As we conclude our Lent meditations here, based on the baptismal service, we come to the prayer over the water. The words of that prayer link us to all of salvation history including Christ’s death and resurrection.
Grant,
O Lord, that all who are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ your Son may
live in the power of his resurrection and look for him to come again in glory;
who lives and reigns now and forever. Amen.
We
thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water. Over it the Holy Spirit moved
in the beginning of creation. Through it you led the children of Israel out of
their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus received
the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the
Christ, to lead us, through his death and resurrection, from the bondage of sin
into everlasting life.
We
thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in
his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the
Holy Spirit. Therefore in joyful obedience to your Son, we bring into his fellowship
those who come to him in faith, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
This
prayer can be awe inspiring if we really stop and think about the words as if
we were hearing them the first time.
Grant,
O Lord, that all who are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ your Son may
live in the power of his resurrection and look for him to come again in glory. First
we are reminded that we come to fullness of LIFE through Christ’s DEATH, which
we know is not the end, but the BEGINNING. Our life is to be a reminder,as Paul says in Philippians 1:20-21 that "Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death..For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Next, the prayer of blessing over the
water of baptism takes us on an abbreviated sprint through the saving acts of
God in scripture. From Creation, to Freedom from bondage…then to Jesus’ own
baptism so that we might be freed from our sin to LIFE. Finally we re-member and become one
in the burial of Christ, so that we can be REBORN into a holy fellowship! In
that fellowship we come full circle and learn to live the promises affirmed:
To “persevere
in resisting evil, repent and return to the Lord.” To “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.”
To “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself.”
And to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”
As
baptized members of the Body of Christ, the Family of God, we can enter the Holy
Week journey in awed expectation. We know the end of the journey is Easter, but
every year we participate and re-live the steps on the Via Dolorosa. If we
really take time to pause, think about, and experience the Way of the Cross
which starts in triumph with crowds clamoring and ends in agony on a Roman
cross. All because our Father, who is God, the Holy One of Israel, loves us and
desires reconciliation.
I invite you (and
myself) to a Holy Week of contemplation of the journey to the Cross, whether
you attend some or all of the various church services offered or if you just
spend time each day considering the events leading up to Good Friday so that
your Easter Day will be full of new joy and awe as you find the empty tomb!
