Roll Down Like Waters: Communities of Forgiveness. March 15, 2026

During baptism, the candidate or the parents of a candidate make a set of promises. Then the church community makes promises in return, telling the newest member of God’s family that they’re not alone in their faith journey. The community’s promise includes surrounding the baptismal candidate with love and forgiveness.

Baptism is a celebration of salvation and initiation into Christian community. But where there is community, there are people. Where there are people, there is conflict. And where there is conflict, there is the need for forgiveness.

Forgiveness done well is astounding. We’ve seen it after terrible events. When a white supremacist murdered nine African American members of a South Carolina church 2015, AME Bishop John Bryant said, “He wanted to start a race war, but he came to the wrong place.” In 2006, a 33-year-old man barricaded himself in a one-room Amish schoolhouse. He shot ten girls, killing five and injuring five. Then he killed himself. Despite the devastating losses, 40 members of the Amish community joined the man’s grieving parents at his funeral.

Talk about forgiveness can be difficult to take in. Does it mean putting all the burden on the victim and letting the perpetrator off? In the early church, people promised love and forgiveness, but it wasn’t unconditional. Serious sin meant getting expelled from church, and the only way to return was to make a public confession and do public penance.

The ability to connect and choose love was one of Jesus’s superpowers. As he and two other enemies of the Roman state hung on crosses, one of the men ridiculed Jesus and the other defended Jesus. In that moment, Jesus assured the defender that he would join Jesus in paradise. Jesus modeled forgiveness, love, and community building right up to his death. When we, the community, make promises during baptism, we’re pledging to recommit to following Jesus and his ways.