I’m sure we all think about “new beginnings” when the calendar rolls over to the new year. We may ask ourselves, “What will be new, different, unique about this coming year?” Maybe we’re looking to let go of a bad past year. Maybe there’s a new event on the horizon for the new year that we’re seeking to embrace. In either way, newness, I think, is always on our minds.
Our liturgical calendar (the special church calendar we use to mark the days, times, and seasons of our worshipping life) begins the new calendar year with a celebration: the Baptism of the Lord.
This event, recorded in all four gospels (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:4-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:19-34 [although it’s only alluded to here]) is the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus. For Mark and John there is no birth/infancy narrative; Jesus begins his life as an adult. For Matthew and Luke, the boy Jesus becomes the man Jesus and goes out into his world to start proclaiming the Good News of God.
Baptism is one of the signs in the Gospels of the Christ-ness of Jesus (that is, his Savior status). For us, baptism isn’t the same, but similar. While baptism isn’t our identity as Savior, it is an identification as being one of the Savior’s beloved people.
Baptism, in the Reformed tradition, is understood to mean that the whole church is confirming what the Holy Spirit has already done: grabbed hold of us. Baptism can be done when we are
infants (which probably most of us experienced) or when we’re older teens/adults. In either case, both testify to the goodness and power of God to grab us.
When we celebrate the baptism of Jesus, we celebrate that we’re one people united in him. We also celebrate the fact that even in his perfection he took on an act that placed him in solidarity with all of us who need him. Jesus did not need to be baptized; he desired to be. Frankly we don’t need to be baptized either (as a strictly and nerdy point of theology) but I don’t think our lives would make a lot of sense without it.
Baptism is the public and visible act of the church to confirm the inward and invisible action of God the Holy Spirit. In baptism, we all respond to the Spirit’s call and confirm that the person receiving
the sacrament has been called by God to be one of God’s very own.
Baptism is a confirmation of God’s giving to us new life. We are no longer under the effect and destruction of the ways of this world (unless we choose to ignore God’s grace and embrace the way of the world). Instead, we are God’s own people with new life and new identity. We are given in full measure the grace, love, and new life of God given in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
As we all celebrate the baptism of Jesus, let us also be mindful of our own. Ask yourself these questions:
- What does it mean to me that I am baptized?
- How do I live out the promises made by God in baptism each day?
- How is my identity shaped by my baptism?
Remember your baptism…and be joyful!