by Pam Tinsley

Last week, Forward Day by Day published a reflection on Matthew 6:25by the Rt. Rev. Porter Taylor, retired bishop of Western North Carolina. The verse reads, “Therefore, I tell you do not worry about your life.”

He wrote about how worry can make us feel inadequate and isolated:

“When we forget who we are as God’s children, then we worry. We worry because of the way the world around us measures what success is and what it is not. Generally, we think success is about what you own, what you do, and what people say about you. We worry about having enough money or being important enough or being popular enough.

“There’s a story that when Martin Luther was dealing with the backlash from the church officials at the start of the Reformation, he would walk back and forth in his study and say over and over again, “I have been baptized, I have been baptized.” He was reminding himself of what mattered — and what did not.

“In our baptism, we are “sealed by the Holy Spirit” and “marked as Christ’s own forever.” That seal and that mark may not align with how the world measures importance, but they provide the compass so we can remember who — and whose — we are. 

“MOVING FORWARD: When you start to worry, remember that through baptism, you are sealed by the Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.”

As I read his reflection, I realize how easy it is to fall into the trap of feeling inadequate and even worthless. The messages we hear from our culture and even from our national leaders too often point out how we don’t measure up, that some are better than others, or that we have only ourselves to blame for our woes.

Yet, baptism reminds us that just the opposite is the case.  At Jesus’s baptism at the Jordan the crowd heard the voice from heaven declaring, “This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.” Our baptism affirms that we, too, are God’s beloved, and that God delights in us. Through the waters of baptism, we are together in eternal communion where there are no insiders or outsiders. Because in God’s Kingdom, we are souls worthy of love and belonging, the only measurement that matters.

“I have been baptized! I have been baptized!”