From the Pastor – May

As Christians, we believe, teach, and confess that God’s words and the waters of Holy Baptism give us the blessings of forgiveness, abundant life today, eternal life, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through Holy Baptism, the Holy Spirit creates faith and gives us new spiritual life and the power to overcome sin. Remembering our Baptism involves acknowledging that we have inherited an evil and corrupt nature because of Adam’s fall into sin. The “Old Adam” must daily be drowned by daily being genuinely sorry for our sins, by faith repenting of our sins, and by the power of the Holy Spirit resisting and overcoming evil desires (Luther’s Small Catechism).

The Apostle Paul reminds us that by Baptism we have been made to share in Christ’s death and resurrection: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:3-4

To help us remember our Baptism every time we gather to worship, we invoke the name of the Triune God … we begin the service “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” By making the sign of the cross T, we remember our Baptism and that the sign of the cross was placed upon our heart and head during Baptism. Many Christians begin their day by making the sign of the cross and remembering their Baptism. In our sanctuary, the baptismal font is displayed in the front of the church as a visual reminder to help us remember how Christ died for our sins and washed our sins away through Baptism.

Our Baptismal font is made of mahogany wood and matches the altar and other liturgical artwork designed by Ernst Schwidder (1931-1992) in 1970. The baptismal font has a hand-carved concave section to hold a baptismal basin. The bronze basin that is currently on top of the font was donated by Pastor Harold Johnson, Good Shepherd’s first pastor (1951 – 1955). His family worked with a local foundry to transform pure brass materials (bedframe) into a 25-pound brass baptismal basin. The photograph on the next page depicts the top of the font, the baptismal ewer (pitcher), and the brass basin that has a reflection of the stained-glass windows gleaming from the inside of the basin.

In Exodus 30:17-19, we read about God’s directions to Moses to create a bronze basin (Hebrew word – “kiyyor”) for washing before the priests would perform their sacred duties. The washing basins were constructed by melting down brass mirrors that were at the entrance of the tent of meeting and the size of the basins in the temple could become a huge “Bronze Sea.” Unwashed hands and feet were hazardous (Exodus 30:20-21), unwashed priests would die. Water in the worship life of the Old Testament people has a sacred history; part of that history is the bronze “kiyyor” (basin).

Holy Baptism is not plain and simple water only; it is water and the Word of God connected together. The Apostle Peter reminds us that we are “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own possession” (1 Peter 2:9), and as His priests, He desires us to be holy in His presence. The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews repeats the importance of washing more than our hands and feet; “our bodies [have been] washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22), and through the waters of Holy Baptism, we are regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit to lead lives that mirror the Messiah (Titus 3:5).

God gives us Holy Baptism as a gift, as a means through which He gives us His saving grace. God never wants you to doubt His love for you, and He doesn’t want sin to rule over you. By daily remembering our baptism, we recall God’s great love for us, and we can rely on the Holy Spirit to not just survive but thrive. Baptism is a clear and tangible way in which we receive His grace.

Pastor Schuldheisz