The baptism of our Lord: January 13, 2008.

Isaiah 42:1-9

Psalm 29

Acts 10:34-43

Matthew 3:13-17

First Reading--This is the one!

Isaiah describes the servant of God in many ways, but first as one who is chosen, who delights the soul, who is upheld by God. In the first verse of this chapter, God says, "I have put my spirit upon him." The word used for spirit here is ruach. It has many meanings. Later, in verse 5, there is a poetic line where Isaiah seems to say the same thing twice. "Thus says the Lord God ... who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord." The first word for "breath" in Hebrew is neshaman. Neshaman has a variety of meanings: breath, spirit, breath of God, breath of human, every breathing thing, spirit of human. But the word for spirit in both Isa 42:1 and 42:5, ruach, has an even broader array of meanings. In addition to those listed, ruach includes God's spirit, wind, emotions ranging from courage to anger, breath not only of God and humans but also animals and all living things, the energy of life. It can also mean animation, vivacity, vigor, and prophetic spirit. It is a word packed with meaning--a word that can barely contain or represent what it symbolizes.

So if God has put ruach on and within the servant, he cannot be crushed until he has established justice in the earth. This is important because it is easy to be crushed by the oppressor. And, as we look at Isaiah through the lens of the life of Jesus, who we see as the fulfillment of this vision of God's chosen one, we see how he did both fulfill the gentle way of leading described by Isaiah and have the knack for escaping angry mobs before his mission was fulfilled.

Isaiah paints as an answer to prayer not only the servant but also all of God's people. Isaiah turns his gaze from describing the chosen one to look directly into our eyes: I have called you. I have taken you by the hand. I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open eyes that are blind, to bring out prisoners. Isaiah ends, "new things I now declare ... I tell you of them." The question is what we will do with this tall order. Will we be people of promise, eye-openers, people who use our freedom to set others free? We are told these new things to move us to action.

We are told by none other than the voice of the Lord. Repeatedly in Psalm 29 we learn how powerful the voice of the Lord can be. It can break apart majestic trees. It can tame a young, wild ox like a skilled rancher or cowboy. It flashes like fire. It shakes the wilderness. In view of how powerful, even dangerous, the voice of the Lord is, the psalmist prays for strength and blessing of people with peace.

Peter's sermon in Acts 10 clearly names Jesus as "the one." Peter begins with a very inclusive message--that God comes to all people. He then gets more specific about how God has come in Jesus Christ. He tells the story of Jesus' message and how it spread, the work that Jesus did, and how his death and resurrection have changed the world order. Now, we have forgiveness. We have something specific to do. Those of us who have had the opportunity to eat and drink with Jesus are witnesses, so we have a story to tell.

In Matthew's account of Jesus' baptism, the heavens open and Jesus sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove upon him. And a voice says ... either to John or Jesus, we can't be completely sure who all heard that voice from heaven, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." This is the one.

Pastoral Reflections

What does it mean to celebrate baptism, the journey from death to life, the dying and rising with Christ, in a world that has experienced and witnessed both the tsunami that came without warning through India, Indonesia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand in 2004 and the 2005 hurricane season--Katrina, Rita, Wilma--whose devastation U.S. communities are still working to address? Baptism for those who see a river as a source of life, cleanliness, and nourishment is a different sacrament than for those who see the river as full of crocodiles. An international seminary student expressed to me one day her incomprehension of our strong emphasis on baptism as American Lutherans: "I always feel like I'm drowning in baptism here in the U.S."

Here is a paradox of the baptism of Jesus. On the one hand, it is the way that he "fulfills all righteousness" or shows himself to be who he ought to be, a man of integrity, virtue, one in right relationship with God. On the other hand, it is a precursor to his dying and rising. Yes, a voice from heaven announces to John, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." But Jesus isn't given long to bask in the descent of the Spirit of God; after his baptism he is led to the desert to fast for forty days and nights, become famished, then be tempted.

This paradox is what we face as we are baptized as well. On the one hand, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. We are marked with the cross of Christ forever. We are called, even chosen. God takes us by the hand. But for what? So that we can be given as a covenant to the people. To those who are chosen by Jesus as witnesses, as we hear in Acts, and who eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead, as we do every time we gather for Holy Communion, comes God's command to preach. We are called to tell the story that Jesus is the one ordained by God as judge and that through him, all who believe receive forgiveness in his name. It is important to tell the story on this day that not only pastors are called to preach. This is the kind of speaking we are all urged to do--telling the story of how Jesus was anointed, how he lived as a healer and one who did good, how he was killed and how God raised him and allowed him to appear to witnesses. This is the one!

I was a group leader in a recent immersion trip to Mexico. Many times through the first days there, different youth came to me and expressed how overwhelmed they felt. "I feel like I'm drowning," one student said. In a way, she was experiencing the flood of the world's pain--that's why we call it an "immersion." If we are tempted to close our eyes to the pain and injustice of the world, we are pushed instead to keep them open even as we go under the water. When we feel like we're drowning, when we experience the flood of the world's pain, anguish, and loss, we are reminded that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Baptism is daily dying and being raised to new life. We are raised up, gasping for air, and the breath of God fills us.

This is a month in which some of the people gathered for worship are feeling overwhelmed. In January, the holidays are over and the bills are looming. Some people are dealing with a wide variety of post-holiday emotions; others already feel that they have failed in their new year's resolutions. The message of Jesus' baptism and reminder of our own is needed at just such a time as this. JLMC