LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 81

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

Convention Essay

❶ Baptized as Moment of Salvation
BY THE REV. WILLIAM CWIRLA, PASTOR OF HOLY TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH IN HACIENDA
HEIGHTS, CA.
65th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod | July 21, 2013

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism as Moment of Salvation

B

aptism is a moment, a one-time-embracing-all-times moment when
the triune God reaches down from heaven to touch you in your here
and now. It is salvation’s “now” and “for you” applied to you in your
time and place. What the Father has purposed in His beloved Son from
before the foundations of the world, what the Son has accomplished and won
for all on the cross, is here and now delivered and applied to you through
water and Spirit in the name. Here the infinite holy touches the finite unholy,
eternity breaks into the confines of time, the finite embraces the infinite, and
all that God has done to save the world in Christ comes crashing and splashing down upon you in the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit
in this baptismal moment. And what a moment it is!

Some baptismal moments are more memorable than others. I
remember little Jacob (not his actual name) who was about three
years old when he was baptized at the Easter Vigil. His family was
joining the congregation, and Jacob, the youngest in the family,
had not been baptized. On Saturday afternoon, we took Jacob
through a dress rehearsal of sorts. A “dry run.” We went through
the baptismal rite—the sign of the cross, the our Father, the baptismal interrogations. He made the great confession beautifully
and on his own. He stood tall on his step stool and held his head
over our tiny baptismal font, which has barely enough water to
cook a hardboiled egg, a veritable study in Lutheran liturgical
minimalism. The dry-run dress rehearsal went splashingly well,
metaphorically speaking. Little Jacob was ready.
Evening came. The vigil began outside in the darkness. The paschal
candle was lit. We processed into the dark church behind the small,
solitary light. “The Light of Christ. Thanks be to God.” The hauntingly beautiful Exultet was chanted. Then came the long preface
prayer with its ancient liturgical roots. Then came the readings:
creation, flood, Abraham and Isaac, the exodus through the sea,
Jonah, Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones, the three men in the fiery furnace. Death and life. Creation and new creation. Water and Spirit.
It was time for the Baptisms. The church was swathed in semi-darkness, not quite like the afternoon dress rehearsal. And there were
people. Lots of faces in the semi-darkness. Little Jacob and his family
came forward. He was looking a bit apprehensive and distracted.
There was a tense whispered exchange as could only happen between a mother and her son. Mom had the look of the Law on her
face. Baptism is a drowning of the sinner, and Mom couldn’t wait
to drown the little guy. She looked as though she might take matters into her own hands. We came to the baptismal interrogation.
Little Jacob was clearly on the verge of a profound existential crisis.
C o n v e n t io n E s s ays

Do you renounce the devil? And out of little Jacob came this mighty
cry: “No!”
Do you renounce all of his works? “No!”
And all of his ways? “No!”
Do you wish to be baptized? “No!”
At this point, I’m starting to wonder if we should have used the
alternative Luther rite with the little exorcism at the beginning.
His mother came up from behind and grabbed him in a move that
would be the envy of any mixed martial arts expert, and she hauled
little Jacob literally kicking and screaming to the font where he was
baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen. The congregation looked on in stunned silence over
what had just transpired. I said to them, “The old Adam always
goes kicking and screaming.” What a baptismal moment that was!
We’ve never forgotten it.
How will it go for little Jacob or for any of the baptized? We really
have no idea. The devil, the world, and his own sinful flesh are set
against him now. Will he join the many who never make it past
confirmation? Will he be numbered among the 20 percent in our
society who now claim “none” as their religious preference? Will he
move to Bakersfield, end up on drugs, join a street gang, become a
teacher or pastor, discover a cure for cancer? We have no idea. But
we do know this: He is baptized. God has had His say.
Baptism is a forensic act of the Word. God speaks, and so it is. Be
light. Be sea and dry land. Be fruitful and multiply. Be forgiven,
justified, sanctified, glorified. It is so because the mouth of the Lord
has spoken it. The Word of Baptism declares us to be dead to sin
and alive to God in Christ. The Divine Coroner has signed your
death certificate. Your birth certificate has already been registered
2 0 1 3 C o n v e n t io n P r o c e e d i n g s

|

81