Some years ago, I used to go visit a man who was about sixty years old. He was developmentally disabled. He lived in a nursing home. His name was Kenny.

I always enjoyed going and visiting Kenny. He was one of those guys, who you couldn't have a quiet kind of conversation, because his voice would carry. He was always exuberant in everything he said. And, when you would go to see Kenny, it was like you were receiving a hero’s welcome. It was like he had not seen you for twenty years.

"Pastor Bartels! It is wonderful to see you!" He would say to me, as I would walk up. Everybody in the nursing home would know that somebody had come to see Kenny.

Kenny loved to talk about sports. But, before he would talk about sports, every single time I went to see Kenny, after greeting me, he would all of a sudden stand up straight, get a very serious look in his eye, look right into my eyes and with a loud voice, he would say, "Pastor Bartels, I was born on January 23^rd, 1929."

Then, he would stop for a little bit, before continuing on to say, "I was baptized on January 30^th, 1929."

I would look at him and ask, "Kenny, what happened on the day you were baptized?"

Kenny would answer, "On the day I was baptized, I became a Child of God."

Every time I went and visited Kenny, we would have that conversation. It was nice and loud. And, everybody in the nursing home heard it.

One day, after visiting Kenny, a well-meaning nurse’s aid came up to me, as I was on my way out. She said, "Pastor it sure is nice that you come to visit Kenny."

I said to her, "I love to visit Kenny."

She then said, "Listen, we have a problem with Kenny. And, you being his pastor, we wondered if you could help."

Of course, my heart sunk a little bit, that there might be some problem with Kenny. So I asked, "What is the problem?"

She then said, "Pastor, every single day, Kenny has to tell us, 'I was born January 23^rd, 1929. I was baptized January 30^th, 1929.' And Pastor, Kenny thinks his baptism is too important. Can you let him know that his baptism is not as important as he thinks it is?"

But Kenny was right! Kenny knew how important his baptism is!"

Even though his baptism may have happened many years ago, (in Kenny's case, way back in 1929), he still clung to it, sixty, seventy years later, as such an important thing in his life, an active force in his life.

Martin Luther used to say, when people would come up to him and ask, "Were you baptized?" (As if it were something that happened in the past), Luther would say to them, "I don't say I was baptized. I am baptized. I stand baptized, today."

Our baptism, even though it happened long ago, (in many of our cases, and some of you here today were baptized eighty years ago, or more), our baptism is an active force in our life, today, as Christians. Look at what our scripture reading points us to, today. Our scripture reading today is talking about our battle against sin. In our lives, there may be a temptation, because we know as Christians, we know salvation is free. It is free.

Forgiveness is free!

We don't have to earn it. We don't have to deserve it. We just believe that Jesus died for our sins, and we are saved. That's it.

And so, there may be a temptation in our lives to think, "Ok. Salvation is free. I don't have to earn anything. I don't have to do anything. So, why not just go out and sin all I want to? And then, God will forgive me?"

I am sure all of us have been tempted that way. "Well, I will just do this one sin, and then I will ask Jesus to forgive me."

Our scripture reading is addressing those kinds of thoughts that go through our head, and then it tells us how to fight that temptation. What does it do? It takes you to your baptism. It takes you to your baptism. Look at what it says.

"What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?"

Should I say, "I will keep sinning and God will just keep forgiving me?"

The Bible says, "By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

Scripture, in times of temptation, scripture takes you straight to your baptism as an active force in our daily lives.

Now, let's briefly talk about what is the significance of baptism. Our catechism says that baptism is not just water, but it is water used according to God's Word, and connected to God's command. And, what is that Word of God? Jesus says, in Matthew 23:18,

"All authority has been given to me in Heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Our Lord commanded baptism. Baptism is not a human act. It is not something you and I do. Baptism is a divine act. Baptism is something that God does. Baptism is something that God does to us.

Some people look at baptism and ask, "How can a little water have that kind of power? Isn't is just a symbolic act?"

Martin Luther, who could be quite earthy at times, once said this. "If you were to take some spit and rub it on somebody's eyes who is blind and think that the spit is going to heal their eyes, you would be crazy. But, if Jesus took some spit and rubbed it on a blind man's eyes, and He connected His Word to that spit, and said to that blind man, 'Be healed,' our Savior, through some spit, can bring sight to a blind man."

Then Luther said, "In the same way it is true with baptism. Baptism is not just plain water, but it is water connected with Christ's Word and Christ's command. And when Christ connects His Word to the waters of baptism, the waters of baptism have the power to be able to do what God declares that baptism does for us. It is not the water that does it. It is the Word of God that is in and with the water, and faith, which trusts that Word of God, which is in and with the water."

And what does the Word of God say concerning baptism? The Word of God makes profound promises, regarding baptism. The Word of God says,

"Whoever believes and is baptized

shall be saved."

It connects salvation to baptism. The Word of God says,

"Baptism also now saves you,

not from the washing of dirt from your body,

but by the guarantee of a good conscience toward God."

Baptism saves by guaranteeing a good conscience toward God. The Bible says,

"Be baptized

and wash away your sins

and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

The Bible connects baptism with the washing away of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said,

"You cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven,

unless you are born again of

WATER and the Spirit."

When we look at scripture's plain, simple, clear, words concerning baptism, there are deep and profound promises that God gives to us concerning baptism.

I once had somebody come up to me and say, "You Lutherans think that there are two ways to get to Heaven."

I asked, "We do?"

And this person said, "Yes. You Lutherans think that there are two ways to get to Heaven."

And so, I asked, "What are the two ways that Lutherans think they get to Heaven?"

This woman said, "Well, Lutherans say you can either get to Heaven by believing in Jesus, or by being baptized."

Do we believe that? No! There is only way to get to Heaven and that one and only way to get to Heaven is by believing in Jesus.

It is by faith.

But faith needs something to cling to. Faith needs promises to hold onto. Faith needs something to stand on. In baptism, God gives you some profound personal promises to cling to. He gives you a profound foundation to stand on. The Word that is proclaimed today, is being proclaimed to all of you. It is awesome to think that in baptism, God comes to you, by yourself, individually, and personally. He calls you by name. "Mark Frederick Bartels." And then, He speaks His name upon you, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." There He promises that you are His. And all that He has belongs to you. Scripture says all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been clothed with Christ.

In your baptism, God promised that you are clothed with Christ. He made a promise to you personally, called you by name and said, "Christ is yours. Christ's holy life is yours."

Our scripture reading for today says,

"Don’t you know

that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus

were baptized into His death?"

We have been baptized into Christ's death. Christ's death is yours. There, God makes that promise to you. That is a promise that stands. And, faith clings to that promise and trusts that promise of God.

In a way, we can look at our baptism as our own Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Your baptism is like your own Good Friday and Easter Sunday, because what does our scripture reading say?

"Don't you know

that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus,

were baptized into His death?

We were therefore buried with Him,

through baptism,

into death."

Your baptism is your Good Friday.

Your baptism is the day that you were buried with Christ.

It was the day your sins were buried with Christ.

It was the day that God declared to you, personally, that Christ’s death is your death.

Christ's payment for sins is your payment for sin.

We were buried with Christ, by baptism into death. And, our sinful nature was brought to repentance, and put to death and drown, as it were, in the waters of baptism.

Our baptism is also our Easter Sunday. It says,

"Just as Christ was raised from the dead,

through the glory of the Father,

we too may live a new life."

We have been brought to faith in those promises of God, that were given to us in baptism, brought to faith in Christ as our Savior, brought to spiritual life. Jesus is mine. He did die for my sins. I am forgiven. Heaven is my home! And, I want to live for my Savior.

Given all of that, given all of that, your baptism is a significant thing for you, today. I like the way Martin Luther says it in our catechism. (You would have memorized this, when you were a child, if you were in Confirmation Class.)

The meaning of baptism. What does such baptizing with water mean? (And now it is going to apply to your day-to-day life.) Such baptizing with water means that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drown and die with all sins and evil lusts, and that a New Man daily come forth and arise, who shall live before God in righteousness and purity, forever.

Where is this written? St. Paul writes, Romans 6:4, which is our text today. "We are buried with Christ by baptism into death that just as He was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life."

As a Christian, one of the profound weapons we have to fight temptation in our day-to-day lives is our baptism. It is our baptism. And so, we go back to our baptism. What does Martin Luther say? We relive each day what happened in our baptism. He says, "Such baptizing with water means the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drown and die to all sins and evil lusts." What happened in my baptism? My sinful nature was crucified. And today, I go back to what happened in my baptism. I repent of my sins. I want to put to death my sinful nature. I don't want to live in those sins. I have been crucified with Christ. My Good Friday has come. And a New Man will daily come forth and arise. It is a New Man of faith, who trusts those promises that were given to us in our baptism.

My sins are forgiven.

Christ is mine.

I want to live for Him.

Kenny was right. Kenny really clung to his baptism. It was not something for him that happened in the way past and didn't mean anything to him, anymore. We are baptized. We are baptized! Let's cling to the promises that God gave us, in our baptism.

Amen.