Once in a Lifetime?
Pastor Mathew Magera – 6/9/19 – Sermon 353
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from God our Father, from our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It is the Day of Pentecost. The widely recognized
birthday of the Church. In Jewish history, this day would mark the festival of
first fruits, 50 days after Passover. In Greek it’s known by the name Pentecost
which means 50 days. So, this was not originally a Christian festival day. But
on this particular day, 50 days after the Passover and 50 days after the resurrection
of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit rested upon the followers of Jesus. They
had the power to speak multiple languages, languages that would unite many that
day. Many people heard the Gospel. Many people were baptized.
Have you ever taken advantage of a once in a
lifetime opportunity? Maybe it was landing that dream job. Or going to an
exotic vacation destination. Maybe it was having your first child. Maybe it was
doing something so dangerous or so expensive that you knew you probably would
never be able to do it again. We often use the phrase once in a lifetime pretty
liberally now. It’s more cliché than anything. While it literally would mean
that said opportunity is something that would never happen again it more likely
means said opportunity is something that is very rare or irregular but still
could happen again.
Regardless of what that once in a lifetime
opportunity is that you are thinking of, the feelings it gives you can be the
same. You know when what you are about to do is a once in a lifetime. They are
those opportunities that feel electric. They give us butterflies in our stomachs;
they make our palms sweat. We have that voice in our head that says, “You
better do this right. Don’t screw it up.” We jump into these opportunities, we
feel our muscles tense up and the hair on the back of our neck stands up. We
better make this count. We don't want to embarrass ourselves. If this doesn't
work, you will have a lifetime of regrets.
I’ve heard it said that baptism is a once in a
lifetime opportunity. It likely surrounds our belief in one baptism for the
forgiveness of sins rather than the necessity of needing to be baptized again.
Still, when I think of baptism and a once in a lifetime opportunity, I feel
that something isn’t quite right in putting the two together. For instance,
when I think of a once in a lifetime opportunity, I think of something that is
anticipated, happens, and then is done or gone, part of the past. I don’t feel
baptism leads up to that.
Instead, I would venture to say that baptism is not
a once in a lifetime opportunity but rather a once for a lifetime gift. Baptism
is not a work we do to make a name for ourselves but rather a work God does to
make us a name, specifically, the name child of God. Baptism is not about what
we do but it is about what God does. Baptism is not a one and done event in
which can say we've done it and now we can check it off our list. It's a once
for a lifetime gift in which we remember, on a daily basis, God's coming to us,
his filling us with the Spirit, and his promise to us of forgiveness and
salvation. Likewise, baptism is not a single moment in the midst of our life
but rather the moment in which a new life begins, a lifetime that begins at the
pouring of that water. Baptism is not something in which those voices in our
heads have any effect on the outcome. In baptism we don’t have to listen to
those voices that say, “you better do this right. Don’t screw it up. You better
make this count, you don’t want to embarrass yourself or you will have a
lifetime of regrets.” There’s no doubt those voices still exist. In fact, they
are the very words of Satan himself but Baptism does not require us to listen
to them.
Once in a lifetime opportunities require us to
perform under pressure. Baptism doesn’t increase the pressure but actually
releases it. Baptism releases us from the pressure to do good works for our
salvation and reminds us that Jesus has already done the good work required for
salvation. This work has a lasting, lifetime effect.
It's our choice whether to remember our baptism or
not. Just like any gift you’ve ever received, you can either open it and use it
or you can reject it. The same choice is ours when it comes to our baptism. Baptism
can certainly be a once in a lifetime opportunity that has come and gone or we
can see it as a once for a lifetime gift and make the best use of it. My hope
and prayer is that we would not forget.
For the past several months we have been collecting
baptism dates of as many people in the congregation that we can so that we can
start deliberately remembering our baptism anniversaries, publishing them, and
giving thanks for them. Even for those who do not remember their baptism date,
we will remember your baptism on this day, the Day of Pentecost, the birthday
of the Church, the day on which many were baptized. The point is that we do not
look back on baptism as a once in a lifetime opportunity, as something that has
happened in the past and that's it. Instead, we need to be remembering that our
baptism is a once for a lifetime gift that continues to be relevant for us each
day.
Baptism is a promise that is remembered and renewed
each morning and carries us through our day. Remembering helps us to know that
though we go through trials, temptations, sacrifice, and suffering, we have been
sealed with the Holy Spirit and been marked with the cross of Christ forever. Not
for today. Not for a year. It’s forever. We belong to the Lord.
So, as you think of once in a lifetime opportunities
remember they may come and go, but Baptism is something that has daily
relevance. Yes, your baptism itself takes place only once but its benefits are
unending. Today on this Pentecost Sunday, with the power of the Holy Spirit the
Church was gathered and many were baptized. We are a part of that multitude. We
continue to live that life and reap the benefits. God has reached out to us,
claimed us, called us His child, and has given to us a once for a lifetime
gift. Open it. Use it. Never forget it. To God be the glory, now and always.
Amen.