Quick Summary:

Where does the water in your baptismal font come from? It was a deceptively simple question we were being asked. But the more I reflected on it, the further and deeper the question took me: One moment I was climbing Glacier Peak with crampon-clad feet; next I was soaking my feet in Railroad Creek at Holden Village; then I was standing on the banks of the Cedar River watching bruised, crimson Sockeye make their last valiant efforts to sew the seeds for a new generation.

These and many more memories of journeys in and through water flooded my brain, all evoked by that one, simple question: Where does the water in your font come from?

This sermon explores the implications of this question, and includes stories from my recent visit to Rome, as well as a quote from 4th Century Bishop Maximus, who said "In the baptism of the Savior the blessing which flowed down like a spiritual stream touched the outpouring of every flood and the course of every stream..."

The way we use the gift of fresh water matters to us whose lives are shaped by the promises of the Triune God we received in baptism. The liturgy of the worship life we share in this place follows us into the rhythms of our lives at home and school, work and recreation, and into the ethics of our social-political-economic lives.