Remembering Your Baptism

“Remembering your baptism” | January 10, 2021

(Minister – Rev. Caesar J. David | Union Park United Methodist Church)

Scriptures:

Psalm 29

1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy splendor. 3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over mighty waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, “Glory!” 10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. 11 May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Mark 1:4-11

4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Introduction.

Today we commemorate “Baptism of the Lord”. We also remember our own baptism. I’m glad that you were able to participate in the remembrance and reaffirmation of the Baptismal covenant. If you are not yet Baptized, we invite you to visit / meet / participate in Bible studies and Worship services to learn and understand more about God’s love for you and His plan of forgiveness, salvation and eternal life for you in Jesus Christ. 

John 3:16 says: For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting / eternal life. You can be a member of God’s family too.

For those of us that were baptized, you probably may not remember the day exactly because many of you must have been baptized as babies. It’s not important to remember the exact event, but to remember that you are baptized and what the meaning of that is for you today.

Unlike Holy Communion, the Sacrament of Baptism is not a repeatable event. With most other Christian denominations, in the United Methodist Church, we have Baptism only once in a person’s lifetime. We hold that position because we understand this sacrament as being, most importantly, a means of initial grace, symbolizing and actualizing God’s universal call for all of His children to respond in faith. As such, Baptism is God’s action, not ours; in Baptism we receive and are empowered to respond to God’s grace with faith. Once done by God it is efficacious forever.

Baptism is an outward sign of inward grace. Several things happen when we’re Baptized. 

• Following what Jesus said in Mark 10, in baptism we die, as Jesus did, but we are also raised to new life, as Jesus was (Romans 6:3-5, Colossians 2:12, Titus 3:5). In the letter to the Colossians we read “you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead (Colossians 2:11,12).

• In baptism we become part of Christ’s body. Paul writes that “for by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13 – For in the one spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.) and that “as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27 – ‘clothed with Christ’).

• As we continue in the New Testament, our understanding of what baptism means for us continues to unfold. It always follows faith — the faith of the person being baptized (Acts 8:13 – Simon was baptized and v. 36 – the eunuch was baptized by Philip), or the faith of the parents (Acts 16:15, 30-33; 18:8, 1 Corinthians 1:16). These scriptures tell of all the various ways in which people have experienced the Grace of God in Baptism and have been led to respond with different expressions of love and obedience.

For our brief meditation today, I only want to point to a couple of things related to Baptism that we must understand that are important especially in our socio-cultural context today.

Baptism means a new life in Christ, there is a new hope, we live by a new value system and have new responsibilities.

1. It also means basically, having a NEW IDENTITY.

Galatians 3:27-28 says “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

We shed our differences and become one. Spiritually, our identity is as Christians. We’re one body. We no longer operate under old obligations, fears, feelings and image.

Often, we feel pressured to define ourselves through our jobs, financial status, successes, grades, appearance, what other people say about us and many other means.

But what happens to our identity when we experience failure? Or lose someone’s favor? Does our value crash? If we live out of an identity based on how God sees us, we no longer feel the need to find our value and worth in our external circumstances. We are valuable because God thinks so, God loves us. We are sanctified and special. (Note: ‘special’ because we’re sanctified, not sanctified because we’re special).

It frees us up to live confidently and stably instead of changing who we are based on the opinions of others, our professional success, how we see ourselves, and all the other ways we define our significance and value. It gives us the opportunity to experience God’s unconditional love in new and fresh ways. And it allows us to confidently and boldly share His love with others.

2. It means NEW RELATIONSHIPS.

When Jesus was Baptized, the Spirit descended like a dove on him and a voice came from heaven, “You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:10-11). As we become a member of God’s family through Baptism, we become God’s sons and daughters. We have a relationship with God whereby we can call Him “Father” and we can call on Him anytime. We get to be sons and daughters of the King of kings. The knowledge that we have our Father God looking after us frees us from worries and fears. Our Father knows what we need. He knows what’s best. He loves us.

The other new relationship we have because of baptism is with other children of God. They’re our brothers and sisters. We’re in the same family now. We have a mutual responsibility and a common mission. This means that we can no longer operate under the hatred and divisive thoughts we may once felt.

Conclusion:

Today as we’re thinking of the Baptism of the Lord and as we’re thinking of our own baptism, let’s ask ourselves

• Do I live and operate under a new identity, or do I have the old me cropping up every now and then?
• What it means for me to be a Christian in day-to-day living?
• What are the implications of me being a child of God, and belonging to the family of God? (Think about “family” – what are the implications of belonging to the “Family” of God)

God bless you.

Prayer.

Heavenly Father, Thank you for your love. Thank you for the freedom and power we have because we’re your family. Empower us to rise above all that threatens to destroy our integrity as your children. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen.