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By Water and the Spirit
Sermon by the Reverend Gregory L. Batson
Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 42:1-9; Matthew 3:13-17
Today in the liturgical calendar of the church, we enter into a new season. Last Sunday, we concluded the Christmas season with a celebration of Epiphany. As Patricia explained in her sermon last week, Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of God in our lives. This manifestation is symbolized by the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus, whose birth brings light into our darkness.
This Sunday begins the season after Epiphany, a time of transition between Christmas and Lent. It is on this first Sunday after Epiphany that we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. We make a quantum leap now from the birth of Christ to his public ministry as an adult. We don't spend any time on Jesus' growth as a child or a youth, simply because we have so little information about his early years. They are, in essence, hidden years. So now we have to quickly jump on board and try to understand Jesus' ministry and mission to the world.
Each of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) contains the story of Jesus' baptism by John. And each of the three gospels agrees on these basic facts: Jesus meets John the Baptist and a crowd of folks at the Jordan River. Jesus submits himself to baptism by John. As the baptism occurs, the heavens are opened up, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and a voice says: "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased" (Mat 3:13-17, Mar 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22).
In the story told by Matthew, however, we get a little more information. John tries to prevent Jesus from being baptized by him. "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me" (Mat 3:14). But Jesus replies, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness" (Mat 3:15). So John relents and baptizes the Son of God with all the rest of those gathered there that day.
Now let's consider John's question more carefully, because frankly I have the same question: Why does Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, insist on being baptized by this wild-looking guy wandering around in the wilderness? The message that John is preaching is repentance. Repentance literally means "to turn around" or "return" in Hebrew and Greek. To repent is to make a radical change in the direction in which we are currently headed. Thus, John the Baptist is telling the crowds, before Jesus' arrival, that they must change their behavior in order for their sins to be forgiven.
But did Jesus sin during those 30 previous years that we know so little about? Does he need to repent and have his sins forgiven? What's going on here?
We can solve this problem if we take a step back and reconsider what the sacrament of baptism means. It is true that one aspect of baptism is the forgiveness of our sins. Through the life, death and resurrec-tion of Christ, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, our sins are forgiven by the grace of God. We respond to that grace by confessing and repenting of our sins and affirming our faith in Jesus Christ. But there is another aspect of baptism that is just as important. Whether one is an infant, a child, or an adult, the sacrament of baptism incorporates that person into the body of Christ. At that moment when the minister places the water on the head of the one being baptized and says, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," that person has entered into the commun-ity of faith. Baptism is not a private, individual act between a person and God. It concerns the entire community, because we are now unified with Christ, with each other, and with the universal church.
Did you ever see Robert Duval's movie The Apostle? In that movie, Duval portrays this Southern Pentecostal minister who feels very deeply his call to ministry. But he is a human being and far from perfect. He has a troubled, violent relationship with his wife and nearly kills another man in a jealous rage. Now the minister has to get out of town and he is on the run. Haunted by his sins, Duval's character decides to baptize himself in a river deep in the bayous of Louisiana. Through this baptism, Duval's character repents of his past sins and commissions himself as the Apostle E.F., beginning a new ministry in a new town.
I was always bothered by that scene, but I never could put my finger on why it bothered me. Now I know. It was because he was alone and baptized himself. There was no community surrounding him. All Duval's character wanted to do was to wash away his past sins in a private pact with God and start over again. But that is not what baptism is all about. Baptism means joining together those who have made the same decision to follow Christ as disciples.
This now can give us some insight into why Jesus went to John to be baptized. It was not to be forgiven of his sins because he didn't have any to forgive. It was to be in union with those to whom he would minister. The hymn we will sing after the sermon, "When Jesus Came to Jordan" sums it up well. Listen to the words in the first two verses:
When Jesus came to Jordan to be baptized by John, he did not come for pardon but as the sinless one. He came to share repentance with all who mourn their sins, to speak the vital sentence with which good news begins.
He came to share temptation, our utmost woe and loss, For us and our salvation to die upon the cross. So when the dove descended on him, the Son of Man, The hidden years had ended, the age of grace began.
One of the great, inexplicable mysteries of the Christian faith is trying to understand how Jesus Christ can be both fully human and fully divine. It would take hundreds of years and many ecumenical councils to try to understand that mystery, and maybe we never will fully understand it. But part of the power of our faith rests in this notion that God has come to be with us in human form.
There is one other aspect of baptism I want to highlight. Jesus' baptism by John initiates his public ministry. It is the beginning of his work that would include teaching and healing and sacrifice. So, too, does baptism initiate our ministry as Christians. It is not just the clergy of the church that are called into ministry; we are all called by Christ into ministry by virtue of our baptism. Each of you has a specific mission to the world as a Christian disciple. That mission can be carried out in any number of ways through any number of vocations. The work of the church is dependent upon how each of us accepts that responsibility for teaching, stewardship, evangelism, works of mercy to neighbors in need.
Today, on the Baptism of the Lord, we have the opportunity to reaffirm our own baptisms together. The United Methodist Church recognizes only one baptism for each of us, whether it occurred in our infancy or as a confirmand or as an adult. So today's reaffirmation ritual is not a re-baptism. What it does do is unite us as a community of faith in our covenant with God, reminding us of the ongoing responsibilities that we possess as Christians. It is an opportunity to recommit ourselves to Christ and Christian discipleship.
After singing the hymn of preparation, "When Jesus Came to Jordan," I invite you to turn to your insert in the Order of Worship and to join us in Reaffirming our Baptismal Covenant. Amen.