And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
(1 Peter 3:2)
On Easter Sunday 1983, I was baptized. It was a significant spiritual moment for me, as I remember the water sprinkled over my head and the drips running down my face. As the water slid down to my chin and hit my clasped hands, I felt my heart opening. It was in this very moment that I recognized even more fully God’s grace in my life.
This Easter, I was witness to a baptism of Serenity Miller at Faith United Methodist Church in Superior, as well as Ngnédji Illéné’s online baptism. It has been so long since many of us could celebrate a baptism! My participation in those two baptisms continues to revive my soul.
Baptism is a sacrament about dying and rising with Christ, God’s abundant grace that has been working within and around us, and our communal commitment to each other in Christ’s love. The Baptism liturgy invites us to remember God’s faithfulness, which is symbolized in and through water. The candidates’, parents’ and sponsors’ questions invite us all to publicly proclaim our beliefs and commitments. The congregational response invites us to join in the Apostles Creed and pledge our support for those being baptized.
Today, I encourage you to remember that you have been baptized and give God thanks. May “the Holy Spirit work within you, that being born through water and the Spirit you may be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.” Amen! (UMH, pg. 42).