Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve discussed the Lutheran sacraments, namely Baptism and Holy Communion. For Lutherans, these are not symbolic gestures, but ways that God has chosen to distribute the grace that is ours through Christ. Baptism adopts us into His family. Communion is the way He feeds us.
That’s why, in Lutheran congregations, you’ll often see communion celebrated with great frequency. This is because we understand that communion is important to our faith. We eat three times a day to remain healthy. We take communion often for the same reason. It keeps us healthy spiritually.
And the same is true for Baptism, after a fashion. But here’s the rub: since most Lutherans are baptized as babies, and we’re only baptized once (we’re not big on re-baptisms), how are we to continue making use of our baptisms?
Well, we see baptism as the foundation of our identity in Christ. And so we’re encouraged to remember our baptism daily. I often encourage my congregants to remember their baptisms when they come in contact with water. Water is, after all, the physical element used in baptism. So when we feel the water upon our face in the morning or pelting us during a rainstorm, we are reminded of how God claims us as His own.
For Lutherans, the Sacraments are an integral part of who we are as Christians. They run through our lives, bolstering our faith and our ability to live as God’s chosen people.
And that’s the last thing I have to say on that. In two weeks, we’ll come back to the “half a sacrament,” the odd leftover from Catholicism that Lutherans don’t make much use of, but totally should.