LENT DAY 6: Clear Your Calendar

 

Day 6 Tuesday - Feb 28, 2023; Feb 20, 2024; Mar 11, 2025

And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name. -Acts 22:16

One of the saddest things that happens today is families are putting off baptisms more and more. Sometimes it is trying to find the “perfect date” that works for everyone. Sometimes it is because we are so busy and just don’t get around to it. Sometimes we mistakenly think it would be better to “wait until they are older” to "decide" for themselves. Worse yet, sometimes it is because they just don’t care. Baptism does not seem like that big a deal.

But one thing that the Book of Acts is very clear about is that baptism is not something to wait for or put off. The Ethiopian asked about baptism the minute he came upon some water (Acts 8:36). When the Holy Spirit fell upon the people in the home of Cornelius, Peter exclaimed “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people” (Acts 9:47), choosing to defend his actions back in Jerusalem rather than first seeking permission. The Philippian jailer “was baptized at once” (Acts 16:33). And Paul, recounting the words Annanias spoke to him was asked, “why do you wait? Rise and be baptized…”

Martin Luther was baptized the day after he was born! My own mother, a twin, being premature and so small at birth was baptized right away in the hospital by a Catholic priest. That wasn’t all that long ago. These days, however, we are more inclined to delay. Perhaps the church needs to again be confronted with this question Annanias posed to Paul. Why do you delay? Even to those of us who have already been baptized, it is a telling question. It proclaims to us that baptism is an important thing - a vital thing. It tells us how much the gospel’s claiming and saving power resides within its work on us. No Christian should delay. Like the warnings that Christ will return like a thief in the night such that we should always be prepared to meet our Lord, so then we should without delay be marked with his cross and sealed with the Holy Spirit he pours out on us.

To put it a little differently: because baptism is such a great thing and promises God’s forgiveness and grace, why would we delay in receiving it or believing in its promise?

Lord, our priorities too often do not reflect your own. I can make all the excuses in the world, but in the end there is no excuse for how often I do not follow your Word. Do not let me delay on the things you consider most important. Do not let me put off for tomorrow what you would have me heed today in your Word. Give me, in baptism, a chance to taste and see the goodness of my God that is being shared with me in the Word. Amen.

This post is a part of my daily Lenten devotional on Baptism. You can read more about it here.