Remember your Baptism

“I’ll try hard to remember to forget.” –Texas is the Reason

The surest way to remember something is to actively try to forget. True forgetfulness is more subtle. We don’t try to forget. It’s something that just happens.

Forgetfulness has always been the enemy of the faith. So much of Israel’s embodied testimony found in the pages of the Old Testament is one of memory. It’s not so much memory for memories sake. It’s an active recall that instigates renewed faithfulness.

The charge to remember is found throughout the pages of the New as well.

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life.”—Romans 6:3-4

I don’t need to rehearse the history of baptism in the church to illustrate it’s a touchy subject. I distinctly remember attending one church service where the preacher appealed to any and all people wishing to be baptized to come down the aisle and be baptized. The man was quick to add it didn’t matter if you had already been baptized as a child. “After all,” he said, “it was no more than a shower.”

For something that the church has made such a big deal about, there is more than a bit of irony of how quickly we forget our baptism.

For those baptized as infants, you never remember. The best you can hope for is photographs of a child that seems like a stranger. Above is a picture from my son Max’s baptism. It’s something he’ll only remember from photographs.

For those baptized as children, it gets a bit better. Most remember the experience. You’re aware it happened. Still, there is a disconnect between the child you were then and the person you are now. Your experience of faith varies wildly from your experience now. This is my experience. I remember it happening, but it’s all very hazy now.

And for those baptized as adults, the memory is sharper. There is a closer connection between the person you were then and the person you are now. Even then, the experience fades. It was a testimony to a high point in your faith. But it’s a bit like Moses, descending Mt. Sinai. Eventually the glory fades.

When Saint Paul wrote to the Romans, he curiously didn’t mention the age of the baptized. He didn’t seem too concerned about the form of the baptism. And frankly, the efficacy of the baptism wasn’t dependent on how the person was living his or her life now.

He did seem to assume that a person would remember their baptism. And as they remembered their baptism they would remember just what they were baptized into: Christ’s death and Christ’s life.

This has huge implications for all who are baptized. Implications that go beyond age, form, or lifestyle. You who have been baptized have been baptized into the death of Jesus and to a newness of life by virtue of his resurrection from the dead. In baptism we are bound to God through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Spirit once and for all.

Consider this my modest plea: remember your baptism.