( Rom 6,3-8 ) - [ Deutsch ] - [ Akündigungen599.29 KB ]
Last Saturday, on our Mandela Day, we worked in the church garden, we cleaned the kitchen, we ate lunch - together with others. The word “with” in the expression “together with others” is an important word for our everyday life.
The word “with” permeates our sermon text today. The text, taken from the letter to the Romans in Chapter 6, V 3-8, reminds us of our baptism:
3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Who counted? The word “with” appeared 5 times in the sermon text. 5 times “with” implies 5 promises of God's unconditional yes, which Christians receive through baptism, promising the beginning of a new life with God.
First, I find Paul's explanation quite crass - to be crucified, dead and buried with Jesus through baptism does not sound like a festive and joyful baptismal experience to me. But Paul's understanding of baptism was that a person being baptized is baptized into the death of Christ and "buried with him into death". It is similarly bluntly explained in Luther's Small Catechism. It says that "the old Adam in us shall be drowned by daily repentance and penance and shall die in all sins and evil lusts." Fortunately, the baptismal declaration and our experience of it do not end here. The “crucified, dead and buried in Christ” is followed by the resurrection of a new person who lives eternally in communion with righteousness and purity before God.
This resurrection from the water, which is supposed to signify the new life, is not so clearly illustrated in the baptismal ritual as we celebrate it. In the past, and still today in many charismatic churches, full-body baptism was and still is performed - a symbol of this resurrection.
Through this resurrection, the baptized person crosses a tangible threshold from his old person to a new life in Christ. Growing together in baptism WITH Jesus, being crucified, dead and buried is exactly what enables us to lay aside our sins, to be washed clean of what separates us from God. "Dying with Christ" means I am ready to see myself anew in the light of Jesus' devotion to me. I am willing to recognize and overcome my shortcomings, self-centeredness, and overconfidence. This is my step towards dying and rising with Christ. This is my commitment to God: I need you, God, and I am willing to examine myself again and again in the light of your love. This baptismal formula should always apply to me: 5 times WITH = 1 time FOREVER.
God acts, making baptism the source of Christianity and the gateway to Christian life. It lets us participate in what Jesus Christ did for us in his death and resurrection: He frees us from the power of sin and death and gives us new life now and in eternity. Through baptism, eternity begins here on earth for us. “By the sign of the cross you are baptized in
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You belong to Jesus, who was crucified and rose from the dead.” By answering “I am baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” I become part of the love story of God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.
Paul confirms this: Anyone who has been baptized, who has become a Christian, is born again, and begins anew and fresh “WITH Christ”. From now on we encounter the living Lord, who speaks and acts, who walks WITH us forever.
Baptism is God's gift to us. He commands us to pass on the love he shows us in word and deed – to our neighbors near and far. Baptism calls us TOGETHER. In TOGETHERNESS our faith is fulfilled. As a community of believers in baptism, faith and love, we are included in God's mission.
In this way, life from the gift of baptism becomes a reciprocal giving and passing on.
I too would like to relive my baptism not only today, but every day. I would like to remind myself that my 5-fold connection “WITH Jesus” is what enables my new life every day. That almost sounds like "America's got Talent": 5 x Yes and you make it to the next round - but there is no next round here. By being baptized you immediately get the so-called “Golden Buzzer”, which assures you a place in the final, in the new life, in eternal life WITH God.
The word "with" is what turns my lemon life into a lemonade life. Usually everything gets better when you have it “with”. Ice cream WITH chocolate sauce, fried egg WITH bacon simply tastes better. A day WITH sunshine and a face WITH a smile lifts your spirits. Of course, there is also a negative “with”, which we experience all the time - war WITH weapons, Corona times WITH masks, government WITH corruption. Cold winter evenings WITH loadshedding. But in baptism there is only the beautiful WITH, the WITH Jesus WITH water. And that's good.
I always want to remember my baptism at the sight of water; be it when I joyfully watch foaming oceans, rushing rivers, roaring waterfalls, or placid lakes – or when I am grateful for water coming out of the tap, remembering we cannot take that for granted.
Everyone’s experiences of faith and baptism are different. Everyone has their own story. And everyone must decide for themselves how they want to include their baptism in everyday life. There are enough opportunities to do that. Jesus called us to go into the world as disciples and to be fishers of men. “Therefore, go and teach all nations: baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. That's what we heard in the gospel. We have a responsibility to make God's gift of His Son visible to us in our lives. Perhaps we should be more aware of the children who were baptized as babies but have since disappeared from the radar of church life. Or our confirmands, who have made the promise to live with Jesus, but still need support to progress in their faith or to remain in it. Or our pupils and students, and ask them directly what their needs are, as they can choose from a wide range of options and will not necessarily choose to join our congregation. Married couples who do not have German as their only home language who want to find a spiritual home that is not dependent on language but on a community of believers.
Am I living my baptism WITH an understanding of others’ life situations, WITH an ear for other views, WITH a heart for everyone who, through baptism, confesses the same thing as I do, namely Christ?
Let's not go our separate ways, let's pull together, because TOGETHER, in God’s community, we can realize our responsibility of baptism. For it is written: “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Amen