“Baptized Into Death” by the Rev. Dr. Tara W. Bulger

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness.For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Many years ago, I had a very good friend who was hurt by another friend of ours. It was a terrible situation in which I felt that my friend was gravely wronged. She was hurt for no other reason than spite and meanness. I was so angry on her behalf. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to say to the other person--how I wanted to tear them down just like I felt that my friend was torn down. I am ashamed to tell you that I spent a lot of time ruminating about this.

And then, one morning, I was doing my morning devotions, and the questions we were all asked at our baptisms, our confirmations, and our joining the church floated into my consciousness. "Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world? Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior, trusting in his grace and love? Will you be Christ's faithful disciple, obeying his word and showing his love?"

And it hit me like a ton of bricks: I could not go on hating or designing my grand plan of vengeance because I was a Christian. My hateful thoughts and hard heart were sinful, and I was not showing the love of Jesus Christ--the same love and forgiveness that had been shown to me.

The apostle Paul, writing in this passage from the Book of Romans, wants us to live into those baptismal vows because Paul reminds us--our baptisms change everything.

Paul believes that we who follow Christ should take part in the work Christ has and will do. Christ was baptized and began his ministry. We who are baptized work to fulfill Christ's ministry. Christ was crucified for all of humanity's sins; therefore, we should also die to our sinful ways of living. Christ was raised to new life; we, too, are given new life and should live accordingly.

You see, this is about sin. And Paul is under no illusion that we are struck perfect in our baptisms; he knows we still sin. But Paul also knows that we can use our will to root a lot of sin out of our lives, and because of the gift of grace we have been given, we should endeavor to do so. This is what those vows for baptism and membership are about---do we try to root out the sin in our lives?

You may have a hard time identifying sin in your life. One way to think of it is that sin is anything that runs counter to the will of God. Another way to think of it is that sin is anything that doesn't bring more grace and love into the world. Through this lens, I think we can see that we fail in many ways: the character assassination of gossip, the hardening of our hearts to people we perceive as a threat to or different than us, and the piling on we do when someone is being vilified. None of those things bring more grace and love to the world. None of those things are God's will for humanity.

At the beginning of this passage, Paul asks, well, if God forgives and shows grace, shouldn't we sin more so that God can show grace more? It seems ridiculous, but how many of us have knowingly sinned and said, "Oh well. God will forgive me?" Paul tells us, of course, that is not how it works. We are Christians; we no longer sin with impunity and cheapen God's grace by demanding it for what we can control. That is not who we are. We have been given a new identity, raised with Christ to live as his people.

Remember the story of the Prodigal Son? A father had two sons; the younger one demanded his inheritance early and left to go live elsewhere and waste his money and life on sinful living. He comes home expecting nothing but is met with the grace of the father: the father even throws him a party. Theologian NT Wright imagines the story of the Prodigal Son two years after the son returned. Wright imagines that in the two years the son has been home, things have settled into a dull routine; he is accepted, but farming is boring and often hard work. What if, the son imagines, he did it all again? What if he took off for a while but then returned home after a few months of partying and begged mercy from his father? Wouldn't his father welcome him home again? He might even throw him a party again. In Wright's scenario, the son has cheapened the grace he has been given by treating it so callously. We often do the same.

Make no mistake. In our baptism, we have been given grace upon grace. It is the kind of grace that changes you. It changes us so much that we are raised to live the life of Christ with Christ. So much as you are able and have the will to do so, turn from sin. Renounce evil. Bring more love and grace into the world. Amen.