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Drowned and Dead

Vicar Todd Liefer
February 24, 2010

Drowned and dead. The clip you just watched is from the TV series, LOST. You actually just met the character, Charlie. Of course, you saw that Charlie was in a submarine, and he realizes that a window is about to blown open. And if you know anything about submarines, a broken window is bad news. So Charlie thinks quickly; he slams the door shut, and seals off the room from the rest of the submarine. However, he himself is trapped inside. The window breaks. The room fills with water. His friend, Desmond, is saved, but Charlie is fated to drown and die.

Water pours in. It takes over the room. The water level inches toward the ceiling. And finally, there's room for only one last breath. There's nothing Charlie can do. He drowns, and his life is gone. Drowned and dead.

Today, we're continuing our journey "From Death unto Life." For these midweek services of Lent, we're exploring death. Last week, we looked at how death has come into the world. We learned that death is not natural. It's not the way things were supposed to be.

Last week, we learned that death is a curse that has come into the world because of Adam and Eve's sin. Adam and Eve ate that fruit in the Garden of Eden, and because of that, the whole creation was cursed. There is pain in childbirth. There are thorns covering the ground. And now the world knows death. The first curse. But last week, we also learned that we just don't just blame Adam and Eve for this curse, but we blame ourselves. We are to blame for death coming into the world. As sinful human beings, we got exactly what we deserved. We are all to blame and we all have to endure the first curse: death.

Today, our journey continues. Today, we're talking about death by drowning.

Well, at first, when you hear that, you may not think that this message really applies to you. After all, death by drowning isn't all that common. It accounts for less than 1% of deaths in the United States each year. So why come to church today/tonight (when you could be watching the Olympics, or whatever) why come to church to learn about death by drowning?

Well, here's why. God's people die by drowning. All of them. God's people die by drowning. That's how our God works. Now, I don't mean to make it sound like Christians get together and drink the punch! But there was a time in your life when you were drowned and dead. It happened when you were baptized.

Sometimes, I think we miss this very important aspect of Holy Baptism. You see, when babies or adults are baptized, there's a lot more going on here than getting to wear a white dress, holding a candle, and taking pictures with family. It's a lot more than that.

Baptism is a killing. When babies are brought forward to be baptized, the baby dies. When adults are brought forward to be baptized, they die. At least part of them do.

That's exactly what Paul writes about in his letter to the Romans. You heard this read earlier in the service. Now, the book of Romans, if you're familiar with it, is just a gem in the Bible. In fact, Martin Luther calls it the chief part of the New Testament. What makes Romans so great is that it's so thorough when teaching about things like baptism. The book is very thorough.

The reason for this is actually pretty simple. During the New Testament days, Paul was an overseer of a whole bunch of churches—churches in cities that were spread across the continent. He would travel to these cities, and while he was away he would write letters to these churches. If a church was going through a particular issue, then he would address it in his letter.

Well, the letter to the Romans is unique because Paul wrote this letter before meeting the Romans. Paul tells us this himself in chapter 15. So he wrote this letter to people who he had never met. He'd never been to Rome before. That means that in this letter, he's going to be extremely thorough when explaining the different parts of faith, like for example, baptism.

So let's go to Romans 6. If you brought your Bible along, or want to use one of the ones in front of you, I invite you to open those up at this time. I'll be using the ESV translation, so if it's different from what you're reading, that's why.

We'll start at Romans 6:1. Let me tell you a little bit about what's going on in the letter. He had just gotten finished showing how BIG God's grace is. How BIG God's forgiveness is. No matter how much you sin, no matter how much the world has sinned, God's grace is bigger.

So then Paul says at Romans 6:1: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?" In other words, if God's grace comes to people who do bad things, then should we keep doing bad things so that we can stock up on some more grace? Paul says in verse 2 "By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" And then here's the most important part, "3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

So Paul tells us, baptism is a killing. Verse four says that when you were baptized you were buried. You entered into death.

But maybe you're wondering, "Vicar, you've told me like seven times now that I've died, but I'm still moving and breathing and feel very much alive. So what gives?"

Well, remember I said that when we were baptized a part of us dies. So what part was that? Let's read Romans 6: 5-6: "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."

So what part of us died? Verse 6: Our old self. That's what died. Our old self. You can't miss this part. This is how the Bible speaks: you actually have an old self. That's who you were before your baptism. That was the sinner. That was the person who wanted nothing to do with God. That is the old self before God took you and claimed you as his own. In baptism, the old self died, and now in Christ you have a new self.

Old self. New self. You could use lots of different phrases to get at this same idea. Sometimes people in the church talk about the old man verses the new man. Or the old creature verses the new creature. But here's one of my favorites: your Old Adam verses your New Adam. I like Old Adam and New Adam because it reminds us that we are to blame for sin coming into the world. You have an Old Adam inside of you. Your sin is connected to the sin that's been in the world right from the start.

So we were once this old self, old creature, old man, old Adam. But then God came to you in your baptism, and he drowned that old Adam. The sinful self was held under the water. Kicking and screaming. It didn't want to die. And God held that sinner under the water until it stopped breathing. Your old self was drowned and dead.

And then, like St. Paul writes in Romans 6:4, God killed the sinner. Why? So that he could give us life. After baptism, we belong to Christ. Now we have a new life. A new self, a new creature, a new Adam. This is what happens when you're baptized in Christ's name. You're connected with Christ's story.

Christ himself was killed on the cross. Christ himself died. Christ himself was buried. And then Christ himself was raised from the dead. He took on new life.

So you see, when you were baptized, you were connected with Christ. You were connected with Christ's death and resurrection. You were put in Christ's story. You were drowned and dead. But then in your baptism, like Paul writes in Romans 6:4, if you were baptized into his death, guess what, you're going to be raised with Christ as well. That's how you get new life in Christ.

But this is where, I think, the Christian life gets really hard. You see, we're told that our old self, old Adam, is dead. It was drowned; held under the waters of our baptism.

But does anyone here still sin? Too often, it sure feels like our Old Adam is alive and well. That old self is living and breathing inside of us. Even though we're baptized, even though we're God's new creatures, even then we sin a lot. We don't always live like God's people. No, we're stuck on ourselves. We say hurtful words to those around us. We worship our cars, our homes, our careers. Even Christians get caught up in adultery. Even Christians look at pornography. Even Christians can look someone straight in the face, and lie.

Think about your own life. What sins are really evident right now? I bet you can think of a few. So has our sinful self died? It sure doesn't feel like it. Actually, if you look at the things we do, it seems like it's our new self is the one that died. It feels like our Christ-like self is the one that's been drowned. Our old self, our old Adam, seems alive and well.

This is where I think Martin Luther points us in the right direction. I mentioned his name before, but if you're not familiar, Martin Luther was a man in the 1500s who saw a lot of wrong things going on in the Roman Catholic Church. One of Martin Luther's biggest contributions to the world was that he wanted everyone to be able to understand basic Biblical truths. So he took what the Bibles teaches and he compiled it into resources—called catechisms at that time—and those resources laid out the faith in a very simple way.

Well, one thing he wrote a lot about was his "Old Adam." Martin Luther recognized that he was a sinner. Even when he tried his hardest, he could not get away from sin. So he knew his Old Adam was alive and well. He recognized that it was a problem that had to be dealt with.

The Bible teaches, Luther said, that our Old Adam was killed in our baptism. Killed. But that Old Adam still hangs around our necks. We drag it with us wherever we go. We live in sin. That's part of the first curse. So inside of you is an old, sinful Adam. Yes it was killed in your baptism, but he keeps rearing his ugly head every chance he gets. When I taught this in a religion class once, one my grade school students shot his hand up and said, "So you're telling me that there's this dead man living inside of me? Gross!"

Exactly. When you sin, that's your old Adam getting his way. That's your sinful self hanging around your neck. So you know what? That sinful self has to die … again.

So in one of this catechism, he wrote, "Baptism signifies that the old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts. And it also shows that a new man should daily come forth and arise, who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever."

The key word here is daily. The Old Adam in us should DAILY be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts. Daily. Was your baptism good enough to save you? Absolutely. God promises that. But you still have to live in the reality that your sin keeps creeping back. Your sinful self keeps emerging. He keeps rearing his ugly head again and again. And that sinner in you has to be drowned every day.

So how do you drown your sinful self? Well, that's just it. You don't. God does.

God does this through his Word. The words in Holy Scripture point out our sins. It convicts us. It shows our faults. It screams at us, "You're wrong. Stop sinning." It drowns us with guilt and shame. But then God's Word also points us Christ, who forgives us, who saves us, who raises us to new life. Drowning and rising.

God also drowns our sinful selves through Christian worship. Every Sunday, we come to this space and confess that we are a sinner. That we are wrong, and that we need to change. The sinner in us drowns. But then God comes to us through Pastor Schultz, through the words of absolution, through the sermon, and we hear that God forgives us. He saves us. He raises us to new life. Drowning and rising.

Here's another way that Luther points us to. How does God drown the sinner in us? By reminding us about our baptism. By reminding us that God hates our sin so much that he once drowned us at this font. But, in Christ, God loves so much that he raised us into new life with Him. By remembering our baptism we recognize that we are sinner, that our old Adam needs to be drowned, and then by God's grace, Christ forgives us, saves us, and raises us to new life. Drowning and rising.

God's Word, Christian worship, remembering our baptism. That's how God drowns the sinner in us, but in each case he drowns us, but also raises us into new life. That's Christian life. Remember, God's people die by drowning. That's what we do. Everyday. But because we're God's people, everyday we're also raised into life with Christ.

I'll leave you with a final quote from Martin Luther, where he writes about God's amazing working in baptism. He writes, "Imagine there was a doctor somewhere who understood the art of saving people from death or, even though they died, could restore them quickly to life so that they would afterward live forever. Oh, how the world would pour in money like snow and rain. But here in Baptism there is freely brought to everyone's door such a treasure and medicine that it utterly destroys death and preserves all people alive."

Baptism. God's gift that brings his people from death unto life.