1 The Baptism of our Lord January 10, 2016 Bardo, Tofield Isaiah 43:1-7 Romans 6:1-11 Luke 3:15-22 Jesus, though He himself was not a sinner in need of repentance and forgiveness, submitted to John the Baptist s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He did this for us. He died for us. Jesus Baptism set Him on a course that would lead Him to the Cross, where He would take our place as sinners, taking our sin upon Himself. O how I have a baptism to be baptized with, Jesus once said, and how I am constrained until it is accomplished. There was no turning back. Jesus had set His face toward Jerusalem and the Cross, obedient unto death out of love for His heavenly Father, and for us, and for all people, committed to doing His Father s will for our sake and salvation. We who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have also been set on a course. According to Romans 6, which we read just a few minutes ago, in our baptism we have been united with Jesus in His death and resurrection, and so are now to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God; and are to yield ourselves to God, and the members of our bodies, not to sin, but to God as instruments of righteousness. Baptized into Christ Jesus, united with Him in His death and resurrection, we have been registered by God in a life-long apprenticeship program of learning of Jesus and following Him as His disciples. Prayer ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been your pastor for 32½ years now, but will not be your pastor forever. Therefore, our Council and Deacons have begun to look at how best to transition to a renewed pastoral leadership after such a long pastorate. This is what I have written in my Pastor s Report that you will receive in a couple of weeks with your Annual Reports. I write: I am now 60 years (young), and have told our Board of Deacons and our Parish Planning Council, in writing, that I will not continue as your Pastor beyond the age of 65. However, I have also raised the question whether it would be good for the congregation to have a change in pastoral leadership before that time. If I, or our leaders and I discern together that a change should take place sooner rather than later, I have informed our Council and Deacons that I would then resign as Pastor, but would be willing to serve on an interim basis until a new pastor arrives, should the congregation so desire. You can read that again for yourselves when you get the Annual Report in a couple of weeks. I have also suggested to Council and Deacons that as the congregation looks at where it has been and where it is going, I preach a series of sermons on our congregation s Mission, Core Values & Vision. I am doing this during the Sundays in January, beginning today. (In your bulletins you see the schedule) Today, I am preaching on our Mission Statement: To Be and To Make Disciples of Jesus Christ. Next Sunday, I will preach on the Core Values of our congregation. I will not be here on January 24 th, but on the 31 st will preach on our congregation s Statement of Vision. Then on February 7, Transfiguration Sunday, the theme will be The Church s Key Biblical & Theological Perspective, upon which the church either stands or falls. As we begin today to think of our Mission, To be and to make disciples of Jesus Christ, I want again to tell you the story of a man who lived in the village of Assam in north-east India. He, along with his family, was converted to Christianity in the middle of the 19th century. It was a dangerous thing to be
2 a Christian in India then, and still is, in many parts of India, today. When this man was called to renounce his newfound faith by the village chieftain, the man declared instead, "I have decided to follow Jesus." In response to threats to his family, he continued, "Though none go with me, still I will follow." His wife was killed, and then he, himself, while being executed, cried out, "The cross before me, the world behind me." This man s display of faith is reported to have led to the eventual conversion of the chief and of others in the village. His words were later made into a song by the Indian missionary Sadhu Sundar Singh, the song we now know as I Have Decided to Follow Jesus The melody of this song is called "Assam" after the village where this man and his family lived and died following Jesus. Song: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus There has sometimes been a hesitation by some to sing this song because of its sole emphasis on human decision and action, rather than on the gracious action of God in giving us saving faith. But if we remember the story behind the song, we realize this song is not about how we become Christians, about receiving faith, but about how we live out that faith in Christian discipleship, following Jesus. Yes, we affirm that saving faith is the gift of God that comes by hearing the Word of God, the message of Christ. We are saved by God s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from anything we have done or ever could do. But the Holy Spirit then also calls us to responsibility, the ability to respond with a faith that is active in love, as disciples of Jesus. And that is what this song is about: it s about discipleship, the obedience of faith being lived out in following Jesus. And that is what I want to talk about this morning: Discipleship. To be disciples and to make disciples of Jesus Christ is the stated mission of our congregation. To be a disciple, as we have already seen, is to follow Jesus. But the word disciple literally means student, one who learns. As I said before, when we were baptized into Christ Jesus we were enrolled in an apprenticeship program that is life-long learning. Jesus is the Master and we are the students, and we are called to spend our lives learning of Him, and following Him wherever He leads us, as His apprentices, as His disciples. According to Jesus own words, there are 2 main marks of being one of His disciples: The first is 1. Continuing in the Word of Jesus. In John 8:31-32, Jesus says to those who believed in Him, If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Again, according to Jesus own word, in John s Gospel, He is the truth; and so Jesus could just as well have said: If you continue in my word, you will know me (Jesus), and I will set you free. Jesus Word is the Holy Scriptures, what we have in the Bible. Hearing this Word is what leads us to Jesus and to saving faith; it is also what teaches us of Jesus, so that learning of Him we would live according to the faith that we have received, following Him as His disciples. Continuing in the Word of Jesus means the ongoing commitment to hearing, learning and doing what the Scriptures say. I think of King Herod, and the wise men. Both heard the Word telling them that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem. But only the wise men heeded the Word they were given, and so were led to acknowledge and worship Jesus. Herod, hearing that very same word, rebelled against it,
3 and sought to get rid of Jesus. Many hear, but few heed the Word of God. Neglect of this Word means there is no faith, and there is no learning of Jesus. Apart from the Word of Jesus there is no being a disciple, there is no discipleship. That s why Jesus says to those who believe in Him, If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples. 2. The second mark of being a disciple is Love. If you love me, Jesus says, you will keep my commandments (you will do what I say; you will obey me.) Continuing in the word of Jesus, obeying Jesus is an expression of love for Him. What is the greatest commandment? someone once asked Jesus. Jesus answered, Love the Lord with all your heart and soul and mind and strength (with everything you ve got); and the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. This is what it s all about, Jesus says: The Love of God and neighbour. And the 2 belong together. We cannot separate our relationship with God from our relationship with one another and our neighbour. How can you say you love God, whom you don t see, if you don t love your neighbour whom you do see? After he washed His disciples feet, Jesus said, A new commandment I give to you,, that you love one another as I have loved you. By this will all know that you are my disciples, that you love one another. This is how we love God - by obeying Jesus command to love one another as He has loved us. This is the heart and soul of continuing in the word of Jesus, of what it means to follow Jesus, to be his disciples. How has Jesus loved us? By his obedience of faith; by doing His Father s good and perfect will; by counting others better than himself, by putting our interests ahead of His own, by laying down His life for us. Jesus has set an example that we should follow in His steps. Greater love has no one than this. The Apostle Paul reminds us that apart from love, our expressions of faith, no matter how impressive they are, or how religious they may be, are nothing but a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. This is why we make it our fervent prayer, Lord, kindle in us the flame of Your love! Come, follow me, Jesus says, and I will make you fishers of men. Please note that when Jesus calls us to come and follow Him, to be his disciples, there is a promise that comes with that call. I will make you fishers of men, He promises. Jesus comes calling, and our response-ability is to answer the call. And then His promise is make us into what He calls us to be. The call to follow Jesus leads us to others, if we are willing to follow. It is never just Jesus and me. Jesus always leads me to my neighbour, whoever that may be. Jesus call is a call to love the world, as He has loved the world. It is the call to be disciples and to make disciples. It is the Great Commission the risen Lord Jesus gave to His disciples and to His church, including us. Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus gathered his 11 disciples together in Galilee, and Matthew, one of those disciples, tells us, when they saw Him, they worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, All authority has been given to me. In other words, He is the crucified and risen Lord, our Saviour and Lord, and we are to pay heed to what He says. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, Jesus says, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. As baptized believers, as ones who have been called to die to sin and live to God,
4 we are sent out to all others with the Word of Jesus, so that they also might hear and believe and be baptized into Him, and become apprenticed to Him, learning of Him to become His disciples in this world He loves so dearly. Every week we are gathered together by Jesus, like those first disciples, to worship Him, to acknowledge Him as our God and Saviour and Lord. We pause again and again to hear the Word of our Master, to be taught by Him, to learn of Him, and to receive from Him; and then every week we are sent out, back into our homes and into our community, into our places of work and school and play, into the world, to our family members and friends, to our fellow workers and neighbours, whoever they may be; we are sent out to be disciples and to make disciples of Jesus. Called by Jesus and Sent. Gathered and Scattered. Coming to Him and then Going to others. This is to be the pattern of our lives as disciples of Jesus. And lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age, He promises as we go. We do not go alone, but here is the promise of Jesus living and loving presence to be with us always, through His Holy Spirit, giving us the peace the world cannot give, teaching and guiding us as we go, strengthening and empowering us to live as His servants and witnesses. Listen, Jesus says, I will be with you, to the very end... always: all the way, all the time. This is the promise that gave the African-American civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. strength while he endured much hardship and suffering throughout his life: vilification, beatings, imprisonments, death threats, the firebombing of his house, and finally, death by assassination. King was just 26 years old when he was appointed leader of the civil rights campaign in Montgomery, Alabama. Apart from terrifying threats from the Ku Klux Klan, he was also much harassed by the police. Arrested for driving 5 miles over the speed limit he was given his first stint in jail. The night after his release he was at home when the phone rang. Nigger, said a menacing voice on the other end, we are tired of you and your mess now. And if you aren t out of this town in three days, we re going to blow your brains out and blow up your house. Understandably, King was unnerved and afraid for himself and his family. Shortly after the phone call he sat alone at his kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. And I sat at that table, he said, thinking about my little girl and thinking about the fact that she could be taken away from me at any minute. And I started thinking about a dedicated, devoted and loyal wife, who was over there asleep And I got to the point where I couldn t take it anymore. I was weak And I discovered that religion had to become real to me, and I had to know God for myself. And I bowed down over that cup of coffee. I will never forget it I said, Lord, I m down here trying to do what s right. I think I m right. I think the cause we represent is right. But Lord, I must confess that I m weak right now. I m faltering. I m losing my courage. And it seemed to me at that moment that I could hear an inner voice saying to me, Martin Luther King, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo, I will be with you, even until the end of the world. I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on. He promised
5 never to leave me, never to leave me alone. No never alone No never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. Three nights later the menacing threat made in the phone call came true: a bomb exploded on the front verandah of the King home. Thankfully no one was hurt. But King was able to get through it. My experience a few nights before had given me strength to face it, he said. Time and time again throughout his ministry Martin Luther King Jr. returned to that experience to strengthen him as he faced terrible difficulties. He learned the strength and the steadfastness of Jesus promises: Come, follow me, and I will make you into what I want you to be Lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age. He learned to follow Jesus the Cross before him, the world behind him no turning back. In a time of great difficulty in her life, Israel was given these words through the prophet Isaiah. We heard them read earlier: But now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; "You are my witnesses, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Baptized into Christ Jesus, who was baptized for our sake and salvation, we are Jesus chosen servants and witnesses, called to be disciples, and to make disciples. And with the call comes the promise: Lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age... I will make you into what I am calling you to be... I will never leave you, nor forsake you, Jesus says. So we can confidently say, The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid... God is with us! The Light shine in the darkness and has not overcome it! No turning back. At the hearing of this word, may the peace of God which the world cannot give, and which passes all human understanding, stand guard over your hearts and your minds, in Christ Jesus. Amen.