Text: 1 Peter 1:3-11; Baptism of Isobel and Michelle
One of those times in sermon prep reading you come across a story that is just perfect for the situation. Since it was used so early in setting the theme and it was such a powerful story, you hope and pray that the rest can live up to it.
One of the things I like to do is point our or remind people that the rites and rituals of the church has a purpose. They are not mindless actions or appeasements of a angry God. The baptisms, Lord’s suppers and confessions, the weddings and confirmations, are an enactment of what is being said. What we say is happening actual does happen – God has promised or explained it that way. Baptism now saves us. We are joined with Christ in baptism.
We are limited creatures. Unless the Lord comes again in our lifetimes, we will die, things will fade. In Baptism we can be impudent toward that fact and toward the Satanic powers of this world. Death itself will fade. In Baptism we are joined to Christ and to an inheritance: incorruptible, undefiled and unfading. As in the theme story, baptism puts us in an impudent position. We are placed and kept in faith until the last appointed time.
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