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.
Years ago I worried that my baptism didn’t "take." Back
then, when we were vaccinated against smallpox, sometimes the inoculation didn’t
"take." Could baptism be the same?
Baptized, freed from sin yet knowing my sin, I ask what Paul asked (v.
5): "How can we who died to sin go on living in it?" Paul carefully,
faithfully, describes the transforming new life in Christ given by the grace of God.
This resurrection promise is for eternal life – and for life
today, every day. Resurrection is rising each day to new life in Christ. "The
death he died, he died to sin, once for all..." (v. 10) Each day, a new
beginning, that "we might no longer be enslaved to sin." We no longer
need to give in to sin nor feel trapped by our past. We are "dead to sin and alive
to God in Christ Jesus." What a gift!
A friend speaks of her morning shower as daily renewal of her baptism.
As water washes over her, she thinks of her sins, her faults and failures, her weariness,
washing away. She makes the sign of the cross as she steps forth for a fresh new
beginning, knowing that the love of God is greater than all the sin of herself and the
world. United with Christ, she can be open to serving God by caring for others, in efforts
for justice, with hope for peace.
John Ylvisaker’s hymn sings the proclamation: "We were
baptized in Christ Jesus, we were baptized in his death; that as Christ was raised
victorious, we might live a brand new life."
Praise God!
Merciful God, may your baptismal grace wash over me each day, in
the promise that I may walk in newness of life, knowing that you are with me today and
always.
