June 21, 2026 – The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. Mark Colbert
Paul reminds us today that through baptism into Christ, something
amazing and life changing has happened. That we have been joined to
Jesus in his death, and we have been joined to Jesus in his resurrection.
The old life no longer gets to rule us. Sin no longer gets the last laugh
and that death no longer gets the final word. We are, like Paul says, dead
to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Some of us know what it is to
feel trapped in old patterns. We sometimes say hurt thinking, (like
saying your priest has chicken legs). We return to the same resentment.
We feed the same fear. We excuse the same selfishness. We tell
ourselves, “That’s just who I am.” Or, “People never really change.” Or
even, “God will forgive me anyway. Paul would definitely not like that
statement. But we are ever more going Christians who should be
changing and living into what Christ wants us to be. As a loving and
caring community with God being the center of it. And it is because we
have been baptized that we should be allowing ourselves to change to be
in the fullness of Christ.
Baptism, in Paul’s vision, is not a religious ceremony we admire
from a distance. It is an entrance way into a new reality. Did you all
know that The Book of Common Prayer places this text of (Romans
6:3-5) among the readings for Holy Baptism and also appoints Romans
6:3-11 at the Great Vigil of Easter, because the Church understands that
baptism and resurrection belong together. In baptism, the old self is
washed away, and a new self is born by grace. And yet, if we are honest,
we do not always feel new. We still continue to struggle. We still
continue to sin. We still carry wounds, bad habits, and regrets. So what
does Paul mean when he says we have died to sin? He does not mean
that temptation disappears. He does not mean Christians become perfect.
He means that sin is no longer our master. Before Christ, sin held us
captive. In Christ, its authority has been broken. It still shouts, but it no
longer owns us. It still sometimes confines us, but it no longer defines
who we are. That distinction matters.
And this is what brings us to an important point: being dead to sin
and alive to God is not a private spiritual achievement. It is meant to
shape how we live with other people. If we have died with Christ, then
we must die to whatever bad thoughts that we have about our neighbors.
We must die of indifference that we have with each other. And that is
something that is hard to do. We must die from the need to always be
right. We must die to habits that wound our families and communities.
And if we are alive with Christ, then we must become more fully alive to
compassion, justice, mercy, generosity, and truth. In other words,
baptism is not just about our soul with Christ. Baptism creates a people.
People who are learning, however imperfect we are. We are called to
live into a resurrection that shapes and changes lives. Think of the
promises we renew in the Baptismal Covenant: to continue in the
apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to persevere in resisting evil, to repent
and return to the Lord, to proclaim the Good News, to seek and serve
Christ in all persons, and to strive for justice and peace and respect the
dignity of every human being. Those promises are what life “alive to
God” looks like in practice.
So what does that look like in everyday life? It looks like
repentance. Repentance is not just feeling bad. It is how we turn
ourselves around. It is choosing, by grace, to walk in a new direction. It
looks like forgiveness. Not because what happened was acceptable, but
because Christ has set us free from letting injury become our identity. It
looks like courage. Because if we have died and risen with Christ, then
fear does not have to run our lives. It looks like hope. Because that is the
shape of the Christian life. Daily turning from sin. Daily turning toward
God. Daily remembering our baptism.
Say your Baptismal Vows: 292
Year A – The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – June 21, 2026 – The Rev. Mark Colbert
