No Ordinary Bath

1 Peter 3:13-4:6

In today’s epistle reading the author of 1 Peter makes reference to the “days of Noah” when “eight persons were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you – not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…” (1 Peter 3:20-21). I think that the sight of a newborn child scrunching her face as water is applied to her head, or the familiarity of an adult professing his faith and receiving the sacrament has led many to consider baptism as one more cultural function performed by the church. We see it fairly often, and it seldom comes as a surprise. But when baptism is placed into the context of the flood and adjoined to the resurrection – as it is in 1 Peter – we can perhaps begin to grasp its deep significance. This is no ordinary event; this is something godly and powerful, akin to God ripping apart the fabric of creation in order to mark an individual as chosen and claimed.

Noah and his family were saved from annihilation through the waters. In his death and rising again Jesus Christ offers us the promise of eternal life. Baptism ties us to these events, to the community of faith, to all who have gone before us and all who will come after us. Baptism gives us our identity as God’s people and it cleanses us from the stain of sin. Baptism is no perfunctory obligation staged to meet cultural expectations, it is the single most important event in the life of a Christian. It is the work of God who transcends all time and space and yet draws near enough to touch each and every one of us.

Prayer: Lord, help us to recognize your presence and to understand the significance of your work in our midst. In Jesus’ name. Amen.