#449

Today we celebrated the sacrament of baptism...and welcomed a new child of God into the church...specifically the congregation located at 9201 Brecksville Rd. That is glorious, isn't it? But then there is (as so often is the case) much more going on than meets the eye.... we see a small baby whose head is drizzled with water, anointed with oil and lifted high for all to see as we sing:Blessed be God, who chose YOU in Christ! Words are spoken, vows made, prayers uttered, candles lit, roses given.

In and of itself that is huge!

But then, what if you try to get your head and your heart around the meaning conveyed in the hymn we sang today: We Know that Christ is Raised #449 ELW.

For those of you who don't have the hymnal readily accessible, read the verses:

We know that Christ is raised and dies no more, Embraced by death he broke its fearful hold, and our despair he turned to blazing joy....hallelujah!

We share by water in his saving death, Reborn, we share with him an Easter life, as living members of our Savior Christ. Hallelujah!

The Father's splendor clothes the Son with life. The Spirit's fission shakes the church of God. Baptized, we live with God the Three in One. Hallelujah!

A new creation comes to life and grows as Christ's new body takes on flesh and blood. The universe restored and whole will sing: Hallelujah!

Wow.... the power of God's love reverberates....and witnessing the baptism of one person gives us just a glimpse of the way that the church of God trembles with ecstacy whenever the Holy Spirit claims another child....forever! Time and space open...eternity meets our temporal existence.

We may not necessarily see that .... we may even do all sorts of things to try to boldly highlight what "we" are doing with our own traditions and rituals. We want to welcome the baby and the family...we want to take the pictures of the day when more folks than usual have appeared in our sanctuary (baptisms always escalate our attendance!)

We may not feel the tremors of the Spirit's fission shaking the church or hear the restored universe singing "hallelujah".... but in faith we can trust that because of God's love breaking in, drawing us ALL in, the new creation is INDEED coming to life and growing.

Some may love #449 because of its simple melody. Others may like it because it is one of our shorter hymns...(only 4 verses, 3 lines each). But don't let its brevity or simplicity fool you! It is singing with all the power of a celestial chorus!