Sermon - 2018-02-28

 

Matt 3:13-17

You are called, how shall you serve?

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

This Lenten season, our focus has been on the symbols of faith within the church.  One Ash Wednesday, our focus was on the ash cross that was placed upon our foreheads.  Last week, our focus was on this very building, the structure and the message the building itself conveys to us without saying a word.  This week however, I draw your attention to the Baptismal Font.

For many of us, the Baptismal Font is the very beginning of our journey.  It is the place that we are brought as infants or as adults to begin the journey of faith in God.  It is the one moment in our lives that we are truly declared the promises that are fulfilled in our whole life.  For some people, Baptism was something that happened when they were an infant. They do not remember it. They do not understand what was happening.  For others, they remember the day and event as it was something that they had a part in.

For some of us, this is what we think of when we think of our Baptism:

Within Baptism, water is used upon the person's body.  Water is one of the most abundant resources upon the Earth and it is something that is vital to our very life.  With this resource that you use within your daily life, God combines God's own Word. Then God commands us to share and give this gift.

In Baptism, God calls us by name to be God's very own child.  As a beloved child of God, you are given forgiveness of sins, delivered from death and the devil, and everlasting salvation to all who believe in this promise of God.   It is not water that does this but God's promise and work on the cross that delivers all that is promised for you directly to you. You do not need to remember the day that the way was placed upon but truly live the promise that was given to you every day.

Through this Baptism, you are made new.  You should strive for removing all the evil deeds and desires that are apart of your life.  These evil deeds and desires can be found within the Ten Commandments. Though you are striving for this, you will not be able to do it but that is why we return to the work of the cross and promise that God gives to us.

In order to help us live this out, there are things that we can do: live among others who are living by this promise, read the Bible to understand how this promise has lived out in other's lives, return to the table of Jesus Christ and remember the work that was done for you, live out this promise in your actions and the words you speak to yourself and others, serve others following the example of Jesus Christ to work for peace and justice for all whom you may encounter so that they may experience the love that God has given to you.

However, Baptism and the full promise of God receives has also led to some various ideas. Questions arise as we are living our Earthly life after our Baptism:  Can we receive Baptism more than once? Don’t I have to have a believer’s baptism? To both of these, it is a NO. For those of us in the church we know that but the reason for this is so important for all of us to understand.  The promise of God is delivered once, God’s promise will never go away even when we fail in our promises. God will never fail in His. Rather instead of getting baptized again, we should strive to have continual discussions about remembering our Baptism.  Discussing the promises that are made between God and ourselves. As for the believer’s baptism or not, faith and believing is a gift of the Holy Spirit, so truly this question arises as to who is the first mover in our faith journey.

On this night, may you feel the love of God pour over you, whether you have recently felt the waters of Baptism or if it has been years.  God’s love is ALWAYS with you! Amen.