One of the perks of being a minister is being involved in the marriage of a couple. Weddings are rightly a huge celebration where a couple commit to sharing their life from this point on together. While individual vows may vary, they all contain the same essential points. Out of love for one another, they will no longer simply live for themselves, but they will live lives from here on in marked by love, compassion and care for each other. This is publicly stated in a public ceremony for all to hear. It wouldn’t be much of a marriage if, the moment after the ceremony, both people simply went on living just for themselves. Marriage involves us changing the way we live our lives.
Today we celebrate the baptism of Jesus as recorded by Matthew. John has been out in the wilderness calling Israel to turn back to God and as a public sign of that turning, submit to be baptised in the river Jordan. It is a shock for him when his cousin Jesus turns up asking to be baptised. As John puts it, surely Jesus should be baptising John? Yet Jesus insists it is God’s will that He is baptised by John as it not only validates John’s ministry but also allows Jesus to identify with broken humanity. After the event we then have this public declaration from God stating Jesus is the Son of God. This act then gives us an opportunity to participate in an event that Jesus Himself underwent. Baptism is therefore a supremely significant event in our lives.
This makes us reflect on our own baptisms. Baptisms are also a public declaration of our intention to live differently from now on. In our tradition, they are the means by which we become members of the body of Christ, the church. And as part of the body we should thereafter contribute to the life of that body. We should live in such a way that all we say and do builds up the body of Christ. If a part of our body wasn’t supporting us, we’d visit a doctor seeking a cure. Why then do some Christians think that becoming baptised is the end of the road for them? As Martin Luther did, we ought to intentionally live out our baptism every day. We cannot simply point to our baptismal certificate as some sort of proof that we are Christian. Our lives should proclaim it; we should live differently because of it. May we strive to live out our baptism each and every day.