We often lose sight that we are God’s beloved ones – not because of our goodness, but because of God’s generous grace made known in Jesus. Share this week’s message with someone who needs a reminder!
Between Sundays for Week of January 13, 2025
A legend tells us that Martin Luther had a plaque in his room that read “When you wash your face, remember your baptism.” It’s a quaint legend, until you consider that Martin Luther lived with a clear awareness of his own sinfulness and wrestled to understand God’s Word. Luther faced the derision and condemnation of the church that had formed him and because of this faced times of doubts, depression, and anxiety. It’s said that he would suffer crises of faith that were so severe that he doubted his own salvation. In these moments, perhaps a splash of water on his face to remember his baptism wasn’t just quaint, it was essential! In these moments he needed the water to remind him of the promises that God made to him in Baptism – promises that God’s salvation was not something he had earned but was God’s gracious gift. In those moments, so the legend says, he would repeat the mantra “I am baptized. I am baptized.”
When we encounter Jesus in Luke 3, he is emerging from the waters of baptism and receives a heavenly affirmation of his identity, “my son, the Beloved.” Jesus begins his ministry with the knowledge that he belongs to God and nothing will change that.
We emerge from the waters of our baptism with the same identity as Jesus – Beloved – and that means there is nothing that has a greater hold on us than God’s eternal love.
In her sermon on Sunday, Pastor Amy told the story of a child learning to float on her back in a swimming pool. In her anxiety, she flapped and flailed. A wise coach explained that as long as she kept moving about she would sink, but if she could just relax, her coach said, “the water will hold you.”
God’s voice that claims Jesus at his baptism, claims us as well. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God promises to be with us through every fire that seeks to devour us and every flood that threatens to overwhelm us. When trials comes, when transitions threaten us, when change erodes all that we know, we live in confidence that the One who claims us has promised to love us and be with us.
The water will hold you . . . always.
P.S. Watch Sunday’s service and view past services on the Share in Worship page of BLC’s website!
P.P.S. If you’re wondering how to support those impacted by the California Wildfires, Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) is one option. Your gifts equip LDR to respond to communities affected by wildfires and related disasters. Gifts to “U.S. Wildfires” will be used in full (100%) to assist those affected by wildfires until the response is complete.
This week we remember our own baptisms and our new beginning as a Child of God. Find the baptism dates for the members of your family. For your children, talk about who attended, who the sponsors were, and how each child reacted to their baptism (did they cry? wiggle? babble? etc.). Talk about the dates of your own baptism and what you might know about that day.
Pray this prayer together: Dear God, all of us are Your children, and all of us had a new beginning when we were baptized with water and Your Holy Spirit. Thank you for baptism blessings. Amen
Patty Chaffee
Family Faith Formation Coordinator
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Ponderings
There is no struggle Christ does not enter,
no suffering Christ does not share.
The Beloved will never forsake you.
In even the worst sin, the most awful depression,
the deepest loneliness, the foulest derangement,
the most shameful death, God is with you.
Every moment of your life
is the stream Jesus was baptized into,
immersed in you, soaked with you.
When you pass through the waters,
and feel no companion, trust:
the Beloved is the water itself, bearing you on.
Read or listen to the entire poem at Unfolding Light.