Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

By Al Caldwell, Editor of the Lenten Series and Retired Faculty

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Mathew 3:16-17

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As Lent begins today on Ash Wednesday, Garrett Evangelical invites you to a series of devotions written by members of our community which will invite you to the discipline of "Living Into My Baptism". A central part of seminary education has to do with helping one to, "Remember your baptism." Often I found that this instruction was met with this comment: "I was baptized as an infant. I do not remember it." This answer confuses the ceremony with the life experience of living as a baptized person. For me it is the same distinction between the Wedding and the Marriage. One might in time of temptation or hurt be told, "Remember your marriage." This is not an instruction to recall the wedding day; it is an instruction to recall the covenant made in faith. To remember one's baptism is to recall the covenant out of which we live our lives day by day. To remember our baptism is to live out the promise we made to "reject the evil powers of this world", "to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves".

During Lent, each day we will post one small section of the Baptismal Covenant IV, Book of Worship, The United Methodist Church, and a member of our Garrett-Evangelical Community will add a short devotion. The writers were asked to follow this instruction in writing the devotions: "The meditation can be an exegetical expression of the assigned reading, or it can be a personal testimony of how you are living into your own baptism in light of the assigned reading for the day." On Ash Wednesday, we begin with prayer, and with confession. The life of the baptized person begins the same way. We live into our baptism by repenting of our sin. We live into our baptism by affirming our faith; we live into our baptism by acknowledging God as Father, Mother, Creator, Rock, Redeemer; We live into our baptism by being clear that we do believe in Jesus Christ; We live into our baptism by our firm belief in the "Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting." Come, during Lent, consider what it means for you to be Living Into Your Baptism.

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