With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation
O God, you are the beginning, the middle, and the end. You are all in all. Lead me. Help me. Forgive me. Keep me from wandering and weariness. Keep my love ready and willing to serve You by serving others. Praise and honor be to You, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God now and forever. Amen.
Confession
O God, how can I believe without your help. I am filled with doubt. “What about . . . ?” “Is it really true?” “How do I really know you’re there? That you’re listening? That you care about me?” I confess with honesty all my fear and disbelief. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me. I believe; help my unbelief.
Word: 1 Peter 3:20-21
“…God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also.”
Meditation: Saved Through Water
Today’s meditation is written by Pastor Paul Cloeter.
There is no element on earth that is more essential and sought after—but at the same time more destructive and feared—than water. Case in point is the extreme disparity in weather that our country has experienced in recent months. Too little water causes drought and catastrophic fires. Too much water and you’ve got the nightmare of flooding. Out west, water is a Godsend. In the south and east, it’s a curse. Water kills, and it brings to life.
This life and death paradox of water also plays an important part in the Biblical story of salvation. In the Great Flood, water destroyed all life in the world. But at the same time, it saved Noah and his family by floating the ark. In the Exodus (from Latin, meaning, “the way out”), the same waters of the Red Sea that drowned the Egyptian army allowed the escaping Israelites to safely cross through and live.
An old Easter hymn tells the story this way:
Come you faithful raise the strain of triumphant gladness!
God has brought His Israel into joy from sadness,
Loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke, Jacob’s sons and daughters,
Led them with unmoistened foot through the Red Sea waters.
(LSB 487 v.1)
Exodus and Easter, you see, have more in common than their first letters. Old Testament Israel would often point to the Red Sea crossing as their great salvation; the one historical event that gave them identity as God’s chosen people. Future generations down to the present will claim this identity: “We were there when our forefathers crossed through the water,” they would say. To them, the Exodus is present and personal, not just historical and national. “Remember the Exodus” is more than a slogan. It’s an identity badge.
In the same way, Easter is God’s great salvation of the world. In the words of another Easter hymn: “Death’s flood has lost its chill since Jesus crossed the river” (LSB 482 v.2). Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God accomplishes our exodus from slavery to sin and self, and now identifies us as his ‘New Israel.’ By faith, we today are transported back in time to the empty tomb where we personally participate in the Easter event.
St. Paul makes that connection in Romans 6: “We were buried with Christ by baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4).
The Red Sea and the baptism font have this in common: they hold water used by God to kill and to make alive, to destroy, and to save.
Savior and Lord Jesus, help me every day to “remember my baptism” and the death I died with you in those waters, that I may rejoice in the identity I now share with you. Amen.
Benediction
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Amen. (Rom. 15:13)