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January 12, 2025

pastoremily5

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

 

 

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