Remember your baptism

(The above drawing is from Daniel Erlander, danielerlander.com)

I've been teaching a class on being a Lutheran here at church the last few weeks. One evening our topic was baptism. We talked about baptism in general and also what is particular about the way Lutherans think about baptism. One of the foundations of Lutheran thinking on baptism is there is no such thing as a uniquely Lutheran baptism. For example if you were baptized in a Baptist, Catholic, or any other Christian church we believe that your baptism is effective and there is no need to re-baptize. One thing that Lutherans do talk about however is remembering your baptism, and living out your baptismal identity. I like that. I like to think about what my baptismal identity is. I am a husband, a pastor, a friend, a son, a brother etc...but primarily I am a baptized child of God. When everything in my life is going great, I am a baptized child of God or when everything in my life seems to be falling apart, I am a baptized child of God.

It's also strange to think about living in a baptismal identity, or remembering my baptism when, for me, it is a day I don't remember. I was baptized as a young child and have no memory of that event. Yet, that is not what is important. The water of baptism might dry off, but the cross that each of us are marked with never wears out. Dan Erlander writes that when we are baptized we are baptized into "storied waters". He writes, "To be baptized is to be plunged into the greatest story-the entire Biblical story especially the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ." So as we remember our baptism, we also remember that we are baptized into the life, death and resurrection of Christ. We are also baptized into the entire family of faith--and all of those stories!