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Baptism of our Lord Cycle C Children (1)
Just a few nights ago, people all over the world celebrated the coming of a new year, the year 2025. Some people went to parties, some people stayed up and watched the giant ball drop on television at midnight, some set off fireworks, and others celebrated in other ways, but New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest celebration nights of the year.
What’s so special about a New Year? (Give them an opportunity to answer). A new year is an opportunity to start over, isn’t it? Let’s pretend this pad is the old year and each of the marks on this pad are things I have done. See these marks. These represent things I have done. Some of the things I have done made me happy and made other people happy and I am glad I did them. But there are some other marks that I wish hadn’t happened. Maybe I said something without meaning to that hurt somebody’s feelings, and that mark is on the pad. Maybe I missed out on an opportunity to do something for somebody who needed my help. That mark is on the pad too. I am glad for some of the marks on the pad, but there are some marks I want to take off the pad very much. The New Year gives me a chance to wipe the pad clean and to start over. Maybe I didn’t do everything I meant to do last year, but this is a new year and I can do better. I have a new chance.
Of course, every day is a New Year’s Day when you believe in Jesus. Jesus says that whenever we do something that we are not proud of, we can pray for his forgiveness and he will wipe the pad clean immediately. We don’t have to wait for next New Years’ to start over. That’s one of the best things about being a Christian. When we foul up, Jesus wipes the pad clean and we can start again.
Baptism of our Lord Cycle C (5)
Three pastors got together for coffee one morning. Much to their surprise they discovered that all their churches had problems with bats infesting their belfries. The bats were making a terrible mess. “I got so mad,” said one pastor, “I took a shotgun and fired at them. It made holes in the ceiling, but did nothing to the bats.”
“I tried trapping them alive,” said the second. “Then I drove 50 miles before releasing them, but they beat me back to the church.”
“I haven’t had any more problems,” said the third.
“What did you do?” asked the others, amazed.
“I simply baptized and confirmed them,” he replied. “I haven’t seen them since.”
If that story doesn’t make you laugh, it will make you cry. It is such a common occurrence. People come to the church desiring Christian baptism and church membership. We welcome them into our fellowship, and then for six weeks or so after we welcome them into our fellowship, we don’t hear anything of them. What does it mean? Or parents stand at the altar to present a child to God. They make promises to bring up that child in the household of faith and then they disappear. We rarely see them again. What did those promises mean?
On this second Sunday of the New Year our lesson from the Gospels focuses our attention on the place of baptism in our lives.
Jesus came to be baptized by John. It was an interesting act of contrition. John the Baptist admitted that he wasn’t worthy to lace up Jesus’ sneakers, and yet Jesus joins the crowd that is being baptized by John. It was a dramatic moment for John and even for Jesus. For there came a voice from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.”
Baptism has always been at the heart of the Christian faith. It is sign and symbol that a person belongs to Christ. It is a requirement for membership in the church. It is a sacrament ” a means of grace. Why, then, do so many Christians take baptism so lightly? Perhaps we need to consider what baptism says to us.
FIRST OF ALL, BAPTISM SAYS THAT IT IS GOD WHO HAS SAVED US. Certainly it is not the water. Water is but a symbol.
The story is told of an old mountain Baptist preacher who was baptizing converts at a revival meeting. Up stepped a wiry, sharp-eyed old man who said he wanted to be baptized too. The preacher led the man into the water. He asked the usual question: Was there any reason why the ordinance of baptism should not be administered.
After a pause a tall, powerful-looking man, who was watching quietly, remarked: “Preacher, I don’t want to interfere in your business, but I want to say that this is an old sinner you have got hold of, and that one dip won’t do him any good; you’ll have to anchor him out in deep water overnight.”
The objector was right. If the hope for cleansing was based on the efforts of the water, there was going to have to be a whole lot more water used! (1) It is not water that saves us. Water is but a symbol. Water itself has no saving power. And to be frank about it, neither does the strength of our belief.
The focus in baptism is not on the believer, but on God. Grace is not something we earn, but something we receive as a free gift. Baptism symbolizes a turning from sin, but it is God who delivers us from the power of the Tempter. It is not a victory of our will but of God’s. That is why we always come to Christian baptism in an act of total humility. Baptism is a symbol of God’s grace freely given.
In Vienna, Austria, you will find a church in which the Hapsburgs, the former ruling family of Austria, are buried. It is said that when royal funerals finally arrive at the church for the burial rites, the mourners leading the funeral procession knock at the door to gain entrance.
“Who is it that desires admission here?” a priest asks through the locked door.
“His apostolic majesty, the emperor!” calls the guard.
“I don’t know him,” answers the priest.
A second knock follows and a similar question is asked. This time, the funeral guard announces the deceased as, “The highest emperor.”
Again, “I don’t know him,” echoes throughout the vaulted burial chamber.
Finally, a third knock is heard. “Who is it?”
“A poor sinner, your brother,” comes the final answer. Then the door is opened and the royal burial completed.(2)
That is the proper attitude for baptism ” total and complete humility. It is not the water that saves us. It is not our own noble intentions that save us. It is God acting out of total and complete self-giving love that accepts us just as we are. That is the first thing we need to see. It is God who saves us.
Here is the second. IT IS GOD WHO CALLS US. Baptism is a free gift from God, but the purpose of baptism is to give us a new identity.
The word baptizo was a term that was used in the first century for dipping a light-colored garment into a dye. Once the fabric was dipped into the dye, it would be changed in its identity from its original color to a new color. The act of dipping it, resulting in changing its identity, was called baptizo. It is the Greek term from which we get our English word baptism. (3) “Once we were no people,” says the Old Testament writer, “but now we are God’s people.” Baptism is a sign of God’s call to us to be new people.
Sue Monk Kidd, in her book, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, says that so often when she opens a newspaper she finds herself reading a depressing headline ” words in big letters shouting about a world threat, a crisis, another crime. There is surely a lot of bad news to read about these days. One day she opened her town’s paper, however, and read a remarkable headline printed in half-inch letters. The headline read like this: “I Asked Jesus Into My Heart.” This story followed:
“During the night dogs had begun to bark furiously around the home of a local couple. Usually the dogs’ barking signaled something amiss, that perhaps prowlers lurked nearby. But the next morning, the couple discovered that nothing had been taken. Instead, something had been returned. Outside the front door were two car speakers that had been stolen six weeks earlier. A note attached to them read like this: `I’m sorry that I took your speakers, but now I have repented my sins and asked Jesus to forgive me. I hope you will forgive me too. I no longer take other people’s belongings…God has changed me. I’m a new creature since I asked Jesus into my heart.’ It was signed simply, `Saved.'” (4)
It could have been signed, “Baptized.” In fact, I like “baptized” better. “Saved” connotes that we have been delivered from the power of sin, but baptism is more than that. Baptism means that we have put on new life in Christ. It means that we have not only given up old, unsavory behavior, but that we now walk in the footsteps of the One who gave his life for us. How, then, can we come for baptism or confirmation and then disappear from the life of the Christian community?
The WALL STREET JOURNAL once carried an article about the dramatic increase of fundamentalist Islam in Turkey ” a country that has been relatively secular. They quoted a young Muslim Turk:
“Our view of religion is different from yours,” he said to a western visitor. “According to your rules,” he continued, “religion counts only in the place where you pray. Our religion is a way of life. I have no time at all, not one minute, without Islam.”
Is that how the world views the Christian faith…its rules apply to its adherents only while they are in church? Where have we missed it? Why do we not understand that baptism means the beginning of new life? To paraphrase that young Muslim: “I have no time at all, not one minute, without Christ.”
Pastor Martin B. Hellriegel once returned to Hepperheim in Germany where he was born. It was also the place he had been baptized. He would go to the parish church and put his hands reverently on the baptismal font. And think deep thoughts. They were thoughts of gratitude for all that he had received, from parents, from his church ” and from God. They were thoughts of renewal, and rededication to his calling as a disciple, a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. It began with his baptism, right there, at that font. The church was ancient; generations before him had received the gift. How could he be faithless to this calling? (5) Baptism signifies that it is God who has saved us. It is God who has called us.
FINALLY, IT IS GOD WHO GOES WITH US. Just as we do not come to baptism trusting in our own merits but in God’s gracious love for us, neither do we live the Christian life trusting in our own strength.
A man once had a problem with despair.. In such hours he would face himself and the tempter with these words, “Baptizatus sum, baptizatus sum” ” “I have been baptized, I have been baptized.” Baptism is a reminder to us that we are not alone in the world. Just as Jesus heard those words at his baptism, “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased,” so we too hear God’s voice: “You are my own child. I am with you. You are not alone.”
Everyone in the small town called her Grandma Richardson. One late afternoon Grandma Richardson looked out of her window to see a group of men on her porch. It was a familiar sight in a coal town. She knew what had happened before the men told her. Her husband had been killed in a mining accident.
Years passed slowly and with great difficulty. Grandma Richardson was admired by everyone in town for her courage and unwavering faith. She and her children attended church almost every week. Then there was another knock on her door. Her older son had been killed in another mine accident.
Grandma grew older and weaker. In the spring and summer, when the weather was warm, she would sit on her front porch, rocking in her rocking chair, softly singing hymns of faith that she had learned by heart. Children would gather and listen to her tell Bible stories. Then it happened again. Another son was killed in the mine. After the funeral Grandma Richardson was again sitting on her porch rocking in her favorite chair, softly singing hymns of faith. One of the children who saw her sitting there asked her, “Grandma Richardson, aren’t you sad today?”
“Yes,” she replied, “I am sad, very sad. It’s hard to say good-bye to someone you love, and I have had to do it three times. But,” she told the children, “I have something more than sadness inside of me.” She then spoke of her faith.
“Can you give us some,” one of the children asked.
“Why children,” Grandma Richardson answered, “I have been giving it to you for years now. It is knowing that God loves you and that He has made one promise that is a gift, the most valuable gift in the world. God promised that no matter what happens, no matter how good or bad things may be, regardless of your joy or sorrow, God will not leave you alone.” (6)
That is God’s promise to each of us. It goes part and parcel with our baptism. To understand that baptism is to become a new person. It is God who has saved us. It is God who calls us into a new life of service. It is God who goes with us. What good news! “Baptizatus sum” ” “I have been baptized.”
1. Leewin Williams, editor, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WIT, HUMOR AND WISDOM (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1949), p. 248.
2. James W. Cox, THE MINISTER’S MANUAL, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989).
3. Charles R. Swindoll, THE GRACE AWAKENING, (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1990).
4. C. R. Gibson Co., 1988.
5. GOOD NEWS.
6. James L. Henderschedt, THE LIGHT IN THE LANTERN, (San Jose, CA: Resource Publications, Inc., 1991), pp. 63-67.
Baptism of our Lord Cycle C (4)
IThe highlight for those in the Greek Orthodox Church occurs on the Epiphany when teenage boys jumped into the cold water of Spring Bayou in Tarpon Springs. The dive for the cross was is not just cultural, although it certainly has cultural connotations to it. The dive for the cross is a recreation of one of the aspects of the Epiphany of the Lord, the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. The boy who rises from the water with the cross symbolizes Jesus accepting his mission, a mission that will conclude with the cross. A dove is then released symbolizing the Holy Spirit who guides Jesus to complete the Mission of the Father.
The Spirit that guided Christ remains active in the church through the sacrament many of us have received called confirmation. Our mission to continue the work of the Lord is too difficult for us to embrace and fulfill alone. Through the sacrament of confirmation we are given the divine grace to continue Christ’s work. The fundamental action of the Holy Spirit is to bring people to Christ and through Christ to the Father. We are anointed with the Holy Spirit at our confirmation so that we may have divine assistance to spread the Kingdom.
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord speaks eloquently to us of the commitment and Spirit. First of all, we must be committed to the Kingdom of God. The concert pianist practices a minimum of ten hours a day because he or she has a commitment to the beautiful world of music. Even if the pianist performs before an audience that is going to respectfully applaud any endeavor, the committed pianist is his or her own best critic on the quality of the performance. Similarly, the Olympic athlete doesn’t take a break from training because he or she has made a commitment to perfect his or her abilities. And the dedicated professional, doctor, lawyer, nurse, priest, educator, etc, never completes his or her education because he or she must continue to develop along with the advances in his or her profession.
The sincere Christian must be thoroughly committed to the Kingdom of God. This means that we must grow in our faith life through prayer and study. Prayer time is not something that we just add on to our day. It has to be fundamental to our day. When we think about what we are going to do tomorrow or any day of the week, we have to first consider making the time we need to be united with Christ in prayer. For some families that might mean fifteen to thirty minutes before the kids get up or after the children go to sleep. For all of us that means making a prayer schedule and keeping it.
The sincere Christian must be so thoroughly committed to the Kingdom of God that he or she is capable of defending the faith when challenged by those who would destroy the body of Christ. This challenge is most often issued by the hedonists mentality which domineers so many aspects of our society. Hedonism destroys the Body of Christ because its main focus is selfishness. It proposes that we do what is
most pleasing for our bodies here and now without considering our responsibility to others or even to ourselves. It’s a rather immature mentality, one that is only interested in immediate pleasure. The committed Christian ascertains the effects of an action upon his or her sharing in the Life of Christ. He or she is not concerned
with what a majority of people say. He or she is concerned with the effects of an action upon the spread of the Kingdom.
When Jesus was baptized by John, his human nature received the Holy Spirit. Of course, His Divine nature was always united to the Holy Spirit, but now His human nature was raised up, if you will, spiritualized. As his human nature received the Holy Spirit, so too does the human nature of all who accept the baptism of the Lord. Baptism gives life, the life of God. We often refer to this as the In-dwelling of the Holy Trinity.
Think about this. We are no longer just the rational part of creation. We are spiritualized. We are sons and daughters of God. We have dignity, the dignity of the One about whom the voice from heaven said at his baptism by John, “This is my son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.”
Our Father in heaven says this about each of us when we live our commitment to the Lord.
Called to commitment and led by the Spirit, we Christians must jump into the cold water of the Spring Bayous of our lives. We must search for the cross and come out of the water determined to live the Christian life.
Baptism of our Lord Cycle C (3)
“I can tell you’re happy. You are glowing!”
How many of you have heard someone say that either to you or someone you know?
I’ll bet most of you have. We love to see that happy “glow” on someone’s face. In fact, it makes us smile to see someone looking that extraordinarily happy!
Happiness is not only thrilling, it’s contagious. One person glowing makes everyone around them feel good and hopeful about their own dreams and their own lives. After all, who doesn’t love to feel happy! Or to see someone else that happy?
When someone glows, we know he or she is truly full of joy. That person literally illuminates the room from the inside out.
Inside out –now that’s an important phrase when it comes to happiness.
True happiness emerges from the inside out.
Hence, the glow!
Perhaps that’s the kind of glow that surrounded Jesus at the moment of his baptism! When Jesus was being baptized, as he was praying, the scriptures tell us that the heavens opened up and the Holy Spirit came down upon him “in bodily form” “like a dove.” A dove….like a white, fluttering, wavering, body? Did God embody Jesus in this experience? Was he suddenly transfigured into the wavering breath/light of God? Did he glow from the inside out as God portrayed the incarnation from Father to Son through the vehicle of the Holy Spirit? We can only wonder what that must have looked like! But surely in all of that white light, he glowed!
And a voice from heaven said, “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness (CEB).” In this incarnational moment of Jesus’ baptism in which he began God’s earthly mission, God glowed with pleasure, happiness, joy, God-ness in the vehicle of the Son Jesus, messiah and earthly Lord.
Now I don’t know about you, but I found it interesting that the CEB interpretation of scripture used the word happiness instead of the usual “well pleased.”
What could this mean? The entire interchange in this scripture is a bit unusual. Jesus is being baptized by John. As this is happening, some supernatural occurrences begin. From the scripture reading, we really can’t tell whether John and others are witnessing the Holy Spirit descending bodily upon Jesus “like” a dove. What does that mean anyway, “like a dove”? And then there’s God’s voice from heaven, speaking directly to Jesus, declaring love, and feeling happiness or delight in this encounter.
It’s as though God embodies Jesus in a holy “hug” and then glows with happiness like a proud Papa.
Did John witness this? Or are we reading a narration of Jesus’ experience? Is this a kind of mystical or spiritual experience that Jesus himself undergoes that is not seen by others but known by Jesus exclusively?
As the reader, we can’t tell.
What we do know is that these curious events have got to be important. Otherwise, Luke would not have taken the time here to relay them and in exactly this way.
What did it mean for God to “bodily” envelope Jesus?
What did it mean for God to find “happiness” or “pleasure” in Jesus? Technically, in God’s own self?
The Greek eudokeo gives us a clue.
The Greek word has multiple meanings as Greek words usually do. Here it can mean to consent to, approve of, find favor with, be pleased with, be happy with, to take delight in, to take pleasure in.
God the Creator takes pleasure in revealing himself through Jesus. God has incarnated God’s self in human form, and God is calling it “good.” God does not say, I take pleasure in doing this, or I take pleasure in your baptism. God says, I take pleasure in “you.” Through the Son Jesus, God literally “glows” with happiness, esteem, pleasure, and confirmation of the incarnation.
The Greek literally reads, “You are the Son of Me, the beloved. In you I am fully pleased.”
Is it no wonder that Jesus is glowing in this encounter, just as he will be again at his transfiguration, his resurrection, and in his later ascension. He is the Light of God. And in that moment, we know it, see it, acknowledge it, affirm it.
God’s “happiness” is in God’s presence itself.
Now we think of ourselves as happy or unhappy. But we seldom think of God as happy. And yet, from the first signs of creation, God felt pleased, because creation was “good” (hennah tov –in harmony with God). The Hebrew word “tov” means good, beautiful, behaving as it should, happy, in harmony with God. When someone wishes someone “Mazel Tov!” it is a wish for happiness and congratulations all in the same breath. Tov is a state of being. In the creation story, God looked at what God created and declared it “good” –“tov.”
Likewise, when God declares Son Jesus to be beloved, God’s embodiment, God’s incarnate act itself exudes what we identify as pleasure. God glows.
God’s incarnation is “good.” God in the form of his Son is “good.” God’s plan for his beloved creation is “good.” God’s salvific journey has begun, and this is very, very “good.” God in Jesus has inaugurated a plan that will lead humanity and all of creation back to a state of “tov” –in which all creation is again in beautiful harmony with God.
Creation is good because God is in relationship with it. Jesus is “beloved,” and God is full of pleasure in this act of incarnation because God is inherent within him. In Jesus, God’s plan for creation will be fulfilled.
God’s happiness exudes through Jesus from the inside out.
And when we are in close relationship with Jesus, we too glow with the pleasure of God.
Sometimes in our lives, we can get confused by what we simply like or find fun in doing and what causes us true happiness.
Author Remez Sasson delineates a difference between what we enjoy and what grants us true happiness.[1]
We can enjoy eating cake.
We can enjoy a beautiful piece of music.
We can enjoy buying new clothes.
We can enjoy good food, a great book, or the visage of a beautiful face.
But none of these provide us with true, lasting happiness. None of these make us glow.
We glow when our hearts are engaged with God and another. We bask in God’s love, and we find joy in the love we give and share with others. When we love someone, and person supports us, lifts us up, and bathes us in love, we glow in the light of their heart-hug.
It’s the same when we get close to God. You can see visually someone who has been “bathed” in the light of God’s love. That person shines with light, love, and a joy that can only come from the inside out. And that kind of joy is absolutely contagious.
We all need that kind of happiness in our lives, the kind of happiness that can course through us from the inside out, the kind that makes us glow with the aftereffect of the kind of light that only God can bring into our lives.
You think you’ve seen someone glow from a romantic encounter or an engagement to their beloved? That’s only a fraction of the glow in someone’s face who has had a true encounter with God.
Never underestimate the power of God in your life or in the lives of others. Want to experience God face to face?
Look for that glow on the face of someone you meet. You can be sure that it comes from a very special kind of joy.
You can have that glow too. For whenever one of us follows Jesus, dares the true path that Jesus wants us to take. Whenever one of us opens our heart to God in a new and beautiful way, God smiles. And you….you glow.
Baptism of our Lord Cycle C (2)
Three pastors got together for coffee one morning. Much to their surprise they discovered that all their churches had problems with bats infesting their belfries. The bats were making a terrible mess. “I got so mad,” said one pastor, “I took a shotgun and fired at them. It made holes in the ceiling, but did nothing to the bats.” “I tried trapping them alive,” said the second. “Then I drove 50 miles before releasing them, but they beat me back to the church.” “I haven’t had any more problems,” said the third. “What did you do?” asked the others, amazed. “I simply baptized them,” he replied. “I haven’t seen them since.”
It is such a common occurrence. So often, I see married couples come to Church and then they tell me or it is obvious that they are with child. It is understandable that sometimes during pregnancy they will miss Mass. Then the baby is born and I know it is difficult to adjust to a newborn and understand when they miss Mass. They have their baby baptized and then disappear. It is so easy in military chapels to fool the priest into thinking that they will really raise the child in the Church because we priests come and go on a regular basis.
People come to the church desiring Christian baptism and church membership, but sometimes it is just for show or to please grandparents. We welcome them into our fellowship, and then after we welcome them into our fellowship, we don’t hear anything of them. What does it mean? Or parents and godparents stand at the altar to present a child to God. They make promises to bring up that child in the household of faith and then they disappear. We rarely see them again. What did those promises mean?
On this second Sunday of the New Year our lesson from the Gospels focuses our attention on the place of baptism in our lives.
Jesus came to be baptized by John. It was an interesting act of contrition. John the Baptist admitted that he wasn’t worthy to lace up Jesus’ sneakers, and yet Jesus joins the crowd that is being baptized by John. It was a dramatic moment for John and even for Jesus. For there came a voice from heaven, “This is my beloved Son; with whom I am well pleased.”
Baptism has always been at the heart of the Christian faith. It is sign and symbol that a person belongs to Christ. It is a requirement for membership in the church. It is a sacrament,” a means of grace. Why, then, do so many Christians take baptism so lightly? Perhaps we need to consider what baptism says to us.
FIRST OF ALL, BAPTISM SAYS THAT IT IS GOD WHO HAS SAVED US. Certainly it is not the water. Water is but a symbol.
We are not washing the child. If the hope for cleansing was based on the efforts of the water, there was going to have to be a whole lot more water used! It is not water that saves us. Water is but a symbol. Water itself has no saving power. And to be frank about it, neither does the strength of our belief.
The focus in baptism is not on the believer, but on God. Grace is not something we earn, but something we receive as a free gift. Baptism symbolizes a turning from sin, but it is God who delivers us from the power of the Tempter. If you visit Rome, you can see the old baptism place. At the bottom of the pool there is a serpent. The person to be baptized is anointed with oil. Because this is the last time the devil can get ahold of them. It is not a our victory but God’s. That is why we always come to Christian baptism in an act of total humility. Baptism is a symbol of God’s grace freely given.
In Vienna, Austria, you will find a church in which the Hapsburgs, the former ruling family of Austria, are buried. It is said that when royal funerals finally arrive at the church for the burial rites, the mourners leading the funeral procession knock at the door to gain entrance.
“Who is it that desires admission here?” a priest asks through the locked door.
“His apostolic majesty, the emperor!” calls the guard.
“I don’t know him,” answers the priest.
A second knock follows and a similar question is asked. This time, the funeral guard announces the deceased as, “The highest emperor.”
Again, “I don’t know him,” echoes throughout the vaulted burial chamber.
Finally, a third knock is heard. “Who is it?”
“A poor sinner, your brother,” comes the final answer. Then the door is opened and the royal burial completed.(2)
That is the proper attitude for baptism ” total and complete humility. It is not the water that saves us. It is not our own noble intentions that save us. It is God acting out of total and complete self-giving love that accepts us just as we are. That is the first thing we need to see. It is God who saves us.
Here is the second. IT IS GOD WHO CALLS US. Baptism is a free gift from God, but the purpose of baptism is to give us a new identity.
The word baptizo was a term that was used in the first century for dipping a light-colored garment into a dye. Once the fabric was dipped into the dye, it would be changed in its identity from its original color to a new color. The act of dipping it, resulting in changing its identity, was called baptizo. It is the Greek term from which we get our English word baptism. (3) “Once we were no people,” says the Old Testament writer, “but now we are God’s people.” As the prophet Jeremiah wrote of God: “I will be your God and your will be my people.” Baptism is a sign of God’s call to us to be new people. That is why we are given a new garment to wear. The alb that the priest wears is symbolic of his baptismal garment. Baptism underlies all of the priest’s ministry.
Sue Monk Kidd, in her book, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, says that so often when she opens a newspaper she finds herself reading a depressing headline ” words in big letters shouting about a world threat, a crisis, another crime. There is surely a lot of bad news to read about these days. One day she opened her town’s paper, however, and read a remarkable headline printed in half-inch letters. The headline read like this: “I Asked Jesus Into My Heart.” This story followed:
“During the night dogs had begun to bark furiously around the home of a local couple. Usually the dogs’ barking signaled something amiss, that perhaps prowlers lurked nearby. But the next morning, the couple discovered that nothing had been taken. Instead, something had been returned. Outside the front door were two car speakers that had been stolen six weeks earlier. A note attached to them read like this: `I’m sorry that I took your speakers, but now I have repented my sins and asked Jesus to forgive me. I hope you will forgive me too. I no longer take other people’s belongings…God has changed me. I’m a new creature since I asked Jesus into my heart.’ It was signed simply, `Saved.'” (4)
It could have been signed, “Baptized.” In fact, I like “baptized” better. “Saved” connotes that we have been delivered from the power of sin, but baptism is more than that. Baptism means that we have put on new life in Christ. As we pray in the baptismal rite from St Paul. All of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
It means that we have not only given up old, unsavory behavior, but that we now walk in the footsteps of the One who gave his life for us. How, then, can we come for baptism or confirmation and then disappear from the life of the Christian community?
When you walked into Church some of you made the sign of the cross with Holy Water. This is not just a reminder of your baptism but is a renewing of that commitment.
When I was in Ukraine on the Feast of the Theophany (God is manifested as a Trinity) at the Baptism. They go to the river and the priest blesses the water and throws in the hand cross. People jump in to bring up the cross. (The water is very cold). The boy arising from the water with the cross represents Jesus who at his baptism by John the Baptist publicly accepted the mission the Father had set for him, a mission that would end with the cross. After our Baptism we go out into the world with the mission to make Christ present to one another by our lives.
Baptism signifies that it is God who has saved us. It is God who has called us.
FINALLY, IT IS GOD WHO GOES WITH US. Just as we do not come to baptism trusting in our own merits but in God’s gracious love for us, neither do we live the Christian life trusting in our own strength.
If you feel that you are being tempted point out to the temptor that you are baptized. Baptism is a reminder to us that we are not alone in the world. Just as Jesus heard those words at his baptism, “You are my beloved Son; with whom I am well pleased,” so we too hear God’s voice: “You are my own child. I am with you. You are not alone.”
Everyone in the small town called her Grandma Richardson. One late afternoon Grandma Richardson looked out of her window to see a group of men on her porch. It was a familiar sight in a coal town. She knew what had happened before the men told her. Her husband had been killed in a mining accident.
Years passed slowly and with great difficulty. Grandma Richardson was admired by everyone in town for her courage and unwavering faith. She and her children attended church almost every week. Then there was another knock on her door. Her older son had been killed in another mine accident.
Grandma grew older and weaker. In the spring and summer, when the weather was warm, she would sit on her front porch, rocking in her rocking chair, softly singing hymns of faith that she had learned by heart. Children would gather and listen to her tell Bible stories. Then it happened again. Another son was killed in the mine. After the funeral Grandma Richardson was again sitting on her porch rocking in her favorite chair, softly singing hymns of faith. One of the children who saw her sitting there asked her, “Grandma Richardson, aren’t you sad today?”
“Yes,” she replied, “I am sad, very sad. It’s hard to say good-bye to someone you love, and I have had to do it three times. But,” she told the children, “I have something more than sadness inside of me.” She then spoke of her faith.
“Can you give us some,” one of the children asked.
“Why children,” Grandma Richardson answered, “I have been giving it to you for years now. It is knowing that God loves you and that He has made one promise that is a gift, the most valuable gift in the world. God promised that no matter what happens, no matter how good or bad things may be, regardless of your joy or sorrow, God will not leave you alone.” (6)
That is God’s promise to each of us. It goes part and parcel with our baptism. To understand that baptism is to become a new person. It is God who has saved us. It is God who calls us into a new life of service. It is God who goes with us. What good news! “I have been baptized.”
” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ”
Leewin Williams, editor, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WIT, HUMOR AND
WISDOM (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1949), p. 248.
James W. Cox, THE MINISTER’S MANUAL, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989).
Charles R. Swindoll, THE GRACE AWAKENING, (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1990).
- R. Gibson Co., 1988.
GOOD NEWS.
James L. Henderschedt, THE LIGHT IN THE LANTERN, (San Jose, CA: Resource Publications, Inc., 1991), pp. 63-67.
How many of you have ever watched a movie about some exciting place and wished that you could visit there some day? A movie is a good thing, but it could never be as good as being there yourself. Movies are substitutes for adventure and they do a good job, but the adventure itself is the thing that everyone likes the best.
What is the substitute for sugar? For Coke? Going to a concert and hearing music?
The reason that I have told you this is that there was a man by the name of John the Baptist who did a lot of baptizing. He knew what he was doing, and it was a good thing. He kept talking about how he was preparing the world for Christ who was coming. He told them that what he did was just a substitute for the real thing that was going to happen when the Christ came. He said that his baptism was only a baptism of water, but when the Christ brought his baptism, it would be a baptism of the Spirit of God. In other words, John’s baptism was a substitute baptism until the real baptism of Jesus could take place.
Baptism of our Lord Cycle C (2)
A big splash. That’s how companies like to start something new. In the old days, stores would put flags and banners outside to let people know they were opening. Today they need email, websites, and direct marketing, usually pushing some wonderful deal or product the company has dreamt up to entice us. “Buy one, get another,” or “The first 100 customers will receive a big discount.” The splash is designed to get attention.
So we might be tempted to think of Jesus’ baptism as the big splash that announces he is the Savior of the World. John has said someone is coming after him, and now he is here, by the river, among the people John is baptizing. It is only after he is baptized with the other and praying with them that the heavens up, the dove of the Spirit descends, and the Father declares that Jesus is the Beloved whom God is sending into the world.
There are important things to notice about Luke’s account. First of all, Jesus is with others. It’s as if to say that his baptism is not something Jesus wants to keep to himself. It’s as if he is saying that his baptism is something he wants to share with others. This invites us to see our own baptisms as a direct share in his.
The second thing is the wording of the Father. The phrase “my beloved Son” is not some emotional term of endearment. Rather, the language comes from Isaiah the Prophet who talks about one who comes as servant, bearing the burdens and struggles of the people as his own. This is a verse about the meaning of the death of Jesus. For if he begins his ministry with his baptism, that ministry would be the cause of his rejection and suffering. But that suffering is the means of bringing redemption to a
The third item worth noting is the descent of the Holy Spirit. It isn’t like Jesus didn’t experience the Spirit before this. Rather, his experience of the Spirit shows his empowerment to bestow the Spirit upon all who open their hearts to him. Jesus desires to share his Spirit of generous life and love upon his disciples. This is the Spirit by which the world is transformed as it progresses toward the Kingdom of God.
So rather than calling attention to himself and his ministry, the baptism of Jesus is not a big splash about him but about what God is bestowing upon humankind when people commit themselves to following him. And it certainly calls attention to our own baptisms for this is what makes us disciples of Jesus. We are all empowered to live with that same love and generous grace that marked his life. We are all empowered to bring the Kingdom to the world around us.
No doubt, there is plenty for us in the ministry and work of Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t need advertising to show us. His own life of healing, forgiveness, acceptance, welcome, and generous love speaks far more than any hype possibly could.
Baptism of our Lord Cycle C (1)
Once when I was baptizing by immersion a young lady in a baptismal pool in the chapel. When I laid her back under the water. Suddenly her body stiffened and her eyes popped open. The look on her face was a mixture of excitement and surprise.
I wasn’t sure what had happened, but something definitely had. As I pulled her up from the water, she put her hand on the back I had smacked the back of her head onto the baptistery steps!
Probably that is one sacramental event this woman will never forget. (1)
Today’s story from Luke’s Gospel is about an unforgettable baptism. It is the baptism of our Lord. We return to it year after year so we won’t forget. Why? Because it partially defines what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
Every one of us who is a member of this church has been baptized. It is the one indispensable rite of every Christian congregation.
Our Lord was baptized by John in the wilderness. In doing so, Christ set a precedent for every person who would follow him. We were baptized because Jesus was baptized. Being baptized doesn’t mean we are perfect. Being baptized doesn’t mean we’ve got our life all together. Being baptized doesn’t even mean we have our theology all worked out. Being baptized simply means that we acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and we have committed ourselves to walk in his footsteps as God grants us His grace.
Luke’s version of the account is more condensed than the other Gospel writers. He begins with a brief description of John the Baptist’s ministry. Luke tells us “the people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah.”
John answered them like this, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Luke tells about Jesus’ baptism a few verses later. He writes simply, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as [Jesus] was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”
Wow! Wouldn’t you love to have been there that day? I’m glad that people who were there thought to record the day for our hearing. “Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”
This event of Christ’s baptism is important to Christians for several reasons.
It reminds us, first of all, of Christ’s humility. It is an amazing truth. Christ humbled himself and was baptized by a mere mortal in our behalf. Whereas you and I would be tempted to enjoy the perks of our relationship with God, Christ humbled himself and became a servant. St. Francis of Assisi had that kind of humility. St. Francis wanted to be as much like Christ as possible.
In a story known as the Legend of Perugia there is a very revealing example of Francis’ humility. Hidden in a description of Francis’ practice of traveling and preaching in churches is this wonderful sentence concerning St. Francis: “He brought along a broom to clean the churches.” (2) I love that. “He brought along a broom to clean the churches.”
There is much being written nowadays about “servant leadership.” There is no better example than Francis of Assisi. Of course, Francis was simply seeking to emulate his Lord.
F.B. Meyer used an analogy for this kind of leadership: “I used to think,” wrote Meyer, “that God’s gifts were on shelves one above the other; and that the taller we grew in Christian character, the easier we could reach them. I now find that God’s gifts are on shelves one beneath the other. It is not a question of growing taller but of stooping lower; that we have to go down, before we can go up!”
Humility, in a biblical sense, is not to be confused with false modesty. It is not allowing yourself to be walked upon because you lack the courage to stand up for yourself. Jesus was not like that at all. Jesus’ humility was an act of courageous obedience to the will of God. He was baptized not because he was a sinful person, not because he was swayed by John’s preaching, not because he was a sinner. Indeed, the Bible teaches us he knew no sin. He was baptized because of his obedience to his Father. He did it to set the pattern for us. For you see, what God desires from us more than anything else is that we might be obedient, too. That’s what humility is all about.
I love an analogy the old television series “The Lone Ranger.” Some of you remember that long-running series. the Lone Ranger’s horse, Silver. Silver was the perfectly trained companion for the Lone Ranger. But Silver wasn’t always obedient.
In the first episode of “The Lone Ranger,” the Lone Ranger was one of a group of Texas rangers. One day, however, his band of rangers got ambushed and he was the lone survivor. He was left for dead, but recovered. When he began to get his strength back, he heard in a canyon below him the sound of a horse, the horse that would come to be known as Silver. He surmised that Silver could help him escape a difficult situation. The only problem was that Silver was a wild stallion. The whole first episode was about Silver being brought under the control of the Lone Ranger. Silver would throw him off; the Lone Ranger would get back on, only to be thrown off again. The Lone Ranger rode Silver until Silver got the message that he was no longer in charge. When that happened, Silver became an amazing horse. (3)
Here’s the point. God created you and me to do amazing things. But we will never be all God created us to be until we humble ourselves and become obedient to the vision God has for our lives. Christ’s baptism is important, first of all, because it shows his humility, his willingness to submit to his Father’s authority.
We see Christ’s humility, but we are also introduced to the idea of his divinity. It is surely no accident that the story of Christ’s baptism is one of the few occasions in scripture where all three persons in the Trinity are mentioned–Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Now, that may not get you all that excited. After all, the word “Trinity” does not even appear in the Bible. The idea of the Trinity–that God comes to us in three persons–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–wasn’t formulated by the church until a few hundred years after Christ’s resurrection. And yet, here at Christ’s baptism, all three persons of the Godhead are present. The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus (the Son) in bodily form like a dove and then the Father (God) expresses His love and His approval for Jesus, His Son.
This may seem boring, but it is vitally important. The doctrine of the Trinity cemented the idea in the mind of Christians that when we look at Jesus we are looking at an accurate picture of the character of God. Jesus, while remaining a human being, in all ways is a mirror image of God.
a church group visiting a restored ancient village on the Cherokee reservation. An ill-informed youth in their group asked as they entered a teepee, “Do you reckon they will scalp us inside here?” The Native American guide was justifiably indignant. She stated that scalping was the horrendous method of torture used by Europeans to terrorize the Indians. Native Americans merely learned the art of terror with greater precision. Then she shared this insight from her oral history.
When the Christian missionaries came to the Cherokee tribes in the late seventeenth century and told the story of Jesus, the tribesmen were quickly converted. Their chief announced, “Our ancestors have always taught that God is just, merciful, and forgiving. God has compassion for us in our sorrow. We did not know that this God has entered our experience. We did not know the suffering God. But now you have supplied us with the name and personality of the God for whom we have longed–Jesus the Christ.” (4)
That chief was a good theologian. When people ask us what God is like, all we have to do is point them to Jesus. God is like this carpenter from Nazareth, we testify. God is loving, forgiving, accepting in the same way that Jesus was loving, forgiving, accepting. If you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus.
That’s too big of a leap of faith for some people to take and I understand that. And that’s sad. Where else shall we look to determine God’s nature? Shall we look to nature? Nature is grand. Nature is beautiful. Nature sometimes leaves us breathless. But nature is also terrifying, cruel, unforgiving.
Where shall we look to find a God worth worshipping? We can look to nature to show us a God of grandeur and might. But we cannot find there a God of perfect and complete love.
Neither can we look to other great religions to show such a God. These religions are helpful to those who follow them, but none of them speak of a God whose very nature is love. Only within the pages of the New Testament can I find such a God. That is one reason the story of Jesus’ baptism is so important. It shows us Christ humility, but it also shows us his connection to divinity. It is one of the few occasions in scripture where all three persons in the Trinity are mentioned–Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus’ baptism tells me that I can look at him as a perfect picture of the Father’s wondrous love.
And that brings us to the final thing to be said about Christ’s baptism: it helps us understand our real identity.
Christ’s baptism was the beginning of his earthly ministry. He was about thirty years of age. What had he been doing before then? He was probably an itinerant . rabbi supporting himself by carpentry.. All we know about his early years, except for that time when he stayed behind in Jerusalem when Mary and Joseph made their annual pilgrimage to the Holy City, was that he was obedient to his parents and that he “grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). But now, at his baptism, he has this amazing experience. After he is baptized and while he is praying, heaven opens and the Holy Spirit descends on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice comes from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Regardless of what it meant to Christ, it is certainly true for his followers that it is at our baptism that we receive our identity. In some traditions, a person receives his or her name at baptismwe most certainly receive our identity. Baptism tells us we are children of God and the way we honor that baptism is to live in obedience to the will of God as best as we are able to understand it.
Bau Island, a small subset of the Fiji Islands. While there, the chief of Bau Island showed them a small Christian church that housed a large stone with a small cleft in the top. According to the chief, this stone held a significant place in the ancient history of the people of the island. In ancient times, this stone was used to crush the heads of captives. It was a prominent weapon, and a symbol of the violent culture of the island.
But once the message of Jesus reached the people of Bau Island, this rock was employed in a new way. It became a baptismal font, and the cleft that was once filled with blood was now filled with water for baptizing the heads of small children as they were brought into the family of God.
The people of Bau Island wisely concluded that, once they were baptized, their way of life needed to reflect that baptism. So it is with us. Our lives should reflect our baptism. (5) What have we given up or changed that can be our rock.
In our baptism we are given our identity. We are now children of God. We are a part of the body of Christ. Our words and our actions should reflect that great truth. Just as Christ humbled himself in obedience to the will of God, so shall we humble ourselves to live in obedience to God’s will that in all things people may see our good works and give thanks to our Father. This is why each year we revisit the event of Christ’s baptism. We see here Christ’s humility and his divinity. And we are reminded of who we are. We are his body at work in the world today, reminding the world that it is loved. We are the children of God, and that is how we are called to live.
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1. http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-davon-huss-humor-baptism-6468.asp.
2. John Michael Talbot. Cited in Rodney L. Cooper, Holman New Testament Commentary, Mark: 2 (Kindle Edition).
3. Anthony T. Evans, Tony Evans’ Book Of Illustrations (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009).
4. http://www.providenceumc.org/sermons/s_020528.htm.
5. H. Eddie Fox and George E. Morris, Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So! (Franklin, TN.: Providence House Publishers, 1999), p. 94.
