Yes!! to the Beloved Baptized

Hello again! Because I have been finishing my service at Christ the King, I didn't have to preach for either of the two Sundays of Christmas. And, because we had a supply priest at St. Barnabas for Christmas Eve, I didn't preach that evening either. And because St. Barnabas is 80 miles from my home, and I didn't sense a great desire to have a Christmas morning service, I didn't have to preach on that day either. Instead, I helped my wife and her Temple Israel team prepare and serve a Christmas dinner to those living at Tallahassee's homeless shelter, a Christmas tradition for us since about 2003. 

All of this to say that after four weeks of preaching about the impending incarnation, and all that I had on my mind with the preparation for celebrating that feast, I was kind of like Moses...taking the people to the border of the promised land, but not getting to preach about the experience of entering it. Pity. 

Not really. I was glad for the reprieve. It has been more than just a little bit daunting to be "Deacon in Charge" at one place and "Assistant Clergy" at another place. I feel as though I went from swimming in the kiddie pool at seminary to being thrown into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with everyone screaming at me to "Swim!!!" And with my ordination to the priesthood now only 12 days away, I am still feeling a bit shaky as to whether I'm fully prepared to lead just the one congregation. Thanks be to God I am not being asked to do two!

OK, enough of all that. Yesterday, we had the reading from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 3:15-17;21-22) about Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River. And what a great opportunity to preach on baptism, and lead a
congregation in that (IMHO) Baptismal Covenant with its five questions:

1. Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?

2. Will you persevere in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

3. Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

4. Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

5. Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

To each of these questions, we answer "I will, with God's help." May it be so!

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I would imagine most of us here have been baptized, probably as infants…which means we don’t likely remember a whole lot about what happened that day.

The sights, the sounds, the words spoken to us, or the promises made on our behalf.

It did happen.

And… if it was in an Episcopal Church prior to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer…it might have been a very private ceremony with just the family and Godparents.

Thankfully, one of the major changes that came with our current prayer book is that baptism is a communal event.

Each person baptized into the Body of Christ is not only receiving support from the parents and Godparents; the whole church community becomes the extended family of the one being initiated into the faith.

It’s a moment when we all become a parent, a sibling, a caring relative of this new member as they join us in the journey of faith…at whatever pace we’re walking it.

Now…I’m also guessing that none of us heard a voice from heaven…or saw the Holy Spirit descending as a dove at the time of our baptism.

But God and God’s spirit were still present.

And here’s the best part: even if the person doing the baptism…a priest, a bishop, or even a hospital nurse…even if they were not a model citizen or a particularly good Christian, it doesn’t matter, because God is the one doing the action through the priest or bishop or nurse. Thanks be to God for that!

And that gets us to this scene in our Gospel lesson with John baptizing Jesus. If we pay attention to what John is saying, he’s doing the baptism that is the Jewish rite of purification, cleansing of sins. In Judaism, this is done in what is called a mikvah, which is a ritual bath that looks like a small swimming pool, with water that is partly from a natural source…such as a river or rainwater.

John was performing the ritual in the Jordan, and as we hear, people were coming to him to receive his baptism. But when they start speculating that he’s the messiah, he quickly tells them…No, he’s not the one. There’s another coming after him who will not baptize with water but with another element…with fire. And John goes on to give a big vision of what that will look like with a winnowing fork…separating wheat from chaff.

So…it’s a little odd that Jesus then comes and seeks out John’s baptism. If Jesus is the Messiah…and if John is “not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals” (Luke 3:16c), then why is Jesus needing John to baptize him?

It’s one of those brain teaser type questions that can keep theologians occupied for hours.

And it’s an important point for us to think about during this season of Epiphany…as we see each week…a new revelation…a new unfolding…of who is Jesus…what’s he all about…and why does this matter to us sitting here in the 21^st century in Southwest Georgia.

Take a moment and pull out the insert and look at the very last part of today’s Gospel lesson…where it starts with “Now when all the people were baptized.” In Luke’s version of this scene, we don’t get the actual baptism of Jesus.

Instead, Luke tells us that first the people were baptized, then Jesus was also baptized.

He didn’t cut in line.

He didn’t insist that he go first because he’s the important one here.

Jesus joins with the people, becomes one with everyone else. He goes into those same waters. He places himself in the hands of his cousin and is fully immersed in the experience of purification from sin…even though tradition says he had no sin.

And then he prays.

Perhaps he prays for the world and what it had done to the people.

I have to wonder…now that he’s gone down into the waters of the Jordan after so many others seeking John’s baptism of purification and repentance, how did that experience affect him?

Did this full immersion…perhaps lead him to pray for all the sins left behind in those waters: the pettiness, the selfishness, the greed that helps to create systems of us vs. them?

Did he need prayer for himself…for strength and courage. He’s living in a society where the fragile egos of the rulers could be costly for those speaking truth to power.

Afterall John will be imprisoned for having called out Herod’s illegal marriage to his brother’s wife. And we know that the Baptizer is eventually beheaded as party favor at a depraved birthday party.

As Jesus is praying…the heaven “was opened” and the Holy Spirit descended in “bodily form like a dove” (Luke 3:21-22a). And then he hears those words: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

That statement…that wonderful affirmation…sounds so similar to what God says to Isaiah in the reading we had today: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name and you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:16c).

This is not a distant and remote God.

This is an intimate and deeply caring and personal God. A God of relationship.

You are my Son. The beloved. With you I am well pleased.

Whatever it was that Jesus sought in that time of prayer after his baptism, the answer from God is an unmistakable and resounding, Yes.

Yes, no matter what comes at you, you are mine.

Yes, no matter what powers and principalities oppose you, you are the beloved.

Yes, even when the world mocks and scorns you and believes it has defeated you, I am well-pleased with the work you have done.

That resounding “Yes” from God was not just for his only and begotten Son; it’s our “Yes” as well. A “Yes” that’s meant to be shared.

We help to create this same powerful loving affirmation when we gather as a church community and participate in a baptismal service. When we say in one voice that we will support a person who is committing their life to Christ, we become that incarnation of the Holy Spirit that appeared as a dove for Jesus, and that bold announcement to the world that here is another beloved with whom God is well pleased.

Baptism is our entry into the death and life of Christ. We become a member of his eternal priesthood. The waters of baptism…whether dunked or sprinkled…whether we are infants or toddlers…teenagers or adults…those waters are the outward symbol of our abiding and unbreakable connection to Christ. We can draw on his strength and courage to weather the various storms we encounter in our own lives.

We don’t have anyone to baptize today…and I look forward to a time when we do have a person wishing to join us in this journey of compassionate ministry. But it is always a good practice to be reminded of who we are and whose we are in Christ through our baptism.

With that, I’m going to ask you now to open your prayer books to page 304. And in place of our traditional use of the Nicene Creed, we are going to use this format of the Apostle’s Creed followed by the five questions. Each question should remind us of our own baptism and the commitments we make as members of the Episcopal Church to God and to each other.

(Turn to page 304)