I’ve spent a little more time in the air this summer than I did last summer. This summer I flew to North Carolina for a wedding (congrats Emma and Hunter!), to Tennessee for a wedding (congrats Mara and Ben!), and to the National Convention of the LCMS. We all know that before you get to spend your time in the air, you have to spend a little time on the ground with people that are making sure you are who you are. One of the first things that I do when I get to the airport is show someone my ID. 

If you’ve been to a busy airport as of late, you’ve probably also seen signs for things like TSA PreCheck and “Clear,” a commercial product that gets you through the TSA lines faster because they affirm that you are who you are. Recently, with the advent of “Real ID,” people are also checking for a little star on your ID to make sure that you are who you say you are – that you’re prechecked and cleared to board your flight.

In some ways, Baptism is like this. Baptism is the promise and the authority of God standing behind our identity saying: “This one – my baptized child – they are prechecked and cleared.” In our Baptisms, there is no need to check our credentials. There is no need to prove ourselves by our good works. There is no need to show our lineage reaching back. Instead, there is simply a “check” by our identity that tells us that we are cleared to enter the Kingdom of God.

Of course, God doesn’t necessarily have St Peter at the Pearly Gates look up our PreCheck number for clearance. Our names are already written in the book of life. But in some ways, that “precheck and clear” of Holy Baptism is for our assurance rather than for God’s utility. God knows you already, He doesn’t need to check things because His Son died for you. But occasionally you will actually doubt is you are prechecked and cleared to be in His Kingdom. You will doubt this because of your sins which you know should put you on a watch list rather than a precheck list.

But God assures you: No, those sins are not a part of your record. Instead, by the blood of Jesus, you indeed have been prechecked and cleared. Now all we have to do is walk through this airport of a life and get to our destination.