Epiphany 1, Yr. C Isaiah 43:1-7
January 10, 2010 Acts 8:14-17
Revisiting Baptism Luke 3: 15-17, 21,22
When we moved to Guilford a couple of summers ago, I was
sorting through many items that only surface every 15 years or
so when we move. I came across my baptismal certificate. I was
2 and 1/2 months old and meeting my dad for the first time since
he had been discharged from the US Army Air force. Like most
of you, I don't remember anything at all about my baptism. Also,
like many of you, I was baptized in a private ceremony with my
parents and a small group of other family members.
Today baptism takes place during our principle Sunday service.
We focus our service around the baptism because we understand
baptism as the most foundational of all of the sacraments. In
baptism we witness the incorporation of a new member into the
whole body of Christ, not a personal family ceremony but a ceremony
of inclusion into the Family of Faith. Back in the 1st century
and today, the newly baptized, young or old, is welcome to come
to the table to receive the spiritual food of Holy Communion.
The first Christians were still damp with baptismal water when
they gathered around the altar to receive communion.
Long before there was Christian baptism, the Hebrew people
had a cleansing ritual, a water ritual that took place when an
outsider or Gentile was inducted into the Hebrew community.
The washing had to be done with living water - another term for
water that was moving. such as a river or stream. John's
baptism was the same as the Jewish purification rites and yet
different. The baptism of John was not merely an initiation
into a new faith community; it was a baptism of repentance.
He turned away prestigious religious leaders - warning them not
to return until they could show the fruits of repentance. He
basically told them not only to talk the talk but also to walk
the walk.
How peculiar it is that the Messiah agreed to undergo a rite
of purification at the hands of a relative who looked like Paul
Bunyan and ate wild locusts. Why did Jesus the Messiah ask John
to baptize him? Jesus, who is made in every way as we are, became
himself a bridge from the ancient Hebrew tradition to the tradition
that was yet to come, the one we practice today.
At a gathering of clergy friends, a priest told a story about
leading a children's class about baptism. She asked if someone
could tell her what baptism was all about. An eager five year
old raised her hand and at the same time began to talk. "I
know what baptism is; it's when the priest puts water on the
baby's head to make her hair grow!'
Well not exactly. But there is usually a kernel of truth
in the funny things kids say. Baptism is about growth. No matter
how old we are and how wise we become, we are never very far
from the water of the font, the water that gave us our spiritual
birth. It is at the font that God begins a new work in us by
giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit. As our lives unfold, spiritual
growth becomes a conversation with God, a willingness to be changed,
a yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit as we respond to what
life brings our way. If we lose our way, it is wise to return
to the font and ground ourselves in the basics to be learned
there.
Today is the day when Christian churches all over the world
celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, the day we remember that the
Holy Spirit broke through the heavens to declare radical love
and acceptance. Even the Messiah, received the Holy Spirit to
strengthen him for the work that God wanted him to do. When
Jesus was baptized, God said what God says each time a person
is baptized: "You are my Beloved with whom I am well pleased."
You do not have to be different or better or more successful.
You are God's beloved.
The baptism of Christ that we celebrate today is a perfect
time to reflect on the basics that are an integral part of baptism.
-Do you need to remember that you are God's beloved?
-Do you need to rededicate yourself to God's work, to using the
gifts you've been given for the good of people and creation?
-Do you need to receive forgiveness or to forgive someone?
-Do you need to recall that even when bodies decline, our spirit
grows into wholeness through the grace of God in Christ
Jesus?
At the offertory I will bring a bowl of water to the Crossing.
When you come forward for communion, dip your fingers into the
bowl of water and touch your forehead or heart with the water.
Then remember that the transforming Holy Spirit will flow in
your life again, giving you strength, joy, courage, faith or
whatever you need from Christ. Imagine the heavens opening and
hear God saying to you, " You are my beloved, with whom
I am well pleased."
