Baptismal Business as Usual?!

 Today, I find myself thinking about the gifts and responsibilities of baptism again.  Some of that has to do with the fact that I went swimming this morning – what a great way to start the day!  Some of my thoughts have to do with the start of our fall education year, including confirmation (if you haven’t heard about those details, click on the link later in this email!).  Or maybe, it’s planning for a series of baptisms that will take place in our sanctuary in the coming weeks.  It’s probably all three!

At any rate, today I’m specifically thinking about the words we ask our confirmands in the “Affirmation of Baptism” service (page 236 in your ELW hymnals, by the way!): You have made public profession of your faith.  Do you intend to continue to the covenant God made with you in holy baptism: 1) to live among God’s faithful people; 2) to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper; 3) to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed; 4) to serve all people, following the example of Jesus; 5) and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?

These last months, we have spent a lot of time thinking about what we CAN’T do.  What we need to cancel.  What we need to postpone.  What we need to modify.  And in the church, we scratch our heads and wonder how long it will be until things get back to NORMAL.  But I remind you (and myself!) today that these words are our normal.  They are among the first words we speak to the newly baptized.  They are the central words in our rite of confirmation.  And if you look at them carefully, we can still do every one of them!  The call to live among God’s faithful people, to hear God’s word, to share in the supper, the proclaim Christ, to serve our neighbors is still our call.  And a virus doesn’t change that.  The pandemic certainly informs some of our strategies in doing that well, but the pandemic doesn’t cancel a single one of those callings.

Being the church is about so much more than where you are sitting on Sunday morning.  Being the church is living out that baptismal call. 

May you be strengthened to live into that call day by day in this next leg of the journey.

P.S. – If you haven’t registered for a sanctuary service September 13, 20, 27, or October 4, do so soon: https://www.wadenaimmanuel.org/sanctuary-worship-registration. 

And if you haven’t heard about our fall education plans, check out: https://www.wadenaimmanuel.org/education

AND, if you haven’t heard, we’re in the middle of a 40-days e-giving challenge where electronic gifts receive a 50% match: https://www.wadenaimmanuel.org/giving! 

Check out our news page to learn more and for other important announcements: https://www.wadenaimmanuel.org/announcements

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Treasure Greater Than Heaven and Earth!

Last week, we started this journey through the catechisms’ (Large and Small) thoughts on baptism.   And we remembered that baptism might seem like a human act – but is really God’s action. Today, we forge ahead with more.   After hearing such wonderful news about God’s action in baptism, about the benefits we receive, including forgiveness and the promise of everlasting life, our next thought might be that of skepticism.   So the Small Catechism leads us to ask, “How can water do such great things?”   The answer: “It is not the water that does these things, but God’s Word with the water and our trust in this Word.   Water by itself is only water, but with the Word of God it is a life-giving water which by grace gives the new birth through the Holy Spirit.” In the Large Catechism, Luther says even more on this topic: “Yes, my friend! Who does not know that water is water, … But how dare you tamper thus with God’s ordinance and rip out his most precious jewel?...
Read more

Who is Worthy to Receive Communion?!!

Today is our third week on the Lord’s Supper/Communion.   So far, we have discovered that this is God’s meal, not the result of human actions or work.   Also, we discussed last week the importance of our faith that the bread and wine actually become Christ’s body and blood. Today, we focus on the question of who is worthy to receive the gifts of communion.   This is a topic of special interest to Luther.   He is especially interested in the idea that one could be too sinful to receive this gift.   For Luther, it is easy to look at your sins and shortcomings and decide you are not worthy to receive such a gift.   God’s goodness contrasts so sharply with our sinfulness, “then because of this, such people will not go to the sacrament and wait until they are prepared, until one week passes into another and one half-year into yet another.   If you choose to fix your eye on how good and pure you are, to wait until nothing torments you, you will never go” (...
Read more

Forgive ... Forgiven

Today, we finish our brief series on forgiveness from the Large Catechism.   And our focus today is the practical application of forgiveness. There are two important parts of forgiveness.   One is the forgiveness we receive from God.   The other is the forgiveness we receive from our neighbors.   And both are essential to our faith and life in the community.   When people come to me with a guilty conscience, I ask them if they would like a word of absolution.   Sometimes, though, I can see that before they are forgiven by God, they need to seek forgiveness from their spouse, child, parent, neighbor, or friend.   Other times, they have been forgiven by the person they’ve wronged, but they cannot forgive themselves.   Other times, still, they have offered the sincerest apology they can and have not been forgiven.   And a strong word of forgiveness from God is needed – and we pray that the one they have wronged will forgive them in time. S...
Read more