“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20

The season of Lent is meant to bring us down to our knees, recognizing our sin and complete inability to do anything right before the eyes of the Lord.  For, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins”, Ecclesiastes 7:20.  Sobering and damning.  And in this time of recognizing and repenting, the Lord Himself also brings us to recall that we are not beyond saving.  Christ has wiped away and forgiven all our sins, lifts us up from the graves we’ve dug, and calls us His own by His death and resurrection through Holy Baptism.  Lent is an invitation to draw near to the loving Lord and recall the saving waters of your Baptism.  Your Baptism is the assurance that your story, being wrapped up in God’s great story of redemption, does not end in death but in life.  From weeping to rejoicing.  From defeat to triumph.  From mourning to praise.

But at some point we can’t just sit around with this anymore.  Yes, come to the water.  But you can’t stay there.  You need to get out eventually.  In the same manner in which Christ was baptized in the Jordan and was immediately sent out afterwards to do the work of the Gospel, it is so with each of you.  If you stay in the water and refuse to get out, you will eventually grow cold and shrivel up.  Get out and go.  You’ve literally been given the Gospel of Jesus Christ, bathe in it yes, but it is then meant for you to shower other people with to wash them and make them new as it has you.  Do the work of the Gospel through your Baptism.  Forgive others, even your enemies.  Give people your time and attention, actually listen to them without distraction.  Be dependable.  Teach people what it means to have been given a forgiven and renewed identity in Christ because of your Baptism.  Get out and go.  After all, Christ commands it not suggests it.  

As the world continues to devour itself from the outside in, Christ directs and equips you to satisfy the starving world with His good things.

“Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love,
for His wondrous works to the children of man!
For He satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul He fills with good things.”
Psalm 107:8-9

Get out and make disciples.  Go and give the Good News of the Jesus Christ Who is crucified, risen, and reigns above all things.

Let’s Go!
Pastor Sam