Scripture Sunday: Saved Through Water

by Ashtyn Adams

1 Peter 3:18-22 (NRSV)
18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you--not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Imatatio Christi sums up the appeal of the book of 1 Peter, whose author writes to Christians experiencing social tensions in the northern half of Asia Minor. Roman society was hierarchical, much like our own, and the conversion of Gentiles to Christianity was threatening the Greco-Roman culture. Accusations were circling about the danger of Christians impairing such hierarchical relationships, causing fear particularly about women and slaves rebelling. This pseudonymous author, like Paul, is operating under the assumption that the end is near, with the utmost importance placed not immediately on re-ordering society, but on imitating Christ by doing good, living gently, and treating others with respect. The section highlighted by the lectionary supplies one of the motives for such living and is an interesting and rare interpretive move that draws a parallel between the flood narrative in Genesis and the sacrament of baptism. This parallel can be particularly potent for our current moment in the Anthropocene where we must think more deeply about water.

Just as the author of 1 Peter was situated in history, so are we. This highlighted text comes to us during the first Sunday of Lent, where we too are seeking Imitatio Christi, to follow the man who walks down a dark path to teach us something about love. Kate Bowler reflected this Ash Wednesday that lent “connects us with the great truth which is that we all end. And in our endings, we learn something about our beginnings, like the things for which we’re made.” The Lenten journey of endings and beginnings is, therefore, an extended rehearsal of our baptismal covenants where we are brought into a new relationship with our divine parent. Lent is the time to make commitments and sacrifices that help us remember and renew our vows about the lives we have been called to. Our treatment of water, for example, as a commodity instead of a precious gift from God to be protected and shared is one place we ought to start considering how we will re-work our commitments and sacrifices. ​

The author of 1 Peter adds a cosmic dimension to the work of Christ, who saves all, including the “spirits in prison,” a likely reference to the “sons of God” who corrupted human women and were destroyed in the flood in Genesis. During this flood, God seeks to rid the Earth of all the violence and wickedness, but saves Noah and his family, along with the animals which the author does not explicitly reference. This is the story where God makes a covenant with “every living creature,” which, as discussed in CJM’s latest episode of The Green Lectionary Podcast, is not superseded by any of the later covenants. Indeed, the author says that this Genesis story prefigured Christ’s work in baptism, which is no mere removal of dirt. If the waters of baptism are a type and image of the waters of the flood, where God rids evil to make a promise of loving kindness to creation, do we really understand what it means to be “saved through water”? What sort of thing have we committed ourselves to as Christians in this sacrament? I know that when I hear the words “saved through,” it's followed by the word “grace.” I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive, but I confess that I haven’t asked myself, “How does God use water?” And if imitation is the primary goal of this letter, then I must comparatively ask, “How do I use water?”

The looming water crisis expresses the obvious, that we don’t use water as God does. Where God uses water for the purposes of freedom, good, and salvation, we use water carelessly, and as the zone for our disregarded plastics. We have failed to realize that our covenant in baptism is not just between us and Jesus, but between all living things. We have failed to imitate God. And the act of imitation, as the second letter of Peter reveals, is to be partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). How far we must be from the Spirit.

The looming water crisis expresses the obvious, that we don’t use water as God does.

The reputation of Christians in the first century was radical. The reason we even have this letter of 1 Peter is because their way of life posed a threat to the current systems in place. Sure, the author may have had to urge his readers to honor the emperor, but what a problem to have. When looking at the environmental degradation unleashed today, most Christians do nothing different than the status quo. I pray our environmental practices, particularly with water this lent, will cause more of a disturbance to the larger practices around us. One can only hope we will need to be tamed because we have gone so far in imitating the God who saves through water. 
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Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.
Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon
St. Francis of Assisi

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Ashtyn Adams is a Seminary Intern at Creation Justice Ministries. Ashtyn earned her B.A. in Religion
​from Pepperdine University and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Divinity at Duke University.

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