Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Wisdom Wednesday: Baptistm Of The Lord

Grace and peace, I’m Rev. Joe Cailles, the pastor of Peakland United Methodist Church in Lynchburg Virginia. Today is Wednesday, January 11, 2024. I’m standing in our sanctuary by our baptismal font. Do you remember your baptism? Do you remember the place you were baptized? Was it a church, or a river, or a church campground? Do you remember how the water felt when it was poured on you or dabbled on your head or how the water felt when you were dunked down into the water. Many Christians do remember their baptism. Many Christians were of an age, either a youth or an adult, and they made the decision to be baptized as a way of expressing their faith, and they can remember their baptism most clearly. I do not remember my baptism. I was a newborn when my parents brought me to Trinity United Methodist Church in New Albany, Indiana to be baptized. Many years later after each of my sons was born, they were each baptized at Urbanna United Methodist church where I was the pastor. Joshua was baptized during Advent, and Jacob on Pentecost Sunday. Both were baptized by Bishop Charlene Kammerer. In my ministry, I have baptized well over a dozen infants and very young children, who probably don’t have any memory of receiving baptism. This Sunday, January 14 at Peakland United Methodist Church, we are observing Baptism of the Lord Sunday. The scripture passage we’ll hear in worship is from the Gospel of Mark and tells us the story of when Jesus was baptized by his cousin John the baptizer. Scripture says that John offered a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John said that there was one who was coming, one more powerful than he who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized by John, scripture says that as Jesus came out of the water he saw the Spirit descending upon him and he heard the voice of God saying, You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased. So what do we United Methodists believe about baptism? We believe that baptism is a sacrament, a sacred act of God, and that baptism is one of the ways that God says to each of us, You are beloved, and you are part of my sacred family of the church. Baptism is God’s way of bringing us into the church family. When a baby is born into a family or adopted into a family, the family loves that baby and that baby is part of the family, even if the baby doesn’t understand the concept of family. Children grow up learning and experiencing a family’s love and hopefully learn to love others. Baptism is the same dynamic. Baptized children may not remember their baptism but they grow in their understanding and learn what it means to be a baptized person, and how to love God and how to love all of their neighbors. We United Methodists baptize infants and children and adults, and we are all on a lifelong journey of learning of what it means to be part of the church family and how to love God and how to love one another. Sometimes we get that right, often we mess it up. Baptism is also a sign that God is ready and able to forgive us and wash us clean and to help us lead a better life. We United Methodists only baptize once in life, but we will need God’s forgiveness all through our lives. I don’t remember my baptism, but I do remember that I am a baptized person. I try to remember everyday that God is calling me beloved and then I keep trying to live out God’s love in the best ways that I can with my church family. This Sunday on baptism of the Lord Sunday, I will baptize four children, ages 8-15. They know God loves them and they know they want to be part of God’s family here at Peakland. That’s everything. In all three of our worship services on Sunday we’ll each come forward and touch the waters of baptism and remember God’s spirit dwells within us and God calls each of us beloved. Thanks be to God.