Daniel Lake wrote a letter and read it at the dedication of two infants in his church as, he said, “an attempt to bring creativity to a service that easily could slip into prosaic ritual.” He gave copies to each set of parents to be given to the children as a “time capsule” for when they make a profession of faith. Here in abbreviated form, the letter offers one way to begin the process of assimilating the children of believers.
“I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so shipwrecked their faith” (1 Tim. 1:18-19).
Dear Jennifer and Justin,
We are here with you today, as if on a mountaintop, looking far across a broad sea to another mountaintop. The peaks and all the space between represent your lives. We are happy to be here with you on this special, forward-looking day.
Nobody sought your opinion in this matter of being presented to the Lord. Your parents brought you here to recognize and thank God publicly for the gift of your lives. They are here, also, to make a commitment to provide a home where the name of Jesus is honored, to be Christian examples, to participate with you in an extended Christian family (we call that “the church”), and to pray for you. The purpose in all these things is to insure that, when the day comes, you will choose to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord of your lives.
Ours is not a faith based on magic or superstition. Nothing in the laying on of hands, nothing in any of the prayers uttered or promises made can insure that you will choose to become Christians. We are simply acting in faith with a strong appeal to Divine grace.
The world and the Devil have in mind to contradict everything we are about here today. Do not be surprised that the culture around you cries out for meaning in a meaningless world and attempts to lose itself in pagan music, the occult, materialism, hedonism, drug abuse, and suicide. Is there anything else for them?
Yes, there is. There is your Father who would be a Father to them also. Will you tell them, Jennifer and Justin? Will you tell them about today, about the family that loved you to the Savior and to wholeness? About a church family that is genuine in an artificial world, and how they said prayers and made promises and claimed you one day for Christ? Will you tell them and demonstrate before them that you are a living, redeemed child of God, full of joy and peace and love?
The only thing the world has to offer you is insignificance. When this occurs, remember that a sign was placed on you this day. After your parents made their promises to support, pray for, and raise you as a Christian, I took you from their arms and made the sign of the cross on your forehead. In faith, we look forward to the day when, of your own choice, you will be signatories of this covenant.
Voices will call to you on your life voyage. God will be calling you to the narrow way of a disciplined, productive, and fulfilling life that results from using the unique blend of gifts and experiences he will give to you. This calling is the place of your optimum happiness.
There will be other voices calling to you like the Sirens of old, bidding you leave the path of your highest calling: “Come and indulge. Come take the easy way. Get all you can get for yourself. Come and partake of ecstasy without expense. There is no right or wrong.” Resist these voices; run from them. They are the voices of deception calling you into shallow waters where rocks and shoals can shipwreck your faith and mission.
We are launching you today, Jennifer and Justin, like little ships on a vast and uncertain sea. We will do our best to protect and keep you in the center of the fleet for as long as we can. But the day will come when you hoist full sail and chart your own courses to the far mountain. We pray your masts will withstand the storms and your rudders hold true.
Above all, stay close to your Compass and pay attention to the Charts. Millions before you have brought their ships to safe haven using this Compass and set of Charts. You will, too.
Christ, the unseen Captain, will be with you all the time. He is the Master of the wind and waves, and he made the sea. In fact, the main work of your life will be in learning to trust your Captain.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Daniel Lake
Christ’s Church of Brookfield, Connecticut
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