Take a moment to think about
something very important to you. You may not have seen it as important at the
time, but then again some of you have. AND you might have seen it as a life
changing event. I am talking, of course, about our baptisms.
Many of us may not be able to
remember our baptism. Our church has had the history of baptizing when many of
us were babies. So we don’t remember that day. We may have heard stories about
how we cried, spit up, or slept, OR other embarrassing things that may have
occurred that day. We may have pictures with the family gathered around in
their “Sunday best.” For some of us, we were present in our bodies, but
mentally, we weren’t capable of comprehending the moment when the pastor, who
was acting on behalf of God, put the water on our head and marked our heads
with the sign of the cross and saying those all-important words, “You have been
sealed with the cross of Christ forever.”
Today, we celebrate the Baptism of
Jesus. This is the beginning of Jesus public ministry as God’s son. This is the
day that Jesus does remember. He comes down to the water, meets his cousin at
the river Jordan, and in receives the most precious gift of all, being claimed
by God. I know it sounds dramatic and it should sound dramatic. The reason why
is something that I will get to in a moment.
As soon as he comes out of the
water, the heavens are torn apart. They are not just opened like a curtain but
it is a violent tearing! That is important because this is God tearing into the
world…God breaking into the world and sending the Holy Spirit on Jesus like a
dove, just like this dove is breaking through the chancel (if you don’t see it,
I invite you to come up and look during communion or after the service); then
we get those words “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
Listen to those words again, “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well
pleased.” I can guarantee you will hear those words again.
What does that say about Jesus? It
says a few things that we know. God is identifying Jesus and claiming Jesus as
God’s child. There are no questions as to who Jesus is; he is God’s child.
There is no question that God is claiming ownership of this young man that is
still a child! This is not just some moment in the swimming hole. Imagine that
you went down to the river to meet your cousin and he were to dunk you under
the water and as soon as you stood up, the heavens opened up, and imagine you
heard God’s Words calling you beloved! Wouldn’t that take your breath away,
wouldn’t that make you think that you were special.
Again it sounds dramatic and it is
meant to sound that way, because that is exactly what happened to you at your
baptism. For those who don’t remember it, I have got some news for you. The
pastor is not the one who claimed you. The pastor was the instrument…God’s
instrument so that God named you “child of God” and it was God who claims you
and what I like to call, “the eternal hug.” God grabs a hold of you and never
lets go.
For those of you who do remember
your baptism, I hope it was the day that you felt that your life changed and
would never be the same in a very Good way. I hope that you felt the presence
of God going into every pore of your skin, knowing that, now, God, has claimed
you and will never let you go; that you hear the words “you are my child now,
the beloved, with you I am well pleased.” You see, when we are baptized that is
what God says to us.
There are people in this world who
are not baptized. If you are here this morning and have not been baptized, this
day and this time is when God invites us all into the community…the family of
God’s children. It is a community that promises to love and support each other
and lift one another up in prayer and I would love to speak with you about this
life changing event.
In God’s naming and claiming our
lives change because we now belong to God. We are children of the God who
created the Heavens and the Earth, we are children of the God who delivered the
Israelites out of captivity and into the Promised Land. AND we are children of
the God who brought Jesus into the world.
AND
that is where things can get a little skewed for us. We know who Jesus is; He
is the perfect Son, he knows and hears God’s voice very clearly. HE listens to
what God tells him to do and where God calls him to be. Jesus, God’s Son, obeys
his Father in heaven. He stands up for what God sees as things that should not
be taking place in the world. He, Jesus, reaches out to the poor, heals the
sick and suffering, and offers grace and mercy to all the people he comes in
contact with; he goes out to the people on the fringes, that might live in
darkness and bring them into the light of God’s love. He bridges boundaries,
makes connections, and forms relationships…always talking about God’s love.
We
are not quite as perfect as Jesus. In fact we are nowhere near as perfect. We
are human. While we bask in the time of our baptism, at whatever age, we walk
away from this time and place at the baptismal font. We go into the world and
the world doesn’t allow and sometimes does not want us to be so attentive to
God’s word or God’s calling. As we move further away from our baptism in time,
we also move away in space. Our lives become filled with other things; other
things that distract us from who we are…from the one who claims us.
There
are numerous things that distract us. When we are young, our friends want all
our time. As we grow older, there are sports activities, then there is school
events, jobs, parenting, and children. This is a small list but there is so
much that goes into this list. I am not saying that they are bad things either.
It is good to be active in our lives, but they do draw us away from that moment
hear at the font. As we get drawn away we see God as that far off person we may
have left at the font and that we only see on Sundays.
But
that is not the case. When we are baptized, God grabs a hold of us and never
lets us go. That means that when we walk away from this font, God is still with
us. When life starts to happen, God is with us in our words and deeds and the
Good News is that God is not about to let us go, no matter what! Our baptism
means that God has got that tight hold on us and is always there with us when
we make some good decision and when we make some bad decisions. When we make
wise choices and when we make bonehead mistakes.
What
we don’t realize is that God does not leave us. I had a friend who once
suggested that when a mistake or string of mistakes that God would see it
coming and they used the metaphor that God would stand outside the door and
wait till you are done with the mistake and then wait for you to open the door
again. That’s not what happens. Because of the waters of baptism, God remains
with us even when we make the mistakes; in the good times and the difficult
times. God makes the promise to us that we will not be left alone and God backs
it up with friends, family, and each other.
As
I said at Christmas, this is not a church of perfect people. But through this
baptism of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we are a forgiven people. We are
a people, that despite our mistakes and decisions, God remains with us…holding
on to us and promising to never let go. I hope that we realize just how “life
changing” Jesus’ baptism and ours really is: AMEN!
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