I'm working on this sermon series about "stepping stones of faith". I'm going to try to touch on the important milestones that Christians mark as our faith develops and matures. The first one is baptism.
I always find that I can't fit everything I've read or heard or thought about a particular passage into any one sermon. One Easter season I preached on the same passage 7 times. Which I really liked. I could come at it differently, and dig a little deeper each week into what the Gospel (of John, in this case) was proclaiming about our Risen Lord.
Anyway. Often there is something I wish I could say about a passage that just doesn't fit. That was true this week. Then I remembered - I have a blog! I could put it there!
So here's what I didn't say in the sermon:
We don't repeat baptism. But we are asked to reMEMBER our baptism. And that suggests that what happens is that we get "dis-membered" - pulled apart and separated from the fullest meaning of baptism. We get cut off from God's promise of life, and we get cut off from being part of the body of Christ, the church. And so we are called to reMEMBER who God has made us in baptism. We are asked to reconnect with God and reconnect with the people God has given us to live with and love.
The words from the Book of Common Worship (to be spoken while the congregation is being sprinkled with water) are "Remember your baptism, and be glad!"
Remember and be glad. I want to do that.
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