January 11, 2025 – Baptism of our Lord Text: Romans 6:1-11
Dear Friends in Christ,
What connects things together and has an unmistakable sound? The answer we are looking for today is…Velcro. A man named Georges de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, took a walk in the woods in 1941 and noticed how the burs clung to his pants. He thought – this might be useful. Through years of trying, he came up with two strips of material, one with thousands of tiny hooks, the other with thousands of tiny loops into which the hooks would stick. He named his invention Velcro, combining the words velvet and crochet.
Since that time, it has been used by NASA to secure items in space, grandparents to put their grandchildren’s shoes on, hospital gowns and even a toss and catch game. Velcro is a universal way of connecting two items together.
In our text today, St. Paul writes to the Roman Christians about being connected to Christ. Not through Velcro of course, but through our Baptism. Paul makes clear that . . .
“IN BAPTISM, GOD CONNECTS US WITH CHRIST”
If we are going to say that baptism connects us to Christ, we must say that prior to our Baptism, we were disconnected from Christ. We were born in sin. By our very nature we are disconnected from the Lord. We venture out on our own. We take things into our hands instead of Jesus’ hands through prayer. We disconnect when not in worship or the Word. He is the vine, and we are the branches. We can only be fed when connected.
Fortunately, God is at work in Baptism to connect us to Christ. First, God connects us to Christ’s death in and through Baptism. Paul writes, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.” (vs. 3-4a). We are connected to Good Friday. Dead with Him as the sun goes down and the body is prepared for burial. Every time a soul is baptized, young or old, God is joining that person to the death of Christ.
But God does not leave us in Christ’s tomb. He raises us to new life. Paul writes, “in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (v. 4b). That newness is something we are walking in right now.
What a contrast. Dead and now alive. Now we see how nonsensical Paul’s question is at the beginning of our text. “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” (vs. 1-2a). Now that we have this grace of God, this undeserved, unmerited, favor through faith in Jesus Christ – should we “sin boldly” so He has more opportunity to exercise His grace?
Paul recognizes the absurdity of the question. If you think this way, then you might start down this road with your thoughts. “Maybe I should set my house on fire so that the fire department can get more practice at putting out fires.” “Should I crash my car into a building so first responders get a little more experience with accidents?” By no means, indeed!
We do know we will not be free from sin on this side of heaven. Even as we walk in newness of life, we will still sin. The difference is that we don’t live to sin. We repent daily and receive the forgiveness that is ours in Christ Jesus.
Our new life doesn’t end when life here on earth ends. Our connection with Christ in our Baptism has future blessings for us and all Christians. Paul writes, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (v. 5). There is more to come. Jesus was bodily raised from the dead, so we too will be raised from the dead in our body.
This is the sure and certain hope of the baptized child of God. Death is no end. Death is a doorway, a gateway into an eternal life in the presence of God with all who have gone before us and all who will come after us.
Velcro has become such a daily part of our life, we probably rarely think about it, but oh that sound. The next time you hear it, think of the connection to your Baptism. In Baptism, God connects us with Christ, both in His death and in His resurrection.
Amen.