Dying & rising Baptism signifies our death and resurrection I used to wake up feeling anxious in the morning. Tension in my back. An empty, queasy feeling in the stomach, a feeling almost like choking or drowning. The worries of the day burdened me already as I woke.  In the middle of this anxiety, God came into my life in some unique ways. First I met a counselor who helped me talk and pray through the anxiety. A prescription helped me through some depression and anxiety related to it. I don’t want to discount how valuable counseling and medicine were in my healing. But what truly keeps me generally free from anxiety on a daily basis is what happened to me when I was 1-month-old. That event included water and these words: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” The most anxiety freeing moment of my life was simple, beautiful and life-giving. I was baptized. Of course, in my anxious mornings I didn’t wake up remembering that I had been baptized into a new life in Christ. Instead my thoughts were dominated by the worries and tensions of the day. It was all about me, what I would do or fail to do. I was living in the old body of sin and death—and felt as if I were drowning. But somewhere in the midst of this anxiety, I remembered a short verse from the catechism I had memorized in confirmation and then again in seminary. I realized that I needed to remember the verse daily. It pointed me away from my self and my failures—and toward God and God’s amazing grace and saving work. The portion of the catechism that I started praying daily answered this question: What does baptism mean for daily living? Martin Luther’s powerful answer to this question is worth memorizing. We are to daily drown and die to sin and daily rise as a new person in God in Christ. Baptism signifies our death and resurrection. We are reminded that we are not drowning. Instead we already have drowned. As Paul writes in Romans 6:4: “Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” My counselor wisely suggested I meditate and pray each day. The most healing form of meditation and prayer for me is to simply rest in the grace of knowing that I am baptized. As a reminder of baptism I often recite a short prayer from the Orthodox tradition called the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Our first language of faith If we desire renewal in our lives, we need to remember our first language of faith—the language of Scripture. One key heart language of Scripture has to do with remembering. For the sake of new life, we are called to remember what God has done. For example, when Asaph, the author of Psalm 77, feels despairing, lonely and troubled, even on the verge of death, he prays: “I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old” (11). When he remembers God’s deeds of old, right then God gives him new life. Since we also pray the psalms, the promise of new life also holds true for us. Inspired by the Scriptures and Luther’s Small Catechism, I say every day to myself: “I am baptized, I was baptized, I am a baptized child of God.” I call to mind the deeds of the Lord, God’s wonders of old, because when I remember them they are new every day. We could say that baptism gives us the shape of our spirituality. We walk wet—and understand baptism as the door leading into a new life. Baptism gives us the power, daily, for God’s life to grow and be preserved in us. Consider Ryan Terland, a new member of the congregation I serve. He recently became a father. As he and his son’s mother, Hilary Mani, considered baptism for their child, Terland realized he desired to be baptized also. He simultaneously realized he was addicted to alcohol and needed to quit drinking. He took a wise and practical step and joined an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. But he is also awakened each morning by the cries and laughter of his son, Christian. He and his son were both made into Christians that day in the baptismal waters. They find many ways to remember the power of their baptism in their life together. Each day, for example, Terland is guided by the 12 steps—especially the commitment to take life one day at a time, living a life of repentance. This is what Luther understood as drowning daily so that day after day a new self can arise to live in righteousness and purity forever. Terland sees baptism as the source of power to preserve and grow new life in him. In fact, it’s likely that AA is his best partner in his new baptismal journey because this group holds him accountable and reminds him that his life of sobriety is a discipline. Luther once wrote: “Self-discipline is needed in order that we might conform to the death and resurrection of Christ and fulfill our baptism. Baptism also signifies the death of sin and the new life of grace, until we are free from sins and rise bodily with Christ and live forever.” The new life of the baptized is a life of self-discipline because in and through it we are conformed into the likeness of Christ. But it’s a light yoke and easy to bear. It feels like the washing of a fresh spring rain. When the sun of righteousness rises, the rain still wet on your face, the warmth of that sun makes mist of it, and it rises like the dew of a new dawn. |
| Randy Fahrbach - 10/29/2008 |
I am also in recovery and a Christian and I agree that daily medation is vital to my spiritual, emotional and mental healing. The 11th Step of the 12 steps states "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." In meditation I can practice the 1st Step of AA and realize that my thoughts and emotions are unmanageble, the 2nd Step of AA by practicing being in the presence of God, and the 3rd Step of AA by deciding to sit and meditate and then continuing to choose to sit with God rather than follow my own mis-guided thoughts. A useful tool for me was a guided meditation CD for people in recovery SpiritStep One Beginning Meditation: Relax and Let Go. I found it at www.spiritstep.com. The baptized life is one of self-discipline and daily meditation gives me a spiritual aerobic workout to help achieve this! Blessings to you, Randy |
| William - 1/31/2009 |
I'd like to hear of others' experience with "death and resurrection" in the context of church membership and attendance. How does it affect those left behind? |
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