Infant Drowns in Flood, Given New Life

There has been a lot of talk this past week about Noah, the ark, and the flood. For the accurate, authentic, historical account, one simply needs to turn to Genesis.

This morning I got to witness something far more extraordinary than a couple hours of Hollywood fiction. I was privileged to administer the very flood to which the original one pointed: Holy Baptism. Holy Scripture teaches us that baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word (cf. Matthew 28:19).

Two things happened before our very eyes this morning as we stood around the baptismal font. First, the flood of God’s wrath against sin came thundering down as the infant being baptized drowned and died. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:3). Then, the flood of God’s mercy in Christ came raining down as the infant being baptized emerged and arose to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. “We 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 6:4).

It’s no wonder Saint Peter, when speaking of the flood in Noah’s day, writes: “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21). Jesus Himself adds: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16).

The baptismal rite we follow here at Divine Shepherd comes from Lutheran Service Book (LSB) and includes Martin Luther’s “flood prayer” below. Read and pray it yourself. It’s dripping wet with flood water and God’s mercy in Christ. What’s more, it reminds us that Holy Baptism places us in the holy Ark of the Christian Church, wherein we travel with our Lord Jesus across the tempestuous sea of this life to the very shoreline of His heavenly kingdom.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Let us pray:

Almighty and eternal God,
     according to Your strict judgment You condemned the unbelieving world through the flood,
    yet according to Your great mercy You preserved believing Noah and his family, eight souls in all.
You drowned hard-hearted Pharaoh and all his host in the Red Sea,
     yet led Your people Israel through the water on dry ground,
     foreshadowing this washing of Your Holy Baptism.
Through the Baptism in the Jordan of Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
     You sanctified and instituted all waters to be a blessed flood and a lavish washing away of sin.

We pray that You would behold _______ according to Your boundless mercy
     and bless him/her with true faith by the Holy Spirit,
     that through this saving flood all sin in him/her,

     which has been inherited from Adam and which he/she himself/herself has committed since,
     would be drowned and die.
Grant that he/she be kept safe and secure in the holy Ark of the Christian Church,
     being separated from the multitude of unbelievers and serving Your name at all times with a fervent spirit and a joyful hope,
     so that, with all believers in Your promise, he/she would be declared worthy of eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Noah

It’s here. The big-screen release of Noah. Complete with a high-profile cast, lots of special effects, and a $130 million budget. If you plan to see this movie, remember that it is a fictitious adaptation by Hollywood and not God’s holy and inerrant Word.

For the real events surrounding the worldwide flood in Noah’s day, dust off your Bible, open it up, and read Genesis 6:5—9:17. Here you will find the accurate, authentic, historical account of Noah and the flood. It’s worth your time and attention.

As an added bonus, here are a few additional things God’s Word teaches about Noah’s righteousness and the flood, things you won’t learn from the movie.

True Righteousness: Always a Gift from God

God’s Word describes Noah as “a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (Genesis 6:9). This righteousness is not Noah’s own doing, but a gift from God through Jesus Christ.

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. [Hebrews 11:7]

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [Ephesians 2:8-9]

The Flood: Preview of the Last Day

Jesus teaches that the coming of the flood in Noah’s day is a preview of His own coming on the Last Day. It will be sudden, unexpected. Most people will be unprepared, lacking faith in Him as the Savior of sinners and the only One who justifies.

“Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” [Matthew 24:36-39; cf. Luke 17:26-27]

The Flood: Baptism Saves

Peter teaches that just as God brought eight persons safely through water in the days of Noah, so He uses the water of Holy Baptism to save His people from their sins.

Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him. [1 Peter 3:18-22]

Go ahead and see the fictitious adaptation if it interests you. But don’t forget to read the real thing, the historical account in Genesis 6:5—9:17 and take to heart the aforementioned references.

Like Noah, you, too, are righteous in Jesus Christ. For He has saved you—a sinner—through Holy Baptism. And He delights in preparing you for His return on the Last Day through His holy Word and blessed Supper.

When it comes down to it, 138 minutes of Hollywood eye candy is nothing compared to an eternity with Jesus Christ and all His saints, including Noah, in the Church Triumphant!

Dear Future Mom

“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Psalm 127:3). This includes children born with down syndrome...

Source: Dear Future Mom (YouTube)

Ash Wednesday Prayer

Gracious Savior, prostrate I fall before Your feet this day as Your Church once more enters the Lenten season to meditate upon Your passion, by which we have been eternally redeemed.

In spirit I appear before You in sackcloth and ashes in true repentance; let me receive Your full pardon. Do not let the pleasures of life, the worries of the day, and the activities of my daily routine crowd You out of my heart and out of my thoughts. Draw me to Your wounded side, and cleanse me with Your most precious blood. Bring healing to my soul and peace to my mind. By Your grace, let me crucify my sinful affections, lusts, and desires. Make me more than conqueror over every temptation.

I confess to You all my sins. Let none of them cling to me. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Teach me to love You more and more. Give me grace to confess You as my Savior, who has redeemed me on Calvary, lifting me out of the darkness of sin to be Your own. Gracious Savior, let Your constraining love keep me and all God’s children steadfast to the end. Amen.

Ash Wednesday, Lutheran Book of Prayer, p. 127, © 2005 CPH

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Ashes to Go

It’s the latest convenience. Ashes to go on Ash Wednesday.

Now Christians can get their ash on, show everyone their spirituality, and altogether avoid the Divine Service where our Lord speaks to us in His Word and feeds us in His Supper.

How sad!

Christians are free to receive or not receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. It is neither commanded nor forbidden in Holy Scripture. But for those who do receive them, don’t use them to draw attention to yourself. What’s more, ashes to go is no substitute for joining God’s people in God’s house on the first day of Lent, confessing one’s sin and hearing Jesus’ absolution, taking to heart His Word, and partaking of His body and blood.

So go and receive ashes if you desire. Just don’t forget to receive what is truly important. After all, Ash Wednesday is not about you and your forehead, but about Jesus, what He won for you on the cross, and the means through which He gives you His blood-bought gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Come and hear His life-giving Word this Ash Wednesday!

Sunday in America

Sometimes a picture says a thousand words. This one reveals a sad truth about many in our country who want Christianity without all the Word and Sacraments stuff He has given us.