Then Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  

–Matthew 3:13

 His name was Owen.  He and his family had recently moved to town and joined the church where I was the pastor.  He had been raised in a Baptist church until his mother and father divorced and his mother began attending a Methodist church.  Now he split his time between his father’s Baptist church and his mother’s Methodist church.  Owen was ten when I first met him.  He was shy, self-deprecating and smart.  He brought his Bible with him to church every time he was in worship. He slowly began to fit in and find his place in the church and in the youth group.  One day after worship, he came up to me and informed me that he wanted to be baptized.  I asked him a few questions about his faith and was impressed by his understanding of baptism as well as his forthrightness.  I told him that I would be glad to schedule the baptism after talking with his parents. But there was one caveat.  Owen informed me that he wanted to be baptized in the river, “just like Jesus.”  I informed him that we had a perfectly good font with water in it that would suffice and that Methodists did baptism a bit differently than Baptists.  But then he pulled out his Bible and turned to Gospel of Matthew and read me the account of Jesus being baptized in the Jordan River by John.   How do you argue with a ten-year old who knows his Bible? 

 I talked with Owen’s mother and we scheduled Owen’s baptism for a Sunday afternoon.  The entire church was invited to gather at the river to witness a sight many of them had never seen.  The day came and we gathered at the river.  Owen and I waded into the water waist deep.  I asked Owen if he believed in Jesus and if he wanted to be baptized.  He said yes and down he went, immersed in the river’s waters, bathed by and baptized with the words, “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.”  Owen came up out of the water with a smile on his face.  He was welcomed with towels and embraced by the congregation gathered in there in faithfulness and support.  I asked Owen how he felt now that he had been baptized.  His response echoes in my mind even to this day, “Now I know I really matter!”   “Yes you do, Owen.  Yes you do.”

 A new year has come filled with challenges and opportunities. Owen’s word is a word for us all.  We matter! Our presence matters!  Our gifts matter!  Our service matters!  You matter!  You matter to God and you matter to your church!  Your presence matters in worship.  It matters in Sunday School.  It matters in your small group.  It matters to the student you mentor.  It matters to the committee on which you serve.  It matters to the family you are blessed with.  It matters to the spouse or partner or friend with whom you share the journey.  You matter!  What could happen if we all chose to live like it really mattered, love like it really mattered, give like it really mattered, serve like it really mattered, pray like it really mattered and believe like it really mattered.  What could happen?