Baptism of Our Lord
Isaiah 43:1-7
Psalm 29
Acts 8:14-17
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you
from the one who opens the heavens,
the Spirit who descends
and the one on whom the spirit descends. Amen
We are entering the time of the church year
that is known as the time after Epiphany
The official feast of epiphany falls
Each year on January 6th
As Christians around the world
mark the arrival of the magi,
who in the course of their taking directions from a star
and stopping to consult King Herod
arrive well after Jesus’ birth.
As Matthew tells the story
the angel comes to Mary and then Joseph to announce Jesus’ birth
and what he is going to do,
save his people from their sins.
The arrival of the magi is special
because they are the first gentiles
to be made aware of Jesus’ significance.
Their arrival is an epiphany,
a sudden revealing of the essential nature or meaning of something
and their presence reveals
that God is up to something even bigger
than what was expected of the promised messiah
and helps us understand part of who Jesus is and what he is about.
The readings for the Sundays during the time after Epiphany
all contain stories of epiphanies,
moments where Jesus’ essential nature
are revealed and made manifest,
each story gives us more insight
into Jesus and his purpose.
The epiphany for today
comes at Jesus’ baptism.
Luke sets the scene for us;
John draws the crowds and sets the expectations
for the one more powerful than he who is coming,
he preaches so forcefully that he preaches the people right into the river
with his talk of winnowing forks and baptisms of fire and the Holy Spirit,
the people repent of their sins
and are baptized as a way to symbolize their fresh start.
Jesus is there too
and he is baptized right along with everybody else
and afterward
as everybody is still gathered by the river
Jesus takes time to pray
In the gospel of Luke,
as we move through it this year,
you will notice that Jesus stops to pray
at significant moments in his ministry.
This baptism,
marks the beginning of his ministry,
the transfer of the focus of the crowds on John
who has prepared the way for Jesus,
the one John says is so great and powerful that he, John,
is unworthy to untie the thong of his sandals
And yet here Jesus is,
being baptized in solidarity with all the people gathered,
stopping to pray to his Creator
and as he prays the heavens open,
the barrier between God and the people is removed
and out of the heavens,
the home of God
comes the holy spirit,
and as the people watch
they see the holy spirit enter Jesus
and if that weren’t enough
a voice, the voice of god?
Comes out of heaven
and says to Jesus
“you are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
Can you imagine being there to witness that?
Luke doesn’t give us any of the crowd’s reaction
or even any interpretation of this event
Which leaves us asking
what exactly has been revealed about Jesus in this moment?
It reveals several things I think,
At his baptism Jesus is revealed as a humble messiah
Did he really need to repent and be baptized for a fresh start?
No, but he acts as one with the people he has come to save.
And of course he is revealed as God’s chosen one,
upon whom the holy spirit has come,
the opening of the heavens
reveal that God is willing to remove barriers to get to us,
a close relationship with God is part of who Jesus is
And John’s teaching
reveals a bit about Jesus’ purpose.
What he has come to do
John says that one who follows him
will baptize as well, only with the Holy Spirit
and we have lived this,
having been baptized in the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit,
sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.
We have been made a part of Jesus’ purpose
but what is the purpose of the purpose?
the clue comes in John’s picture
of the one coming after him
with winnowing fork in hand
to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Now as mainline protestants
we start to get nervous
around any mention of separating and fire,
we’re not so much a fire and brimstone people
we’re grace people
so when we hear about separating the wheat from the chaff
we tend to think of them as two separate things,
like the parable of the sheep and goats,
a scene of judgment of distinct individuals
with one totally good and one totally bad
but that is not the case with the image of the wheat and the chaff
the wheat and the chaff start life as one,
wheat is a seed
and when it is ripe
that seed has two parts,
the an inner fruit that we eat
and an outer husk that we can’t stomach
the husk has to be removed before we can eat the seed,
and once removed the husk becomes the chaff,
the image John gives us
is one of refining,
of removing and getting rid of the indigestible husk
to get to the good fruit.
We are whole people both seed and husk
and in baptism Jesus is removing the part that hides our nutritious center.
I think this is what we’re talking about
when we talk about how we’re all both saint and sinner,
we’re both seed and husk
and the baptismal life
is one of working to reveal the seed
more often than the husk
And this is a life-long process
and not necessarily calm and peaceful,
think of popcorn,
to go from the tiny hard seed
to delicious fluffy snack
takes at the very least
heat and agitation
and sometimes a little oil to get things going,
often our best selves
emerge during times of agitation.
And God knows that this process
is not going to always be pleasant
so also at our baptisms
God makes sure we know that we are not alone,
God claims us
And we know from the promises that we hear God make
to the people in our reading from Isaiah
that God takes care of what God has claimed.
The people are in exile,
and they have become refugees,
it’s an agitating time
and from the mouth of the prophet
God reminds the people who they are
and what that means.
They are God’s
and that means that God will always be with them,
when they have to cross flooded dangerous rivers
and when fire comes
- a poignant image this week with the fires in California-
But God promises that when the fires come
The people will not be destroyed
God will gather those who are scattered and bring them home.
A beautiful sentiment
though one that may be hard to believe
when it seems like all is in ruins around you.
This is why God has given us the gift of baptism,
To assure us that
these promises are ours.
That no matter what happens, be it flood, fire, illness, strife
God has claimed us,
called us by name,
and redeemed us
and with the gift of the Holy Spirit,
God is with us always
during times of celebration
And in times of heat and agitation.
God is there working to remove the husk
and reveal the good beloved child of God that we are
And this all comes to us through Jesus
Beloved Son of God
Who filled with the Spirit
Lived, died, and lived again
For us. Amen
Comments