+Points to ponder

1. What do you remember about your baptism? What do you remember about God’s promises in your baptism?
2. Why do you think Jesus enjoined the Church to baptize people as part of her mission?
3. What might you say to someone who insists that Baptism is only symbolic and is a work that we do?

+Sermon Transcript

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto each of you from God our Father and our Lord and King, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Let us pray: Eternal God, You have given us one baptism for the remission of sins; grant that we who are born of water and the Spirit and made members of Christ, may be one in faith and in service; through Jesus Christ our Lord who is alive with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

Imagine, if you will, we have planned an extensive tour of the ‘Holy Land.’ The day has come and now we are flying to Tel Aviv, and during the long flight there, I ask you, “So what are you most looking forward to during our time in Israel?” And without missing a beat, you say, “Getting baptized in the Jordan River!” I kindly remind you that you already are baptized, so you say, “Then getting rebaptized in the Jordan River.” I kindly remind you that God hasn’t forgotten His promises in your Baptism, so there’s no need to be “rebaptized.”

Slightly annoyed, you ask, “So what do I call it, Pastor? I want to wear the robe, wade into the river, and get dunked.” After all, you don’t remember your Baptism. You were only a few months old, like so many of us. So, I suggest, “How about we call it ‘remembering your Baptism?’ Does that sound all right? How about you and I put on the white robes, wade into the Jordan River, and you get dunked under the water to remember your Baptism and the promises God made?” A smile widens across your face, a brightness fills your eyes, and through your simple “Yeah,” I can tell that your mind is already racing to the river to imagine this moment.

You could summarize our reading this morning from Colossians chapter three with the phrase, “Remember your Baptism.” Here’s the way Paul begins: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Remember your Baptism. Specifically, I want to focus on the phrases “you have died” and “you have been raised” that we hear in verses three and one: “you have died” and “you have been raised.” You have died and you have been raised in Baptism. So, remember your Baptism.

Paul is building on what he made explicit earlier in Colossians chapter two: You have “been buried with [Christ Jesus] in baptism, in which you were also raised with [Christ Jesus] through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised [Jesus] from the dead.” In other words:

GOD GIFTS US WITH THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS THROUGH BAPTISM.

You have died and you have been raised. You were buried and you were raised in Baptism. Remember your Baptism.

First, you were buried. You have died. Under the waters of Baptism, you died with Jesus on the cross.

So, there we are on the shore of the Jordan River. You and I have our white robes on. A few other brave pilgrims are wading into the water with us, while several our fellow travelers offer to take pictures to capture this moment from the warm dry viewing area, several feet from the water’s edge.

You step tentatively onto the slippery riverbed, not allowing your imagination to think too much about what else may be in the water. We wade out to where it’s about waist deep. I remind all of us that you have been and already are a baptized child of God, and that today we’re remembering those promises: In Baptism, we have been crucified with Christ. In Baptism, we have died. In Baptism, we were buried. In Baptism, we were baptized into Jesus’ death.

I ask if you’re ready. You give a strong nod, and before you go under, you hear, “You have been and are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And then back you go. Down you go. Under you go.

Now freeze. Hold this moment in your mind, this instant, the moment you fall back into the water. The shock of the water makes your chest tighten. It’s so cold you want to yelp, but the water’s so gross you dare not open your mouth. You instinctively shut your eyes and for the moment … you’re dazed, not breathing, under water, yet laid on your back, and the world has gone black. In this momentary drowning, the world has ceased, life has ceased, and all is numb. No light, no sound, no feeling. Just cold and dark.

This is what it’s like to die. Under the waters of Baptism, you died with Jesus on the cross. Paul says here in Colossians chapter three: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” This is what God does in Baptism. According to His word of promise, his Last Day judgment on human rebellion was poured out on Jesus on the cross, and in your Baptism, you participate in that dying.

The image of being dunked and the sensation of a temporary drowning highlights what happens even with a sprinkle or a splash. For it’s not the amount or the source of the water, but the word of promise of God and the very work of Jesus that causes this dying. Under the waters of Baptism, you died with Jesus on the cross.

But this moment of death is only passing. For you feel the force of my hand supporting you and pulling you up. You emerge from the water, eyes skyward, drawing in a great big breath of air. And under that drenched white robe, you find your-self shivering with life.

I want you to freeze this moment in your mind’s eye. Your face has emerged from the water. Your arms are flung back, and your palms are turned outward. Your mouth is opened with a smile as your lungs eagerly fill with your first breath. In this moment, you are an image of God’s promise. Do you have the image in your mind?

Emerging from the waters of Baptism, you rise with Jesus to new life. In Baptism, you have been raised with Christ. In Baptism, you were raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead. Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we, too, walk in newness of life. It is no longer you who live but Christ who lives in you.

In Christ Jesus, you are a child of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. This Baptism now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clean conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The image of rising up out of the water so carefully waded into – and feeling clean, refreshed, invigorated, regenerated, and reborn, highlights what happens even with a sprinkle or a splash. For it is not the amount or the source of the water but the word and promise of God and the very work of Jesus that causes this rising. Emerging from the waters of Baptism, you rise with Jesus to new life.

Now, you get a towel, dry off, get dressed, and we finish the rest of our tour. On the flight back, you take a break from your journaling and come find me. “Pastor, how do I hold on to this?” “What do you mean?” “The Baptism. Or, ‘remembering my Baptism.’ That feeling of dying and rising again. How do I hold on to this? This was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and I can’t come back to the Jordan River every time I need a refill.”

“No, you can’t. Nor do you need to. In fact, that’d probably become a problem. It’s not the source of the water that makes a Baptism. It’s not the amount of water. It’s not even the experience itself. It’s the Word of God. It’s the promise of God.”

So, I ask you, “Can you picture our baptismal font back home?” You can look now if you want. There it is. “Can you picture our baptismal font? I want you to look at it next Sunday. Look at it when you come into the sanctuary. You can even dip your finger in it and trace a cross on your forehead and on your heart if you’d like. But look at that baptismal font at least two specific times during church next week.

When you were under the water, cold, dark, not breathing, it was an experience of what is true not just in our one-time Baptism but also in our daily repentance: under the waters of Baptism, you died with Jesus on the cross. So, during our time of Confession, when we speak the words, “I, a poor miserable sinner,” I want you to look at that font and remember that under the waters of Baptism, you died with Jesus on the cross.

And then again during the Absolution. When you hear God’s words of forgiveness declared to you for Jesus’ sake, instead of closing your eyes or just watching me speak, I want you to shoot a glance at that font and remember the image and sensation of coming up out of the water. As your body shivered and your lungs filled again with air and life, it was an experience of what is true not just in our one-time Baptism but also in our daily life of faith and trust: emerging from the waters of Baptism, you rise with Jesus to new life.

“What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” Remember your Baptism. Amen.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”