It’s a joy to be a member of the Church. Church membership is one
metaphor, a figure of speech, for the idea of being part of the body of
Christ. It’s a biblical metaphor, used in several places, like 1
Corinthians 6:15, Ephesians 4:25, and Ephesians 5:30. Another common
metaphor is that the Church is our mother, even as God is our Father.
We, then, are the children of the Church brought forth through the
watery womb of holy baptism.
No matter how you describe it, Church membership is a joyful thing.
Here we mean the so-called “invisible” Church, also called the “holy
Christian Church” in the Apostles’ Creed. Contrary to the teaching of
Rome, it is not confined to a particular Christian denomination. The
Church exists wherever people believe the Gospel, so that its outward
signs are the pure Word of God and the Sacraments of Christ,
administered according to His will.
If you have been brought into the Church, then you may remember words
like this from your own baptism or another:
As witness to this Sacrament, you are to assist him with Christian
love and faithful prayers. Remind him of the heavenly grace of his
Baptism. Give spiritual counsel and aid, so that he is brought up in
the true knowledge and worship of God. Teach him the Ten
Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. Place in his hands
the Holy Scriptures, and insure that he is brought to the services of
God’s house, that he is provided future instruction in the Christian
faith, to the end that he may come to the Sacrament of Christ’s Body
and Blood, and thus, abiding in baptismal grace and in communion with
the Church, he may lead a godly life to the praise and honor of Jesus
Christ. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, p. 136)
Those words are directed particularly to the parents of a newly-baptized
child, and to the sponsors of that child. The tradition of having
sponsors is a beneficial tradition, though not required. In a way,
those words have always seemed to apply to the entire body of witnesses:
every saint in attendance at the baptism. The reason others might
attend the baptism is because it’s important. The reason we conduct a
baptism when the Church is assembled is partly because the entire church
is welcoming a new child of our heavenly Father as he is born again of
water and the Spirit. (John 3:5) We all assume a collective
responsibility to help carry out the tasks assigned to the Christian
parents and sponsors. If that child were to end up orphaned (not out of
the question in some circumstances), then it is the Church’s
responsibility to provide the care he needs.
What care does a Christian child need? More than anything else, he
needs Jesus. He needs to know his Savior. If the time comes soon for
him to leave this world (not out of the question either), nothing will
be more valuable than faith in Christ. Everything else is secondary,
though it may be important. Notice again the requirements of parents
and sponsors. Do they strike you as rather challenging? What parents
actually live up to all of those things? Which parents could not stand
to improve? What are the best ways a parent might go about fulfilling
these requirements?
The same exact questions could be asked about the way the Church
fulfills its responsibility toward the Christian child. Could we stand
to improve? Most definitely. What are the best ways we might go about
fulfilling those godly responsibilities? To do so would be another
great joy for the members of the body of Christ. Even if the tasks were
burdensome, and even if it required some sacrifice of comfort or
convenience, the task ensures that a child of God will make it through
this world into eternal life. What could be more important, or more
satisfying?
Therefore, we should all ask such questions, and answer them in the best
way we can. Don’t leave the parents among us to fend for themselves in
a world hostile to the purity of our faith. Every member of the Church
has a vested interest and a share in the responsibility to provide a
solid start for the next generation. Even the secular world recognizes
something like this, so it taxes every property owner to support public
schools, whether or not there are any children living on the property.
But in the Church, we can see that the Gospel, the very same thing that
government-run schools must omit, is the thing that ought to come first
and overshadow all schooling. If it does not, then the Church and the
parents have failed in their sacred responsibility.
If we lack Christian parochial schools where everything is taught in
connection with the Gospel, then the need for the Church to act becomes
much more urgent. Secular education is not spiritually neutral. Since
it’s a product of this sinful world, its spiritual bent is against the
Word of God. It can be no other way. Therefore, parents and the Church
must work doubly hard and be extra vigilant against the erosion of the
saving Word of God in the life of their children. Again, a difficult
task. But again, a joyful part of membership in the body of Christ.