Baptism
Luke 3:15-17;21-22
Today is the Baptism of the Lord Sunday. It’s the day the Church has set aside for us to contemplate and celebrate Baptism… both Jesus’ baptism, and ours.
Of course, when it comes to Jesus: his baptism was, no doubt, a pivotal moment in his life. It’s the traditional beginning of his earthly ministry, as God revealed his glory through the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit working in unison along the banks of the Jordan River. The Three-in-One revealing in the flesh, that the Day of Salvation had arrived. The Promise of God’s deliverance was unfolding as the Holy Spirit visibly descended upon God the Son, and God the Father, in thundering approval declared, “this is my beloved, in Whom, I am well pleased.”
I’m not one of those who subscribes to the idea that Jesus had to become who he was. That he didn’t know Who is was until it was revealed to him later in life by God. I believe that at any moment of Jesus’ physical, life in the flesh, God could’ve revealed the power of his anointed, chosen one… and permanently established his kingdom on this earth. Instead, God chose to experience every detail of this life, every heartache, and every joy, by allowing the very human part of His Incarnation (Jesus), to be born a baby… and experience all the things that come along with being born a baby and growing into adulthood in this life. Which includes rituals and practices built around faith.
Of course, the Bible tells us, that John the Baptist, offered a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. We know that Jesus had no sin, because he was not only fully human… he was fully God. So he needed no baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. So what’s going on here?!
Well, in Jesus’ baptism... God was establishing for you and for me, the continuing idea of Covenant. You and I are marked as part of the covenant people through the sacrament of baptism. It’s how we identify ourselves as Christians. In the Old Testament days, the mark of the Covenant (of being part of the Covenant Community) was circumcision. Jesus was circumcised on the 8th day of his human life, taking on the mark of the OLD Covenant community.
And in our Gospel Lesson from Luke... THRU his baptism, even though he was fully God, and fully human, Jesus was participating in that NEW Covenant process that marked him as fully belonging to God, in the New Testament sense. A mark that was greater, a mark that’s more inclusive than circumcision.
And the remarkable thing about all this is... when you and I are baptized into the body of Christ, it’s a pivotal moment in our lives, too! We’re received and marked as part of the covenant community. The family of Faith. We promise (we covenant together) to serve and worship God, to resist evil, to proclaim the Good News, to seek Christ will and ways in our lives. We receive the Holy Spirit, which empowers us to keep our promises.
But, in a very real and powerful way, we also get to claim as our own the very same words that Jesus heard thunder from the heavens... “You are my beloved, in you am I well pleased.” As we’re incorporated into Christ’s body, we hear for ourselves God say to us, “You are my beloved daughter, my beloved son, and in you am I well pleased.” In a way that we would never be able know otherwise, those words become true for us and in us.
One of the great calls of the Church for centuries now, has been the call and challenge to “Remember your baptism!” Of course, that’s a difficult proposition if you were baptized as an infant! If you have no cognitive recall of an event, it kind of takes memory out of the equation, right?
So how do you & I remember our baptism? What does that mean? It doesn’t mean remember the physical, embodied moment in which you were baptized in water. The actual water is NOT where the meaning is. To remember your baptism means remember who your baptism says you are... remember the covenant that was made.
Try to imagine, if you can, God, who made all things, who holds all things together by his mighty power... looking directly into your eyes, and saying, “YOU are my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” In other words, “I love you, and I’m proud of you!”
You know, I’m fairly convinced, that, you and I will never hear more profound words this side of Heaven. No matter what happens with your relationships, your work; no matter how many mistakes you’ve made, how much you’ve done that you aren’t proud of, how much you wish you could change.
No matter how many books you write, how many deals you close, how many things you have, how much influence you exert: you cannot improve, when it is all said and done, on the fact, that God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, at your baptism, declared his love and approval of you.
Think about that! God, who is NOT like the wind and the shifting shadows of this life... God who is constant and steady, the foundation of all that is or ever will be... says that YOU... “you are my beloved daughter, you are my beloved son, and in YOU I am well pleased!”
What a powerful affirmation of both who and Whose we are!
Of course, Jesus’ baptism also marked the beginning of his ministry. And it can be said and understood, that our baptism is much the same. We make vows to serve God and God’s world with love and faith. Do you know what happened after Jesus’ baptism? It’s the verses immediately after our gospel reading. The Holy Spirit hurled (it’s the same word used elsewhere to describe casting out a demon) Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.
That tells us something: it tells us that our calling, as baptized believers (and followers of Christ) won’t be easy either. As we seek to establish God’s kingdom and peace on earth, we will battle the demons of hatred, ignorance, oppression, all of which seem to gathering more steam every time we open our newspapers. But Jesus has been there and done that. And even though the Bible tells us that the angels ministered to Jesus... we have something better than angels. We have the Spirit of Christ himself. We’re never alone in our calling as we fight the good fight of faith.
Of course, all of this makes we wonder what would happen if we all started remembering our baptism. Maybe if the words, “You are my beloved child, and in you am I well pleased,” took hold, we would actually begin to live as the covenant people we’re intended to be. A people, who by their very presence (like salt and light) change life for the better.
Sent from my iPhone
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