The Very Rev. William Thomas Deneke, rector> Scripture for the day
James was in his 70’s and had been seriously ill. After he recovered, he began to see things differently. Each day was special; relationships were to be prized, life was to be celebrated.
We talked about his faith and James said he wanted to be baptized, something that had not appealed to him over the years. Now he had a new take on life and what truly mattered. He was grateful to God.
On the day of his baptism, James stood before the font smiling and eager to proceed. He had a glow about him. It was a sacred moment.
I thought of James’ baptism when I read today’s gospel. His baptism took place in a church rather than outdoors, at a font rather than a river, but in some ways the heavens also opened for him. Whenever someone is baptized in the name of Christ, the Spirit is hovering near by. Somehow a voice from heaven speaks.
Today’s account of the baptism of Jesus moves us beyond the Christmas story we heard a few days ago. The Christ child is now a man and ready to begin a mission of redemption that will turn the world upside down. The account is a transition story of how Jesus became empowered for the ministry that lay ahead.
There are two dynamics in the baptism story. The first is represented by John the Baptist and might be called the wilderness factor. John came from the wilderness and baptized people into the wilderness experience.
It was in the wilds of Sinai deserts that God had led the people of Israel from bondage to freedom through a covenant of righteousness. Just as the Israelites in the Exodus had crossed through the waters of the Red Sea so the prophet reenacted this passage through a water baptism in the desert. His baptism immersed those who were penitent into the wilderness of the Exodus.
This message would have been clear to John’s followers. They would have known just what he meant when he called Jews to remember the wilderness covenant, to repent, and to live in righteousness. This is what the wilderness baptism was about.
The story of Jesus’ baptism, however, is not just about wilderness baptism. It is also about spirit baptism. John told his followers that someone was coming after him who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. He spoke to a great hope of Israel. People longed for a fulfillment of the words of the prophet Joel, who said a time would come when the outpouring of God’s spirit would extend to all people, when God would:
Pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
The spirit factor completes wilderness baptism. In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Paul tells those who had received John’s wilderness baptism that they need to be baptized in the name of Jesus. And by this he brings into play all that was portrayed in the baptism of Jesus when the heavens were torn apart and the spirit descended like a dove on Jesus. This imagery demonstrated that in Jesus not only is the righteousness envisioned by John evident but so is the very presence of God. This is what was proclaimed by a voice from heaven. Jesus is fully equipped for ministry. That full spiritual immersion is what Paul is talking about. Wilderness plus spirit.
Sometimes when the scriptures speak of spirit, there can be found a cosmological dimension. We hear of a voice from heaven, and of a spirit that descends like a dove. From the beginning, the spirit, which can also be translated as wind, can be understood as the life force of the divine. We hear a reference to this life force in the Hebrew scriptures today in the words, …the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. The life force is about to begin to create earth.
It is into this mystery and force that we are baptized in spirit baptism. And entry into this spiritual realm is made possible through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not as a ticket of admission but as a sign of the love of God. Not as a gate to freedom but as a life-long passage of trust. Baptism calls us into the deepest communion with Christ through faith and action. It calls us into communion with the very life force behind creation.
At the baptism of James, the man I mentioned earlier, he had received a glimpse of the spirit. I think for him his experience was something like that of the three disciples who witnessed the transfiguration of Christ on the mountain. He had seen the light and he wanted to be baptized into the One who embodies this divine life force. And so he was, and his life became one of more meaning and joy than he earlier would have thought possible.
This was wonderful for James but he had only a few years left in this life. In that remaining time he was a strong witness for Christ, but sometimes he wished that his baptism could have come earlier. Yet he was so thankful for what he had received. His life had been turned around.
It is important for us to remember how empowering our baptism is. It enables us to see life more as Christ envisions it. To relate to others in a more loving way than we think possible. To grow into empathy and not just sympathy, to develop the ability to embrace sacrificial stewardship as an opportunity, to see wonder in the world about us, to open our hearts wider to God than we imagine we can, and to be connected to the cosmological ground of our being. Those are gifts of wilderness baptism coupled with spirit baptism. We are called to journey through the wilderness of life in covenant with God through Christ and empowered by the Spirit.
Today we are invited to renew our baptismal vows. Notice how these vows proceed. First, we are asked to affirm our faith in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is the way our faith tradition maintains that God has been revealed to us. It is the starting point, the ground of our faith. The Holy Trinity opens doors into the mystery of God, into the redemptive work of divinity on earth. From this place of faith, we commit our selves to the ministry of the realm revealed in the Holy Trinity. In particular, we are empowered to continue in the way of the apostles, to resist evil and repent when we sin, to be witnesses to the gospel, to learn to see Christ in all persons, and to strive for justice among all people.
We are enabled to keep this baptismal covenant, to journey faithfully through the wilderness, because we are empowered by God’s spirit, the life force of all creation, embodied in Jesus Christ. It is a joy to renew our baptismal vows. It is empowering to know that we are joined forever in the life, death and resurrection of the One of whom a voice from heaven said, You are my Son, the Beloved: with you I am well pleased. Amen.
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