Sermon - 2015-01-11

Just a few weeks ago, we heard about John the Baptist.  We heard the message that he brought to us; the message that soon the Messiah would come.  We should prepare for that day and know that when the Messiah comes, he will bring a great leveling.  This Messiah will bring great power.  This Messiah will be so great that even John the Baptist. This great man who delivers the message to us is not even worthy to untie his sandals.

Now we revisit those words, their meaning, and we hear it’s drastic calling to each and everyone of us.  We hear of God now coming to us in this child.   He is now beginning to minister and deliver God’s Word. Not just through a prophet but actually through God’s own Son.  

Which draws us to a crucial question for any Christian, how does Baptism shape you?  

This often brings up the very debate among Christians of believer’s baptism or infant baptism.  Yet truly, instead of an “or” we should really be looking at an “and”.  Our focus should be always on welcoming and caring for people of every age and every part of the journey of life and faith that they are on.  A believer’s Baptism and infant Baptism are important for the person and the community.  Regardless of when a person is Baptized, what is truly important is that God’s Word and the Holy Spirit are working within the person and the community.

Baptism is the mark of a person joining the Body of Christ.  This is a changing in the way we view this world and our life is to be lived not for our own sake, but for the calling that God has for us. We are called, claimed, and declared by name that we are loved by God who also forgives and redeems us.  For it is in the very rite of Baptism that we declare the person’s name and the name to which we are bound, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

In Baptism, God declares that God loves us, sets us free from the sin that once bound us, and we are bound to the Son of God who came to redeem us.  All of this takes place in one moment and through a common and familiar element of water.  So that whenever we use water, as it is part of our life every single day, we would be reminded of this holy gift. As we reflect upon this event in our life, how it has shaped us and formed us.  We are humbled. We are filled with joy.  We are sent to do the work that is needed for us to do.

We should be focused on what Baptism is for us, but also what we are promising to God within that Baptism.  What do you give a God who has created and sustains everything?  You give God your loyalty, trust, and love.  You work with God to care for others around you, and care for the world around you.  The worship you are attending, the care for others who are in need of your love and the love of God, makes us continue to strive for justice and peace for all people in the world.

This is our calling; this is what it means to be a Christian.  As such, we strive to do this every single day of our life.  For though our Baptism was just a moment, it has impacted us for all eternity.