Talk to infants, smile at them and play with them. From birth babies truly know what is going on, but they know it in ways that are appropriate to their age. Infants relate to their parents and know them and are known by them. So God, the Creator of all things is able to relate directly to each baby. Babies grow gradually into full human relationships and full capacity for knowledge. Eddie will too. And into the full knowledge of God and into full stature in Christ.

The ability to laugh is a sign of human cognition. Babies laugh very early. They have a sense of humor. At four months Eddie has a great sense of humor. He laughs a lot. Every time I sing to him he laughs.

The second reason we baptize infants is found in Scripture. Paul tells us (Rom 6:1) that "All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death" Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his."

On this day Eddie is buried by baptism into the death of Christ. The Eternal Word made Flesh; the Eternal Son of God took on human nature, sharing life and death with us, so that we might share resurrection and newness of life with Him. Just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too, will be united with him in a resurrection like his. Each of us is included in the design of God for humanity, which is to be united with Christ in his resurrection. This is Eddie's destiny.

But it is not just humanity, for Paul tells us (Romans 8) that all creation waits with eager longing until it is delivered from the bondage of decay. So the cosmos itself, having evolved to its present state over vast eons of time, will be restored and renewed, sharing in the resurrection of Christ.

God, becoming physical with us in Christ, remains present in the world in physical ways. The Church, the body of Christ is a physical reality. Baptism and the Eucharist are physical events which bring God's presence to us in the here and now. So today's baptism is a physical sign, a sacrament, which makes present to us a far greater reality. It is a sign which puts us in touch with the great cosmic design of God for each of us, for all humanity and for the universe itself.

But there is yet more. Paul tells us in the reading we just heard (Eph 4) that we are "baptized into Christ." "we must grow up in every way into him who is the head. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as we were called to the one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. We must do this by "speaking the truth in love" so as to promote the body;s growth in "building itself up in love."

This then is Eddie's destiny, one he shares with all of us.
Baptism is a call to mission, it is a call to renounce the demonic powers and spiritual forces and the sinful desires that create a world which abounds in greed, narcissism, injustice, violenc,, war, hatred and in a society which becomes every day more dangerously self-focused. All of us are called to take a stand against these forces. This is Eddie's mission.

We are made in the image of God by creation. By baptism we are now co-heirs with Christ and partakers of the divine nature by adoption into Christ. This means that we are followers of the One who came not to be served but to serve. We are followers of the One who threw the money changers out of the temple, the One who proclaimed the Kingdom of God.

As followers we are called to be not only hearers of the word, but doers of the word. We are called to act. We are called to live differently. We are called to be agents and instruments of the mercy and kindness and love of God in the world. This is now Eddie's calling.

Eddie's mother, Marie, used to be a musician in this parish church. She played the guitar and so she is quite familiar with the songs we sing. She had a lot to say about the songs we will sing at Communion. They are songs that represent aspects of the Christian life that she would like to exemplify the way her son will grow into the full stature of Christ.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God. As followers of Christ, we must be intense seekers. We must hunger and thirst for justice and for mercy and love.

I will never forget you my people. If God does not forget the people, if we are carved on the palm of God's hand, if we will never be left as orphans then we too must never forget the people. We ourselves must never forget God's own people.

Won't you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you. This represents the hope of our entire family for Eddie. May he always remember that we are travelers on the road; we are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load. May Eddie learn to hold his hand out in the night time of our fear and speak the peace we long to hear.

Look around you, can you see? Times are troubled, people grieve. Walk among them, I'll go with you. Reach out to them with my hands. Suffer with them and together, we will serve them, help them stand. Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy. May Eddie sing this song not only with his voice, but with his entire life.

So now we will baptize Edward Douglas Lockton, remembering that

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. …But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ."