Affirmed And Affirming

October 25, 2020

Hope Lutheran Church

Rev. Mary Erickson

John 8:31-36

Affirmed and Affirming

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Today we will mark a faith milestone in the lives of our youth as they affirm their baptisms. Many people have been involved in the formulation of their faith. Parents and grandparents, you have long nourished these young people. You’ve placed before them opportunities to grow in faith:

• Sunday School

• Worship

• Family prayers

• Service opportunities

• Coaching them in wisdom

These actions wind back to that day when you brought them to a baptismal font. And on that day you made a vow to God and to your child that you would be their first evangelist. Such a privilege.

And now, we’ve put many miles on that long and winding road between the font on that day to this font here at Hope today. Today’s events will be an affirmation of that baptism which happened so many years ago.

Today is also Reformation Sunday. On this last Sunday in October, Lutherans around the world are recalling the events of the year 1517 when the young monk Martin Luther nailed his list of 95 statements on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

It had been a life transforming revelation that led Luther to that moment in history. As a young monk, Luther had been a tortured soul. His days were filled with trying to be good enough for God’s approval. He tried vainly to make the righteous cut, but he wound up feeling like a failure. Always he came up short. Luther made so many confessions that he could have used a revolving door on the confessional booth.

But all his anguish was extinguished when he read about God’s grace in the Bible. As he studied the Bible at his large desk in Wittenberg under the light of the big monastery window, a light of grace was lit within his heart. And for the first time he truly grasped the liberating gift that God’s grace had been all along. At last he was freed from futile attempts to attain a prize outside of his own reach.

It was, in fact, a free gift he had first received when he was only a few days old. Luther’s parents took him to the church in Eisleben, Germany where he was baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And there was absolutely nothing he had done to achieve this grace! As a tiny baby there was nothing he could do. He didn’t decide to be baptized; his parents did. He didn’t propel himself to the font; he was carried. He didn’t understand what was occurring; it would only be in hindsight, after seeing hundreds of other baptisms, that he would see his own baptism reflected in those waters.

But on that day, a covenant was sealed. God said, “I am yours, Martin! And you are mine! And no one can snatch you from my hand!”

It’s always back to the font. No matter how old we get. That solid rock, that covenant bestowed is the foundation of our faith. You are God’s beloved! The grace of God has been bestowed upon you. All has been accomplished, all has been restored, all has been healed and made whole through the saving actions of Christ Jesus our Lord. And when the Son sets you free, you are free, indeed!

Affirmed and Affirming. The covenant of baptism has grounded us in God’s affirming Yes. But so many other voices resound with anything but Yes. They demean, they question. These circumstances cast shadows of doubt about our worth. We’re not doing enough, we’re not good enough, we’re inadequate. These judgments chip away at us.

It’s a gradual erosion. Our self-worth is ground down. In desperation we’re bound to an uphill treadmill. These other voices lead us on a never-ending chase for affirmation.

But there is only one true identity we hold. It’s the pronouncement we received from our maker on the day we were baptized. And this divine affirmation goes with us through each and every day of life. God pronounces: “No ifs, and or buts: You are mine. You are loved. You have been made right. This is your true value.”

We need to hear that message every day. We need the good news the flows from the font of grace. Every morning when we arise, the grace bestowed on us at our baptism will continue to affirm us in divine worth and righteousness.

Reflecting on what baptism meant for him in his daily life, Luther wrote a simple but profound word. With each new day, we are born anew through the waters of baptism. Day after day, he said, our new self arises. Each day we repent of the destructive forces within us and around us that corrode and corrupt. And in turn, we return to Christ. We rise with him to new life.