Remember Your Baptism

In today’s second lesson, the Apostle Paul recounts the story of Sarah and Abraham.

God made promises to them that seemed impossible.

Both of them were old.

Sarah was well beyond her childbearing years.

It would seem that their bodies were incapable of creating new life.

Yet Abraham trusted that, through God, all things were possible.

He believed in God’s faithfulness.

Today’s Gospel tells the story of two miracles interwoven with each other.

In one, a “synagogue official” comes to Jesus because his daughter had died.

The official asks Jesus to lay his hands on his daughter so she will live again.

In the second story, a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years touches the hem of Jesus’ cloak, knowing she would be healed.

Like Abraham, both the synagogue official and the bleeding woman trusted in God’s faithfulness.

They believed that, through God, all things were possible—even miracles of healing and resurrection.

Trust in God’s faithfulness is integrally tied to baptism.

The sacrament of Baptism is a covenant with God.

We make promises to God and God makes promises to us.

Many Christian denominations practice adult—or believer’s— baptism.

Their rationale is that the person being baptized must understand the promises being made.

Lutherans, like Catholics, practice infant baptism.

In our practice, the sponsors—or godparents—make those promises on the infant’s behalf.

That’s a pretty weighty responsibility.

That’s why being a godparent is not just an honor.

It’s also an obligation.

For our part, we promise, amongst other things, to proclaim the Good News of Jesus and to be fellow workers in the Kin-dom of God.

God promises us forgiveness—unconditional grace.

God promises us belonging—the community that comes from being a child of God.

God promises us “that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, neither heights nor depths—nor anything else in all creation—will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Savior.”

And therein lies the foundation of baptism.

God promises to love us forever—unconditionally.

Now, to be clear, God already loves little CJ.

Whether we go through this ritual of words and water, CJ is a beloved child of God.

The sacrament is not for God.

The sacrament is for us—to remind us.

To remind us that we are beloved children of God.

Who God calls by name.

Who God claims as God’s own.

Because we need to be reminded.

We need to be reminded because we get wrapped up in the minutiae of life.

We get so busy with careers and to do lists and the noise of everyday life that we sometimes forget what’s important.

We need to be reminded because of the inner voice that tells us we’re not worthy.

Truth be told: we aren’t worthy.

But baptism reminds us God’s love isn’t about worthiness.

God’s love is unconditional.

In today’s gospel, Jesus also says, “People who are in good health don’t need a doctor; sick people do.

Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire compassion, not sacrifices.’

I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

We are imperfect people.

Jesus acknowledges that and says he doesn’t care.

He is there for us anyway.

He is faithful to us—whether we are faithful to him, or not.

We have no confirmands this year.

But I confirmed three young men last year.

I think we have done ourselves a disservice by calling that milestone confirmation.

Because actually—what those young men were doing—they were affirming their baptism.

They were saying that they were now mature enough to understand the promises that were made on their behalf when they were infants.

And they were assuming the responsibility for those promises themselves.

Of course, it’s important for them to acknowledge their responsibility to proclaim the Good News of Jesus and be fellow workers in the Kin-dom.

But what I told those young men is, if they remember nothing else from confirmation class, remember that God loves them and nothing they do can make God not love them.

Because we need to be reminded.

We are beloved children of God.

Who God calls by name.

Who God claims as God’s own.

On Friday, I presided at my first quinceañera.

I knew it was an important milestone in a young woman’s life.

What I learned is that it is also an affirmation of baptism.

So, I chose first John chapter four as the second lesson.

It’s the passage that starts, “Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God.

Those who do not love have known nothing of God, for God is love.”

John goes on to say, “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them.”

I thought that passage was perfect for an affirmation of baptism.

Because, in addition to remembering all the promises made on her behalf at her baptism and acknowledging that she was now responsible for living up to those promises, she needed to be reminded.

Because it’s tough to be a young adult these days.

They are immersed in social media.

They are pressured to wear the right clothes, listen to the right music, and be in with the right crowd.

So they need to be reminded.

Reminded that they are beloved children of God.

Who God calls by name.

And who God claims as God’s own.

So rejoice with me.

Rejoice with me because baptism is a cause for celebration.

Rejoice with me because God is faithful.

Rejoice with me because, through God, all things are possible.

Rejoice with me because God’s love is unconditional.

Rejoice with me because, today, in CJ, we welcome another sibling to the Body of Christ.

My hope for each of us as we go forward from this place is that we remember our own baptism from time-to-time.

I try to never pass a font without dipping my fingers in, crossing myself, and remembering my baptism.

Maybe you could make a practice of remembering your own baptism when you take a shower, or wash the dishes, or take a dip in the pool.

It doesn’t even have to be about water.

You could remember your baptism while you have your cup of tea or coffee in the morning.

Or while you take that walk in the splendor of God’s creation.

But I encourage you to pause and remember—through water and the Word, we are made new.

Through baptism, God reminds us.

“You are my beloved child.

I have called you by name.

And I have claimed you as my own.”

Thanks be to God!

May this meditation on God’s word keep our hearts and minds on Christ Jesus, Amen.