The Water Always Wins

Each Tuesday, I teach a Select Course for several members of local congregations who are seeking deeper theological understanding and who are often discerning a call to ministry in some fashion.    Recently, we were watching a video on the Lutheran understanding of Daily Baptism.  The idea of daily baptism comes right out of the catholic notion of confession.  In Luther’s time there was a heavy emphasis on recalling and naming in detail all your sins.  You would then, feeling sorrow—not merely attrition—go to see the priest.  You would be given things to do to atone for your sins.  As our sin is great, the amount of things needed done to atone was great.  In fact, if you didn’t finish doing them here on earth, there was purgatory. 

Luther looked at the people of God and thought, “There has to be another way.”  He searched the scriptures and realized that there was something to this confession thing (although he didn’t believe that you needed to enumerate them in great detail), Jesus had already atoned for our sins.  There is nothing we can do that God has not already done for us.  Luther would return to baptism.  The water that touched your forehead was not for naught.  That water meant something.  It meant that you were a beloved child of God, forgiven of your sins and sealed with the Holy Spirit.   Luther emphasized that when you confessed your sins, the words you need to hear were not “Do this or do that” but simply “You are forgiven.” 

It struck me in class that for Luther the water always wins.  The old creature who is so slick and often appealing cannot win, the water does.  The sin that separates us most moments after our baptism doesn’t win, the water does.  So Luther encourages us to remember that every time we wash our face that the water wins, that we are beloved, forgiven children.  Amen!