Larry Devich
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Saturday of Lent 4 - Beginnings
Re-Read: Matthew 28:18-20
...baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit... (Mt. 28:19)
“I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost.” Those were the words when my kids were baptized at the ages of 11
and 8 days. And, being the pastor, I got to say the words and pour the water.
This led to one less concern for their father, because in Holy Baptism, the Lord
said to my boys, “For the sake of My only-begotten Son, you are now My
beloved sons. No matter how short or long your life, in you I am well-pleased,
and the kingdom of heaven is yours.” It's peculiar blessing for pastors that they
spend a lot of time with the sick and dying, for they appreciate how fragile life
is. Thus I grow all the more thankful for the Lord's certain gift of Holy Baptism.
Far too many parents today seem unconcerned about having their children
baptized: “God still loves them and can save them apart from Baptism, can't
He?” seems a common question. One answer I have, honestly without being a
smart aleck, is this: “God can keep your child alive without food, too; but He
works through food to sustain life. If you don't want to test the Lord when it
comes to food, why would you test Him when it comes to Baptism?” That
ordinary-looking sacrament is how God ordinarily gives forgiveness of sins, life
and salvation. While God can and does save apart from Baptism, why deprive a
child of the certainty Baptism brings?
You see, and I tell this to children even up in their nineties, in Baptism you
have the certainty of God's love. No matter your circumstances, you can say, “I
know I am the Lord's because He made me His at my Baptism.” No matter if
God feels a million miles past your veil of sadness, you can say the same.
You're not forsaken, because the Lord is with you: you are certain of this
because He put His name on you, personally, at your baptism.
“I baptize you...in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost.” You'll note that we begin Divine Service with all but the first three
words of that sentence: we begin with the Invocation, “In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” It declares the God who is present to
forgive, but it's a funny start all the same: grammar-hounds like me will note that
it's not even a complete sentence.
A pastor pointed out something to me about the Invocation a while back.
He told me that it is a complete sentence, after all. It begins for each of us at the
font, when the pastor says, “I baptize you....” We hear the rest of the sentence
in the Invocation at the start of the liturgy, and thus it connects our Baptism to
the Divine Service, which renews it. The same Savior who put His name on us
as He shared His death and resurrection at the font (Ro 6), now comes to visit us
by His Word and Supper in His Divine Service to us.
That Invocation does more than name the triune God. It announces that
Christ comes to visit His children, born again into His family at the font. There
He is, to prepare them for the banquet feast of heaven. ¶ 3/24/2007 07:22:00 AM 0 Comments
...baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit... (Mt. 28:19)
“I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost.” Those were the words when my kids were baptized at the ages of 11
and 8 days. And, being the pastor, I got to say the words and pour the water.
This led to one less concern for their father, because in Holy Baptism, the Lord
said to my boys, “For the sake of My only-begotten Son, you are now My
beloved sons. No matter how short or long your life, in you I am well-pleased,
and the kingdom of heaven is yours.” It's peculiar blessing for pastors that they
spend a lot of time with the sick and dying, for they appreciate how fragile life
is. Thus I grow all the more thankful for the Lord's certain gift of Holy Baptism.
Far too many parents today seem unconcerned about having their children
baptized: “God still loves them and can save them apart from Baptism, can't
He?” seems a common question. One answer I have, honestly without being a
smart aleck, is this: “God can keep your child alive without food, too; but He
works through food to sustain life. If you don't want to test the Lord when it
comes to food, why would you test Him when it comes to Baptism?” That
ordinary-looking sacrament is how God ordinarily gives forgiveness of sins, life
and salvation. While God can and does save apart from Baptism, why deprive a
child of the certainty Baptism brings?
You see, and I tell this to children even up in their nineties, in Baptism you
have the certainty of God's love. No matter your circumstances, you can say, “I
know I am the Lord's because He made me His at my Baptism.” No matter if
God feels a million miles past your veil of sadness, you can say the same.
You're not forsaken, because the Lord is with you: you are certain of this
because He put His name on you, personally, at your baptism.
“I baptize you...in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost.” You'll note that we begin Divine Service with all but the first three
words of that sentence: we begin with the Invocation, “In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” It declares the God who is present to
forgive, but it's a funny start all the same: grammar-hounds like me will note that
it's not even a complete sentence.
A pastor pointed out something to me about the Invocation a while back.
He told me that it is a complete sentence, after all. It begins for each of us at the
font, when the pastor says, “I baptize you....” We hear the rest of the sentence
in the Invocation at the start of the liturgy, and thus it connects our Baptism to
the Divine Service, which renews it. The same Savior who put His name on us
as He shared His death and resurrection at the font (Ro 6), now comes to visit us
by His Word and Supper in His Divine Service to us.
That Invocation does more than name the triune God. It announces that
Christ comes to visit His children, born again into His family at the font. There
He is, to prepare them for the banquet feast of heaven. ¶ 3/24/2007 07:22:00 AM 0 Comments
