The opening piece is from “Union with Christ” – The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther.
According to Luther, union with Christ is effected in baptism. The necessary precondition of baptism is always the preaching of God’s word. The sacrament of baptism achieves validity when the Word of God, that is, Christ, joins himself to natural water… It is Luther’s conviction that everything which comes into existence through baptism is totally God’s work. Christ is given to the baptized as well as the personal faith through which she receives Christ. Both are God’s gratuitous gifts.
We need not boast about being one of the faithful, for being faithful, trusting in what God had done and is doing for us, is not of our own doing. We walk and live within a word of life that cannot be grasped nor can it be owned and operated by us. As saints of God we call ourselves the baptized and we live our lives on a promise and that promise is the power to stand up and be exactly who we are – the beloved of God. There is no room in the Church for the petty pickiness that attempts to set up a hierarchy of worth for individuals. If your wet from that water upon which the Word of God has been spoken, don’t let anyone try to say you have less worth than any other or must sit at the back of the bus or must not even enter and join in the fullness of Christ’s body. Beloved, you are a gifted bunch and by the power of God’s love, we may all come to see that truth and hear its beautiful music.
Connection: Walk around today remembering what it is to be a gifted by God…you a gift…you a gift to this world. How does a gift go through an ordinary day?
When you lift us up out of the water of baptism, O God, you call us forward into a love that will be our foundation forever. Be our courage so that we will indeed trust in your promises and live boldly as followers of Jesus. Amen.
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