Day 8 Thursday - Mar 2, 2023; Feb 22, 2024; Mar 13, 2025
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ -John 3:5-7
There may be nothing more worrisome than hearing that if you are not born of water and Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. What about my grandchild whose parents will not get her baptized? What about the person who dies before ever getting a chance to be baptized?
Those to whom the opportunity has been robbed, we leave them in the hands of God. Baptism, in fact, tells us just how merciful those hands are. And we should not let baptism be made into some divine checklist. It’s not a new law. Jesus did not give it to burden us. Quite the opposite. Therefore, in those times where we cannot lean into the promise of baptism, we will lean into other promises of God. Augustine once said, “I have in mind those unbaptized persons who die confessing the name of Christ. They receive the forgiveness of their sins as completely as if they had been cleansed by the waters of baptism. For, He who said: ‘Unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God,’ made exceptions in other decisions which are no less universal: ‘Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge him before my Father in heaven’; and again: ‘He who loses his life for my sake will find it.’”
Luther likewise reminds us that God is not bound by these means, we are. God can save whoever God pleases, and we know it pleases God to save. Therefore, those who for no fault of their own cannot be counted among the baptized are not automatically counted among the lost. Do not ever despair when one is unable to attain baptism. Salvation is never something you get for yourself. Trust that God can provide another way, for great is his steadfast love and abundant is the grace he shows.
However, every person should heed Jesus’ word. There is no taking baptism casually when we are told it contains the life-saving new birth for the Christian. It is precisely because baptism is this amazing work of God that it is so serious a thing. And here’s the real kicker of the whole passage: the minute one is baptized it does not bear down on them. It cannot bear down on them. Instead, the minute you are baptized this passage begins to ooze with promise. That’s how it is with God. When we give way to his work, we are immersed in his comfort.
Meanwhile the more we avoid his work, the more troubling things seem. That’s because this Word is calling us to a new life, and it won’t stop calling until it succeeds.
Let me never despise your Sacrament, Lord. Hasten all unbaptized people to the font. Make me a witness of your gospel for their sake. And where your baptism was unable to be shared, show your mercy in the name of him who commanded that we baptize the nations, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
This post is a part of my daily Lenten devotional on Baptism. You can read more about it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment