Personally, it was an amazing and humbling moment...taking part in baptizing 17 people from our two communities in the swells of the lake waters. Watching some come out of the water with clear joy etched on their faces. Experiencing others' tears of relief and release. And with each, having the idea that something much larger than me, than us, was happening in those moments.
It led me to think about my own baptism, which took place in August 1999, where I gave my life wholly to JESUS in these same Lake Michigan waters, along this same shore.
It's a moment that's marked me ever since.
Not in any way that I can explain, actually. But more so, somewhere deep down in the core of my soul something profoundly shifted that day - kinda like the day I got married to Janel. Though we went through a pretty common ritual, led by a pretty normal guy (Pastor Dave), both of us felt it - that, in that moment, the universe shifted to accommodate something new that didn't exist before (Janel and I as ONE) and that a new reality was underway, with no going back to the old one. Yes, from that point forward, we were no longer who we were before...but rather, we were "new" creatures, with a new identity, a new viewpoint and a new way of living.
It's no different with baptism. When you plunge under the churning waters of Lake Michigan (or wherever you do it), you are bringing all that you've been to that moment - the good, the bad and the downright ugly (and boy, did I have some ugly to bring with me!) - with you. Yet, when you arise out of the water, to gasp another breath and re-open your eyes, you are coming up with those very things that used to define you left behind. As with my wedding day with Janel, I can't explain it, I can't point to any specific thing or event or circumstance to prove my point. All I can tell you is that I just know. Everything is different when you come up from the water. You may be the same general person. You may look the same (albeit a little wet). You may have the same hopes and aspirations (for now). But you are new. With a new identity, a new viewpoint and a new way of living.
This is what a follower of JESUS named Paul is getting at when he wrote these words to a community of fellow JESUS followers in an ancient greek city named Corinth:
"...Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone. A new life has begun!"
What he's getting at is at the very core of what we celebrate at baptism, and in taking communion. That through JESUS, somehow, mysteriously, we have been given a clean slate - a new lease on life, if you will. Quite literally, the old life is over. Done. Finished. And a new life, started fresh, is underway. Oh, it may not be readily apparent at first, but it's there, like a seed lying dormant under the surface of the soil, beginning to burst forth, but still needing to make a lot of progress before it breaks through the topsoil to reach for the warmth of the sun.
That's how baptism was for me 9 years ago. Something started deep inside my soul, and over the past 9 years I've begun to see some of the outward effects of that decision to wholly follow JESUS. Of course, I've not done it perfectly, but more and more I'm seeing the fruit of a life with HIM borne out. More and more I'm finding myself moving in concert with HIS ways rather than the ways of the world, the way of self-promotion and self-service. And I'm more and more experiencing HIS idea of an abundant life - a life lived in the center of HIS purposes for you, giving away what you've been given to love and serve and bless others. It is nothing short of miraculous, this change, especially in light of where I was when I went under the water in August 1999.
May you, and may those who were baptized on Sunday, see the same (and more) unfold in the days, months and years to come...
::
what's happened to you? - you used to look so tired
now there's a spring in your step and your words are on fire
did you hear some great secret? did the words ring of truth?
did you rise from the ashes? what's happened to you?
What's Happened To You? | The Call
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