Baptism of David William and Anne Tyler

There was once a little child in Sunday School who was asked what baptism means, and the child said, "Baptism is when God puts a cross on your forehead, and nobody sees it, but God sees it."

To be baptized means that we are no longer defined by how we've missed the mark. We are defined by Jesus Christ. In baptism, we receive a new identity. In baptism, we are covered with Christ.

When we are baptized, if we live into it, our baptism helps us get our view of the world right – it helps give us a perspective on what it means to live in the world as a baptized Christian – in, but not of, the world.

A group of students were once asked to list what they thought were the current Seven Wonders of the World. The list included:
1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall

The teacher noted that one quiet student hadn't turned in her list yet, so she asked the girl if she were having trouble with it. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many."

The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then said, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:
1. to see
2. to taste
3. to touch
4. to hear
She hesitated a little, and then added,
5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. and to love

Those taken for granted everyday miracles we overlook as simple and "ordinary" are truly wondrous. The story reminds us that the most precious things in life cannot be bought. The God who loves us gave them to us.

Now there are several things that should always be said about any baptism and about baptism in any age.

First of all, it is the most important day in our life, even though we won’t remember it if we were baptized as infants. And it is up to parents and godparents and grandparents to tell the story of our baptism over and over again to remind us of what happened on this day and of how this is the most important day of our life.

Second, our baptism is a liturgical remembering of Jesus’ own baptism – and at the same time much more than that. Our baptism is uniquely our own. Our baptism sets seal, sign, and symbol on our own unique and personal relationship with the God who loves us. Someone may choose to be baptized again and again – but this first baptism is sufficient until the end of the ages and beyond. No one can unbaptize us, no one can take it away..

Third, our baptism signals our formal membership in the Body of Christ, the Church, the blessed company of all faithful believers, no matter what church or denomination we may choose for himself. They are all part of the Body of Christ.

But our baptism is more than a membership in a club or organization or social circle, although there is some of all that. When we are baptized with water in the Name of God the Holy Trinity, something mysterious, something very powerful, something timeless, something holy, happens to us. We know in the essence of our being and at the heart of our faith that it does. We are washed clean by the water of Baptism, forgiven and stripped of any original sin, reborn to new life, and made Christ’s own forever. We may try to deny our Baptism – but no one can ever undo it.

We are changed forever. This is all God’s doing and it is permanent. And God know each one of his children, a Child of God, whom he loves for all time and eternity.”

AMEN