This past Sunday, the First Sunday after the Epiphany, most of our congregations observed and celebrated the Baptism of Our Lord, one of the most significant events in the Holy Gospels. In the historic western lectionary, it was traditionally assigned to the Octave of the Epiphany, the intervening Sunday being reserved for the Gospel of the Twelve-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple (St. Luke 2:41-52). In the LSB one-year lectionary, the Baptism of Our Lord is indicated as an alternative on the First Sunday after the Epiphany. In the eastern lectionary and church year, the Baptism of Our Lord is actually celebrated on the Feast of the Epiphany (January the 6th). And as it so happened, it was on that day two years ago that I was privileged to celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord at the Jordan River with a group of Indiana District pastors and laity in Israel.
The Baptism of Our Lord was as much or more significant for me this year as it was on that trip to the Holy Land in 2023. On Sunday, at Trinity Lutheran Church (on St. Mary’s Avenue), Fort Wayne, I was privileged to officiate and preach for the installation of a new pastor, Rev. David Griebel, which remains one of the most joyous aspects of my office. It was exactly twenty-five years, on the same Sunday, that I preached on the Baptism of Our Lord at the installation of my father as the new pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Milford, Illinois, which made this past Sunday even more poignant and nostalgic for me.
Then, on Monday evening – the Octave of the Epiphany (January the 13th) – my own Emmaus congregation in South Bend observed the Baptism of Our Lord, and I had the profound privilege of baptizing my new grandson, Theodore, and celebrating the Divine Service for that occasion. As for many other pastors, such opportunities surely remain one of my greatest joys in life.
Certainly, there is a deep connection between the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and the Office of the Holy Ministry. Indeed, baptizing disciples “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (St. Matthew 28:19) is one of the fundamental duties of the pastoral office, as we hear in the first of the Scripture passages read in the Rites of Ordination and Installation. And of course, those who are called, ordained, and sent to baptize disciples of Christ Jesus are chosen from among the baptized faithful who bear the Spirit of Christ Jesus and live and walk by faith in His Word, observing all those things which He has commanded.
The first, foremost, and forever vocation of every Christian – and so also every pastor – is the high and holy calling to be and live as a beloved and well-pleasing child of God in Christ Jesus. All of our other callings and stations in life rest upon that foundation and depend on it, whatever place and purpose the Lord has given us on earth. Ordination is for this body and life, but Holy Baptism is for the Resurrection and the Life everlasting; and it is so important for every pastor to remember and take to heart that he is a son of God in Christ by virtue of his Holy Baptism before he is called and ordained to the Office of the Holy Ministry – and far beyond that yoke of office. And again, that is true for every Christian, that who and what they are by virtue of their Baptism into Christ Jesus stands fast before and after all of their other callings, stations, and obligations.
Holy Baptism does not make a man a pastor, for the Office of the Holy Ministry is bestowed upon a man through the Divine Call and the Rite of Ordination. But the outstanding benefits and profound significance of Holy Baptism sustain the pastor in his vocation, that he be kept strong and steadfast in the faith and in the duties of the Office to which he has been called and ordained. That is where and how he exercises the “royal priesthood” that all the baptized share with Christ Jesus, proclaiming the excellences of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous Light, and offering the living sacrifice of repentance, faith, and thanksgiving in all that he does.