15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with[b] water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Remembering Jesus' baptism, we also recalled the baptismal gifts each of us receives from God. We highlighted three.
God forgives our sins through baptism.
The most immediate gift of baptism is also its most important, at least in this life. Baptism washes away our sins. Though the waters of baptism touch us for only a moment, the cleansing continues through our entire lives. Each time sin touches us--a sin we've committed, a sin others have perpetrated on us, or just the general sin of the world--that baptismal water washes it away. We turn to God to forgiveness and the answer is already a huge, "YES!"
So much of what we learn about God early in life is a variation on, "Be good so God will love you." Baptism is the ultimate cure for that mistaken lesson. Baptism is an admission that we can't be good on our own, without God. We come to the font to be drowned. We leave the font a new, clean person. That story of drowning and rising repeats again and again throughout our lives. We don't drown ourselves. We'd never have the courage to do so. The old, fearful, sinful self would always hang on to one last scrap of life. Neither do we raise ourselves, for we haven't the power. Instead God works this miracle upon us.
This forgiveness also affects how we see and forgive each other. The world says we should treat other people as they treat us. Baptism allows us to be stronger than that, treating other people as God would treat them: forgiving them as we have been forgiven, being open and honest with them as God has been open and honest with us.
God gives us eternal life.
With forgiveness of sins comes life eternal, for the only thing keeping us from living forever is our sin. Here again our traditional lessons fail us. Most of us have been taught that eternal life only starts after we die. It actually starts the moment we're baptized and continues on through aging, death, and beyond. We are citizens of heaven right now. God's grace and life are in us right now. We are the most amazing, powerful, beautiful people...right now.
Granted we don't always remember this, nor do we always act like it. Understanding this, you understand the power of sin. Sin doesn't beat goodness. Sin makes good people forget who they are. Sin tempts us to regard our inheritance as nothing, to chase things that look better.
Knowing that, you also understand the fight we engage in on this earth. The cosmic battle between good and evil isn't fought with weapons and armor. The cosmic battle is the people of heaven fighting every day to see God's goodness in themselves, in their neighbors, and to bring it out in the world as well even when sin and circumstance tell them something different.
So many people think the battle with evil means going out and vanquishing something, defeating other people. That's not eternal life. That's just more death. The battle with evil means going out and uplifting people, loving them with every fiber of your being, doing good no matter what may come. That's the difference eternal life makes. It's a difference enacted not just after death, but every day of our lives.
When people come to church we don't put them through an inquisition about their history, lifestyle, theology, philosophy, or what have you. I don't have all of those things perfect in my life and you don't either. The only question we ask can be boiled down to, "Will you fight this battle with us? Will you hold onto goodness and love no matter what?" It's couched in more subtle terms, but it's there in every sermon, every class, every interaction.
God makes us his family.
Cleansed and set on the path of eternal goodness, we are made family with each other. This doesn't happen through biology, being blood relations. Nor does it happen in the more modern sense of having common interests or beliefs. We're made family because we're on the same walk together, bearing a name and a Spirit given by the same Lord who loves us all the same infinite amount. Our lives may be radically different but our last name, "Child of God", is the same. We find the same flaws and annoyances in each other that we do in any other folks. But we also find the waters of baptism washing those away, the light of eternal life shining from hearts and eyes. In this we find comfort, hope, reassurance, and an ever-renewed call to mission. We are made one by a love big enough to encompass everything and everyone.
Give thanks for the gifts God has shown you--and continues to show you--through your baptism. Remember it every day and share its fruits with the world!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
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