First Sunday after the Epiphany 2017
The Baptism of our Lord
Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17
Jesus came from Galilee
to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him,
saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus
answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill
all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just
as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice
from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Today we celebrate the baptism of
Jesus. We have just finished the
Christmas season with the remembrance of the arrival of the Wise Men on
Friday. Unlike our society we are asked
to linger in the season of Christmas for 12 days. We are asked to enjoy the birth of our savior
as a small child and not rush into other important business.
In my family I am sometimes called
the baby whisperer. Many babies respond
to something in me and will snuggle in and relax – which frequently results in
family gatherings with me holding a sleeping baby. I love my baby fixes. There is something about that small child of
god snuggling into my shoulder with their cheek against mine. And not to romanticize too much the baby
Jesus I think we are asked to spend 12 days in the manger getting our baby fix. Getting ready to move on into ministry.
And today we get to be reminded of
not the baby Jesus but of the Jesus who is about to start his ministry. Jesus starts his public ministry in Matthew
with the Baptism of John. We hear very
little of Jesus between his birth and his baptism so it seems a bit of a shock
to meet the full grown Jesus this Sunday when it was just two weeks ago we
celebrated his birth.
On this Sunday of Jesus' Baptism
it is tempting to get into the theological weeds and try to preach on why Jesus
– who we say was without sin – went to be baptized by John. I could also get into the theological weeds
about our baptism. And probably put you
all to sleep! When I read the Gospel
this week – every time I read it – one phrase jumped off the page. “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am
well pleased.” What a wonderful thing to
hear. This is my son, the Beloved, with
whom I am well pleased.”
I am sure that we all would like
to have the heavens open and God say to us “You are my son/ my daughter, the Beloved, with whom I
am well pleased.” We all long for a name
and an affirmation that we are beloved.
Beloved by God, beloved by family, beloved by society. And sadly, very sadly, that doesn’t happen
for everyone. For some insane reason
people are still being rejected by their families because of who they are. Children are still being ejected from their
homes for being LGBTQ. For not fitting
expectations. Society still categorizes
people based on some scale based on their net worth or their ethnicity. It is crazy and it is upside down.
The good news is that if we listen
we can hear God. God is constantly
calling us into community. Community
with God and community with each other.
And in that calling God is saying to each and every one of us “You are
my beloved with whom I am well pleased”.
That doesn’t mean that we are perfect and without sin. But it means that we are forgiven and beloved
children of God.
Unfortunately the noise that
surrounds us much of the time drowns out the still quite voice of God. The noise that says we are not good
enough. The noise that says we should
worship the accumulation of wealth. The
noise that says we need to have what society says are perfect bodies. There is a particularly annoying commercial
offering a free body part fixed if you pay to get another one fixed. It promises that if you have your nose bobbed
you can get your hips re-sculptured. Or
some nonsense. It is clearly trying to
tell us that we need to bow down to a culture that worships a certain body
image. This noise can drown out God’s
call to us.
The very next thing that happens
to Jesus after his baptism is that he is lead out into wilderness to be
tested. Where he spends 40 days and is
tempted by Satan. But where he is also
tended to by the angels. I would suggest
that we are living in just such a wilderness at times. A wilderness filled with offers and
temptations. A place where we could
loose our very identity. A place where
people walk by other people without even seeing them. A place where it is so hard to hear that we
are beloved children of God.
But we are beloved children of
God. And at the time of baptism – if we
listen very carefully, and look closely – we will see the heavens open and the
spirit descend with the voice of God telling each one of us that we are his
beloved. And as beloved children of God
we too will go out into the wilderness.
And as beloved children of God we are called to ministry in that wilderness.
Our call is contained in our
baptismal promises – which we will renew shortly. And I believe it is a good thing to renew our
baptismal promises frequently! Because
with all the noise in our societal wilderness calling us away from them it is
good to be reminded. Shortly we will be
asked if – in community and with God’s help – will we help to bring the promise
of God’s loving reign to earth?
We are not called in our baptism
to do it alone. We are called to do
ministry in fellowship. We are called to
recognize when the temptation of the wilderness overtakes us and we fall that
we can repent and return to the continual forgiveness offered in baptism. And importantly we are called to proclaim the
good news – in our action and in community – to see the Christ in all people
and love our neighbors and ourselves – a tall order! We are called to respect the dignity of all
people and strive for a just and peaceful society. Not by ourselves but in community and with
God’s help.
Wow. When we actually read the words of our
baptismal promises they are daunting.
They are countercultural. If we
are able to follow them it will turn the world right side up. And that is what is happening here in this
little corner of God’s creation.
St. Matthew’s people are doing
things that are counter-cultural. We are
small but we are in community. And we
seek to be in a larger community so that we can feed the hungry. So that we can show all people that they are
respected. We are working with other
churches and the diocese to bring back a robust feeding program to this
neighborhood. And not one that just
gives out food but through the community dinners one that affirms people’s
worth. A small group that takes our call
seriously.
As I said our callings seem
daunting. And Jesus’ earthly ministry
was daunting. But even Jesus did it in
community. He called 12 companions into
his inner circle to support his ministry and to do ministry themselves. David Lose – another preacher I follow said “when
you fall back on your baptism as a reminder of who you are, … remember too that
baptism is also about who the other needs you, and them, to be. To be present
in the wilderness. To tell the other of God’s words from heaven. To proclaim
that baptism cannot just be about the self, but is about living life as being
the light of the world for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven here and now. You,
plural, are God’s beloved children.”
So listen carefully when we renew
our baptismal covenants. Look carefully
into your souls. For once again if we look carefully we will see the heavens
open. You will see the Holy Sprit
descending on each of us. And we will
hear God’s affirmation that we are beloved children. Filled with the Holy Spirit. Children called to go out into the wilderness
– not alone but in community – with a call to turn society right side up. With a call to recognize the Christ in the
most unlikely, and sometime seemingly unlovable people. And to respect the dignity of every human
being and of all of God’s creation.
Our baptism calls us into
fellowship with God as beloved children and it calls us into ministry with
God. So fasten your seatbelts. In a few minutes we are going to call God
into our lives again as we renew our baptisms.
And the Holy Spirit is likely to descend on us and call us into the
wilderness. God continues to call us into
a ministry that will bring justice, peace, and love into this world. A call that calls us into community. And a call that will change the world.
Amen.
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