"Jesus' Baptism and Ours"
Genesis 1:1-5; Mark 1:4-11
The scripture passages we heard today have to do with beginnings. The Genesis text is the beginning of the creation
story and tells how the Spirit of God swept over the face of the waters and was
part of the creation process.
The gospel according to Mark begins
with the words, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of
God.” There’s no birth story here. The beginning of the good news of Jesus
Christ is about his baptism.
John the Baptizer appears in the
wilderness Then Jesus comes to the
Jordan and asks John to baptize him. As
Jesus is coming up out of the water, he sees the heavens torn apart and the
spirit descending like a dove on him.
And a voice comes down from heaven, “You are my Son, the beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
Without the rest of Jesus’ life, his
baptism isn’t something we can comprehend.
We can only comprehend the purpose of Jesus’ baptism when we look at the
days and years that followed that day in the Jordan. It’s when we see Jesus taking his place with
hurting people that his baptism starts to make sense. Baptism was Jesus’ commissioning for ministry.
During the week before his death,
Jesus was challenged by the leaders of the temple: “By what authority do you do
these things?”
Jesus answers by referring to his
baptism: “Was the baptism of John from heaven or not?” In other words, I was baptized. That’s how all this started.” It was in the waters of baptism that Jesus
began hearing the Spirit calling him to speak the truth and to live with grace.
Baptisms, like all beginnings, find
their meaning after the event. Beginning
is usually fairly easy. Finishing is
usually harder.
Starry-eyed young couples who are in love come
to the pastor, and very often, they’re focused on having the perfect wedding. It’s part of the pastor’s job to remind them
that the wedding is just the beginning.
It’s the living out of the promises they make that’s the hard
part... the part that will make all the
difference ten or fifty years from that day.
Baptism is the beginning of a journey. We’re handed a map, but we have to take the
trip. It takes our whole life to finish
our baptisms... to fulfill what was
started when we were baptized.
It was no ordinary day when John
baptized Jesus in the Jordan, and it’s no ordinary day when we baptize someone
here in this sanctuary--whether it’s a baby or an adult. It’s no ordinary day because Jesus’ baptism
shows us how far God will go to be reconciled with us and to reconcile us to
one another. God tore apart the heavens to get to us, to give us the Holy
Spirit, and to join us to Christ.
This time of year, we may have made
resolutions or renewed commitments to get in shape, to get more sleep, to eat
more healthfully to live the rest of our lives better in some ways.
We live in a time when it feels like
there’s a lot to worry about--the economy, a divided government, an
increasingly polarized culture… the growing gap between the rich and poor. Closer to home, people may be concerned about
their kids… their work… health challenges… a parent struggling with frailty or
dementia…loneliness… or grieving the loss of a loved one.
In the midst of all this, sometimes we
forget who we are… or whose we are. Sometimes we run away from our identity and
our calling.
In Disney's film and play The Lion
King, the young lion, Simba, is living in exile-- separated from all that
reminds him of his identity. He's away
from home... away from his
family... and away from his
responsibilities. He has forsaken his
true identity as the king of the lions.
In his absence, the kingdom has been overpowered by forces of evil, and
it is a very dark and wounded place.
The baboon "priest"-
figure Rafiki finds Simba in the jungle and calls Simba back to his true
identity. Rafiki leads Simba to a lake. As Simba stares into the pool of water, it is
not only his own face that he sees. It
is also the face of his father. The
father and son are inextricably
linked.
As Simba recognizes his father
within himself, the heavens open... and
his father speaks to him from heaven. In
that moment, Simba is transformed. He
understands his true identity as the Lion King.
He sees the responsibility his identity carries. He is empowered for the mission that lies
before him... and is able to combat the
evil forces of the world. In the end,
Simba is able to bring light and healing back to the kingdom.
On this Baptism of the Lord Sunday,
we are reminded of Jesus' baptism...
and our own. We are reminded who
we are... and whose we are.
At your baptism, the same Spirit
came down upon you as came down upon Jesus at his baptism. The same Father said to you, “you are my
beloved son"... or "you are
my beloved daughter." The same
Father has continued ever since to hold you...
and to work to empower you for God's work.
In baptism, God proclaims God's grace and love for us. God claims us and marks us as God’s own. We have a new identity as members of the body
of Christ.
Through the waters of baptism, we
participate in Christ’s death and resurrection.
Repentance... conversion... and
growth are a lifelong process. Anything
in us that separates us from God has to die, so that we can be raised to new
life in Christ.
The good news of our baptism is that
God adopts us as God's own. God reaches
for us... and claims us as God's chosen
ones—God’s beloved. We are baptized--
not because we have come to God... but
because God has first come to us. So,
we are baptized and begin a lifelong
pilgrimage with God... a lifelong
process of conversion and nurture which begins at the font... and doesn't end until death-- until we are at
last tucked safely into the everlasting arms of the God who first reached for
us in baptism.
God keeps on reaching for us
throughout our lives. God isn't finished
with any of us yet. Every day we live
out our baptism. Every day we need to
respond to God's gracious gifts in our lives...
open ourselves again to God's work in our lives... say YES in all the big and little things we
do throughout the day.
A major part of God's daily saving
work in our lives is God's gift of the Holy Spirit. Just as God's creating Spirit hovered over
the waters in the very beginning, the Holy Spirit works in us... leads us daily... tugging at our lives to turn us more and more
fully toward God.
How easy it is, in the midst of this
life, to forget who you are... and whose
you are. So, the church is here to remind
you... to remind each of us-- that God
has named us... and claimed us... and seeks us and loves us unconditionally.
What a difference it can make in our
lives when we know—deep in our souls—that we are God’s beloved! So-- remember your baptism. Remember who you are and whose you are. Hear God’s blessing and let it shape and
strengthen your life: “You are my beloved child. With you I am well pleased.”
Amen!
Rev. Fran Hayes, Pastor
Littlefield Presbyterian
Church
Dearborn, Michigan
January 7, 2018
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