SERMON The Baptism of Our Lord January 9, 2005 Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus, who is the Christ. Amen. There is a story that is told about the first Christian missionaries who went to the island of Barbados. After hearing the Good News, several native people wished to be baptized. The next day when they arrived at the water to receive the sacrament of Baptism, the women were dressed in nightgowns and the men were dressed in striped pajamas. The missionaries were afraid that this might be misunderstood and urged the candidates to change their clothes. But they refused. The missionaries reluctantly proceeded with the baptisms, but decided to make sure that this didn t happen the next time. However, before the next baptism took place, the missionaries attended a funeral in the local village. The first thing that they noticed was that the corpse was dressed in pajamas. This is how it was explained to them: We believe that when a person dies, he or she goes to sleep. So we are buried in our sleep wear. Then the missionary understood. The baptism had been explained as a burial and the candidates wore their burial clothes. I think that these natives of Barbados truly understood what baptism is all about. For in our Introduction to Holy Baptism, we say; The power of sin is put to death in this holy flood, and we are raised with Jesus Christ to new life. St. Paul in his letter to the Romans writes: Therefore we have been buried with Christ 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. Do you hear all of the death and rebirth language? Indeed, Holy Baptism is dying to sin and receiving new birth into a living hope. However, even though we hear the words, I think that some of us still take baptism too lightly. Sometimes we see it as something to do just because our parents or grandparents said that it is important. Perhaps we see it as a free ticket to heaven. Once it s done, we can then live however we want with no worry or consequences.
Baptism sometimes becomes the end rather than the beginning. I can t tell you how many baptisms I have presided over where, after the baptism, I have never seen the person again. I even read that that is how we can get rid of these pesky squirrels in our church. Baptize them, and they will be gone forever. But baptism is not the end. Baptism begins a life of faithfulness to Christ. Baptism is something that is to be lived out each and every day. First of all, baptism gives us power against the enemies of God. Martin Luther lived in his baptism. When confronted by the devil, he did not try to turn him away with words, or reject him by his own power. When we are faced with temptation, we usually try to deal with it ourselves, by our own strength, in our own way. We say; I can avoid this or I can make it go away. But Luther knew that he had no power over sin by his own will. He answered the temptation with, I am baptized! You see, he knew that it was only by the power of the Holy Spirit by the mercy of God, that the devil could be turned away. For the devil has no power over us when we are covered by the grace of God. And that is what happens in baptism. Secondly, we realize that our baptism gives us purpose and direction in our lives. Baptism gives us hope for the future since God has claimed us as his own in the waters of baptism and promises to love us for all eternity. And this love is not determined by our perceived self-worth. God loves us despite our imperfections. Despite our warts and blemishes. Despite our past sins and scars. Despite our frailties and shortcomings. Because on our own, we cannot earn God s love. For we can never measure up. I recently read about this guy named Tommy who related an experience in his life. He recalls the time when he was 8 years old. He and his family were going to a local amusement park. He was so excited. He was looking forward to riding on the little boats with the bells, the merry-go-round, and the bumper cars. But what Tommy really wanted to do was to ride the big one, the roller coaster! What a thrill, he thought! He could tell all his friends. It would prove once and for all that he was no longer a little boy. Finally, the big day came. He rode the little boats, the bumper cars, and the carousel. He threw darts at the balloons and baseballs at the bowling pins. But all the while, in the back of his mind, he was thinking; today, I m going to ride the big one!
Finally, the time came. He got in line for the giant roller coaster. The line seemed to be never ending. Eventually he worked his way to the front. Tommy was ready to board his dream ride. But just as he was about to step down into the car, the gate-keeper pulled him out of the line. He walked him over to the measuring post. He explained that you have to be a certain height to be able to ride the roller coaster. You guessed it; Tommy was an inch and a half too short. He didn t quite measure up. Have you ever felt that way? No matter how hard you try no matter what you do, you just don t quite measure up. You re not always the loving partner that you strive to be. Sometimes you re cranky or selfish. You re not romantic enough. Perhaps you make the big mistake of forgetting a birthday or anniversary. You re not the perfect parent that tends to your kids every need. You don t spend enough time with them or tell them that you are proud of them and that you love them. You re not in great physical shape with tons of energy and a six-pack for your abs, like those we see on the covers of magazines. You don t prepare three square meals a day and eat your five servings of fruits and vegetables. You re not the ideal employee who never takes a long break or uses the phone for personal calls. You re not the straight A student that you know you can be if you tried a little harder. Yes, if we look at the world s standards, we just don t measure up. But that s who Jesus came to earth for. Even though Jesus was sinless, he identified with the sinner. Jesus came to bring good news to those of us who do not measure up. He became Emanuel, God with us. And there in lies our answer of hope. For without Christ, we are not good enough. With Christ, we are acceptable to God. And it all begins with baptism. But it doesn t end there. Again, baptism is only the beginning. For thirdly, baptism is ultimately about community and commitment. We are baptized into the Christian community because we need each other. We all know that living out our baptism is not easy. There will be struggles and pain. We need each other with whom to share these struggles. We need to tell each other the stories of how we have grown through our joys and our sufferings. We need to explore what our baptism means to each of us in our varied stages of life. We need the encouragement of one another when we find it hard to live out God s calling in our lives.
You see, the purpose of God in Christ is not simply to save individuals. And it is not merely to teach the world some new thoughts. God s purpose in Christ is to establish a new community whose purpose is to fulfill God s plan for the world. I believe that God created us to be in community. God did not create us to be isolated individuals. It s too bad that our culture promotes the later. We have become a society of individuals. We go our own way, do our own thing, make our own decisions, believe our own beliefs. But, again, that goes against how God created us. How many of you yearn for a sense of community? A place where you are accepted just the way you are. A place where you can share your innermost thoughts and feelings without being judged. A place where you are held accountable. A place where you work together with others for the good of the whole. A place where you can mess up and yet be forgiven. A place where you can be open to learning from one another. A place where others will suffer with your sufferings, and rejoice with your rejoicings. This is what it means to be community. This is what our baptism commits us to a community of believers who have given their lives to Jesus. As a result, community will be a place of struggle, conflict, pain, and anguish as we wage the battle with the false values around us and within us. But this community can also be a place of new freedom, of deep healing, of great love and joy as the power of new life is experienced. It is in this community that we can grow in truth, wholeness, and holiness. At a minimum, the church must be known as the kind of community that makes it more possible, not less possible, to follow Jesus. But this is not always the case in today s churches. A New Testament scholar once said; I have a hard time teaching my subject because, when I get to the idea of community of faith, there is little I can point to today to show my students what it means. There s no problem, of course, describing what community meant back in the early church. But I don t know how I can help them to understand when there are few examples that I can point to now. How sad is that? What is our baptism worth if it does not bring us together in community as the one body of Christ in the world? I think that of all the things that I have experienced in my calling to the ordained ministry, the thing that has saddened me most is the lack of community. I guess I don t know what
I expected. I was aware that serving in a parish is not like living in a monastery. But perhaps I thought there might be at least some similarities. I am now about to give you a horrible example of community that in no way am I promoting. However, I believe that we can learn something from this form of community. On the History Channel, there is a show called Gangland. It focuses on different gangs throughout the country gangs such as the Bloods, the Crypts, and the infamous Hell s Angels. And in watching the show, I listened to those who were interviewed describing what it meant to be part of those communities. Many of them were people looking for a place to be accepted. Most of them would be considered to be outcasts. They came from broken homes. They grew up in poverty. They lacked education. They were unloved and even abused as children. They wanted to fit in. They yearned to be part of a community that would share in their successes and their failures a community that would stick together no matter what. After joining a gang, they became so committed to one another, that they would even risk their lives for the sake of another gang member. Their allegiance to the gang became more important than anything else. Now I know that there are a lot of problems with this analogy. But what if we could take this intense desire for community and such dedication, and transfer it to the church, and for doing God s will in the world? What if we dedicated our lives to speaking out and acting on behalf of the poor and the oppressed? What if we participated in non-violence and practiced loving our neighbor with such dedication? What if we committed ourselves to come together for prayer and worship? What if our allegiance to the body of Christ was more important than any other allegiance? What if it was more important than country, than company, than family? What would that look like? Would it mean that there would be times when we would have to speak and act out against our country, our company, or our family because of our bond to the Body of Christ? I think that that kind of community would change the world. And believe it or not, this is what we are called to through the waters of baptism. For in baptism, God chooses us. In the pouring of the water and in the saying of the words, we become God s children. God is the one who acts. God comes to us through the water and the word to make us his own. God claims us for eternity.
A pastor stood by the graveside of a young mother who had just died. She left behind a husband and three children. The husband looked into the eyes of the pastor and demanded; Now tell me what you really believe, Pastor. Is this the end of everything the way God meant it to be? The pastor replied; It s not what I believe that matters. You have the answer in your heart. You know deep in your heart that this is not the end. You haven t stopped loving your wife, have you? Therefore do you think that God has stopped loving her? You know that life with God is eternal. God gave you that faith through the waters of baptism. All you have to do my friend is believe what your heart already knows. You see, we may succumb to temptation. We may wonder if we are good enough. We may struggle to find community. We may even feel like God has abandoned us. But deep in our hearts, God has given us hope. And that hope comes through the one that was baptized by John in the river Jordan. The one that God proclaimed to be his Son, the Beloved, with whom he was well pleased. For through Jesus, we become the child, the accepted one the one who is pleasing to God. The one who is adopted into a community that has the power to change the world. Amen. May the peace that passes all understanding be with you now and for life everlasting. Amen.
CHILDREN S MESSAGE: How many of you were baptized when you were little? That was an important day, wasn t it? On the day that you were baptized, you were welcomed into the family of God, and Jesus came to live in your heart. Did you know that Jesus was baptized too? Today, we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. Does anyone know where Jesus was baptized? He was baptized in the Jordan River. That was an important day for Jesus. And right after Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water and the sky opened up and God s spirit came down to him like a beautiful dove. Then Jesus began to tell people about God s love. He healed people just by touching them. They didn t even need to go to the doctor. That s because God s spirit lived in Jesus. When we were baptized, God s spirit came to live in us too. So do you think that you can heal people? Can you heal someone by touching them? Well, actually, we do have healing powers. The God of love is in your hearts and in your hands. Maybe you can heal someone whose feelings have been hurt. Have you ever seen someone who is crying or feeling bad? You might have gone over to that person and put your hand on their shoulder or you might have given them a big hug, and made them feel better, just by touching them. If you did, then you have been a healer. Sometimes even mommies and daddies need to be healed. They can be sad or hurting inside. And I would bet that if you put your arms around them, it will make them feel better. Because little hands are great for healing, do you think? Because we are baptized, God s spirit of love and healing is inside each one of you. Remember that God can use your hands to heal and to make people feel better. Let us pray. Dear Lord, give each of us a spirit of healing. Help us to be your comforting and healing hands in our world today. Amen.