Stewardship and our Baptism
The congregation is sitting silently in anticipation, their eyes on Pastor as he takes the baby into his arms or places his hands on the child's or the adult's head and says their name. He dips his hand into the water of the font three times as he says, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." The sound of falling water is joyful music to those straining to hear it. Pastor gives thanks to God from all who are gathered in this sacred moment, "that through water and the Holy Spirit you give your daughters and sons new birth, cleanse them from sin, and raise them to eternal life."
The gift that is priceless has been given. The newly baptized know whose they are and because of that, they know who they are- "child of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever." They are in the family of God, loved and treasured by our Lord beyond human comprehension.
We may not usually vlew ourselves as a steward of our gift of baptism, but this is where new life begins for each of us, changes our vision of how we live, and defines our priorities in new ways. Through our baptism, God calls us and trusts us to care for and use the many gifts he has given to us in a way that responds to the love he has given us. For those things we can see, like our environment, natural resources, and our own assets, we can clearly define what needs to be done to show ourselves competent caretakers and each other's keepers. Then there is what is unseen Inside each of us--our motivations, reactions, thoughts, and emotions. Expressing, tending and sharing them through Jesus is also being a steward of our baptism.
The baptismal lens we use to live and view life and each other can be challenging because we are called to look through the eyes of Jesus and reflect his love in all that we do. To help us, God gives us the gift that we do not live our baptism alone. Jesus is with us. We are part of the family of God, so we come together in worship and fellowship to love and support each other on our life journey. We join with each other to live and express the love of Jesus, drawing others to his light and salvation by sharing ourselves and our resources individually and through community.
The beginning point for the stewardship of all our gifts is in our baptism. Through water and the Holy Spirit, we have been given new birth. We have been cleansed from sin and raised to eternal life. We are marked with the cross of Christ forever to live as a baptized child of God.
