The baptism of our Lord January 11, 2004.

Isaiah 43:1-7

Psalm 29

Acts 8:14-17

Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22

First Reading

The liturgical remembrance and celebration of Jesus' baptism suggests that the Gospel reading be the guiding text for this Sunday's sermon, with the readings from Isaiah and Acts offering further theological reflection on this event in the life of the Christ and the church.

The reading from Luke is divided into two parts: the teaching of John the Baptist (vv. 15-17) and the baptism of Jesus (vv 21-22). The people are expectant; they question whether John might be the Messiah. John responds to the people's questions by describing rather than naming the Messiah. In fact, John does not even give the one he describes the title Messiah. But John makes clear that he is not the one. I can hear John saying to his adoring fans, "If you think I am powerful, wait until you see who is coming! You think I am the one who is to come, but I am not even worthy to serve the one who comes by untying his sandal!" This description becomes very vivid when we reflect upon how popular John was with the people. But John explains the difference between himself and the one to come: "While I baptize with water symbolizing repentance, this one baptizes with the very agents that bring forgiveness and repentance, the Holy Spirit and fire. And this one has the power to discern who people really are and to separate the righteous from the unjust."

Now I imagine that the people are really expectant. But rather than a powerful entrance, Luke's account of the Messiah's arrival is quiet and unassuming. We hear nothing at all about Jesus' baptism except that Jesus was baptized along with the people. But after Jesus is baptized with the people, we get three signs of God's presence as Jesus is praying. The heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends, and a voice speaks from heaven. The descent of the Spirit recalls Isaiah 42 and makes clear that Jesus is anointed for service. Rather than coming from John, the voice from heaven names Jesus the Messiah, using a combination of Ps 2:7 and Isa 42:1.

Isaiah 43:1-7 announces God's presence to exiled Israel. God's presence both embraces Israel as God's own and banishes Israel's fears. Read on this day, Isaiah names the effects of Jesus' baptism on the community. Jesus' baptism and God's announcement of Jesus as Beloved and Servant promise God's presence with the Christian community. So, rather than digging into this text's historical setting and original intent, this preacher prefers to bask in the baptismal connections: God calls us by name, claims us as God's own. When we pass through the water, God is with us. When we walk through fire, we will not be consumed. We are precious, honored, and loved. God intends to call all to Godself.

That intention is made evident in Acts 8:14-17. This short account of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Samaritans marks the fulfillment of one aspect of Jesus' commission to the disciples after the ascension. The disciples have been Jesus' witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and now they were on their way to the ends of the earth (cf. Acts 1:8). Jesus' baptism with the agents of forgiveness and repentance, the Holy Spirit and fire, does not end with Jesus' earthly ministry. His ministry continues as the Spirit spreads to the ends of the earth through the proclamation of the gospel by Jesus' followers.

Pastoral Reflection

I cannot preach on baptism, whether Jesus' or ours, abstractly. Ideally, the congregation would celebrate a baptism on this day or we would affirm and remember our status as the baptized. At the very least, there will be water in the font, and the proclamation of God's promise will seek to draw God's people to that water. My inclination is to weave the baptismal liturgy--words and actions--into the sermon as the way we enact the promise of baptism (see Satterlee and Ruth, Creative Preaching on the Sacraments [Discipleship Resources, 2001]). I find my homiletic task in the Word of the Lord to the Spirit/wind recorded in the Old Testament reading for this day: "I will say to the north, 'Give them up,' and to the south, 'Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth---everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made'" (Isa 43:6-7).

The promise that brings God's people to the water is the good news that no one other than God in the person of Jesus will meet us there. Luke sidesteps Matthew and Mark's question of why Jesus needed to be baptized. In Luke, Jesus is baptized with the people without explanation, and God smiles upon Jesus after Jesus comes out of the water and prays on the shore. After Jesus meets God's people in the water, the heavens open, the Spirit descends, and God tells Jesus that Jesus is Beloved, that God is well pleased. Jesus is anointed with God's Spirit and commissioned for ministry. Jesus is God meeting us in the water.

When Jesus meets us in the water, the water overflows with promise--forgiveness, repentance, God calling us by name, God claiming us as God's own. Like Jesus, we are named as beloved, precious, honored, and loved. God is with us always, so that we do not need to be afraid. Jesus is the fulfillment and embodiment of God's promise. For after meeting us in the water, Jesus meets us in every circumstance and season of life and even in the moment of death. From the water, Jesus meets us in the journey of life that ends in a cross and a tomb. Even there Jesus is with us; with Jesus we pass through to new life.

When Jesus meets us in the water, we overflow with promise ourselves. As God's beloved daughters and sons, we are also anointed for service. Like the people with John at the Jordan, we are filled with expectation. We question when Jesus will come. Embraced by God's promise and Jesus' presence, we trust that Jesus will. Baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, our lives are transformed as the old is burned away and new life is breathed into us. We are the ones in whom Jesus' work of forgiveness and repentance continues. Ours is the voice that proclaims the promise of the gospel, calling all people to the water, where God in Jesus promises to meet them. CAS