Loving God, we give you thanks for the salvation that you have prepared for us through Jesus Christ.  Teach us to claim this inheritance that you give to us in baptism, and help us to live always in your life and your light; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    One of the things that we end up talking about quite often in confirmation are covenants.  It’s one of those words that usually needs explaining, because we don’t necessarily use it in our every-day speech.  If you look up “covenant” in a dictionary, you will find something like this: “a binding agreement made by two or more persons or parties.”  And so a covenant is kind of like an agreement or a contract.  However, most dictionaries will also have a definition that refers specifically to God.  And where God is involved, most covenants involve God’s promises to human beings.

    We heard about one of those covenants today in our reading from Genesis, and we will continue to hear about some of the biblical covenants over the next few weeks.  Today’s covenant is the first one that we find in the Bible: God’s “everlasting covenant” with every living creature that is on the earth.  In this covenant, God promises never again to destroy all flesh with a flood (Gen. 9:15).  Of course, this covenant also has a sign that goes with it: the rainbow in the clouds.  Every time the rainbow appears, all people are invited to remember God’s covenant with them.

    You may not have caught it right away, but there is another covenant that is mentioned in the readings today, and that is the covenant of baptism.  Once again, this is a covenant where God is the initiator and where God makes promises to us.  Our second reading today from 1 Peter actually makes an amazing statement.  Put quite simply, it says that “baptism... now saves you” (1 Pet. 3:21) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Now that is an amazing promise!

    The writer of 1 Peter also makes a connection between Noah and the flood and baptism.  Right in our baptismal service we remember how God saved Noah and his family from the waters of the flood - a connection that comes from this passage in 1 Peter.  However, now it is baptism that saves people through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    I mentioned earlier how the covenant with Noah and his descendants had a sign that went with it - a sign that would help people remember God’s promise to them.  In this case, the sign is the rainbow.  But what about baptism?  What is the sign that helps us to remember God’s promises to us in baptism? (Note that there are both signs and symbols)

    Wouldn’t it be the sign of the cross?  One thing that Martin Luther did as part of his daily prayers was to make the sign of the cross in remembrance of his baptism.  It was a reminder to him that he had been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Later on, some Lutherans got rid of this practice, thinking that it belonged with Roman Catholics rather than Lutherans.  However, in more recent years many Lutherans have reclaimed the sign of the cross as a means of remembering their baptism.  It can also be an acted out prayer, saying, “Christ be in my mind and in my heart and on either side of me.”

    Others, when they make the sign of the cross, make a cross on their foreheads.  It is an image that comes from Revelation, where those who belong to Christ are sealed and given a mark on their foreheads (7:3).  The words that go with it in our baptismal service are “you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”  It is a mark that is invisible most of the time, but becomes visible once a year on Ash Wednesday.  “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

    While some people might think of this as morbid, it is really a simple statement of reality.  We are, in fact, mortal.  We will die.  However, because of God’s covenant with us in baptism, death is merely the prelude to resurrection.  And so, the sign of the cross reminds us that we are God’s own children and that we have been saved through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    Recently, at Whitney Houston’s funeral, Kevin Costner gave one of the eulogies.  He spoke about how Whitney was plagued by the fear that she wasn’t good enough.  She was always afraid that she wasn’t pretty enough or talented enough to measure up.  However, Kevin’s message to Whitney was, “When you sing before [your heavenly Father], don’t worry.  You’ll be good enough.”  After all, who was it who gave Whitney her voice in the first place?

    Unfortunately, though, Whitney is not alone in fearing that she is not good enough.  Many people suffer from an inferiority complex, believing that they can never measure up to the expectations of others.  However, even more people fear that they will never be good enough for God.  In fact, some people come to church their whole lives, and in the end, still don’t know if they will be good enough to “get in.”  Will I be good enough to get into heaven? – This is a question that many people still ask.

    And so, somehow, we still haven’t heard and understood the good news of Jesus Christ!  If we were allowed into heaven based on whether we had been good enough or not, not one of us would be there.  That’s why Jesus came - because we never, ever could be good enough.  We are sinful human beings.

    However, God created us, and God loves us, and that’s why God saves us through Jesus Christ.  1 Peter puts it all into one sentence: “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God” (1 Pet. 3;18).  We are acceptable to God because of Jesus and because of our baptism into Christ.  And when we repent (which means turning away from evil and sin and turning towards God), and when we confess our sins and put our faith in Jesus, God forgives us and makes us good enough.

    Sometimes we talk about living in the covenant of our baptism, and what we really mean is living in relationship with God.  God makes this covenant with us, and God saves us, and God forgives us, and God brings us into a life-giving relationship with God.  God does this, wanting us to continue living in that relationship with God.

    In the Affirmation of Baptism today, we’re going to hear some of the things that are part of that ongoing relationship with God - things like gathering together with other believers, hearing God’s word, and sharing in the Lord’s supper; things like serving others and sharing the good news about Jesus in all that we say and do; things like striving for justice and peace and praying for one another.  These are not things that we do so that God will check them off on a big list somewhere.  Rather, these are things that are simply part of living as children of God and continuing in that life-giving relationship.

    And so, today, remember your baptism.  Remember God’s promise that “the one who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk. 16:16).  Remember the sign of the cross, for it is Jesus who saves us.  Finally, hear Jesus’ message from today’s gospel: “repent, and believe in the good news” (Mk. 1:15).  For in Jesus, the kingdom of God has, indeed, come near.  Amen.

Lent 1(B)                                    Genesis 9:8-17
February 26, 2012                                1 Peter 3:18-22
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church                        Mark 1:9-15
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2012 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved