Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24, NRSV)
There are moments in my vocation when I think, “It simply cannot get any better than this.” I had one of those moments a couple weeks ago.
We had our very first beach service at Urban Village on the Sunday before Labor Day. We gathered all of our sites together at Oakwood Beach on the south side of Chicago. We sang in the sand, met new folks from other sites, caused more than a few bicyclists to slow down to figure out what exactly was going on, and also offered the chance for folks to remember their baptism and also to be baptized, if they’ve never been baptized before.
Whenever I’ve baptized an infant, I’ve always offered to baptize anyone else who felt moved to go through this experience (drawing inspiration from Acts 8:26-40), but I never had anyone take me up on it. Until the beach service.
As people were coming forward and I was pouring water from Lake Michigan on their hands and reminding them that they are baptized and what that means, a young man came up to me and said, “I want to be baptized.” I was speechless and wasn’t quite sure what to do as there was a line of folks waiting to go through baptismal remembrance. “Uh, great! Let’s see…wait over here for just a moment,” I stammered, trying to figure out how to not leave him hanging and not hold up the line. Not long after that, another young man made the same request and after it was all done, a 9-year-old boy came up to me and also asked to be baptized. I didn’t forget them and asked a couple of other folks help me lean these about-to-be-baptized Christians into the water. It was a moment I’ll never forget.
After I baptized Joshua, the 9-year-old, I asked him, “How does it feel?”
“Weird,” he honestly said.
Indeed. It is kind of weird to go through this ritual of getting wet and being told that you’re forgiven and loved and on the path to a new life. It’s not a life with paved roads and wish fulfillment. Jesus is pretty clear to any potential followers: You have to deny your base instincts, take your own cross, and follow me. Not exactly the most enticing recruiting pitch in the world.
And yet, later on Jesus promises that “those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” It’s only when we lose that we’ll truly find. Which is weird. And beautiful. And as true as the clear waters of Lake Michigan on a sunny day in September.