It has been a hard week. We have had to face some difficult events and some difficult truths this week. I suspect many of us were appalled by events that took place this week, regardless of political leaning. Seeing those images forced me to reconsider my intended topic for today, though perhaps not as much as I thought at first
Starting with Mark 1:4-11, we remember Jesus' baptism. We consider what we learn about baptism from this story before moving to the baptismal liturgy of The United Methodist Church to consider how this fits with the calling we each have today.
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In the liturgical calendar, this is the Sunday that we celebrate and remember Jesus’ baptism at the start of his ministry. In some ways it is a natural next step of the events we named last Sunday. Epiphany is about the revelation of all that Jesus is to the wider world. It is for celebrating the Magi coming from far off lands to recognize the new king. It is for remembering the wedding feast at Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle according to the Gospel of John.
As we listen to today’s story, it becomes clear that it is a continuation of this theme. We heard part of this text last month at the start of Advent. As I mentioned then, the Gospel of Mark starts us off with the story of John in the wilderness calling people to repentance, to recommit their lives to God. For Mark, this is the beginning of the good news -- John in the wilderness calling people back into relationship with God and pointing to the one who is to come who will be even stronger.
Our text today continues that story to take the next step. Jesus comes to be baptized by John. As Jesus comes up from the water, the heavens are opened, the Spirit descends like a dove, and a voice from heaven claims Jesus as the beloved Son.
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had choirs of angels, prophets, and a star proclaiming Jesus’s birth. Today, a voice from heaven claims Jesus and names him as the Son of God. After the tales of the shepherds, of Simeon and Anna in the Temple, of the Magi from far off lands, this voice from heaven confirms it all to those who were present that day.
The imagery we find in this story and the similar stories in the other gospels provide us with the images that we still recognize in baptisms today. As we read these stories we see that through baptism, the people went down into the waters to be cleansed. Through baptism, the people showed their desire to repent and be changed. Through baptism, the people were forgiven. Through baptism, the people committed themselves to God. Through baptism, Jesus was claimed by God.
Think about all the imagery we still see in baptism today. Through baptism we are cleansed in the waters. Through baptism we repent. Through baptism we are forgiven. Through baptism we commit ourselves to follow God as known to us through Jesus. Through baptism we are claimed by God. Through baptism we are joined to the body of Christ.
All of these elements are found in the liturgy we use when someone is baptized. Our baptismal service starts with this introduction:¹
Brothers and sisters in Christ:
Through the Sacrament of Baptism
we are initiated into Christ's holy Church.
We are incorporated into God's mighty acts of salvation
and given new birth through water and the Spirit.
All this is God's gift, offered to us without price.
Right from the start it is made clear what is happening through baptism. Just as Jesus is washed in the waters, touched by the Holy Spirit, and claimed by God, so too are we washed in the waters, touched by the Spirit, and claimed by God. This is God’s action, God’s gift, even as we are the ones that decide to show up.
But showing up is only part of the story. Many people came to the wilderness to hear John speak. As they heard him speak, calling them to repent and be baptized, they confessed their sins as they were cleansed in the waters. Therefore, we also confess our sins and announce our own repentance when we are baptized today.
This has been a practice of the church since ancient days. Those to be baptized must repent of their own wrongs, renounce the evil that exists in the world, and proclaim their commitment to follow the path of Jesus.
Looking again to our baptismal liturgy, we hear these echoes:
On behalf of the whole Church, I ask you: Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?
Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?
Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?
According to the grace given to you, will you remain faithful members of Christ's holy Church and serve as Christ's representatives in the world?
As people are baptized, those of us who are already Christians welcome them into this new life alongside us with these words:
Through baptism you are incorporated by the Holy Spirit into God's new creation and made to share in Christ's royal priesthood. We are all one in Christ Jesus. With joy and thanksgiving we welcome you as members of the family of Christ.
As you hear these words, are you reminded of John in the wilderness and his call to the people of Judea? Are you reminded of the call that you yourselves have heard? Are you reminded of the commitments you have made?
We have been called to repent. We have been called to renounce the evil that we find. We have been called to trust in Jesus. And we have been called to be a part of Jesus’ body in the world. Through baptism, God claims us and unites us to the body of Christ even as we claim all of these things to be true.
As members of the body of Christ and representatives of Christ in the world, other people should be able to recognize Jesus through us. Through how we live and move and act in the world, others will know who Jesus was and how Jesus lived and moved and acted in the world.
When we look to the life and ministry of Jesus, what do we see? Do we see a hateful person who turns away others and seeks only his own glory? Do we see someone who regularly wields his authority to harm others? Do we see someone who seeks vengeance and violently proclaims his own power?
In the world in which we live now, we can no longer assume that everyone we meet will know much about Jesus and his life and ministry. There are people in the world who have no basis of comparison. Rather than looking at us and judging us by whether or not we are Christ-like, they look at us to judge what sort of person Jesus was.
What does the Jesus that people see when they see us in the world look like?
When I first looked ahead to lay out the present series of sermons, the word forgive jumped out at me from today’s text. As we think about Jesus coming into the world, we think also about God’s forgiveness. When we look to the baptismal stories surrounding John, we see also the desire to know God’s forgiveness. The fact that Jesus comes into the world as Emmanuel, God with us, is proof that God wants to offer us forgiveness.
But the other side of that coin is repentance. The same sentence that speaks of forgiveness speaks of turning our lives around. Our baptismal covenant speaks of our repentance and renunciation, our commitment to live new lives following the example of Christ. Forgiveness and repentance go hand in hand. We accept God’s grace and go forth to live new lives as examples of that grace in the world. The light of God’s forgiveness lights a new path for us to follow.
As a way of thinking about some of what baptism means, I encourage you to listen to the song below. This song speaks to many of the themes we have touched on today. If you feel so inclined, I invite you to pour some water into a bowl. As the song plays, I want you to touch the water, remember your baptism, and be thankful. Feel the water and remember who has claimed you and who you have been called to be.
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¹ All quotes from the baptismal liturgy from Baptismal Covenant I from the Book of Worship of The United Methodist Church