Byron's Baptism Birthday

Dear Byron,

Happy Second Birthday! Yes, this past week you had your second birthday—your Baptismal birthday. A year ago, on May 15, 2011, you were baptized at St. Paul Lutheran Church, McAllen, TX. in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. On that day Jesus said to you that you are His most special and beloved child. He said that He took you with Him in His heart when He was beaten and crucified. You were with Him in all His suffering and pain. You went with Him when He knew His heavenly Father had forsaken and turned His back on Him. And you were with Him when He said, "It is finished!" and He gave His spirit into the hands of His Father and departed from His body.

Yes, Byron, you and I and Great-Grandma, your Mommy and Daddy, your Grandmas and Grandpas and all the millions and billions of people who are in this world or who ever have been—all of us were with Him on His cross and in His grave. We were with Him on that most glorious day when He rose again from the dead. We were with Him, alive, breathing, eating and celebrating. And we will never, ever be separated from Him now and forever. Because of Jesus we are alive—forever and ever and ever, even if our bodies die. For we will be with Him when He returns to raise us up in the new creation.

That's what He said to you, Byron, on May 15. That's what He wants you to remember when you grow older and start to realize that you have not and cannot always do what He wants you to do. He wants you to admit it to Him and then He wants you to remember that you are baptized. He wants you to hear Him say, "I forgive you. Go in peace and sin no more." That means that He really, really does forgive you.
Like the Apostle John said,

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1Jo 1:9 ESV

Just as you are clean outside when Mommy or Daddy give you a bath, so Jesus tells you that you are clean inside and through and through in the water of His baptism, the baptism that you now share. Never forget this. It will sustain and keep you safe throughout your life on this earth. In fact, my dear Great-Grandson, you can come back to this special Word from Jesus each and every day of your life. Listen to these special words written by the Apostle Paul,

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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. 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. 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. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. - Rom 6:3-11 ESV

That's way too much for you to put your little arms around at this time, but as you grow older you will want to come back to these words again and again. For now remember that in your baptism you were and are and always will be united and joined with Jesus in His death and His return from death to life. You belong to Jesus, so live for Jesus now! Nothing else is as important.

We love you,

GGPa

A Good Friday Welcome

Dear Byron,

We're excited. This wonderful day is named Good Friday all over the world. And it really is good—for two reasons.

You, your Mommy and your Daddy all arrived today and not just for the Easter weekend. You are coming to live with us—at least for a few months, until you find a new home. You don't realize it right now, but everything is changing for your family. You no longer live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Your Mommy and Daddy have new jobs here in Houston where GGMa and I live. And you are staying with us until your family gets settled.

That's why we're so excited. That's why we are so happy that we could help you and your parents during this time of change. That means, of course, that we'll get to see more of you now that we all live in the same town. And we are so, so very happy about that

And this is Good Friday for another very important reason. This is the day that we Christians—and that includes you, Byron—celebrate and rejoice that Jesus went all the way to the cross and death in our place. The blessed, happy and very Good thing is that because of His sacrifice we all share in His loving forgiveness.

That's what Jesus said to you when you were baptized into Him. That's what He says to us all.

So we rejoice on this Good Friday, my dear little great-grandson. And I pray Jesus' many blessings upon you in all the days and years ahead.

Love,

GGPa

Your White Baptism Gown

Dear Byron,

In the last post I wrote about your baptism and what it means. Today I want to tell you about what you wore on the day Jesus washed you with water and gave to you eternal life. Look carefully at this photo I took that day with my iPhone.

 Grandma Cheryl and G-Grandma Sylvia

Grandma Cheryl is holding a white gown on a hanger. You wore that gown during your baptism for a special reason. The gown connects you to your Grandmas in an important way. Grandma Cheryl wore that gown the day she was baptized.

There's more. Both your Great-Uncle Jeff and Great-Uncle Nathan wore the same gown on the days they were baptized. Grandma Cheryl told us it had a spot on it and she worked very carefully to remove it so that it would be clean and white for you on your baptism day. We're not sure where the spot came from. Perhaps it was from when your Daddy or your uncle Patrick were baptized in the gown. Great-Uncle Nathan and Great-Aunt Teri borrowed the gown when their son, your second-cousin Aric was baptized. More likely the spot was from when your Auntie Cassie was baptized, because that was the last time it was used.

Before all that Great-Grandma's sister Lois Pera used the gown when her children, your cousins Stephen and Michelle were baptized. They're of the same generation as your great-uncles. 

But the story doesn't stop there. Your Great-Grandma Sylvia kept the gown safe all those years. Her Mommy, your Great-Great Grandma Thekla, had passed the gown on after her children, Arnie, Lois and G-G Sylvia were baptized in it. And—now get this—Great-Great Grandma Thekla was also baptized in the gown way back in 1909.  

That made the gown over 100 years old when you were baptized and it connects you to the Franzmeier family, the Arnold Wenger family from which Great-Grandma Sylvia comes and the Frederich Dierks family from which Great-Great Grandma Thekla came, as well as to the families of your many cousins. 

A word about wearing a white gown for baptism. In John's Revelation we read that all the people in heaven wear white robes (Revelation 7:14-17). In your baptism Jesus made you clean and pure from all sins. That's why He calls you His little lamb. And one day, Byron, your Mommy and Daddy, your grandmas and grandpas, your aunts and uncles and cousins, and all of us baptized into Jesus will be forever together with our Good Shepherd. That's His promise. When you remember you wore your family's white gown you may also remember that.

We love you, Byron, and we're excited about what's yet to be.

—Great-Grandpa Al

Two Birthdays Every Year

Dear Byron,

In my last post I wrote about your birthday and all the joy we felt when Jesus brought you into this world through your Mommy and Daddy. Today I'd like to talk about your second birth, also Jesus' doing. Maybe you're a little bit confused when I speak about your second birth. So let me tell you a story (John 3:1-21).

When Jesus began to teach people about His love for us all a man named Nicodemus came to him in the night to ask him a few questions. Nicodemus was a very important man in that land. He was a ruler and wise man who sat on the high council called the Sanhedrin. There were 71 in that body and they met in the Chamber of Hewn Stones in the Temple in Jerusalem every week.

Nicodemus liked Jesus and what He taught and how He healed and fed people, but Nicodemus was afraid of the Sanhedrin. Bad things were said among those rulers about Jesus. Many claimed Jesus was a false teacher and a rebel. Some even said Jesus should be killed. That's why Nicodemus came to Jesus in secret to ask some questions. He said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him."

The signs he talked about were the times when Jesus turned 120 gallons of water into wine at a wedding and several other times when he fed thousands with a few loaves of bread and some dried fish. He had also healed sick people. Those stories were being told all over the land. Nicodemus and some others on the Sanhedrin believed these were signs that Jesus was sent by God Himself.

Jesus replied to Nicodemus' question in a very strange way. He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus surely thought this a most strange answer. It didn't make sense. That's why he asked, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

That's a funny picture, isn't it? You and I both know that we can't crawl back into our Mommy's tummy and be born all over again. What in all the world was Jesus' talking about? Here's what He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

I won't go into great detail to explain everything about Jesus' answer, except to say that you, me and everyone of us needs to be made new, changed from the inside out when we are born from our mommies and daddies. Its really easy for us to disobey our parents, get in fights, cry, yell and even get angry with Jesus. All that's called sin and its part of us from the beginning, just like it was for your Mommy and Daddy—and me too. Its what Jesus calls the flesh. Its why Jesus says each one of us needs to be born again of the Spirit.

You were born again—on Good Shepherd Sunday, May 15, 2011 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in McAllen, Texas, not far from your home. I was there, along with your parents and grandparents. Mommy and Daddy invited me to be the pastor who spoke Jesus' own words to you and poured water over your head that morning. When I did that Jesus Himself did a strange and wonderful thing for you. We didn't see it with our eyes, but He still did it. Like the breath you take into your lungs, He breathed His gentle Spirit into your heart and life. From that moment on you entered His secret kingdom and became a part of His wonderful, worldwide family. You became one of Jesus' little lambs.

We will tell you more and more about your second birth as you grow up. That washing with water is called Baptism. Its an old word from the Greek language that many spoke back in those days when Jesus walked the paths and taught the people of Israel. You are baptized, Byron, and you will always want to remember it. That's why I invite you to make the sign of the cross of Jesus (+) over your heart as you begin each day. I made that sign over your head and heart on the day I baptized you in Jesus' holy name, the name He shares with the heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit.

On Good Shepherd Sunday, during the time when you were baptized, I gave to your parents a small lit candle and invited them to light it again each May 15 as you and they celebrate your second birthday. Kinda neat, right? You get to have a birthday party in March and another one in May every year. Hope you're having fun and remembering how very, very much Jesus loves you.