Now that was fun! I’m talking about the book signing I was privileged to have this past Sunday morning with the folks of my congregation. The ninety minutes between our two Sunday services were filled – signing for half an hour, then talking about the book for 15 minutes or so, and then signing again. What a joy to share this day with people who support my ministry.
I had a chance to talk about this favorite subject of mine, but in retrospect, I just scratched the surface of what I wanted to say. I guess that’s what happens when something’s become so deeply imbedded in your life. If I were to summarize the core of my motivation, it would be that deep in my heart I hope that baptism will become more closely connected with discipleship – and especially that baptism and discipleship are never separated.
In the tradition and practice of my Lutheran church where the baptism of infants is the ordinary experience, it’s obvious that a baby knows very little about discipleship – well, nothing really. So the future is needed for discipleship to happen, a future with that little one surrounded by people of faith who keep telling her that she is a child of God and helping her understand and practice what that means. This sounds a lot like my book’s subtitle, doesn’t it: “living in baptism every day.”
A few days ago I learned that there are about 70,000 baptisms annually in our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. If the average ELCA congregation is still around 500 members, that’s the equivalent of 140 congregations. What if all those baptized children also become effective disciples of our Lord? And what if the hearts and lives of the parents and sponsors who surround them are changed and motivated and empowered to live new lives of faith and love? Think how many people are affected.
When I think these thoughts, I remember again why I wrote this book, Water for Your Soul. Here in baptism God reaches into human lives with such grace and love that, tapping into it and living it daily, we are blessed – and changed – and can make a hopeful difference in the world as people of Christ.
