Washed and Claimed for a Life of Joy and Purpose


By Deacon Timothy Siburg, Director for Stewardship
There’s nothing quite as wonderful in the life of the church as baptism. A day with baptism is a day another Child of God is claimed and named. It’s a day of celebration. It’s a day of proclamation of God’s promises, a day where God’s story is recalled, and perhaps when God’s work in our midst is most visible. It’s also a day filled with promises- promises by God, by the one being baptized, and the whole faith community providing public witness and promise.

As we know, baptism is only a beginning. From the Water and the Word, filled with the Holy Spirit a Child of God enters into life walking with God who is with them always. From the flowing water, one is called, empowered, equipped, and sent into a life of discipleship and stewardship. It’s a life of joy and great meaning, but also one with plenty of challenges. The way of the cross is not always easy or happy. But it propels us forward.

It propels us as the People of God to make promises, which are gifts but also marks of discipleship and stewardship. These promises include:

·      To live among God’s faithful people
·      To hear the Word of God and share in the Lord’s supper
·      To proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed
·      To serve all people, following the example of Jesus
·      And to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.[1]

These promises are made by the one being baptized (or on behalf of them), and by the whole community. There’s a public accountability here, because we recognize that we are God’s people together. Through us, God works. And through us collectively, we can discern and do some of God’s work for the sake of the world God so deeply loves.

These promises highlight a sense of vocation, where we are sent into life with a deep purpose(s), with meaning. And it’s the hope of everyone who witnesses one being baptized, that the newly baptized will grow in their relationship with God, and respond to God’s call and invitation to serve and live out their baptized life.


It’s a hope that I hold especially for four young people in particular. For my wife’s and my three godsons, all pastors’ kids themselves, and of course for our daughter, a pastor’s kid and deacon’s kid. You know there’s a saying about pastor’s kids… oh that’s another story. But as I think about our godsons and our daughter, I hope that they live a life of deep meaning and passion. I pray it’s one where the promises made in baptism are present throughout their journeys of discovery. I pray that they always feel connected and part of God’s people. I hope, and know it’s part of my work too as their godfather and father to help them hear the Word and share in the sacrament. I trust, knowing their families, that they will see what life is like to proclaim the Good News in all they do, and that they will naturally do that too. And I pray, that they will come to know the deep joy that one has in living a life for others- a life of service, and working to help life go well for ones’ neighbors and making the world a better place.

For me, this is what baptism looks like. It’s all about the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God. But it’s not just an internal thing where we are cleaned, washed, and claimed. The claim has a purpose to it, and in being claimed and named Child of God we are turned outward for the sake of the world. To let our lights shine and reflect the one true light. That’s discipleship in action, and that is most certainly stewardship in action.

Where will the baptized life lead? Only God knows. But like it has for me, perhaps it will lead to new and life-long friends, being part of a great faith community like the one I am grateful to be part of here in the Big Red State, and to fulfilling vocations and callings of service and ministry. May your baptized life be just as rich.



[1] As included in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), 236.

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