Sermon: The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

January 10, 2010

The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Holy Trinity Parish, Decatur, Georgia

The Very Reverend William Thomas Deneke, rector

Baptism is a rite that proclaims transformation. It is more about Christ’s death and resurrection than John the baptizer’s focus on God’s anger and vengeance. Why Jesus wanted to be baptized by John has long been debated. Whatever the reason, Jesus’ baptism by John did not reveal a messiah with a winnowing fork ready to cast the unfaithful away like chaff. Instead, this figure from Nazareth, ready to take up his mission, got God’s attention and approval. Perhaps it was destined; perhaps the time was right. But the vision of John the baptizer was about to be radically changed. And the signal for what would shake the foundations was a dove and a voice from heaven that said, in the words of the Cotton Patch version of the Bible, “You are my dear Son, I’m proud of you.”

Jesus did not stick around long on the banks of the Jordan after that. He did not stay with John’s theology of retribution and wrath. But he did stay with the commitment to holiness.

And that commitment led him on a journey that defines the baptism we will administer today.

The gospel reading gives us more than a hint about how Jesus reshaped John’s baptism. We discover that somehow in the mix of what we call the baptismal life – a mix much messier than John imagined – the Holy Trinity plays the major role. And what John saw as simple right and wrong is only a prologue to a more profound drama of redemption and hope. With the arrival of the Holy Spirit, Jesus the faithful Son, and God the loving Father, things got a lot more complicated.

The gospel uses imagery to describe the presence of the Holy Spirit and God the Father. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove… and a voice came from heaven. This is poetic language. The kind of language that can describe what ordinary words fail to convey. Our imaginations are quickened. And we hear God say, “You are my dear Son; I’m proud of you.”

Somewhere in our baptismal life we need to hear words like that. Maybe at our baptism. But perhaps not even in church. But somewhere, some time, some place.

Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles attests to a variety of early church beliefs about how and when the Spirit acts in baptism. There has long been a lively discussion in the Church about the distinction between water baptism and spirit baptism.

In our liturgy the marking of the cross on the forehead of the newly baptized is one sign of spirit baptism. Another is the laying on of hands in confirmation. But then it can be a long time between baptism and confirmation, and what if the Spirit can’t wait?

Generally, we have tried to normalize the work of the Spirit. But truthfully that’s hard to do when you’re dealing with poetic forms like doves and voices from heaven. The Spirit resists our efforts to normalize him …or her. So even though there is a well-defined institutional script for God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we have to be careful not to fall into the trap of John the baptizer. We can never take away the wonder of what is ultimately sacred and amazingly compassionate.

So here we are, about to baptize Charles Randall Booker and Kaelyn Rebecca Carter into a mystery based on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And about the only way they or any of us can ever really link with the baptismal life is through the gift of the Holy Spirit. That puts us pretty at the mercy of grace. At the mercy of the voice that said, You are my son; I’m proud of you.

Of course, we make promises – vows – as we enter into the baptismal covenant. But we know we’re really not up to keeping those promises. We may do our best, but it is only through the love of God that we will be made what we aspire to become. Only through the gift of the Holy Spirit will we become what God calls us to be.

That does not mean we are free to dismiss our vows. It does mean that in dying to ourselves and allowing God to raise us to the life of Christ, we can be transformed into more faithful keepers of the covenant. That is what the baptismal life is about.

And in this process we may hear with some regularity, if we truly listen, a voice from beyond say, “You are my dear one; I’m proud of you.” When we hear that with our hearts, we know that the Holy Spirit is around.

But there is another twist: one important to keep in mind. Before we get too confident in our walk with Jesus, we might remember the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Mark. Here Jesus is approached by a foreign woman who begs him to cast out a demon from her little daughter. Jesus’ response is “Let the children – my people – be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs – the foreigners. Jesus comes around only after the woman confronts his exclusive moral judgment.

Sometimes the Spirit speaks to us thorough voices other than those from heaven. And dying to ourselves and being raised by God means listening and responding even to what we may not want to hear. That’s what Jesus came to do with the foreign woman.

Yesterday, at a baptism workshop, we listened to one another as we told our stories of doubt and faith, of being lost and being found. It is both in telling our stories and in hearing those of others that we discover the wonder of God among us. The stories we share are gifts, gifts that reveal our joys and struggles in responding to the wonder of a heavenly voice that keeps somehow saying, You are my dear one; I’m proud of you.

So we can promise Charles Randall and Kaelyn Rebecca that if they take their baptism seriously, they are in for a lively journey. This is the baptismal life into which we welcome them. It is a journey that can finally only be described poetically. One too wondrously full of possibilities for us to describe in mundane terms. We need our rich liturgies and more. And we need the soulful silence of the universe.

Charles and Kaelyn, your family, friends and all on the journey are here to encourage you, to love you and to forgive you along the way. But most of all, most of all, the wonder of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is with you on this day and throughout your journey through baptismal waters.