"From the Pulpit" - reflections on the weekly texts from Pastor Greg at Living Lord Lutheran Church
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of 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. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
"Enjoy it While You Can!"
Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and the LORD Jesus Christ.
Winning national titles in (pick your favorite sport.) Winning an election. Being named most likely to succeed, Grammy, Emmy, Academy Award, or other prestigious awards. All of these and similar "awards" have something in common. Enjoy it while you can, because the hard work of living up to whatever it is that you "won", is likely to be short-lived. Know what I mean? Winning some prestigious award, being at the top of your game, getting all the attention and adoration all mean only one thing - there's only one way to go, and that is down. So, enjoy it while you can.
In some ways, every time I read the baptism stories of Jesus (in all four gospels by the way), I think of those words spoken by God as the heavens are "rent asunder" or torn open, "You are my son, the beloved. With you I am well pleased." I always say to myself under my breath as I read this part of the gospel lesson, "Enjoy it now, Jesus, 'cause it's downhill from here." In other words, this title given to Jesus is not some trophy to be held high for his adoring fans to see. It's not some golden award that he wins for being God's chosen. It's not some popularity award that he can brag about to his community - "See, God chose ME above all of y'all." The landscape is littered with skeletons of people who received some sort of notoriety or fame or recognition, only to fail to live up to the weight that such recognition is briefly given. It's a hard, but true reality, isn't it?
Instead, this baptism of Jesus is in some ways a sentence. A summons to go out into the world. This dangerous and reckless world. This baptism of Jesus is a naming by God that Jesus will need as he begins his ministry. He'll need to remember this moment, and those words, and more to deal with what awaits him "out there."
His next task, confronting Satan and loneliness and temptation in the desert. He'll need this remembrance and those words from God the Father as he begins his ministry to the poor, to the outcast, to the rejected and despised in the world. He'll even need this reminder from God as he struggles with his own (Jewish) community. That his is a mission of sacrifice. Of rejection. Of dealing with the world's worst, as many in his times viewed them.
His is not one of glory, or of renown, or admiration. He has come to bring down the mighty, and to uplift the lowly and despised, as we heard Mary claim earlier on in Luke's gospel (the Magnificat.) It's like Sisyfus pushing the rock up the hill, bearing all that weight against almost insurmountable odds. It's giving his own life, through suffering death on a cross for the likes of you and me, that he has come. It's his mission to take on the sin of the world as his own. To actually BECOME sin itself. Think about that. Jesus, God in flesh and blood, becomes sin! Here, in these unclean waters Jesus joins with all the unclean ones of all the world, to become the one who takes on our sin, and to be washed and claimed by God.
Think of that. Think of your own baptism, or that of your kids, or grandkids. It's a time of great joy, and pride. A time of hope as we maybe in our minds conjure what the future may hold for this young child as he or she is baptized. It's a time of hope, and promise. It's a time of new beginnings for the newly baptized. With family at our sides. With sponsors at our sides, all promising to raise this young person in the faith, and all the other covenants we make at this special moment. Washed in the waters of baptism, claimed by God around those words the minister speaks, everything becomes possible now.
But not so for Jesus. Apparently, the only family around on this day for him is John the Baptist. (Actually, this baptismal scene of Jesus is perhaps the only time the Triune "family" is together - Father, Son, and in the dove appearing and lighting bodily on Jesus, the Holy Spirit.) And while for an instant it may be a joy-filled moment in Jesus' life, he quickly takes on the burdens of being the Messiah - God's anointed one. And from this baptism, Jesus' life becomes a journey to the cross. To the suffering, the shame, the pain, of dying on a cross. Likely NOT what mom and dad had envisioned for this Holy One as he was birthed with angels, shepherds, light from the heavens, and adorned with precious gifts of gold and other things.
But the good news is that in some way, these words from God the Father in this baptismal event are words that will no doubt carry him throughout his life. Words that will serve him well as he quickly confronts a dangerous and deadly world. Words he'll need to hang on to as he's tempted in the desert by Satan himself. Words he'll need to give him strength to bear the sins and sorrows of a world caving in on itself. You are my son, the beloved. With you I am well-pleased.
But there's more. This baptism...this immersion in these dirty waters, these words, all are present in some way or other in our own baptisms, aren't they. Tap water, river water, water from the Jordan River itself, cleanse us briefly. But with those same words spoken over you and me in our own baptism, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit", are essentially the same words that Jesus heard. Words that say "I love you and you are mine", as God speaks once the heavens are parted.
Named, and claimed by God in this water, and with these words, we are joined with all the saints of all time, saint and sinner alike. We leave that church a new creation, just as though God, looking over creation itself in Genesis, sees us and says, "It is good!" We emerge from that water, wherever is comes from, set apart to be the people of God for all time. Equipped with the blessing of God Almighty. Living through the same death and resurrection as Jesus himself, because that's what this baptism of Jesus is all about. Daily dying and rising. A new creation every day of our lives.
I think of the words of our Psalmist today (Sunday, January 12th), when he writes:
"The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice
The voice of the Lord is a voice of splendor.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness...and more.
God speaks, and a new creation is born out of nothing. God speaks over Jesus, and he is sent into the world to save it. God spoke at our own baptism, and we are sent just like Jesus, to be bread for the world.
In Jesus' baptism as in our own, we are put to death in order to live. Here, in this water, we are identified with the death of Christ, in order to be raised with him again. Here, in the waters of baptism, our dry bones take on flesh, just like the prophet Ezekiel attests to. It's here that even though we're washed clean, we are joined with all the unclean ones of all time.
And it's from here that just like Jesus, we go out into the world. Washed but not cleaned...filled but still empty vessels...dead but rising to new life in Christ every day Alone, yet united with all the baptized of all time. Claimed by God's word and sent into this world. Amen.
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