanks to God the Father for all
the benefits we as Christians have received through Jesus Christ, in
particular, that through Christ we have been brought out of darkness into the
light, the light of the Gospel, to receive a share in the inheritance that had
previously been reserved for God’s Chosen People but now was extended to
all people who have been sanctified by faith.
When we, with faith, are baptized with water in the Name of the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Ghost, we have taken the first step in claiming our
inheritance as a child of God.
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