The stewardship of your baptism. Now there's a topic you probably didn't expect to see here. It's one that only applies to you if you have been baptized. If you haven't (or aren't sure if you have) been, you might still find some good in reading what follows. If it prompts you to get baptized, so much the better.
What follows is the transcript (mine) of a sermon that was preached at Faith Lutheran in Sussex, Wisconsin, during Advent (2019). It is short (for a sermon) and to the point and is the best sermon I've ever heard on the topic. (I told the preacher so afterwards.)
Here it is.
Grace, peace to you from God our Father, from our Savior Jesus Christ, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, who so wants to prepare your hearts for his coming again this Christmas.
In Jesus’ name, my dear friends,
So when we talk about stewardship in the Christian church, it’s become very common to talk about one of three things - about time or talents or treasure. And I imagine that, if you knew ahead of time that this sermon today was going to be a stewardship sermon, that you would have thought - that you would have figured that it was going to be about one of those three topics: time, talents, treasure. It’s become a custom in the Christian church.
But the truth is that you could talk about the stewardship of practically anything. Stewardship means to use or to manage something that has been entrusted to you. So theoretically, you could talk about the stewardship of your car or the stewardship of your clothes or even the stewardship of the American flag.
Another custom in the Christian church is, when it comes time for Advent, that we talk about a man named John the Baptist. And that’s a very good custom because John the Baptist is the one that God himself chose to prepare the way for Jesus’ arrival on the Judean scene. And John did that by preaching and teaching, but he also had another way of preparing people. He baptized people.
Now, if I wanted to copy John the Baptist, I think it would be a little foolish for me to try and baptize you today, because you have been baptized already. At least, I assume that you have. But your baptism didn’t stop having an effect on you the day after you were baptized. In fact, your baptism can bring God’s own power to your life for days and weeks and months and years after it happened, but only if it is believed - only if you use it correctly.
So today is going to be a stewardship sermon, but it’s going to be a little bit different kind of stewardship sermon. Today, John the Baptist is going to teach us about the stewardship of your baptism. Yes, let’s talk about that for a few minutes today - the stewardship of your baptism.
So there is only one way to use your baptism correctly. And I’m sure that you know what that way is. Today and that I’m just reminding you about it. You know that the one way to use your baptism - to be a good steward of your baptism is to think of it - to remember your baptism each day.
Now, when I say that, I’m not trying to say that you should try to remember what the church looked like on the day of your baptism, and I’m not trying to say you should try to remember what kind of clothes people were wearing that day or what the pastor’s sermon was about on the day you were baptized. I’m simply saying that it is so good for you to remember the simple fact that you were baptized and to remember that every day.
Now, it wouldn’t do you a whole lot of good just to remember your baptism if you don’t also know what your baptism means. And this is where John the Baptist can really help us today, because so many years ago at the Jordan River, John did not just baptize people. He also taught people what their baptism meant for them. And as he baptized people, this is what he preached: He said, “I baptize you with water for repentance.” That’s what baptism means - repentance. And that’s what baptism produces as well. It produces repentance. And as you remember your baptism each day, God will come to you very powerfully and help you to continue living a life of Christian repentance.
Now, why is that? Well, the Bible says that in baptism, God washes away all your sins. Just think for a second today how clean you became - how spiritually clean you became on the day that you were baptized. Suddenly, God looked at you as perfectly pure, because his Son, Jesus Christ, had lived on this earth a perfectly pure life, and now God was looking at you through the lens of his own Son’s perfect righteousness.
Now, when I have clean clothes on - when they’re all washed, fresh, and clean, the last thing in the world that I want to do is to go muddy them up again. In fact, if I’ve got a real dirty job ahead of me to do, I am going to change out of my clean clothes and put on some old clothes before I do that job, just so I don’t get into trouble because I got my nice, clean clothes dirty.
Well, the same is true with my baptism. In baptism, God has washed you completely spiritually clean, and as I think of my baptism, the last thing I want to do is to dirty my life up again with sin. My baptism is a continual motivation for me to do what John the Baptist preached - to produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
And when I fail - when I do dirty my life with sin again, then my baptism helps me as well - helps me with God’s own power to feel bad about what I have thought or what I have said or about what I have done. When I dirty my clothes, that’s the way I feel. I feel bad. If I spill coffee on my white shirt or if I spill gravy on my tie, I feel sorry about it, and I tell myself that I need to be more careful the next time. And it’s the same when I dirty my life with sin. I feel bad about it. And as I remember my baptism, God motivates me again to turn away from my sin and to leave my sin at Christ’s cross where it was finally and completely forgiven.
And my baptism does more for me. When I have turned away from my sin - when I have left it at Christ’s cross again, my baptism reminds me that I am already clean - that God has washed all my sin away - that my baptism actually saves me from my sin and that God is looking at me as if I have perfectly clean clothes on, because Jesus’ spiritual clothes are always perfectly clean. And God sees me, through my baptism - God sees me wearing the clothes of Christ Jesus. That’s what the Bible says. In baptism, God clothes you with Christ Jesus.
That’s all only going to happen if you think of your baptism - if you remember your baptism. And baptism is such a simple thing that it is so very easy for people to forget. There are Christians who go for days and weeks and months and even years without remembering their baptism! Oh, that we would all remember our baptism more often!
You know what that’s like, when people go for such a long time, without thinking of their baptism? It’s kinda like those Wisconsin winters that we have every so often where we get this beautiful snowfall at the beginning of the winter. And it covers everything, but then we go weeks and weeks and weeks without another snowfall. And you know what happens, right? At first, everything is so pretty - so pure, white, and pretty. But then, pretty soon the cars go by and the trucks and the schoolbuses and the trains and with all their exhaust fumes, after a few weeks, that snow is all dirty. And pretty soon everyone is hoping - some are even praying for another snowfall to make things pure and white-looking again.
Well, the same thing happens with people. In baptism, there is this beautiful “snowfall” that makes you perfectly white and pure and clean in God’s eyes. And when people go for years and years without thinking of their baptism, pretty soon the dirt starts piling up and the “exhaust fumes” of sin start to become more and more evident. And sometimes that sin becomes evident to other people. Certainly it becomes evident to God. And you start praying that this person would remember their baptism again.
How different it is when people remember their baptism every day! It’s like this fresh snowfall every day. And when I dirty my life with sin again, well, that same day the “snow” comes and covers over my sin, because in baptism I am connected to my Savior, Christ Jesus.
People often say that we have to put Christ back into Christmas. You’ve heard that before. I’ve been hearing people here in Wisconsin say it again this year - that we’ve got to put Christ back into Christmas. And as true as that is, I think it’s also important to remember that before we will ever succeed at putting Christ back into Christmas, first we need to put John the Baptist back into Christmas, because John is the one who paved the way for Jesus’ arrival.
And John certainly did it by his preaching. John was a very powerful preacher. And usually preachers emphasize, during the Advent season, the preaching of John. (Some of them do it because they want to feel kinda powerful like John the Baptist was.)
But it’s also true that there was another power to John the Baptist - a power that is so easily forgotten. This power - the very simple act of baptizing that John did - what an amazing power, a divine power, that God brought into the life of people through baptism! Baptism connects you to Jesus’ birth and life and death and resurrection. Baptism saves you! This is what the Bible says: Baptism connects you to your Savior.
So, remember your baptism. Remember your baptism every day. That’s how to be a good steward of your baptism. And God will keep you ready for Christ’s next coming that way - keep you ready today, tomorrow, and forever. Amen.
What follows is the transcript (mine) of a sermon that was preached at Faith Lutheran in Sussex, Wisconsin, during Advent (2019). It is short (for a sermon) and to the point and is the best sermon I've ever heard on the topic. (I told the preacher so afterwards.)
Here it is.
Grace, peace to you from God our Father, from our Savior Jesus Christ, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, who so wants to prepare your hearts for his coming again this Christmas.
In Jesus’ name, my dear friends,
So when we talk about stewardship in the Christian church, it’s become very common to talk about one of three things - about time or talents or treasure. And I imagine that, if you knew ahead of time that this sermon today was going to be a stewardship sermon, that you would have thought - that you would have figured that it was going to be about one of those three topics: time, talents, treasure. It’s become a custom in the Christian church.
But the truth is that you could talk about the stewardship of practically anything. Stewardship means to use or to manage something that has been entrusted to you. So theoretically, you could talk about the stewardship of your car or the stewardship of your clothes or even the stewardship of the American flag.
Another custom in the Christian church is, when it comes time for Advent, that we talk about a man named John the Baptist. And that’s a very good custom because John the Baptist is the one that God himself chose to prepare the way for Jesus’ arrival on the Judean scene. And John did that by preaching and teaching, but he also had another way of preparing people. He baptized people.
Now, if I wanted to copy John the Baptist, I think it would be a little foolish for me to try and baptize you today, because you have been baptized already. At least, I assume that you have. But your baptism didn’t stop having an effect on you the day after you were baptized. In fact, your baptism can bring God’s own power to your life for days and weeks and months and years after it happened, but only if it is believed - only if you use it correctly.
So today is going to be a stewardship sermon, but it’s going to be a little bit different kind of stewardship sermon. Today, John the Baptist is going to teach us about the stewardship of your baptism. Yes, let’s talk about that for a few minutes today - the stewardship of your baptism.
So there is only one way to use your baptism correctly. And I’m sure that you know what that way is. Today and that I’m just reminding you about it. You know that the one way to use your baptism - to be a good steward of your baptism is to think of it - to remember your baptism each day.
Now, when I say that, I’m not trying to say that you should try to remember what the church looked like on the day of your baptism, and I’m not trying to say you should try to remember what kind of clothes people were wearing that day or what the pastor’s sermon was about on the day you were baptized. I’m simply saying that it is so good for you to remember the simple fact that you were baptized and to remember that every day.
Now, it wouldn’t do you a whole lot of good just to remember your baptism if you don’t also know what your baptism means. And this is where John the Baptist can really help us today, because so many years ago at the Jordan River, John did not just baptize people. He also taught people what their baptism meant for them. And as he baptized people, this is what he preached: He said, “I baptize you with water for repentance.” That’s what baptism means - repentance. And that’s what baptism produces as well. It produces repentance. And as you remember your baptism each day, God will come to you very powerfully and help you to continue living a life of Christian repentance.
Now, why is that? Well, the Bible says that in baptism, God washes away all your sins. Just think for a second today how clean you became - how spiritually clean you became on the day that you were baptized. Suddenly, God looked at you as perfectly pure, because his Son, Jesus Christ, had lived on this earth a perfectly pure life, and now God was looking at you through the lens of his own Son’s perfect righteousness.
Now, when I have clean clothes on - when they’re all washed, fresh, and clean, the last thing in the world that I want to do is to go muddy them up again. In fact, if I’ve got a real dirty job ahead of me to do, I am going to change out of my clean clothes and put on some old clothes before I do that job, just so I don’t get into trouble because I got my nice, clean clothes dirty.
Well, the same is true with my baptism. In baptism, God has washed you completely spiritually clean, and as I think of my baptism, the last thing I want to do is to dirty my life up again with sin. My baptism is a continual motivation for me to do what John the Baptist preached - to produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
And when I fail - when I do dirty my life with sin again, then my baptism helps me as well - helps me with God’s own power to feel bad about what I have thought or what I have said or about what I have done. When I dirty my clothes, that’s the way I feel. I feel bad. If I spill coffee on my white shirt or if I spill gravy on my tie, I feel sorry about it, and I tell myself that I need to be more careful the next time. And it’s the same when I dirty my life with sin. I feel bad about it. And as I remember my baptism, God motivates me again to turn away from my sin and to leave my sin at Christ’s cross where it was finally and completely forgiven.
And my baptism does more for me. When I have turned away from my sin - when I have left it at Christ’s cross again, my baptism reminds me that I am already clean - that God has washed all my sin away - that my baptism actually saves me from my sin and that God is looking at me as if I have perfectly clean clothes on, because Jesus’ spiritual clothes are always perfectly clean. And God sees me, through my baptism - God sees me wearing the clothes of Christ Jesus. That’s what the Bible says. In baptism, God clothes you with Christ Jesus.
That’s all only going to happen if you think of your baptism - if you remember your baptism. And baptism is such a simple thing that it is so very easy for people to forget. There are Christians who go for days and weeks and months and even years without remembering their baptism! Oh, that we would all remember our baptism more often!
You know what that’s like, when people go for such a long time, without thinking of their baptism? It’s kinda like those Wisconsin winters that we have every so often where we get this beautiful snowfall at the beginning of the winter. And it covers everything, but then we go weeks and weeks and weeks without another snowfall. And you know what happens, right? At first, everything is so pretty - so pure, white, and pretty. But then, pretty soon the cars go by and the trucks and the schoolbuses and the trains and with all their exhaust fumes, after a few weeks, that snow is all dirty. And pretty soon everyone is hoping - some are even praying for another snowfall to make things pure and white-looking again.
Well, the same thing happens with people. In baptism, there is this beautiful “snowfall” that makes you perfectly white and pure and clean in God’s eyes. And when people go for years and years without thinking of their baptism, pretty soon the dirt starts piling up and the “exhaust fumes” of sin start to become more and more evident. And sometimes that sin becomes evident to other people. Certainly it becomes evident to God. And you start praying that this person would remember their baptism again.
How different it is when people remember their baptism every day! It’s like this fresh snowfall every day. And when I dirty my life with sin again, well, that same day the “snow” comes and covers over my sin, because in baptism I am connected to my Savior, Christ Jesus.
People often say that we have to put Christ back into Christmas. You’ve heard that before. I’ve been hearing people here in Wisconsin say it again this year - that we’ve got to put Christ back into Christmas. And as true as that is, I think it’s also important to remember that before we will ever succeed at putting Christ back into Christmas, first we need to put John the Baptist back into Christmas, because John is the one who paved the way for Jesus’ arrival.
And John certainly did it by his preaching. John was a very powerful preacher. And usually preachers emphasize, during the Advent season, the preaching of John. (Some of them do it because they want to feel kinda powerful like John the Baptist was.)
But it’s also true that there was another power to John the Baptist - a power that is so easily forgotten. This power - the very simple act of baptizing that John did - what an amazing power, a divine power, that God brought into the life of people through baptism! Baptism connects you to Jesus’ birth and life and death and resurrection. Baptism saves you! This is what the Bible says: Baptism connects you to your Savior.
So, remember your baptism. Remember your baptism every day. That’s how to be a good steward of your baptism. And God will keep you ready for Christ’s next coming that way - keep you ready today, tomorrow, and forever. Amen.
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