As we announced a few weeks ago on Ascension Day services at Church, Elizabeth and I are the proud parents of a blueberry sized baby. We are expecting him or her to be born in early January. We are both excited, but are also a little bit nervous. There are now so many things to worry about, and to take care of.
We are excited, because God’s word tells us that this baby is already a human being. From the moment of conception, God has knit together this baby in the womb. (Psalm 139:13) In other words, we aren’t waiting to be parents, we are currently parents, because God has already made this tiny baby a person. This person has a soul and is loved and cared for by God.
What’s more, I believe that we can trust that this baby has faith. The baby comes to church every week with my wife, and shortly (as the ears form…) will be able to hear the entire congregation singing hymns. It will hear the sermons and scripture readings where the Word of God will be read and proclaimed in it’s truth and purity. Furthermore, the baby eats whatever Elizabeth eats. When she partakes in the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the baby too partakes. Thus a baby is partaking in the forgivness of sins even in the womb. Through these means, babies have faith, the same way that you and I have faith.
That is not to say that the baby is perfect. Quite the contrary, this baby is a sinner, a poor miserable one. Scripture tells us that “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5) This can’t be denied, though many try to. Babies are sinful. Our confessions speak of sin as being curved in upon oneself (incurvatus est) and that is what we see in babies. There only concerns are about getting fed, or changed, or how they feel.
Babies are sinful, just as you and I are. At times we even tease each other about our sin, saying, “Quit your whining you big baby!” or other such things. Saying these things acknowledges not only the sin in our babies, but also in ourselves. We too are often only concerned with ourselves, curved in upon ourselves. With this, we are living in sin.
But just as the baby in my wife’s womb is being brought to faith by the Means of Grace and the work of the Holy Spirit, so too are we. God washes us in baptismal waters, the same way he does for a newborn baby. God also keeps us in the one true faith through the hearing of His word and feeds that faith through the eating of the very body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
These gifts are freely given to us, so that we who because of sin were separated from God now freely trust in Him. It is a miracle. Nothing in what we say or do should lead us to believe in God, but still through His work, He leads us to trust in Jesus Christ crucified for the sins of the world. In the same way he does so for babies. Yes it seems like babies shouldn’t be able to believe, but God works a miracle in their hearts, and brings them to faith. We shouldn’t be able to believe either, but God allows us to believe.
“But Vicar, babies can’t understand anything? How can they understand faith?” Faith is not about understanding. Faith is about God working salvation for us through the cross, even when we don’t understand it. Faith is about God bestowing those gifts to us though we don’t deserve them. Faith is about Jesus Christ. As I said in last months article, Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. It is completely and totally God’s work.
For this reason, I have no doubt that the baby growing in my wife’s womb already has faith in Christ. It already trusts in Jesus, and thus is already a member of the eternal kingdom of God. That baby has already come into contact with the Means of Grace. We too have been brought into contact with those Means, and now we too have faith. God is good and gracious.
