Where Jesus Promises to Be

Baptism is entry to the people of God. When an individual is baptized, he or she formally joins the Church, the Body of Christ. But when parents bring their little ones to be baptized, this can be somewhat scary. The obligations to bring up children to love and serve Jesus are daunting. How can we know our children will believe? How can we know that we as parents will be faithful? Especially, when we think about the reality of church discipline, this can be very intimidating. But in the very place where Jesus describes how to confront someone in sin, in the very place where He instructs the Church to release hardened, unrepentant sinners to the world for judgment, He assures us that He will be there with us in the fellowship of the Church (Mt. 18:15-20). Jesus doesn’t say, here’s how to deal with sin, and good luck with that, see you in heaven. No, Jesus says, here’s how to deal with sin and I will be there in your midst. In other words, despite our fears, despite our worry, there is really no other safe place to be, no other safe place to raise our children. Here in the Church is where Jesus promises to be present. Our children need Jesus. We need Jesus. And this is where Jesus promises to be, where people gather together in Jesus name.