Sermon Sunday 11 Jan - on the baptism of Jesus

Given the weather was so dire, the sermon from Sunday has been posted for the folk who were snowed in!

Readings:
Isaiah 55: 1-11
Mark 1: 4-11

Sermon: 'Baptised in God's grace'

In last week’s service, we followed the star to Bethlehem with the Wise Men.  And each one of us was given a star with a word on it -

to help us as we journeyed towards God.   

My word    was ‘grace’.

I remember grinning - because ‘grace’

is a great word and, if you spend any amount

of time with me,

you’ll find that I quite like talking about it.

But what has ‘grace’ got to do with our readings today?  

And, in particular,

what has it got to do with baptism?

I could finish the sermon now in one word:

everything.

Grace has everything to do with baptism.

To paraphrase a song that’s been doing the rounds this last several months:

‘it’s all about that grace, ‘bout that grace.’

It’s God’s grace which causes the prophet Isaiah to proclaim a 

very important message to God’s people:

‘come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters...

hear me, that your soul may live...

I will make a covenant - an agreement - with you...’

Isaiah urges the Israelites to

‘seek the Lord while he may be found... to:

turn to the Lord...

God will have mercy

he will freely pardon’

Isaiah also talks of God’s word, which will not return empty, but shall accomplish God’s will’...

‘Come to the waters...’

words of grace.

And, Jesus, the Word made flesh,

responds to God’s gracious invitation

and does just that - he comes to the waters of the River Jordan

and is baptised by John.

And here’s the curious thing -

a detail that’s caused Christians throughout the ages to have some quite long discussions:
John’s baptism, we’re told, was about repentance, -

repentance meaning ‘to turn away from old ways, and to turn to God.

John’s baptism is about repentance

and the forgiveness of sin.

So, why is Jesus,

Son of God,

the One without sin

splashing around amidst the waters of baptism?

What does Jesus’ baptism mean?

And, what does it tell us, his followers, about him?

Some scholars say that although Jesus *was* God’s son, 

he was baptised so that he could identify with the rest of humanity. 

This is fair enough, but I think it goes a little deeper than that:

deeper than skin deep, perhaps.

At the nub of it, we have to get our heads around the nature of Jesus:

yes, we know that he’s fully divine...

but he’s also fully human. 

He’s not just ‘taking on human form’ -

appearing to be human...

that’s a very ancient heresy known as Docetism.

Jesus is human - fully and completely human, 

just like us:

flesh and blood and bone.

He’s not just identifying with humanity -

the fact of his being human makes him a part of humanity.

In Jesus, God not only becomes flesh, but fully human,

born into family, tribe, and community.

And Jesus, as fully human, has to deal as we do

with temptation, suffering, pain and death.

Because otherwise, there’s not much point to the next part of the story -

his temptation in the wilderness.

If there isn’t the potential that he’s going to give in to temptation,

then, it’s not really that much of a temptation, is it?

So, what’s really happening here at the river?

We come back to grace.

The baptism of Jesus is a pivotal moment in his life:

it signals the beginning of his ministry -

a deliberate turning from his way of life as carpenter and carpenter’s son,

with all the duties and responsibilities that go with it.

Jesus moves Godwards in baptism:

turns to the task he’s been given by God -

as the Word who will not return empty,

as the one who will fulfil what God asks.

It’s grace that propels Jesus forward,

grace that causes him to come to the waters.

In baptism, it’s grace that affirms he belongs to, and is a part of humanity...

and it’s grace that affirms that he belongs to, and is beloved by, God:

‘you are my Son, whom I love;

with you I am well pleased.’

... baptised, belonging, and beloved.

‘The purpose of Jesus’ baptism is seen in the days and years that follow 

this moment in the River Jordan.  It’s when we see Jesus take his place 

with hurting people, that baptism starts to make sense. 

Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan foreshadows his baptism on the cross. 

Baptism is Jesus’ commissioning for ministry.

In the waters of baptism, Jesus heard the Spirit calling him to speak the truth and live with grace.’

[Brett Younger ‘Beginnings’]

‘Come to the waters’ ...

and for nearly 2 000 years, that is what those who follow Christ have done - 

have come to the waters of baptism.

It’s the sacrament, the ritual, used to show that we, too, belong

and are beloved by God.

Often, we arrive at the ‘River Jordan’ [baptismal font] in the arms of adults -

parents, or grandparents, adults who care for us and who understand 

that something important is happening in the act of baptism.

And this important thing is, that, in the waters of baptism,

God says to each one of us:

‘you are my son,

my daughter,

whom I love;

with you, I am well pleased.’

Baptism brings us into the community of God’s people - 

the church - the body of Christ:

we belong,

are a part of the community of faith.

We belong,

are God’s beloved.

And here’s the grace bit again -

all this, when for the most part, we are way too young to understand what’s happening.

But, I wonder,

regardless of what age we are when we come to the waters:

do we ever fully understand what God has done for us within the act of baptism?

Perhaps our calling to follow, to become disciples,

is based around working out that very question - working out what it is to walk

in the grace-filled way:

continually moving Godwards;

listening to God so that our souls might live;

learning of God’s mercy,

looking to Jesus, our guardian and our guide;

living out the promise of our baptism as God’s beloved.

I love the story of that great and rambunctious, 

and very earthy reformer, Martin Luther:

having caused a bit of a stir and probably inadvertently 

kicking off the Protestant Reformation, Luther was hunted and hounded 

by those who disagreed with his calls for change,

who were angered by his charges that the church was corrupt and decaying, 

and in need of turning back to God.

At times he despaired;

at times, he was tempted to give it all up.

And at those very times, when things felt like they were crowding in on him,

when it was all becoming too, too much, and he began to be filled 

with doubt and uncertainty, Luther would remind himself of a very important thing:

‘I am baptised’

‘I am baptised’

‘I    am    baptised’

By God’s grace, he was saved;

through the waters of baptism he belonged -

through the waters of baptism he was beloved.

The fact of his baptism, and of what it symbolised kept Luther going 

in the dark and difficult times.

In our own dark times, let us find strength and courage in our own baptism,

let it be a reminder of God’s continued love,

of God’s faithful companionship

as we follow him in faith.

In baptism, we come to the waters of grace:

every time we witness a baptism we see God’s grace enacted -

and, if we listen, really listen,

we might just hear in the midst of it all,

God’s voice, reminding us our own baptism

reminding us that we belong

that we are his beloved

and that he is well pleased with us. 

Now, that is grace.

Amen.