So I need you all to think back to when you were little. By little, I mean young. For some of us, that means we have to go back last century. But it’s okay. So go back to when we were young, when we were a child. Wasn’t life a lot easier when we were a child?

I mean, what was the big decision we had to make? Are we going to eat the chicken fingers or are we not going to eat the chicken fingers? And what was even easier was that an adult was simply to be obeyed. Now, when I was growing up, any adult equaled my parents. So that if my aunt or my uncle said something, I obeyed.

How many of us were raised that way? How many of us were raised to be obedient? Okay, well, then all of a sudden we became teenagers when we were teenagers. Did we like to listen to adults? No, because when we’re a teenager, we know more than any adult, right? We know everything. As teenagers. All of a sudden, adults and authority became a whole different issue.

No, I was perfect. So I was always a good teenager. Are there any other perfect people in the church today? Who was the perfect teenager? Well, I knew I was special. I just didn’t know I was that special. Do we have a teenager in church right now? Do we have a teen? Are you perfect? Of course you are.

Of course you are. You listen to every adult when the adult tells you to do something, right? Right. Right. And then we became working adults, and the government said something like, You’re going to pay taxes now. And we all pay all of our taxes without grumbling. Right? We do whatever the government tells us to do, Right. We’re very obedient adults.

Isn’t it interesting? That is, we get older. Obedience and authority really becomes very different. When we were little, kids say rei’s age. Obedience is very easy. But now that we have opinions of our own, now that we like to think for ourselves, obedience becomes a little bit harder. And then we realize that over our parents, teachers, even the government is one more ultimate authority.

Who is the ultimate authority, Freddie? Thank you. Somebody got it right. God, how many of us have ever yelled at God and had a fight with God? Is it smart? Do we plan on winning that fight? But isn’t it hard for us sometimes to obey God and understand what God’s will for us is? It’s really difficult, isn’t it?

So I’m going to ask Jason and Alissa a question. Are you ready because you’re introducing your daughter to God today in a formal way. If God came down and said, like you said to Abraham and Sarah. yeah. By the way, sacrifice, your daughter Tim would just obey that woman. Would you find it? I have to think about this a little bit.

Would it be difficult to obey that command? I’m hoping the answer is yes on that one. By the way, the adults in the room. Have we ever had a command from God that we found difficult to obey? Yes, we all have. And isn’t that really the dilemma that Abraham and Sarah, Peter, James and John face in our readings today?

Abraham struggle. One of the hardest things about being a teenager is the peer group. Am I wrong? My one teenager in the room. Is the peer group a problem? Yes. Don’t we all want to sit at the cool kids table? Yes. I never sat at the cool kids table. I always sat at the smart kids table. That’s another story.

But anyway, that’s Abraham’s problem. On the one hand, God is saying sacrifice, and his peer group is saying, Yeah, what’s your problem? Our God tells us to sacrifice kids all the time. Just go ahead and do it. Abraham is saying, But that’s not who my God is. My God doesn’t want this. I’m confused. Have any of us ever been really confused by God?

Yes. The answer is yes. God is confusing. But what does Abraham do? He says, I love my child. I don’t want to sacrifice my child. But God says sacrifice. I will choose obedience. isn’t that a terrible nightmare? Isn’t that the worst thing that Abraham wants to do? And doesn’t it shock all of us that God would want that?

It is not understandable. And as we know what the end of the story, it is not what God wants. What God wants is to find out what choice we would make. The choice of obedience or disobedience. Well, very much. Peter, James and John face that same choice. Jesus says at the end of the gospel, Don’t tell anybody until obedience to me means you’re going to be quiet.

Peter, James and John want to tell the whole world what Jesus has done? Are they going to obey or are they not going to obey? And like Abraham and Sarah, Puder, James and John, are we going to tell every one what God has done for us? At the heart of today’s gospel is obedience to obedience to the law of love, love God and love neighbor.

And in the first reading, what is the obedience to love God and to love neighbor? And because Abraham could obey, could show God love, God returns that love Isaac is spared. Peter, James and John are obedient and remain silent until the resurrection. And then they tell the world. And because they obey and are loved, Jesus saves them and does so today.

Are we going to be obedient to God’s command, to love God and to love neighbor and to proclaim Christ Jesus to the world like Abraham and Sarah? Like Peter, James and John. And like what we’re about to do for Ray. Because as we welcome her into the church, we present the gospel to her. It is a gift that the church is giving her.

We’ve given her the gift of welcome. Come and pray that that welcome will always mean God’s will for her will be blessed. We’ve offered her the gift of the Gospel, which means that we pray she will always hear God’s Word and proclaim it. In a moment, we’re going to give her the gift of faith, that faith that we handle that salvation in Christ that we have all received.

And we’re going to reminder that sometimes obedience and love means sacrifice. Parents, don’t you sacrifice for your children as we get older? Sacrifice is part of our life. And what is our response to that sacrifice that we give to God? Because during the Lenten season, we do a little more of what we’re all supposed to do pray, perform of charity and self sacrifice for the good of others. How today are we going to demonstrate our prayer, our charity, our self-sacrifice? And how is it today that we are going to listen and obey the voice of God, which we pray real well here for the first time in the saving? What is a baptism that reminds us that we are all getting ready at the Easter vigil to renew our baptismal commitment.

We’re going to jump the gun a little bit today. We’re going to do that now. But we’re getting ready for Easter. Nobody forget that. So not to worry. I am not going to ask that we sacrifice right today, but we are going to make an offering to God for, an offering of welcome in the gospel and proclamation of Christ’s saving power.

We are going to ask that she enters into our world of prayer, charity and self-sacrifice in obedience to the will of God. And we’re going to pray that as a community of faith, we will always witness to her our encounter with Christ. That leads us to this moment. And so if our faith makes a straw, let us stand now and offer these prayers for our church and world.

And welcome, Rhea, into our community of faith.