Elder Baby Love

Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God. – Luke 2:27-28 

Who doesn’t love a baby baptism?  

The glowing parents, slightly out-of-sorts as they stand in front of the congregation. The fidgeting, royally dressed baby who has no idea what’s going on. The smiling minister who takes the child in their arms regardless of the baby’s reaction to being plucked away from the parents. The beautiful, mysterious words about belonging to Christ and to the church. The surprised look on the baby’s face as the water trickles down their head…  

…I mean, come on! It’s pure joy.  

Most of all, I love the facial expressions in the congregation as I walk the baby down the aisles, especially among the older folk. They’ve witnessed this so many times you’d think they’d be over it. 

Nope. There’s a special twinkle of hope in their eyes as the tiny, newly baptized sibling in Christ passes by while drooling on my arm. If the babe was bawling before, she inevitably chills out during the tour of the sanctuary and of all those beaming, cooing faces. Never fails.  

In the baby Jesus, two well-seasoned temple folk named Simeon and Anna found hope. Their hope was not in Rome or in the emperor or in any political leader, but in a peasant child. They would die secure in the knowledge that this baby would eventually change everything. 

It all makes perfect sense to me. The face of a baby, wailing or full of wonder, is divine. Jesus did change the world, radically so, and every baby before and since has done so in their own way.  

Sometimes it takes an older person to see that and rejoice. It never gets old. 

Prayer
Baby, you are the face of Love.

About the Author
Matt Laney is co-Pastor of Virginia Highland Church UCC in Atlanta, GA and the author of Pride Wars, a fantasy series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for Young Readers. The first two books, The Spinner Prince and The Four Guardians are available now.