Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you... For Christ died for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit... Baptism now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:15, 18, 21)

 

We live in a sinful and fearful age. The greed of a few keeps the world's majority enslaved in poverty and hunger. Some of us fear a past that has left us scarred with the wounds of childhood, and others fear a future in which the answer to every crisis seems to be to deploy missiles or Marines.

 

The people around Jesus were fearful too. The disciples cried out in the midst of a storm, until Jesus spread his hands to still the raging waters. The hosts at a Cana wedding were fearful for their reputation, until Jesus turned water into wine. The followers of Jesus feared their would be nothing to eat, until Jesus filled the waters of the sea with fish and the nets nearly broke.

 

In the time of Noah, the scriptures tell us, sin and fear were rampant. Water was a sign of judgment. God covered the earth, saving only a faithful few. But through Christ, water has become a sign of our redemption...