Sermon Text

January 10, 2010
The Baptism of the Lord

DISCOVERING WHO WE ALREADY ARE
Isaiah 43:1-7
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

One Sunday night some years ago, as part of a Kerygma Bible Study I was leading, class members teamed up with one other and asked each other the question, "Who are you?" We each asked the question seven times, seeking seven different responses. When we reported back the results of our interviews, there were all the answers you might expect -- names, occupations, sex, marital and parental status -- but also included were responses such as "baptized," "a child of God," "redeemed." Those are ways we don't as often think of ourselves, but Scripture and the tradition of our faith tell us that these identifying marks are every bit as fundamental as our names.

In the story of Jesus' baptism by John, God is portrayed as confirming to Jesus who Jesus already is -- God's Son, the One in whom God finds pleasure.

With the baptism of Jesus, water becomes the symbol of new life. The same element which in the great flood signified the end of an era now stands as the Sacrament of new beginning. Jesus chose this sacramental act as the sign of the beginning of his own ministry. At his direction, it became the sign of entrance into the community of his followers.

When you join Rotary, Kiwanis, or some other service club, they give you a handshake and a lapel pin. When you join the Church, we sprinkle water on your head. In some churches, they dunk you in the water and half drown you! When we celebrate a baptism here on Sunday morning, we talk about dying with Christ before we talk about rising to new life. Listen to how Paul puts it in Romans, chapter 6: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Think about that for a moment. Whatever "signing on" with Jesus means, it means dying to the way we have been, it means that, although God accepts us just as we are, it will not do for us to stay as we have always been, that change is demanded daily, sometimes painful turning that does not come naturally.

And I do have a choice in whether or not I will do this changing, this turning. You and I are free not to be who we are created to be, and our misuse of that freedom is what the Church has called Sin.

But a thought-provoking aspect of this story revolves around what God says to Jesus in this vision: “You are My Son, the Beloved.” What God is doing is telling Jesus who Jesus already is. That is what happens to us in baptism, too. In baptism, God tells us, not just what we may become, but who, by God's grace, we already are. Baptism, then, gives us a tremendous assurance about what God's intentions for us are. I may not always feel like a child of God, or look like a child of God, or act like a child of God, but I am. That is what God says to me in my baptism. In baptism, God through the Church tells you who you already are, and who you are is a cherished child of God who has been washed, gifted, chosen, called, and named.

If the writer of 1 Peter had been a part of our Kerygma study that Sunday night, we would have heard another answer to the question, "Who are you?" Listen: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of the One who called you out of darkness into God's marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

A little boy, age 4, was asked before his fifth birthday what kind of party he wanted to have. "I want everyone to be a king or queen," he said. So, he and his mother went to work making silver crowns (cardboard and aluminum foil), purple robes (crepe paper), and royal scepters (sticks painted gold).

On the day of the party, as the guests arrived, they were each given their royal crown, robe, and scepter. It was a regal sight, all of them kings and queens. Everyone had a wonderful time. They all ate cake and ice cream, and then they had a procession to the end of the block and back again. All in all, it was a royal, wonderful day.

That night, as the mother was tucking the just-turned 5-year-old into bed, she asked him what he had wished when he blew out the candles on his birthday cake.

"I wished," he said, "that everyone in the whole world could be a king or queen -- not just on my birthday, but every day."

Well, baptism shows that something very much like that happened one day at a place called Calvary. We, who were nobodies, became somebodies. Those who were no people became God's people. All of us became royalty.

And a big part of the work of the Church in the world is helping people to understand and live in the light of that truth, to discover what it means to be the baptized people of God. When a person is baptized here in our church, we all make promises to welcome and nurture that person in the faith we share. All of our Christian Education, all family worship, the involvement of children and young people in worship, our youth ministry programs, sermons, confirmation classes, congregational dinners, weddings, funerals, and communions -- all are part of the Church's continuing baptismal work.

In a few moments, we will have the opportunity to participate in the Renewal of our Baptismal Covenant. The reason that we observe such an event as this is that our baptisms mark the beginning of a process, not the end of one. Our whole lives as Christians are lived out of baptism, and growth is expected. We need to be reminded, from time to time, of what has happened to us, and of the response that God's gracious action calls forth from us.

But before we move to that special Service of Renewal, let us pray:
Almighty God, You anointed Jesus at his baptism with the Holy Spirit, and revealed him as Your beloved Son. Keep us, Your children born of water and the Spirit, faithful in Your service, that we may rejoice to be called children of God; in the name of Jesus Christ we ask it. Amen.