Remembering Your Baptism

One of the many beautiful things that I get to do as a pastor is baptize people.  I grew up in the Baptist tradition, which (if you didn't infer by the name) holds the sacrament of baptism in high regard.  

Some of that regard stuck with me even as I have served for the past twenty-plus years as a Presbyterian minister.  Now, I don't believe that baptizing children is a bad idea, and I also completely affirm my denomination's stance on recognizing baptism from other churches and Christian traditions.  

But I do love a good baptism. 

I've sprinkled scores of babies and kids, and more than a few adults, over the years.  But I've also baptized people by immersion in portable baptisteries, lakes, rivers, swimming pools, and the Atlantic Ocean.  Presbyterians do it all kinds of ways, y'all.  

In the end, it isn't I who is doing the baptism, though.  It's the Spirit of God.  And baptism isn't a one-time experience either.  It is an ongoing process throughout our entire lives.  We live into our baptism, we remember it, we treasure it, and we do our best to become the people called Beloved by God when we are baptized.  

In a book she wrote about finding her way back into the Church, Rachel Held Evans once wrote: 

“Baptism reminds us that there’s no ladder to holiness to climb, no self-improvement plan to follow. It’s just death and resurrection, over and over again, day after day, as God reaches down into our deepest graves and with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead wrests us from our pride, our apathy, our fear, our prejudice, our anger, our hurt, and our despair.”

This reminder strips baptism of any illusion that it is a one-time ritual or merely an entry into church membership. Instead, baptism is the story of our lives with God: dying and rising again. Each day, we are confronted with pride that blinds us, fears that paralyze us, and wounds that weigh us down. 

And each day, God pulls us out, not because we’ve climbed high enough on some ladder of achievement, but because God’s love refuses to let us remain buried.

Paul tells us in Romans 6:4, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Baptism is not a symbol of perfection—it’s a proclamation that God’s resurrection power is at work in us right now. It says, “I am being made new, again and again.”

Jesus Himself was baptized in the Jordan, not because He needed cleansing, but to show us the way of humility, solidarity, and obedience (Matthew 3:13-17). In His baptism, the heavens opened and the voice of God declared, “This is my beloved Son.” In our baptism, God says the same over us: You are beloved.

So when you feel the weight of despair or the grip of anger, remember your baptism. When the world’s brokenness seems too great or your own failures too overwhelming, remember your baptism. In those waters, you were claimed, you were named, and you were raised to walk in newness of life.

Today, pause and whisper: “I am baptized. I am God’s beloved.” And let that truth wash over you like living water.

Prayer
Gracious God, thank You for the gift of baptism, where You meet us in our brokenness and raise us into Your love. Help us to live as resurrected people—humble, compassionate, and filled with hope. Remind us each day that we are Yours. Amen.

Reflection Questions

1. What does it mean to you personally that baptism is “death and resurrection, over and over again”?

2. In what moments of your life do you most need to “remember your baptism”?

3. How can you live today in a way that reflects the new life you have in Christ?