Wade in the Water

This weekend we remember the baptism of Christ.

Over three decades has passed since last Sunday. Jesus has become a man in relative obscurity and the protection that offers. Likely he has learned the trade of his earthly father and knows well the simple grind of woodwork.

But John has begun his ministry as the forerunner. Which means now it is time for Jesus to get to work.

Baptism is an interesting piece in the gospels. Unlike its twin sacrament, Communion, Baptism is actually in all four gospels. (Communion is, too, but not in the traditional way in John.)

Each version is slightly different. Each bears the marks of what the author is attempting to portray about the Messiah. Yet they all point to the heart of the matter: Baptism with water marks God’s call on our lives. It may be sealed by the Holy Spirit in God’s own timing, nevertheless, like Jesus, that outward moment tangibly honors not the beginning of God’s work in our lives, but our work in God’s world.

God has always been working in our lives. Baptism acknowledges that we accept that gift (or that we know it is there, if we do it for our children and they then accept it in confirmation). Then, the real work begins.

Because God’s call is not to some spiritual shelf where we get to wait for a great retirement package. It is to active, tenacious solidarity and loving service for all of God’s children now. And we do not get to choose who God’s children are - we serve every other human being on this planet. Period. Just like Jesus did.

What’s more, we seek out the last and the forgotten, the lost and the foreign - just as God always has.

That is what it means to remember our Baptism: it is to remember the call God has placed on our lives that they will walk the way of Jesus. Here. Now. Every day.

Go and do likewise.