January 8, 2012: Baptism of Our Lord

Baptism of Our Lord: January 8, 2012
Mark 1:4-11

Preacher: Pastor Carrie B. Smith

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Happy New Year!

You may have noticed that this week, we’ve entered Soap Opera Time.

Now I’m not talking about time travel, or a new season of the church year—when I say “Soap Opera Time”, I mean that phenomenon which allows us to enter the world of “The Bold and the Beautiful”, where one week, Ridge and Brooke are giving birth to a baby daughter—and just a few days later, Brooke is married to Thorne, Ridge is in jail, and that baby daughter…is 16 years old and dating her sister’s cousin’s brother, who is actually her uncle from her mom’s second marriage.

If you recognize this scenario—then you’re already familiar with Soap Opera Time. The way these daytime stories are told is decidedly disorienting and non-linear—and yet we keep tuning in, week after week, and somehow we follow along.

This is one of those weeks in the lectionary when we also seem to have launched into Soap Opera Time after a relatively normal chronological period. Just a few months ago during Advent, Mary was pregnant, and we joyfully awaited the birth of the long-expected baby. At Christmas, just two weeks ago, we gathered around the manger where the newborn baby was laid. And it was only last Sunday that the baby, 8 days old, was taken by his parents to the synagogue and was given his name: Jesus.

And now, here we are, just one week later, and we see Jesus, a fully grown man, beard and all, hanging out with a questionable character in the woods and being baptized…how did this happen? How did we get here?

Yes, this feels a bit like soap opera time.

And of course, some of you, because of the holiday season and school vacation, have skipped directly from the pregnant Mary or the baby Jesus in the manger to this bearded Jesus in the river Jordan!

But then, the scriptures don’t tell us much about Jesus as a child, either. We can read about the flight into Egypt and how Jesus was found teaching in the synagogue as a young boy—but that’s it. And so it is that the Gospel writers and the lectionary compilers, who drew us in with the more linear, chronological Christmas story, have now just launched us into Soap Opera Time for the season of Epiphany. Today, just fifteen days after Christmas, Jesus is no longer the infant lowly, infant holy. He’s now Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee, who has come to be baptized by John in the Jordan.

But this is exactly where Mark would want us to start the new year. We heard this reading already at the beginning of Advent, and you may remember that the way Mark tells it, the story doesn’t start in the manger in Bethlehem. Mark launches right in with the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, telling how the prophet Isaiah foretold it, how John the Baptizer prepared the way, and most importantly how Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan. We often overlook the Baptism of Jesus (perhaps because we're not sure what it means?), but the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ is so important that it begins one of the four Gospels. Soap Opera Time or not, it’s clear that this is an event worthy of our attention.

Of course, we know baptism is important—that’s why we buy special baptismal gowns, invite relatives to church, and take special care for this day. The congregation knows it’s important, too! We get excited when there's a baptism during worship, and today, we are blessed to celebrate the baptism of Alice Mary Helms, and we will have the opportunity to make promises as a community to pray for her, teach her, and welcome her into the body of Christ.

It’s especially fitting for us to baptize on this festival day, the day we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord, even though our baptisms differ from Jesus’ baptism in a few important ways:

Jesus, of course, didn’t need baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus’ baptism wasn’t part of his reception into a church!

And John, of course, didn’t even want to baptize Jesus. John knew that Jesus was the one greater than him, who would institute a baptism quite different from the one he was proclaiming.

But our baptisms and Jesus’ share one very important feature—in baptism, we hear God’s voice and receive our new identity as children of God.

In Mark, chapter 1, after the heavens are torn apart and the Spirit descends like a dove on Jesus, a voice from heaven says:

“You are my Son, my beloved, with you I am well-pleased.”

And in that one sentence, we learn something very important about Jesus. We learn that he’s not just a baby in a manger. But he’s also not just a man. He is the Beloved Son of God. He is both human and divine. He’s the one we’ve been waiting for, our Savior and Redeemer. And that's why, today, even though it feels a bit like we've entered soap opera time, suddenly moving from the manger to the river Jordan, we need to hear this reading.

For now...we know who he is. Now, as we launch into the season of Epiphany, when we will hear the stories of the many ways God is made manifest in our lives through Jesus Christ—we know who it is who is healing, who is preaching, who is suffering on the cross. It is none other than the Son of God, the beloved, with whom God is well pleased.

And in the same way, we learn who we are when we are brought to the water. Whether it happens at 9 weeks or 90 years old, baptism is the moment when, through water and the Word, we receive our true identity.

Today, Alice Mary and her parents will hear the words: “Alice Mary, child of God, you are sealed the Holy Spirit and marked by the cross of Christ forever.” Alice may not remember this day. But her parents will—

They will remember that it is Alice Mary, child of God, who graduates from kindergarten.
It is Alice Mary, child of God, who will drive them nuts in Middle school.

It is Alice Mary, child of God, who will go to prom, will choose a college, and will argue about coming home for Christmas.

And hopefully Alice Mary, child of God, can cling to that identity when times get rough, when a bully gets in her way, or when someone else tries to tell her who she is.

For no matter what anyone else says, God’s voice from heaven is always the loudest, and God says: “You are All My Children!”

Even if you’ve been the Young and the Restless, you are All My Children.
Even if you’ve had more than One Life to Live…you are All My Children.
Even if you’ve been to the Edge of Night and back…you are All My Children.
Still, our baptismal identity stays the same: Through baptism we are children of God, washed in the water, saved by the blood, and called by name.

Now I invite you to turn to your neighbor in the pew and call them by name..." ________you are a beloved child of God!" (This is a good opportunity to introduce yourself to your neighbor, if you don't know her!)

It’s important to know who we are---and whose we are---because the Days of Our Lives are not always easy. We will have detractors and alligators; powers and principalities at work against us; trying to define us; others always attempting to slap a new name-tag on us.

But sisters and brothers, for the sake of Jesus Christ, and through water and the Word, you have been claimed by God as God’s own. And because you are all children of God, you are empowered to live the baptismal life. You can be who God created you to be, beautifully and wonderfully made. With God’s help, you can live out your baptismal covenant, standing with the poor and the voiceless and working for justice and peace in all the world. You, child of God, can live boldly for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You, brothers and sisters, are the Bold and the Beautiful--you are beloved children of God. Amen.