Dear
Friends in Christ,
How many of you know the answer when some
medical type asks, “Date of birth?” I will bet all we parents know our
children’s birthdays. Would we do just as well were I to ask, “Date of baptism?
Dates of your children’s baptisms?” Lawyers say you never should ask a question
without first knowing the answer. My parents brought me to the baptismal font
on May 2, 1948. I know the dates for my children’s baptisms because I baptized
them. And, I looked them up.
Baptism ought to hold a prominent place in my
daily life. We give the baptismal font prominence in our worship space because
we do not want our baptisms to be but a distant memory. Historically the font
is near the entrance to the sanctuary. This sends the message that we use water
and the Word as Christ commands and for the purpose
Christ instituted this sacrament.
What is that purpose? Paul wrote to the
Romans in 6:4 “we were therefore buried
with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised
from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Peter describes it as Baptism That Now Saves You Also. Baptism grants the pledge of a
clear conscience before God. Baptism saves you by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
Early Christians often had an eight-sided
baptismal font to remind them of Noah and his family. The water of the flood
saved these eight people from God’s destructive wrath by lifting them up above
it. In that sense, Peter wrote, the water of the flood “symbolizes baptism.” Peter did not write that baptism is symbolic
as some misinterpret his words. No, the water of the flood is symbolic of “Baptism that now saves you.”
Luther describes the meaning of Holy Baptism
in our daily life this way. “Baptism means that the Old Adam in us should be
drowned by daily contrition and repentance.” I am not baptized
every day of course. That is why we did not baptize Samuel again but publicly
recognized that he is baptized already. Though any number of days has passed
since my baptism once for the forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit continues
through the gospel connected to simple water to daily drown my Old Adam. A New
Man arises daily in us who trusts Christ and is eager to love God and neighbor.
Holy Baptism saves me because it is “not the removal of dirt from the body but
the pledge of a good conscience before God.” This is not some outward
removal or washing. Jesus said, “It is
nothing outside a man that makes him unclean…it is what comes out of a man that
makes him unclean.”[Mk7:15]
What makes me unclean by birth is my sinful
heart and sinful actions. Holy Baptism
saves me because the gospel washes away the power and guilt of my sins. That is
God’s pledge or promise. I am not the one who makes “the pledge of a good conscience before God” through baptism. In
baptism, God pledges, God promises, that now my conscience is clear because he
has removed the guilt of my sin.
Holy Baptism gives me a clear conscience. No
matter how I sin, or how often I sin God has removed the guilt and condemnation
of those sins. My baptism empowers me to resist when tempted to sin. My baptism
keeps me from despair when I sin.
Holy Baptism saves me because God grants the
pledge of a clear conscience. That salvation through baptism comes by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This morning we confessed the Apostles’ Creed
in close connection with Holy Baptism. This statement of faith grew out of the
confession of faith a person made when baptized. We confess the person of
Christ, and the work of Christ that is ours through this sacrament. Think about
your baptism as you confess the Apostles’ Creed.
Peter wrote of baptism, “It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into
heaven and is at God’s right hand-with angels, authorities and powers in
submission to him.” Do you notice
how close those words are to the thoughts and words of the Second Article?
Against the black cloth of my repeated
transgressions of God’s holy will all the days of my
life, Peter holds up the radiant, perfect and priceless diamond of Jesus’
resurrection from death and the grave. “For
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring
you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”
Then, as part of his exaltation in victory
over sin, death and the grave, “he went
and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited
patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.” Jesus
descended into hell after he came to life in the tomb not to give the
unbelievers from the days of Noah a second chance. He went to show his glory as
the Savior they had rejected. God had called them to repentance and faith also
but they did not believe and were condemned. It is very much like Jesus will
appear to unbelievers on Judgment Day. They will see him, know him, and know they
are lost without him and it is too late.
The Holy Spirit’s inspired words through
Peter closely connect Jesus’ resurrection as the Savior to Holy Baptism. Jesus’
resurrection saves us and the Spirit connects us to that resurrection through
Holy Baptism. Baptism is not something I do to show God I am committed to him.
Holy Baptism is something God does to show that he is committed to me.
Take note of the baptismal font as you enter
the sanctuary for worship. If you do not know the date of your baptism, please
find out. If you or your children have a baptismal candle, take it out on that
day, light it and talk about the meaning of Holy Baptism. Have your life show
others that you are a baptized child of God. Know that God has pledged to you a
clear conscience through the forgiveness of your sins. Holy Baptism saves you
because its power is Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Amen. <SDG>