Live In Your Baptismal Grace

It said to have happened in Texas when parts of the state were still considered the frontier, or the wild west. A preacher went traveling among the pioneers and settlers. In a small frontier town he shared the Gospel, and of course, he offered baptism to anyone who wanted it. Most of the town’s folks were skeptical and not interested. However, one family took the pastor up on the offer. And so, dad and mom and the kids were all baptized. The next day at the one room schoolhouse the students asked one of the little girls from the family to explain what baptism was all about. She said, “I was once a little maverick out on the prairie. When I was baptized, Jesus but his brand on me, and now everyone knows that I belong to Him.”

To understand what the girl was saying we need to know a little bit of Texas history and the story behind the word maverick. Originally Maverick was a man’s last name. Samuel Augustus Maverick, who was actually a native of South Carolina, arrived in San Antonio, Texas in September 1835. Because Mr. Maverick was often away tending to family business back in Alabama and South Carolina he had to leave others in charge of his cattle. The story goes like this. One of his men named Jack, who had little experience with cattle, let them wander and remain unbranded when new calves were born. In time, as stories traveled by word-of-mouth through the cow camps and saloons of Texas such an animal became known as a “maverick.” The meaning behind the word persists to this day. A maverick is someone who is a little wild and perhaps unconventional. As one descendant of the maverick family said, “If you’re unbranded, in charge of your own self, and wild and free, then sister you’re a maverick!” It’s also worth noting that an unbranded animal, especially a lost calf, could be branded and then become the legal property of anybody who would catch and brand it.

Perhaps that little Texas girl’s description of baptism was a good one. We were all spiritual mavericks when we were born. We were lost as far as God is concerned, straying outside the boundaries of his “ranch,” if we can call his kingdom that. But in his love and mercy God reached out and claimed us for his own. Through baptism God put his brand—his Name—on us. Now we are no longer mavericks. We belong to God!

In the Word of God for our sermon this morning the Apostle Paul will remind us of what it means to live in our baptismal grace all the days of our life. We will focus on our Second Reading for this Sunday, Romans 6:1-11. In these verses we find some awesome truths about our baptism. We ask the Holy Spirit to empower us to believe these words and apply them to our lives. The last verse of our reading provides the two thoughts that we will consider in our sermon. We are told that we should count ourselves “dead to sin” but “alive to God in Christ Jesus.” We consider that thought under the theme that we hear in our baptismal liturgy:

“LIVE IN YOUR BAPTISMAL GRACE”

I. You are dead to sin

II. You are alive to God

Of all the books in the Bible and of all of the Apostle Paul’s letters Romans is considered to be one of the richest and most intense. Here we find the LAW stated in absolute terms. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Here we read the GOSPEL clearly and precisely. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) Many important doctrines also appear in Romans. In Romans 6 the Apostle Paul connects the good news of God’s grace in baptism to the daily life of believers. Baptism has an ongoing impact on the life a child of God lives. Those who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into a new life. They are dead, and even buried, to sin! They are alive to God in Christ Jesus!

I.

The question that the Apostle Paul asked in Romans 6:1 might at first strike us as an odd one. “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” Satan had convinced some believers of a horrible lie. They thought that since God had forgiven all their sins through Jesus they should sin more to get more of God’s love. Although this is very twisted logic it still presents a problem for believers today. We still hear people say, “If Jesus died for my sins then it doesn’t matter what I do, right?” Maybe we don’t go to that extreme but perhaps we have begun to treat sin as no big deal because we are forgiven. We say something like this, “After all God’s mercy is so great my sinning can’t be that serious. What is the difference if I do this or that?”