Today we look at the baptism of Jesus from Luke 3:21–22 and why baptism is such a big deal for us as Christians. No matter our denomination—Methodist, Baptist, Catholic—we may see it differently, but we all agree it’s important. In my tradition as a United Methodist, baptism is a sign of God’s covenant with us, and I especially love how we include infants as part of that covenant family. I talked about how baptism is like putting on your uniform—it marks us as part of God’s team and reminds us who we are. In a world where we search for identity in so many places, our true identity is found in Christ. So today, I encouraged us all: remember your baptism, remember who you belong to, and remember where your true home is.

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Good morning! It’s good to be with you this Tuesday as we continue our time in Luke’s Gospel. I hope you had a great Monday and a great start to your week.

You know, we’re kind of in those summer doldrums. It’s hot, and we just finished the Fourth of July weekend. Now we’re in that slog until school starts. For us in Madison, I believe it starts on the 31st. I only know that because of church scheduling. Our kids are in college, so we haven’t really been paying much attention to when school starts here. For those of you with kids in school, I’m praying for you! So, we’re in that season where we’re kind of slogging towards school starting, and it’s good to be spending some time in Luke’s Gospel as we approach that.

Today, we’re going to be reading Luke chapter 3, verses 21 through 22. These are two very important verses talking about the baptism of Jesus:

“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus had also been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened. The Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.'”

That’s all Luke tells us about the baptism. Matthew provides more detail, but Luke gives us a very short account of Jesus’ baptism.

Let’s talk a little about baptism. It’s an important thing. Remember, one of the last things Jesus told his disciples was to “go out and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” I was just having a conversation with a staff member yesterday about the importance of baptism in our faith as Christians, and specifically within our theological tradition as Wesleyans—United Methodists.

I tell people that baptism is one of those things every Christian believes is important, and we actually agree on its importance. Now, when I say that, you might think, “No, we don’t. I’m a Baptist, so I don’t believe like you Methodists believe in baptism,” or “I’m a Catholic, or Presbyterian, or whatever, and I don’t hold the same view of baptism.” And you’re right. Different traditions and theological perspectives will have different understandings of baptism. That’s common. But we all agree that baptism matters. That’s what I’m talking about when I say we all agree on it. Every Christian tradition will say, “Yes, baptism is important.”

Now, we can argue over who performs it, who is eligible for it, when it’s to be done (on infants or adults only), and so on. We’ll have disagreements on the mode, method, and person. But we’ll all agree: baptism is a big deal.

In our tradition as Wesleyans, as United Methodists, we understand baptism to be a sacrament. One of the most important aspects of baptism for us in the United Methodist tradition is its connection to the covenant. It is the marking of the covenant God has with us. We baptize infants because they are born into a covenant community; they are children of the covenant. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world,” and they are born into the church family, part of our covenant community—someone for whom Christ died.

In the same way that children of the Old Covenant were marked with circumcision as a sign they were covenant children, we, in our Methodist tradition, baptize infants to show baptism as the marking that they are children of the New Covenant. Just as circumcision marked them as covenant children (which they later affirmed for themselves at their Bar Mitzvah), likewise, for us as members of the New Covenant, baptism is the sign of our marking as children of the New Covenant. They then, in our tradition, will accept and claim this for their own when they are confirmed or make a public profession of faith.

For our Baptist friends, baptism is done as a sign of obedience to salvation and following Jesus Christ. For all of us, regardless of where we fall on our denomination’s particular understanding of baptism, I think it’s important that we think about it and remember our baptism.

Remember the waters, even if you were baptized as an infant and can’t recall the specific act. You can remember the grace given to you in that act. Likewise, if you were baptized at an age where you can remember it, you can recall that experience.

But it’s important for us to remember that it’s about God. God is marking us, claiming us as His own, and telling us that we are His and that He loves us. I love that. That’s why I love the rituals of the church—baptism, communion, and all such things. These rituals tell the story. And every time we tell the story, we remember it. As the hymn goes, “I love to tell the story; for those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.” It’s important for us to tell the story.

When we baptize someone, especially an infant at St. Matthew’s, I love to hold the baby. I joke that most United Methodist preachers my age are doing a bad impersonation of Kelly Pope because Kelly would walk around and sing to the baby. I don’t sing, but I do walk around with the child and let the congregation see them. I remind the congregation that this child is born to us as a covenant community, and that matters. So, we, as a church, make a vow to love this child. I always remind the church about this when we have children’s musicals and similar events, that we need to support these children because we’ve promised.

I love that we’re baptized into this church. Baptism is our marking as part of being not only someone for whom Christ died and Christ loves, but also our entry into the church. It’s our sign, if you will, of who we are.

I describe it to our children in confirmation this way: “Baptism is about putting on your uniform.” If you play sports, or ball, or dance, or cheer, or are in the band, you have a uniform. My team’s uniform is different from your team’s uniform, and your uniform lets you know whose team you’re on. For us as Christians, our baptism is our uniform. It lets us know whose team we’re on. It lets us know who we’re a part of.

So, we need to remember that. Remember whose team you’re on. Remember what body you’re part of. We represent Christ wherever we go. If we are baptized Christians, we have taken on the name of Christ. We are called to follow Him. If you’ve been baptized into Him, you don’t take that off. You take it with you everywhere you go. It’s your identity. It’s part of who you are.

We’re looking for identity in so many places now, aren’t we, friends? In our politics, in our sports, in our hobbies, in our children. And yet, those identities never truly fit us. They never really give us life. Even good things, like our kids, never truly fulfill us as we’d like. That’s because we’re forgetting our true identity.

We were baptized into the body that matters, which is the Church. We find our identity in our home; we find our reality in Christ. So, remember your baptism. Remember the family that’s truly yours. Remember the heritage that’s truly yours. Remember the foundation that’s truly yours. Remember who you are. Remember where your home lies. You’re more than your work. You’re more than your paycheck. You’re more than your retirement. You are in Christ, friends. If you are a baptized Christian, you are in Christ. That’s your home. Don’t forget that. Don’t find your home anywhere else, but find it in Christ.

Hey, thanks for being with us today! I could talk about baptism all day long. Thanks for being with us. I hope you have a great rest of your day. Tomorrow, we’re going to read the genealogy, which you’ll hopefully find pretty useful and interesting. So, pick up tomorrow with Luke chapter 3. Thanks. See you tomorrow.