January 13, 2019 The Baptism of Our Lord Gospel: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 The reading opens with questions about the identity of the Messiah. John the Baptist insists that he is not the Messiah; instead he points ahead to one who is coming. And whether the voice of God was heard by all or only by Jesus, God settles the matter: Jesus is God s beloved Son. 15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. 21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased. 19EPIPH1 1
We are now well into the new year. Most of us are back to our pace and schedules that we kept before the holidays. Perhaps many of our new year resolutions are already a fading memory. By now most of us have taken down and put away our Christmas decorations. It is never quite as inspiring to take them down, as it can be to put them up. It is even more of a chore I think. I don t know about your household, but often times for us that last thing that comes down is the Christmas tree. Like many of you taking down the tree putting all the ornaments in their particular boxes is not a fun task. I usually fall into the trap of just tossing all our tree lights into a box and then think I will separate them next year; only to be mad at myself the next December for doing that. However, along with the work of taking it down there is always for me a tinge of sadness. It is not just because a fun holiday is over, but it is more because it is a reminder of how much time has past, how things have changed over the years. This feeling coupled with all of society s emphasis on a new year can lead to questions of identity. Identity.from early childhood, right up to old age, human beings are, consciously or unconsciously, concerned with identity. At one time or another, we all ask questions like: "Who am I? What am I? Is this what I want for my life? Where do I belong? Where have I come from? Where am I going? What, exactly, "makes me tick?" What makes me me?" Ours is a society that may cause some of us to be obsessed with identity. The advertising industry is rather cruel in its narrow, rigid definitions of who is "in" and who is "out." Advertising constantly bombards us, explicitly and subliminally, with images of who we are on the basis of what we have or should want. Television commercials are forever telling us 19EPIPH1 2
that we're not acceptable, we're not "in," we're too much like that and not enough like this. No wonder so many human beings today struggle with an "identity crisis" in their lives. No wonder millions of people are lost and confused about who they really are and what their real purpose in life is. Along with this identity crisis, there is the other booming industry ~ that of self-help. If only, many believe, one reads the latest self-help bestsellers; all of our identity problems will be solved. Whenever we feel lost or confused about our identity, it would be helpful for us to remember how Martin Luther was criticized and told by others that he didn't measure up to their standards. Or, when the powers of evil tempted him, he would remind himself of his true identity: "I am baptized," he would say. This gave Luther the confidence he needed. It reminded him he was a precious child of God and because of this, God had given him a special mission, a purpose for his life. This gave Luther the impetus to continue to strive for what he hoped God had called him to do. In our gospel today, we are given an account of the baptism of Jesus. It is, for all intents and purposes, a resounding affirmation of Christ's identity. Luke tells us that the event was so significant that, as Jesus came up out of the river Jordan, "heaven opened up and the Spirit descended upon him like a dove." Then, he adds: "A voice came from heaven." This voice, Luke tells us, speaks directly to Jesus, saying: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." How is that for an affirmation of where one s journey in life is at? What an experience! The baptism of Jesus, among other things, is one of the most definitive affirmations of Christ's identity in the gospels. References to the heavens being parted is in both Isaiah and Ezekiel. It is 19EPIPH1 3
a Jewish way of speaking of God revealing God's Self to a person or community of faith. The Jewish people believed that after "dry" periods where no one heard the word of the Lord, God would eventually speak by opening up the heavens. So here in our gospel passage we have an affirmation of God speaking directly to Jesus, just as God spoke to faithful Israelites in the past. Then Luke tells us that that the Spirit descended like a dove upon him. This description of the Spirit of God in the form of a dove hovering over the water hearkens to Genesis. It was a dove that Noah sent out to search for land during the period of the flood. The dove's return with the olive branch was a sign of a new beginning for Noah, his family, and all of humankind. When the dove descended upon Jesus, we have a symbolic divine action of the beginning of the New Creation in Jesus. The dove with the olive branch continues, to this very day, to symbolize peace. Jesus himself, we acknowledge, is the Prince of peace, the One who shall one day order and perfect all of creation in perfect harmony and peace. So, with the presence of the descending Spirit in the form of a dove, we have another affirmation of the significance of this event and the personage of Jesus. Then also, Luke says, a voice from heaven speaks: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." In Christ's baptism, God affirms his identity. What about our identity? Are we inspired and affirmed too by remembering the effect of our baptism? Maybe the heavens were not torn apart, we didn't see the descending Spirit in the form of a dove, nor hear a voice from heaven when we were baptized. Nonetheless, God has promised, through the Scriptures, that our baptism is important; that we 19EPIPH1 4
have forgiveness of sin; that we are adopted as God's sons and daughters; that we are given the Holy Spirit; that we are commissioned to spread the coming realm of God to all people. According to philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, the one thing, which we all share in common, is our tendency to forget, overlook and devalue how much we are and have been loved by God. For Martin Luther, an integral part of the Christian's everyday life involves affirming our identity by remembering our baptism and the covenant which God has made with us through the sacrament. It is there that we can hark back to in the quest for our own identity. As a baptized child of God, we can remember that throughout our journey in life we can daily be made anew. We don t have to wait for the turning of a calendar; we don t have to wait until we reach our ideal weight, we don t have to the right moment comes along, but daily we can rise in the newness of Christ, knowing we are loved, knowing that we are not alone, knowing that the promise of God will endure all that we may experience, becomes our lighthouse in our searching and living. This season of light, this season of Epiphany, is one in which we see the again that this babe that came into the world, becomes a light for all peoples of all nations. May we let that light of Christ, penetrate into our own darkness, penetrate into our own daily journey, helping us to remember and affirm Who We are and Whose We Are by virtue of our baptism. Rather than suffering from an identity crisis, may we be confident in our baptismal identity, and therefore serve our God by sharing God s grace. Amen. 19EPIPH1 5