Baptism of Our Lord
Genesis 1:1-5
Psalm 29
Acts 19:1-7
Mark 1:4-11
Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you
from the one who works to bring us to new life. Amen
This time of year we often think about new beginnings,
with the start of a new calendar
we reflect on the year that was
and see the turning of the page
as a fresh start.
We may even make resolutions,
Based on our reflections or our hopes for the coming year
We might resolve to eat right and exercise every day!
to manage our finances better
Or to try and repair a relationship.
These are all worthy goals to be sure
and reflect our understanding
that we fail to do the things we know we ought to do
And we also are, let’s be honest,
urged on by the marketing departments of a variety of industries
seeking to benefit from our reflections and annual spate of goal setting
so for the next few weeks
the gyms will be full
until the newness of the year has rubbed off
And we have exhausted our will and determination
and the old habits return
Because in reality nothing has really changed
except that we write a four at the end of the date
instead of a three
Now what does this all have to do with the baptism of our Lord?
Well it speaks to the reality
that we humans are not perfect
and that no matter how determined we are,
we cannot make ourselves perfect,
we need God.
Most of the time we find it easy to ignore this fact,
but sometimes something comes up,
like the turning of the calendar
or John the Baptist appearing in the wilderness,
and the gap between who we are, and who God created us to be
rises up front and center in our minds
and of course our first instinct
is to rely on ourselves and our own actions to bridge the gap.
With John’s preaching and baptism
people recognize the gap between themselves and God,
they come and repent of their sins,
all the things that they have done
that have separated them from God and one another
they confess,
express sorrow
and are symbolically washed clean
in the waters of the Jordan river
and are sent to live lives worthy of that repentance
but this baptism will last only so long
because the people are the ones acting.
John the Baptist recognizes this
He knows his baptism with water
is more like a new year’s resolution
than a solution to our brokenness
But he also knows that one more powerful is coming after him,
He states plainly that he baptizes with water
but the one who is coming
will baptize with the Holy Spirit,
the creative transformative force of God.
This is who John is waiting for,
trying to prepare the people for,
the one who will bring real transformation.
The one coming from God
who will do the work only God is able to do.
And having set the stage with John, Mark tells us how
Jesus comes to John and the Jordan to be baptized.
and as he comes up out of the water
God acts.
The heavens that God created in the beginning are torn
and the spirit of God once again moves over the waters
descending upon Jesus
and the voice of God,
the voice that spoke the world into being
is heard saying
“You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
Mark begins his account of Jesus’ life
with his baptism, rather than an infancy narrative
Jesus’ story starts
when the heavens are torn
and the Holy Spirit descends like a dove to rest on him.
Named as son of God
and gifted with the spirit of God
Jesus’ ministry begins
and immediately the spirit sends Jesus out into the wilderness
out to live with the spirit in the world.
A world that is broken and full of temptations,
where there is a difference between who people are
and who God created them to be
but a world where the spirit still rushes over the waters.
Yes there is a gap between who we are
and who God calls us to be,
but that gap has been bridged by God in our baptisms
where we are adopted as God’s children
and the creative and transformative power of the spirit
comes to rest upon us.
The fresh start that we seek each January
occurred at our baptism
and in the baptismal life
occurs each morning we wake up.
In the gift of our baptism
in the gift of faith,
both gifts from God,
God reaches across the gap
connecting us with love, grace and new life
each and every day.
God has done this for us.
And yet
we still find ourselves to be imperfect sinners
In spite of our complete forgiveness in the waters of baptism
the truth of this life is
that we are fully both at the same time
saint and sinner.
And while we may struggle to explain how this might be,
when we look at the way we live our lives
and how God has acted
it is hard to deny the truth of the reality before us
We are both saints and sinners
and we are only saints because of God.
Our baptism is effective
because in it God bridges the gap that we cannot,
God make us whole
and the spirit calls us to live into that wholeness
instead of the brokenness that is also present in us and in the world
the world whose wholeness God is working toward.
Our baptisms mean that who we are is defined by God rather than the world
From a very early time
Christians have professed that in baptism
we have been joined to Christ’s death and resurrection,
the beginning of our funeral rite affirms this belief,
listen to the words that we say at the side of a departed loved one
as thanksgiving for baptism:
“When we were baptized in Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
All the new beginnings we need
are found in Jesus
who has no end,
joined to Christ in his death and resurrection
in the waters of baptism
we are sent out by the spirit
to live as God’s people
full of forgiveness and grace,
witnesses of wholeness
in a world of brokenness
and when we forget
and get caught up in the world
Jesus brings us back to the font
and sprinkles us with water
to remind us who we are,
Children of God
from whose love we can never be separated. Amen.
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