"Jesus is Baptized"

Sermon preached at Benson Presbyterian Church,

January 12, 2014, Baptism of the Lord.

Isaiah 42:1-9

Matthew 3:13-17

I wonder how many of you here actually remember your own baptism?  I don’t remember my own baptism.   My family is very fond of telling me how the sound of me sucking on my pacifier could be heard in the back of the church, but in the words of Winston Churchill speaking of the circumstances of his birth, “While I was present for the occasion, I have no memory of it.”

As a pastor, most of the baptisms that I have performed have been of infants, who of course, while they were present, have no memory of the occasion.  I have baptized some adults and older children, but not anywhere near as many babies and toddlers.

My mother was raised as a Baptist, so she was baptized by immersion when she was about 12 years old.   She claimed that she had a reputation as a bit of a trouble maker (imagine that!) and that she believed that the preacher held her underneath the water just a little bit longer than he needed to.   She also claimed that’s why she never learned to swim.

The most famous baptism of this past year would have to be that of Prince George, Queen Elizabeth II’s great-grandson and future King of England.  As is the tradition in the royal family, George was baptized with water from the River Jordan.  A seminary buddy of mine observed on Facebook that she has seen the River Jordan and that she hoped they boiled that water before they used it to baptized the baby!

The reason that Jordan River water is used for royal baptism is because of the story we heard from Matthew’s gospel today.  It is the story of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist in that very same River Jordan. 

The River Jordan was and is a significant source of water in the region.  Like so many things in the Middle East, there is conflict between Israel, Jordan and Syria about the use and pollution of Jordan River waters. 

Friends of the Earth has named the River Jordan as one of the world’s 100 most endangered ecological sites because of pollution and over use.

In the Hebrew Bible, the people of Israel completed the Exodus from Egypt by crossing the Jordan.   The waters of the river were parted by the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant into the river and the people crossed the river on dry land.  The prophets Elijah and Elisha also both made miraculous crossings of the river, parting the waters and walking on dry land.

So the Jordan was important theologically and historically, but it was also important as a source of water for everyday use and agricultural purposes.   It was both historical and mundane like so many things that surround us.  

It was into the Jordan River valley that John the Baptist came, preaching baptism for the repentance of sins.   John came straight out of the wilderness and he was a character to put it mildly.  Matthew tells us that his garment was camel hair and it was not the dignified camel hair coat I remember my dad having.   It was a dead camel’s skin, probably one that John found in the wilderness.  It probably didn’t’ smell too good.  John ate locusts, that’s right, bugs and wild honey.   

But this strange looking man had a message that appealed far and wide, people from Jerusalem and all of Judea came to hear John preach and to be baptized by him.

And amid the people who came to be baptized was Jesus.  John balked when he saw Jesus come to him, because John recognized Jesus for who he really was.  

“I should come to you for baptism!” John exclaims.   But Jesus says, “Let it be so now, for it is proper to fill all righteousness.” So John consents and baptizes Jesus.  

And when Jesus is baptized, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and came down on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

What does all that mean?

A long time ago I learned that the reason that as Protestants our two sacraments are baptism and communion because they are both something that Jesus did and told his disciples to do.  Jesus doesn't baptize anyone in the Gospels, but he tells his disciples at the end of Matthew’s Gospel to go into all the world, to tell the Good News and make new disciples and to baptize them.  That’s why we baptize infants and new believers, because Jesus said to.  It’s how we welcome new believers to the family.

And baptism is something we share with Jesus.   It’s something we have in common with Jesus.  Jesus said, it was proper for him to be baptized by John.   Jesus is baptized by John because he is sharing in what we will experience.  When we are baptized, we share an experience with Jesus, right down to God claiming us as a beloved child with whom God is well pleased.  In fact, that is the point of every baptism, whether it is with the waters of the Jordan in a royal palace or in a Presbyterian church with plain old Omaha tap water from the Missouri.  God has claimed us no less than God has claimed Jesus.   Baptism is the sign and seal of the claim.

Jesus’ true identity is revealed at the moment of baptism, his identity as God’s child.  Our true identity is celebrated at the moment of baptism, our true identity as God’s child.

And that’s the trick, isn't it?  We have to remember, remember every day, that we are God’s beloved child.   We need to remind ourselves every day, that God is pleased in who God created in us.  We have to live our lives every day to claim our true identity, God’s beloved child.  We don’t see a dove descending every day, but we can choose, every day, to celebrate that identity, to live as God’s child, laying aside the hate and sin and scorn and to remember that everyone we meet is also God’s good creation and to help them to find their true identity, too.

Amen.