Resurrection, baptism and Monday morning

Monday morning.  Most maligned hours of the week.  Shut off the alarm, jump in the shower, grab some breakfast....begin the familiar routine of yet another work week, another foray into the world filled with challenges, disappointments, responsibilities and not as much peace as we would like.

After the different rhythms of even a busy weekend, Monday morning demands our attention, so it is not surprising that resurrection and baptism are not the most present things on our minds.  Resurrection and baptism are things that were checked off our To Do list long ago.  Right now we need peanut butter and jelly and gas for the car.

If I weren't writing this right at this moment I would be right behind you in line for use of the bathroom.  This world demands our attention and we pay a huge price if we lose focus and get caught day dreaming.  Living out our day as a baptized child of God feels like one more responsibility, not the great adventure that God intends for us.

It seems that life has managed to get more and more complex and the pressure to keep up or wash out just grows daily.  Any request to take on one more thing is considered suspiciously because at some point all our plates will stop spinning and china will crash to the floor.  We are perilously close to our limit - that place where our worth and ability run out and we are empty and useless. So baptismal covenants and resurrection life have found their place at the back of the closet; two more things that I don't have to think about right now.

Let's drag that baptismal water and empty tomb out from storage and re-consider.  Let's consider the power of the Holy Spirit - the spirit that raised Jesus from the dead into new and eternal life - the Spirit that anointed you in your baptism - the Spirit that works through you in this world to bring people and situations out of death and into new life.....THAT spirit.  Could you use a little of that today?

Let's consider that good news that you are beloved.  Today.  Right now...even though the laundry didn't get done this weekend and the dog is throwing up on the rug.  You are God's beloved and anything that might keep you separated from this God is off the table: forgiven and forgotten.  Even in the midst of one of your worst tantrums, when you are egregiously wrong, you are loved and Jesus walks beside you like your friend from elementary school.  Could you face a time today when that memory will hold you together and give you a glimpse of the holy?

Let's consider that God knows your name.  Sure, on the bus you are one face among 60 others; people you don't know.  Sure, HR knows you when they locate your file but even that won't matter if they need to lay off 15 people.  Sure, the soccer coach only knows you as that mother who runs in late and keeps murmuring about Sunday practices.  We are one of the great crowd of anonymous people to everyone out there but God.  God never forgets and is always available for a chat, a confession, a cry of fatigue.  Is it possible that today you will need to know that you are known by God?

The water of baptism is the beginning of resurrection life for us - real life, authentic life, life that gives life rather than continually subtracting it into nothingness.  The water of baptism calls us into a relationship that can mold and nurture us every moment of every day.  It is a new pair of glasses with which to see the world.  It is a new medicine that regulates our heart.  It is a pair of Italian leather loafers which cushion our walk through this lifetime.

So when you stand in the shower tomorrow morning, think baptism.  Your day will be changed because your life has been changed.  T
he baptismal waters are meant to disturb your life, your day, your dreams, your actions, your hopes, your plans. You go out into this world as a baptized child of God to live the life of resurrection and spread it around willy-nilly to absolutely everyone.

Here's a prayer to start your day:  Lord, disturb me this day.

I won't answer for you, but as for me, my day could use a little more disturbance by this God who loves me so dearly.

Disturbed by baptism

It is a courageous thing we do, baptizing our children.  Certainly all the drama is given over to the big wedding plans or possibly the selection of a college or maybe even that final act of our funeral, but none of these is quite as courageous as splashing water over the head of a powerless infant.

This is why.  Citizenship in this world is relinquished.  Even though that infant cannot take a step on their own in this world, the newly baptized steps into another realm.  With all the responsibilities that weigh heavy on parents' shoulders, they willingly take on yet another when they bring their infants to the font.  They make promises.  They are challenged to renew and refresh the promises of their own baptism.  They become this child's guide to Jesus, and life in the kingdom of God. They have set their child's feet upon the Jesus path; every day of this child's life will be a challenge to hold fast to the God who holds fast to them.

Too dramatic for you?  Or have we who watch and smile and congratulate the family simply gotten comfortable with this radical splashing of water?  Have we become deaf to the call of the Spirit?  Have we immunized ourselves against the realities of living out lives as baptized people of God?

Have we convinced ourselves that the water of baptism is our insurance for another time and not the starting point of living in this time and this place?  Have we turned baptism into another Hallmark moment and stripped it of its most powerful reality......that we are now joined to the death and resurrection of Jesus.....and that is never 'business as usual.'

Once upon a time a faithful servant of God poured water over your head in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and in disturbing the water simultaneously disturbed your life.  The very word life has shifted in meaning: it no longer means 'whatever you can eke out for yourself each day' but now means a connection with the Divine Creator, a shift from 'me' to 'we' and the ever present possibility of life being formed in the midst of death.  Our vision shifts from an image in our mirror to encompass the whole of humanity and parts of the world we will never glimpse with our own eyes.  Our theme song shifts from "I did it my way" to "I love to tell the story".

The water of baptism becomes our hearing aid, enabling us to hear the cries of the stranger caught in the grips of this world's forces, crushed by the weight of an
other's oppression.  The water of baptism is our physical therapy, keeping our joints well oiled as we step out into this world to bring light into dark corners and disturb evil in its work.

The water of baptism leads to a disturbed life:  now that we have tasted the wholeness of life that comes to us through and in Jesus, we are disturbed when life is diminished, locked up or out, refused or denied.  Then we are called to step into those places and disturb evil at its work.  We are baptizing warriors: warriors of life and not death, warriors who serve others rather than be served themselves.

Jesus asked the man by the pool of Bethsaida, "Do you want to be made well?" and just possibly he hesitated to answer because he wondered if he was ready .....ready to be a warrior for life and a bringer of light.

Are you ready?  As we open our eyes with each morning's light, let's allow this question to shape our day "Do you want to be made well?"  Jesus is ready .....are you?