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Ash Wednesday Activity: Wash Away Your Sins
I don’t know about you, but sometimes Martin Luther’s famous advice to “remember your baptism” rings awfully hollow for someone like me, who was baptized as an infant and, frankly doesn’t remember his baptism. Now I fully understand that he really means “remember that you are baptized.” And I fully support infant baptism: after all, in Holy Baptism, as in all of salvation, it is God doing the work, and it’s not up to my power or ability to choose. Especially this year, though, I have been looking for ways to claim baptism in a deep way.
For Ash Wednesday, the theme we had chosen was “confession,” and I was led to see an opportunity to connect Holy Baptism, confession, and absolution together in a powerful way. Here’s what we did:
Keeping Baptismal Promises
This article ran in the November 2009 issue of The Messenger, the newsletter of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sterling, IL.
Two months after Jennifer and I attended our good friends’ son’s baptism as his baptismal sponsors, I find myself reflecting on the nature of the promises that parents and sponsors make in baptism. Have you been a Godparent or sponsor to someone in baptism? Have your children been baptized? It’s quite a humbling list of responsibilities that we take upon ourselves in this role.
Pictures of Anneliese’s Baptism
Anneliese Elizabeth Carnahan was baptized among the people of God at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Asbury, IA on 8 February 2009. The dress she is wearing was hand sewn, knit, and crocheted by her great-grandma Cindy. Grandma Cheryl (DeAngelo), Grandma Marsha (Carnahan), and Grandpa Pat (Carnahan) were able to make it up, and many of our friends joined us in worship that day. Her baptismal sponsors were Chuck and Claire Meyer.
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