THE SIGN OF LIFE
Romans 6: 1-11
(Two weeks prior to this sermon, the baptismal fount was moved to the front of the sanctuary. One week prior to this sermon, I began the service by pouring water into the fount, with the promise that this sermon would explain what I was doing.)

           My hope is that, over the past two weeks, I have sufficiently aroused your curiosity—with the movement of the baptismal fount to the front of the sanctuary and me pouring water into the fount. Last week, I promised I would explain what it was all about; and so I will.

           Within mainline Protestant churches (e.g. UMC, Presbyterian, Lutheran) over the past few generations, the Sacraments have received increasingly less and less attention. Focusing specifically on the sacrament of baptism—it might only be mentioned a couple of times per year. For some within the mainline church, the sacraments (Holy Communion and Baptism) are merely “rites of the church”—those things to be observed every so often (lest we forget about them), but observing them too often might lead to a loss of significance/importance. However, the sacraments are more than just “rites of the church”, they are, in fact, signs for the church. They are signs of God’s love and of God’s grace. In the case of baptism, it is a sign of life!

           In his interactions with the church in Rome, the apostle Paul often engaged in many debates over the logic of faith in Jesus Christ. We encounter one of those debates in our passage for this day. One of proclamations Paul made to the Romans was how wonderful God’s grace is. Paul taught that humans know and understand the depth of grace through the lens of sin; that is, grace not only allows us to be forgiven, but to bring us back into communion with God. The question posed to Paul was something along the lines of, “If grace is so wonderful and our sin and repentance allow us to experience grace, shouldn’t we, therefore, continue in sin so that we might experience grace more and more?” Paul’s answer is a resounding “NO”!

           The answer is NO because, Paul continues, when we are baptized, we are joined with Christ in his death and we are dead to sin. The purpose of Christ’s death, the reason Jesus hung on the cross and bled and died, was to utterly destroy the power of sin. You see, sin is a power in this world that seeks to dominate, ensnare, and enslave its “victims”. Sin has the power to separate us from God and make us enjoy that separation, while leaving us feeling miserable. It also puts up a nasty fight when we try to overcome it. In short, sin is a slave master that cares nothing about us, but only desires us to serve sin more and more. In the time from Adam to Christ, sin and death had dominion in this world; God’s perfect creation had become subject not to God, but to sin and death. Human begins had no power to resist sin. It sounds depressing, but look at Romans 6:6. We read there that when Jesus allowed himself to be crucified—when Jesus hung on the cross and when, with gasping breath said to God, “it is finished”, the power of sin was DESTROYED! The power of sin was broken, shackles fell from the human soul, the grip of sin was loosened to the point that it held nothing! The waters of baptism remind us that God has invited us to be a part of Christ’s work on the cross. They are a reminder that the power sin has over us has been destroyed. When we die with Christ, sin’s power is broken! Whether we are brought to the waters as an infant or we come as an adult, we put to death the sinful part of the human nature. In so dying to sin, we are freed from its power—it no longer has dominion over us. This doesn’t mean that we will never sin again, but it does mean that we are free to resist sin and evil and live in communion with God!

           In some ways, it feels like I could stop right there. The enormity of dying with Christ can be overwhelming. However, that’s not the end of the story! If we die with Christ, we are given the promise that we will also rise with Christ. If we share in Christ’s death, we also will share in Christ’s Resurrection; dying with Christ means living with Christ! Being resurrected with Jesus, however, is not something that happens instantly; it is a process that we undertake throughout our life here on earth that will reach completion at the final Resurrection, when we “will be united with him in resurrection”. Baptism signals to all the grace in us that has begun the process of being resurrected with Christ. It signals the beginning of a new life and a new way of doing things. It is the sign that we have a higher standard than the standard of the world and it is a sign that there is something different about us! Whereas the old life was characterized by the power of sin and slavery to it, the new life is characterized by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit is live free from sin and in the righteousness we are given by God’s grace. It is also the power to live our life to God and not to ourselves or the things of this world. Baptism is the sign that our life is hidden in the very life of Christ and that we live, truly live, because Christ lives!

           This marvelous gift of God’s grace is not solely the property of the individual who receives it, though. While baptism is a personal moment in a person’s journey with God, it is also a time of remembrance for the entire community of faith, the church. The church, too, shares in Christ’s death and resurrection. We are, together, Christ’s body in the world. The church also has a life, a life that is meant to be lived to God by the community. The life of the church is the life of Christ. If Christ has no life, the church has no life and we become just another social club. But because Christ is alive and because the church is baptized, it is a sign to the world that the church is different! It is a sign that we are more than just an organization to which someone pays dues to belong! It is a sign that we are part of God’s redemptive, reconciling, restoring work in the world! When we celebrate one individual’s baptism, we are also celebrating our baptism as a church and remembering that we, together, belong to God and have been invited to share in God’s work in this world.

           With all this in mind, how could we not celebrate? How could we relegate the baptismal fount to the side of the sanctuary and bring it out only every so often? That changes right now. For as long as I am pastor here (which I sincerely hope is a very long time!), the baptismal fount will stay right in the front of the sanctuary—as a constant and visible reminder to all who enter this space of who and what we are, individuals and a community of faith who are dead to sin, but alive to God in Jesus Christ! All this reminds me of a story I once heard. There was a certain family who had been attending a church for a good while. The parents decided it was time for the entire family to be baptized and to join the church. One Sunday, the church had a great celebration to share in this special day. Afterwards, the older brother was doing what older brothers do best, bullying the younger one. Finally, the younger brother had enough and he drew himself to his full height, puffed out his chest and declared, “YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO…I’VE BEEN BAPTIZED! In baptism, God has allowed each of us to look sin in the eye and repeat those very words…YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO…I’VE BEEN BAPTIZED! So may it be for each one of us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the precious Holy Spirit! Let all God’s children say, AMEN.

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