Devotion - Monday, Jauary 12

Yesterday was the Feast Day of the Baptism of our Lord.  I didn't get to preach - so I need to express what is on my  mind and in my heart.....

Christians have been baptizing new family members from the very start of the establishment of "The Way."  In his parting instructions to the disciples, Jesus told them to "Go and baptize."

Baptism is the rite by which Christians are welcomed into the family; it is the service through which we acknowledge the new life given to God's children; it is the sacrament in which we see the love and grace of God poured upon us.

As a child (and still in most of modern Christian Churches) baptism is seen as absolutely essential.  There was always a statement of grace for those who were unable to receive this ritual, but there was no doubt that to be a Christian meant being baptized. 

I am not so sure the contemporary Church (or at least the part of it that I inhabit) would want to say that unless you are baptized, you are damned.  Some (myself among them) have begun to speak of the rite as the opportunity to make real what we have been told.  It is a tactual way experience how God views us.

This is not, in my way of thinking, a lessing of the significance or importance of baptism.  I would encourage baptism if the ONLY reason for baptizing was that is has been the practice of the Christian community from its early origins.  Being baptized links me with all those who have gone before and all those who will come after me. 

But it is a gift - not a requirement.  It is an invitation - not hoop to jump through.

Every Christian needs to understand baptism.  Every Christian needs to have an awareness of how baptism has affected them.  This Feast Day is the perfect opportunity to reflect and arrive at your own understanding.