Value #4- BAPTISM
“In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’” Mark 1:9-11Reflection:
“Who am I?” A good portion of our early life is the pursuit of the answer to that question. We all want to clarify and claim our identity. It is out of our identity that our lives will be shaped and therefore the pursuit of identity is one of the most critical issues of our lifetime. Too often we let life, our role, or environment define our identity for us. So we are constantly changing who we are to adapt to our environment. Romans 12:2 warns “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold”. In other words, if you don’t know who you are, the world will constantly be redefining it for us.
When Jesus was baptized he was reminded of who he was as a beloved child of God. As followers of Jesus, our identity is clarified and proclaimed in our baptism as well. Jesus did not become a beloved child of God at his baptism; he was simply reminded once again of who he was. One of the primary reasons we practice infant baptism is to establish in infancy the identity of a child as one who belongs to God and is beloved. Parents are not dedicating “their child” to God, rather God is entrusting “His child” to them. It becomes the responsibility of parents and the church to keep reminding this child of who he/she is as a child of God whose sacred worth and value comes not from what they do or don’t do, but because of whom they are and how they are loved by God. In our tradition, confirmation is a time when we claim for we the identity revealed in our baptism. That identity then becomes affirmation and protection from a world that bases worth and value only on performance, position, or prominence.
The problem with living in the world is that it is easy to lose your sense of identity as a beloved child of God. Remember the “prodigal son” who left home and lost his way (lost his identity). When he finally “came to his senses and went home, he told his father, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son”. The truth about our identity as a beloved child of God is that no matter how lost we become it doesn’t change who we are, we just need to rediscover it and reclaim it. It is said that every morning Martin Luther would wash his face, look in the mirror and remind himself, “I am a baptized child of God”. He knew in the world it is easy to forget. In our baptism we are claimed by God and yet we will need to constantly be reminded and to reclaim our identity for ourselves. Soren Kierkegaard once prayed, “With God’s help, I shall become myself” and that becoming begins in our baptism.
Practice: Every morning this week reclaim your baptism with Luther’s simple ritual. Wash your face, look in the mirror and confidently claim, “I am a baptized child of God.” Then go out to live with that identity.
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