Do you remember your baptism? Consciously, I don’t. I’m a cradle Methodist. I have my certificate and a picture of the pastor who baptized me in Fairborn, Ohio. Mom vaguely remembers I slept through the sacrament.
But with every baptism we experience in the church, I remember mine. We are all called to remember our baptisms, and be grateful. Even though I don’t remember the water on the back of my tiny head at the time, I know that my parents loved me enough to schedule the baptism, the congregation loved me enough to welcome me into the Kingdom officially through the sacrament and renewed their vows to be faithful disciples as they helped raise me. More important than that, God loved me enough, even before I was aware of it, to rejoice in me even before my conception! It’s a little thing—er, make that a BIG thing, called Prevenient Grace. We don’t have to DO anything to get God to love us, because he’s beaten us to the punch already. God loved us first, and continues to love us, warts and all. We are God’s beloveds, and that is extremely comforting. It’s from a place of gratitude, then, that a yearning to work for the good of the Kingdom, and not be an obstacle, that my motivation is nurtured. I didn’t, and I can’t, earn grace—that unconditional, unmerited, and unearned love that God has for us.
That’s why I call you Beloveds. It’s a good thing to be reminded of our baptisms which gave us that status publicly. See you Sunday, as we remember once again!
Grace and joy,
Julie
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