SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT
28 February 2010 (Baptism SP)

As many of you here know, I lived for more than twenty years in Canada – long enough, in fact, to take out Canadian citizenship, which means I have dual nationality and am entitled to both a Canadian and a British passport.

And at the time I became a Canadian citizen, Canada already had something that has only recently been introduced in Britain: a formal process of learning about your new country and your responsibilities towards it, an interview, and finally a swearing-in ceremony involving an oath of allegiance to the Head of State (who is in Canada, as in this country, the Queen) and the singing of the National Anthem, “O Canada”. Once you'd done all that, you were a citizen, with all the rights and privileges that entailed.

Well in the first of the two Bible readings we've just heard, Saint Paul uses the language of citizenship to talk about our profession as Christians: Our citizenship, he says, is in heaven … and Paul was someone who knew what citizenship was all about, having as he did Roman citizenship, which was not freely granted or easily obtained, and which gave you, among other things, the right of appeal directly to the Emperor, of which Paul himself was to avail himself.

And I think that's a pretty good analogy. First of all it reminds us that our highest loyalty is always to Jesus Christ; his kingdom and its values must always come first in our lives … and throughout the centuries individual Christians have suffered when that primary loyalty has come into conflict with secular expectations.

Second, it reminds us that we have responsibilities as Christians: responsibilities before God; responsibilities towards our fellow Christians; responsibilities to all those around us as we seek to live as Jesus showed us. We worship, we pray, and we support one another, giving generously of ourselves and caring for those in need.

And of course we have responsibilities towards ourselves as well, as we seek to grow in faith, holiness and understanding.

And third, it reminds us of our calling to be examples of what we profess. As British citizens we're all embarrassed by the behaviour of football hooligans or drunken louts in the streets of Ibiza or Falikiri. Perhaps Paul had people like that in mind when he referred to those whose god is the belly; and whose glory is in their shame; whose minds are set on earthly things. We don't want to be tarred with the same brush.

And in the same way we as Christians are called to be examples to others, letting our light shine, as Jesus says, so that seeing our good works others may give glory to our Father in heaven. Which is why the Church suffers so much from the individual bad actions of those who call themselves Christians, but whose lives do not always show it.

And we have our own swearing-in ceremony: Baptism. In a few moments Charlie and Jonah will be professed as Christians, their parents and godparents speaking for them as they promise to bring them up as members of the Church and citizens of God's kingdom.

They will declare their allegiance to Christ, and then we with them will join in the words of the Apostles' Creed, which I always like to describe as the Church's National Anthem … our affirmation of what the Church stands for, and our pride in being a part of it, just as when we sing our country's National Anthem we are affirming our pride in our nation and what it tries to stand for in the world.

And they begin a life-long journey of learning about and living their responsibilities as Christians towards God and those around them, growing with us in faith, holiness and understanding. So we pray for them, in the words of today's opening prayer, that having been admitted into the fellowship of the Church, they may reject all those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same.

Amen.