Sermon for the First Sunday
after EpiphanySt. Paul’s Sacramento The Baptism of our Lord
January 12, 2020
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 are
celebrating the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. We have jumped forward from Jesus as a baby
and a small child to Jesus as an adult – scholars say he was likely in his late
20’s. In our Gospel narrative,
during the Christmas season, Jesus birth was announced to the Shepherds, the wise men and women
from “the east”, likely Persia, have presented kingly gifts. After that Joseph,
Mary and Jesus flee from the wrath of King Herod to Egypt where they live in exile until the death
of King Herod. And now we are at the
River Jordon. This is a turning point in
our Gospel. Jesus will leave the River
Jordon and start his earthly ministry. A
ministry that will ultimately get the attention of the ruling elite. A ministry that is about brining God’s Love
to the Loveless. But I don’t want to get
ahead of myself. We have several months
to recall Jesus work in the world before we get to Lent and Easter.
John is a
little surprised that Jesus has come to him.
He recognizes that Jesus is the one foretold by the prophets that has
come to transform our world into God’s world.
Jesus as God incarnate certainly does not need to be baptized. John has been preaching about forgiveness of
sins and the coming of the one who is greater than he is. Jesus comes to recognize John and to have
John do what he was called to do. To
Baptize. Jesus said it was “proper for
us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”
Jesus is letting the story of the Prophets, the story of John’s calling
to play out. Jesus, who we say was
without sin, is baptized by John, a baptism of repentance.
This baptism
is different than all the others that John has performed at the River
Jordon. As Jesus comes out of the River
a strange thing happens. The heavens
open and the Spirit of God – looking like a dove – descends on Jesus. And then the voice of heavens confirms that
Jesus is different. That Jesus is the
one foretold. “This is my Son, the
Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
God the father is well pleased with Jesus, who up to this point has not
done much – well at least that was recorded in the Gospel. God is pleased. Jesus has lived with the people and learned
what humanity was like. The good and the
bad. Jesus has seen and experienced it
and God is pleased. Jesus will go from
here to do things that are miraculous.
It is important, however, to notice that it did not take a miracle for
God to be please. God is pleased because
Jesus showed up. God is pleased because
Jesus is following what the prophets said.
This is not
all for Jesus sake. He did not need
baptism to forgive sins. He did not need the dove. He did not the voice from heaven. These things where all done for us. To show us that Jesus is different. To show us that God was indeed speaking
through the prophets.
Today is also
a day that we can, and should, remember our own baptisms. Because through our baptisms we have been
called to continue the work that Jesus started.
Through our baptisms we are called to ministry. Through our baptisms we are called into
forgiveness so that we can be God’s change agents in our world.
David Lose, a
preacher I follow said, “Baptism is about forgiveness. But forgiveness is not a
mechanism but rather is a gift. We aren’t forgiven in Baptism in order
that God can call us God’s children, but rather we are forgiven
because we already are God’s children. So, yes, baptism is
about forgiveness. But it’s also about so much more! It’s about love, identify,
affirmation, commitment, promise, and still more. In fact, I’d argue that
Baptism is first about all these other things and then,
as by-product and gift, about forgiveness. That is, in Baptism God proclaims
God’s great love for us; calls, names, and claims us as God’s beloved children;
gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit;…and then, because of God’s love for us,
God also promises to forgive, renew, and restore us at all times.
Which is why
I think that what ought to surprise us […] is not that Jesus is baptized like
we are, but rather that we get to be baptized – and therefore named as beloved
child – just like Jesus is.”[1]
We are children
of God. Whether you saw it or not that
spirit of God came upon you at your baptism.
Whether you heard it or not the heavens opened up and God said that God
was well pleased. In our baptisms we are
called out to continue Jesus ministry.
In our
baptism we are called to see the world through the eyes of justice and
love. Through our baptisms we are called
to be prophets that call out the iniquities in our world – iniquities that
cause people to be seen as less than human.
We are called to welcome all of God’s beloved children into our world – and
to change the world into one that brings God’s dream of love into our
world.
I know that
this all sounds a bit too simplistic.
Just look at the world around us.
We have ever increasing homelessness in our communities. We have greater income disparity in this
nation than we have ever had. We have
increased international tensions that this past week looked like they could
have led to all out war. What can we do
to change that.
I sometimes
despair about being an agent of God. An
agent that is supposed to change the world and usher is a world of peace and
love. It is all too much. The endless hate that we read about in the
news and in social media. The increased
ethnic tension in our world. Climate
change and environmental destruction.
But God continually reaches into my soul and pulls me through the
despair into joy. Pulls be from inaction to action.
I am not
delusional that I will be able to make an immediate worldwide change by
myself. But I am able to make changes to
my world. I can be in relationship with
those that society treats as outcasts. I
can open up the church during the week for prayer, fellowship, and
sanctuary. I can treat all people as God’s
beloved children. I can support, through
my giving, both in money and in my time, organizations that are making a
difference. And I can pray.
Pray that the
holy spirit that moves in my life and calls me will be able to enter into the
hearts of those who are perpetuating the policies that tear down. Enter into their hearts so that we can
transform the world into that world of Love that God dreams about. That dream of God that our world will finally
get it and turn around – repent – and welcome all of God’s children into
relationship.This is not magical thinking.
Jesus’ baptism by John marked the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry
that called society to change. Our
baptism also calls us into the same ministry.
Several years
ago I was at the River Jordon. It is
still a powerful place of ministry. It
is a thin spot where God’s presence is palpable. It is palpable in the diversity of people who
are drawn to that place. There is an
amazing cross section from all over the world that come to be baptized in the River
Jordon, or to renew their baptisms. It
is a place where we can witness God calling the diversity that is creation into
relationship.
Joy Moore, a
professor at Luther Seminary said “Baptism signals a journey that begins at a
fork in the road where one path is chosen and another is rejected. It is our
surrender to God’s righteousness that is not merely individual moral conduct
but a focus on relationships restored.
Treating one
another rightly restores relationships. God’s intention remains to draw from
every nation, tribe, and tongue a people who demonstrate the righteousness of
God’s reign.”[2]
Today, a day
set aside to remember Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordon, is also a day to
remember our baptisms. A day to remember
that through our baptisms we are called to restore relationships. To restore
our relationship with God. To restore
our relationships with all of God’s beloved children.
We are called
to change the world. To show through our
actions that we love God and love all of God’s creation. It is not easy. Some of God’s children make it difficult to
love them. It is hard to love those we
see as creating a world that is the opposite of what God dreams we could
create. In those cases we need to call
out the actions that separate our world from God – and to pray. Pray for us and those who we see are making
choices that do not bring about God’s dream.
Pray that their hearts will be changed.
Changed by the letting the holy spirit into their hearts.
It is not all
bad news. There is good in this
world. Unfortunately, the bad news seems
to get the headlines. But I see the good
all the time. I see it in the
relationship that are built in this place.
I see it in the people who come in here during the weak for a little
sanctuary and to worship god. I see it
at St. Matthew’s where they are, once again, dismantling their worship space to
welcome our brothers and sisters into a warm place of sanctuary for a
week. To provide a hot dinner and a safe
place to sleep out of the winter weather.
I see it in the work of Sister Libby and the Mercy Pedalers who ride
through town and offer God’s love to the homeless on our streets.
We are called
in our baptisms into ministry. It is not
ordination as a deacon or priest that calls us into our primary ministry. It is our baptism. A baptism that calls us, as Joy Moore said,
to choose that fork in the road. To
choose the path that brings God’s dream into our world. To choose the path that creates
relationship. To choose the path that
sees that Dove descending upon our souls and hear God say to us “You are my
beloved child, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
