Water of John, Fire of Jesus

Sermon preached by the Reverend Greg Batson

January 11, 2004

Scripture:  Luke 3: 15-17 and 21-22

In the church calendar, today is celebrated as the Baptism of the Lord. This is the day that we take a giant step forward in time.  During the Advent and Christmas season, we celebrated the arrival of both John the Baptist and Jesus as infants, filled with the promise of God’s special mission for each of them. This Sunday, we meet John and Jesus as adults, already beginning their respective ministries in Galilee.

The Gospel of Luke has already given us hints about the role of each of these men.  John is the prophet figure, the forerunner who preaches about repentance and forgiveness of sins through the act of baptism.  Jesus is the Messiah figure, coming to initiate a new Kingdom of God on earth, a reign of hope and fulfillment for the poor and oppressed.

John’s ministry has already attracted many followers.  Luke’s account tells of large crowds gathered around John to hear his preaching and to be baptized in the Jordan River.  So it is natural that the people would start to talking with another and asking if John is the Messiah that they have been awaiting.  He answers them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16)   John is making it clear that even as powerful and charismatic as he is, one even greater is just around the corner ready to begin his mission for the world.

We are surrounded by the sounds and images of water today.   We heard the voice of God upon the waters in the psalm that Jean Young led for us earlier (Ps 29:3).  Water is a recurring theme in all of our hymns today. Water is present on our altar in these shells that we will use to reaffirm our own baptisms.  Even one of our stained glass windows on the right-hand side of the sanctuary depicts the baptism of Jesus by John in the waters of the Jordan.

Yet with all of this water surrounding us, I am even more intrigued by John’s description of Jesus to the crowds: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire?

My first reaction to these words is one of fear and dread.  Of course, fire can be very destructive.  We only need to remember that we suffered the worst wildfires in our state’s history just a few months ago, burning millions of acres and structures and taking numerous lives.   Such uncontrolled fire raises only anxiety and fear, not celebration and joy.  That is the kind of feeling I get when I hear John’s description of Jesus to the crowds: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat in his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:17) Am I the wheat to be gathered safely into the silo or am I the chaff to be burned away? John doesn’t explain it any further, and leaves us to wrestle with that question for ourselves.

Yet fire is not solely about fear and destruction.  Once a fire passes through a forest, it immediately begins to re-grow.   A couple of years ago on a trip to Yosemite, I learned that the giant sequoias in the park actually needed occasional fires for their cones to open, allowing the seeds to drop to the ground.  Without natural fires, we would have no new trees and would slowly lose the sequoias over time.  Fire for the giant sequoias means the beginning of new life.

That is also what baptism means:  the start of new life out of the ashes of the old.  When we are baptized, whether as a child or as an adult, we are being re-born into a new life and identity.  We renounce our past sins, leaving our old life behind and beginning a new journey as Christians.  This is a journey of faith that lasts the rest of our lives, and baptism is God’s door opening for us to begin that journey. That is why it is important to remember our baptism each year, to remind ourselves of the covenant we have agreed to with God and to prepare for the growth that will come in the new year.

On the front of our Order of Worship this morning is a graphic of our official symbol for The United Methodist Church: the cross and flame.  The cross represents the presence of Christ in our lives.  Of course, most Christian denominations use the symbol of the cross to identify themselves.  What makes our cross different is the flame on the left side.  The flame represents the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.[1]  Today, we have also superimposed a dove, another symbol of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove at the moment of his baptism by John.  This is the same Holy Spirit that overshadows Mary when the angel told her that she would give birth to Jesus.  This is the same Holy Spirit that comes as tongues of fire upon those who gathered together on Pentecost, forming the first Church after Christ’s departure from Earth.  The Gospel of Luke is filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Why is the Spirit so important? It is important because it is the Spirit that gives us life.  It represents the living, breathing presence of Christ in our lives this day and every day to come.  It is the fire within our hearts and souls.  Without it, our words are empty and without meaning.  The Church would be dead without it, and we would be spiritually dead.  The Spirit leads us in our continuing journey of faith.  Like the wind, we do not know when or where it will blow.  Yet when it does, it produces more powerful deeds an actions than any of us could have thought possible.

Where is the Spirit leading us as a congregation in this New Year?  I’m not sure, but I do know that we must pray for its presence here in our lives.  If our ministry in this community and throughout the world is to have any meaning or life, it must be spirit-filled.  Maybe it will be in the form of a mission trip to Vietnam or Africa.  Maybe it will be inviting new people to join us in our worship and programs.  Maybe it will be some new ministry that we haven’t even dreamed of yet, just as the Prayer Quilt ministry was last year.  All of these things are very possible, but they all require the presence of the Spirit within each of us to make them come alive.

To remind us of the continuing need for the Spirit in our lives and what is calls us to do, we will share together as a congregation the

reaffirmation of baptismal vows.  We are going to re-commit ourselves to Jesus Christ and our Church.  And we are going to promise again to

participate in the ministries of the Church through our prayers, presence, gifts and service.  As we do this today, let us remember that while we

are baptized by the John’s water, we are also filled with the fire and Spirit of Jesus Christ.  Come, Holy Spirit, come.  Amen.