Baptism: A Public Declaration of Our Dependence

I'm struck by the contrast between what we celebrate each Fourth of July (I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating this last Fourth in Creswell, Oregon) and what we celebrate with each baptism in worship. The former celebrates the birthday of a country and its declaration of independence. The latter also celebrates a birthday, of sorts, of the one being baptized and her declaration of dependence.

On the one hand, our country's declaration of independence is a reminder of the freedoms we enjoy, including being able to celebrate the sacrament of baptism without suffering reprisals, repression or worse from a governing authority. On the other hand, when it comes to those who would be baptized, the constant reminder of our country's high value on declaring and enjoying our independence creates a great contrast and ongoing temptation in the face of Jesus' call to follow him and to rely upon him and his leadership for their lives.

For those already baptized, our country's high value on declaring and enjoying our independence creates a constant societal pressure and drumbeat in the face of remembering our baptism and daily declaring our dependence upon the One who would shape us more and more into his character.

For more on this theme of baptism and publicly declaring our dependence, watch this sermon video from last Sunday called Baptism: A Public Declaration of Dependence