One of the many things I miss about in person worship - well that list is pretty long, however outside of the sacrament of relationships, is the rite of baptism.

 

This week again we will renew our baptismal promises. On the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, we remember and celebrate the beginning of the ministry of Christ among the people of God. And it all begins with baptism. So, this next Sunday we remember, we honor, we celebrate our own baptisms and the ministries into which we are all called! We will say again the words that organize our lives as Christians.

The words of the rite are some of the oldest in our shared sacred history. And some of the newest. In the latest reformation, in the ongoing reformation of the church, the sacrament of baptism returned to the focus of the church community. Moving the sacrament from a private act to a public one. Celebrating baptism once again in the midst of community, in the midst of worship.

The renunciations, the affirmations, and the questions each are part of the agreement we make with God and each other. Right down to our responses to the promises, ‘We will with God’s help’ … it’s just the right balance of what is our work and what is God’s work.

 

And when I hear the text from the Gospel of Mark, the words from God announcing the belovedness of Jesus, I hear some of my other favorite words. God said, this is my beloved and God continues to say it. For each of us. I need to hear that I’m beloved of God because I make loads of mistakes, tons of missteps. So what a great reminder that I am, that you are, one of God’s favorite things as well!

This Sunday, at the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, let us once again hear the words of our faith and renew the promises to each other and to our Creator, our favorite things!

Alison +