BAPTISM OF THE LORD January 10. 2021
Genesis 1:1-5; Mark 1:4-11 Panzer Liturgical Service
A child is born. Let’s say that it is a girl child. She is a daughter, sister, and eventually a wife and a mother. She moves in and out of relationships throughout a lifetime. She is baptized as an infant and grows up in the Church as at least an "average" Christian. She hears about God, has read much of the Bible, attends youth group and Sunday School most Sundays, works in the nursery when her own children are there, and takes a turn at teaching Sunday School. She works outside the home, at first part-time and then full-time. She provides volunteers in the community. She cares for her parents' when the time comes.
People think that they know her, but just when they think they have her pegged, she surprises them. In reality, people know only a little bit about her. It would take all of the chapters in a very large book to know her so well that we would never be surprised or disappointed. And even then, we could not know her as she knows herself or as well as God does.
And if we can't really know one of our fellow creatures, how can we expect to know everything there is to know about God? Throughout the ages, the Church has incorporated the telling of its family story each week in worship. The story defines the way we think about a year. Our year starts at Advent, not on January 1st, in the story of the Holy Family, throughout Jesus’ ministry, on Holy Thursday and on Good Friday, on All Saint’s Day, and at Pentecost. We celebrate the whole story through the whole year, and we know who we are through the stories of Palm Sunday and Easter, not just the stories of Christmastide.
Holy Scripture is a vehicle for that knowing. God is, in part, known through a relationship with the created. In the readings for today, we hear of the relationships between Father, Son, and Spirit. Through the readings, we share intimate moments, moments that are some of the most revealing. Especially in the Hebrew Bible and the gospel lessons, God introduces Himself to us and invites us to meet the rest of the family.
If you close your eyes and imagine the first five verses of Genesis, what would you see? What would you hear? At first, there is darkness, and then the sound of water. Water, water, everywhere. And God stirs the water around and starts the creative process. Darkness and light, day and night, earth, and heaven. Animals and human beings. It all began with the water.
Water plays such an elemental role in our lives and in the lives of the Biblical characters. How many stories can you think of where water was a symbol pointing to the greatness of God? Crossing the Red Sea, Jonah and the whale, water from a rock in the wilderness, Noah and the flood, water into wine, Jesus walking on water… and many more. And water is present even in the story most familiar to us. In the baptism liturgy it goes like this: “In the fullness of time you sent Jesus, nurtured in the water of a womb, baptized by John, and anointed by your Spirit.”
Born in a stable… baptized with sinners in the Jordan River… This is a scene of epic proportions. Jesus’ ministry begins so simply. John in his holy lunacy mingles with the crowd from the villages, people aching for some Good News. This good news comes in two forms: the baptism of John which is a forgiveness of sins, and his prophecy of the one who is greater and who will follow. Indeed, there is more to come. There will be a baptism of the Spirit. In the end, there will not be a human intermediary with this new baptism. It will be straight from God.
Jesus, the righteous one, goes to John and enters the water of the Jordan. And with water John baptizes Jesus, even under duress. Mark tells us that as he leaves the water, he sees the "heaven torn apart." Now, that is a picture worthy of the best filmmaker. "You are my Son, the Beloved." At this moment, God the Father cannot get close enough to his child and in euphoric frustration rips and tears the very fabric of the universe to lay his claim upon his Son. It is a cosmic YES, arms raised high and feet dancing. It is love spilling out, the cup overflowing. God knows, and from Scripture, we too know, what will be the result of this descent of the Spirit to Jesus. Justice and mercy will be preached to all people. Jesus will feed and heal and teach, reminding people of God’s real intentions for his creation.
Where are we in this story? We stand with the crowd at the Jordan. We have trudged out from town, weighed down by our sins, and hopeful that the madman from the desert will give us new hope and purpose for living. We don’t know that the man in our midst is one born without stain. We probably don't recognize him as the Messiah. But we go back to the village and step back into our routines. We are refreshed and feel the sense of a clean start. We know that something has changed.
What do we learn of God at this moment? We are introduced to the Son, the Servant. We see the Holy Parent leaning down from heaven to give us our first glimpse of the Holy Spirit. It’s a reminder that God wants to be known by us. We know God through the words of the Holy Scripture, a human diary of people’s experiences of God throughout history. We know God through his Son Jesus and through the Holy Spirit which sustained him and us. In this moment of Jesus’ baptism, God bursts into our realm to proclaim a message of identity and blessing. “This is my child – with him I am well-pleased.” And throughout Jesus’ ministry, he extends this same status to us. We are also the children of God.
Baptism is the sacrament that affirms this message. In baptism, we are anointed and accepted and recognized by God. Here we hand ourselves over to God. Through baptism we are cleansed… marked … and set apart for service, to perform acts of justice and mercy, and to know and be known by God even more.
It is not a small thing we do when we come to the fountain of life. Some of us come to baptism by our own choice, choosing to join the communion of believers as a way of affirming our allegiance to Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Many of us come to baptism at the discretion of others, and years later affirm the promises that were made on our behalf, taking responsibility for our own faith journeys through confirmation and baptismal reaffirmation. Either way, baptism is another way we come to know Jesus and express our commitment to a life of faith in him. And while it’s not a date we celebrate with regularity, our baptismal stories are as important to our faith journeys as any other day in our lives.
When you leave here today, you have two assignments. First, if you don’t already know your baptismal story, ask questions to find out what you can… hear or tell the story as you know it… and to celebrate that day of recognition and initiation into the life of the church. Mark these days on your family calendars, and when you celebrate them, light a candle to remember your baptism and be thankful.
Second, think about how your baptism informs your place in the world today. What does baptism require of us? And how are we called to live differently because we have claimed the promises of Jesus?
I spent some time this week looking at the baptismal services from some of the denominations represented here each Sunday, and I know that we talked about this on Confirmation Sunday, but as we celebrate Jesus’ baptism today and remember our own baptisms, it’s good to be reminded again.
In the Episcopal Church, in
addition to affirming the 3 main tenants of the Apostle’s Creed, those claiming
or reaffirming baptism are asked these questions:
- · Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever
you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
- · Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of
God in Christ?
- · Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving
your neighbor as yourself?
- · Will you strive for justice and peace among all
people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
To each question, the people respond: I will, with God's help.[i]
ELCA baptismal documents say this: “Our baptism sets us out on a lifelong journey that is characterized by our relationship to God, our relationship to our faith community, our relationships in our community and the wider world. Living our baptismal covenant means living a life of growth in the faith practices of discipleship… We are to “...live among God’s faithful people; hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s Supper; proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed; serve all people following the example of Jesus, and strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”[ii]
And in the United Methodist Church, those coming for baptism, confirmation, and reaffirmation are asked these questions, specifically: “Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?” “Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?” and lastly, “Will you faithfully participate in the church’s ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness?”[iii]
When I was watching TV on Wednesday, I was reminded of my experience on September 11, 2001. All-day long I fielded phone calls and messages from people, who know I am a pastor, asking questions like this: How do I talk to my kids about what happened today? What do I do with the conflicting feelings I have? How do I process my fear? What does my faith compel me to do? I didn’t get any of those phone calls this past week, but I felt those same questions bubbling to the surface as I heard the conversations that swirled around us. They are still good questions.
Many good, Christian people have been silent in the face of evil throughout history. Lessons of the past often must be learned again and again. For some of us, the need to speak out again evil and hate cloaked in the mantle of Christian teaching makes us very afraid. But maybe we should be more afraid of what will happen if we don’t speak out.
The light of Christ coming to the nations is good news, but it isn’t always comforting. Light reveals what is hidden, exposing darkness. And if we take our baptismal vows seriously, we have to peek into those dark places, confront what we find, and vow to speak out and live out a Christ-centered truth.
On Epiphany, January 6th, we celebrate the coming of the Magi, who visited Herod on the way into town, but went home by another way because they knew he would not like what they found. Today, we lift up Jesus’ baptism, which puts his ministry front and center, often at odds with the religious and political powers of the day. Both of these milestones celebrated in the same week, remind us that the Christian faith cannot be used as a tool to prop up political power. As Christians, we are called to walk the narrow path, the path of love, peace, mercy, and justice, affirming Jesus’ kingship over all the creation.
And this is hard work. Change will not come overnight. There is a lot of damage to be repaired. But we are called to take up the work of bringing healing to our churches, our communities, and our nation around the deep and unchanging truths about who Christ is calling us to be and how Christ is calling us to service. Serving the needy and the poor, loving our neighbors, willing to be a voice for the least, the last, and the lost.
Anglican priest, Tish Harrison Warren says
it this way: This work will be frustratingly small and local, under the radar,
and away from the headlines. It will feel paltry and unimportant in the face of
the raging nations and widespread ecclesial and national decay. It will be
long, risky, and uncertain. But in that meek and humble place, perhaps, with
the Magi, we can again find the small star that leads us to the true Light of
the World.[iv]
I don’t know how many of you have seen the
movie “Soul” on Disney Plus, but I highly recommend it for family and adult
viewing. It’s a movie about a lot of things, but for me, it was about how we
find meaning in life. I’m not going to go through the plot or main characters,
but there was a quote at the end of the movie that, when I heard it, I knew I
wanted it to be my ending illustration today.
I heard this story about a fish. He swims up to an older fish and says, “I’m trying to find this thing they call ‘the ocean.'”
“The ocean? the older fish says, “That’s what you’re in right now.”
“This?” says the young fish. “This is water. What I want is the ocean!” [v]
Our faith journeys are not just defined by
grand moments of divine revelation… they are made up of individual actions on
ordinary days that make a difference to someone somewhere, even if we can’t see
the outcome. The justice and mercy we offer others go much farther in preaching
the gospel than we can imagine.
Jesus’ baptism by John is one piece in the puzzle of our Christian story. Jesus knows each of us a little bit better because he too has felt the coolness of the water and heard the voice of God, sending him out to serve. And I know him better because I hear the story of God, through Jesus and the Church, and actively participate in what baptism is all about.
Jesus’ baptism propels him
into the world – to teach, to serve, to live, and to love. And it does the same
for us. God claims us at our baptisms – this is my child with whom I am well
pleased – and sends us out to go and do the same… to live and serve and love in
his name. Thanks be to God!
Amen.
Lord Jesus, we give you thanks that you did not expect us to be faithful to you on our own. You do not leave us to our own devices. You give us what we need to be courageous, even when courage does not come naturally. You push us to speak up and speak out for you, even when are shy to say what we think.[i] https://episcopalchurch.org/baptismal-covenant
[ii] https://elca.org/en/Our-Work/Congregations-and-Synods/Faith-Practices/Living-Our-Baptismal-Covenant
[iii] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/the-baptismal-covenant-i
[iv] Tish
Harrison Warren, “We Worship with the Magi, not the MAGA,” Christianity Today,
January 7, 2021
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/january-web-only/trump-capitol-mob-election-politics-magi-not-maga.html
[v] Jared
Dees, https://jareddees.com/fish-story-soul/
[vi] Will
Willimon, “Remember Your Baptism,” Pulpit Resource, Vol. 49, No. 1, Year B,
2021
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