Click on the verse to read the text.
God is always reaching for us, pulling
toward him.
In baptism we outwardly and publicly
accept that pull, but the act of Grace we receive and is confirmed in
the act of baptism is purely God's.
When we pour water or submerge someone
and bring them up we remind everyone that when we accept this gift we
die to our own selfishness and sin (separation from God). We rise
out of the water we are born a new and washed clean from our sin.
This does not mean we don't sin anymore, but that we now have agreed
to unleash the Holy Spirit in our lives. To let the Holy Spirit
guide us and work within us. That we no longer have to be controlled
by sin because Jesus conquered all sin.
Baptism does not mean that we no longer
feel the pull of sin. It doesn't mean that we don't sin, or that we
don't feel the pull, but the good news is that we don't have to be.
We have help if we choose it and if we allow the Holy Spirit to do
its work we are not alone. Not ever.
The act of putting water on someone's
head does not complete our act of baptism. We all have a part in
baptism, not just the person being baptized. It is a community
event. We as the congregation have a part. The thing with this
crazy journey with the Holy Spirit is you can't do it alone. You
forget, you loose sight, you become frustrated, you succumb to your
own sin (or separations from God) sometimes unconsciously. It is so
easy to do. You can easily loose sight of your commitments in
baptism. The thing is God doesn't. God does not loose sight of it
at all. God loves us still and yearns to forgive us when we are side
tracked and bring us back to him. God tugs at our consciousness, but
we have to accept it. We have to repent, or turn away from that.
This can be very difficult to do alone. This is why we are in
community. We (as Christians) make a commitment to support one
another on our journeys – not just at the high points, births,
baptisms, weddings but at the low points when life is not easy. When
one of us feels lost, alone, broken. This is when we need to follow
our collective commitments to uphold one another, support each other
and give freely of our gifts and talents (see UMH p.44).
Let's face it – life is a hard road.
It is easy to become side tracked, to loose hope, to feel alone, and
to become isolated. In our baptism though we are not only accepting
God's grace, but by being blessed in the Holy spirit we are
unleashing the Holy Spirit in our lives. There is nothing that is
too big, too bad, too far, too horrible for God. There is nothing
that is so dark that Christ's light can not shine through and help us
with. This is the glory of our baptism. Every time you see water,
drink water or experience rain remember your baptism. Remember you
are not alone, you are part of a family of other Christians that you
have promised to nurture and that have promised to nurture you.
Remember your vows (UMH pg 40) to reject sin and commit yourself to
Christ, accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil,
injustices and oppression in what ever forms they take. Remember
that you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior and that you promised to
put your whole trust in his grace, to serve the Lord with all the
church which is open to all people, ages, nations and races.
Remember your promise to nurture one another by your teaching and
example so that all maybe guided to accept God's grace for themselves
and profess their faith openly. These are our commitments and God's
promise to us is to always pull us, guide us, love us and help us on
this journey called life. God's promise is to help us to overcome
our separation to rest in his peace. Remember that in the water.
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