Lk 3:15-22

7 January 2001

Baptism of the Lord

 

“Through the Water, through the Fire”

 

In the bottom of one of my drawers, there's an old blue shirt of the type that a surgeon might wear.  (I guess it’s called a surgical scrub?  I'm not sure.)  Anyway, this thing has several holes, places where green paint and red ink have been smudged on it, and it's very nearly threadbare.  To be honest, I'm afraid to wear it anymore.  I wonder if it could survive the stress of being pulled over my head onto my body.  More than once, Banu has¼invited me to dispose of it.

As I was thinking about this sermon, I decided to check and see if in fact the shirt hadn’t disappeared—if Banu hadn’t¼volunteered to dispose of it herself!  It turned out that I still have it, but when I shared the good news with my wife, she didn’t seem to share my joy.

So why do I keep this ratty old thing?

In August 1986, when I was 21, I stepped into a baptismal in an Assemblies of God church in Tennessee.  I was wearing that blue shirt (which was in good shape at the time).  Whenever I've thought of discarding it, I've been brought back to that moment when I publicly professed my faith in the triune God.  I believe it has come to symbolize for me my re-creation as a child of God.

On this day, the first Sunday after Epiphany, we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord.  As I said last week, Jesus' baptism is one theme of Epiphany, along with the better-known emphasis on the visit of the Magi.  What both of these events have in common is that each (remembering the definition of epiphany) is an appearing, or a manifestation, of Jesus as God to the world.

When we think of Jesus' baptism, we are brought to our own, and how he sets the example for us.  I’ve given you a quick glimpse into my story.  As we look into Luke's account of the baptism of the Lord, we find another quick glimpse.  But here, we also see John the Baptist, whom God has sent into the desert, to be the one who will "prepare the way for the Lord" and "make his paths straight."  For three or four centuries, there’s been no true prophet.  Now, the silence is broken.  God is about to do a new thing.  John is the forerunner of the one who will bring to John's baptism of water the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Given the fact that it's been so long since anyone spoke with the authority of a prophet, it's no wonder that many believe that the Baptist may in fact be the Messiah.  To be honest, people aren't quite sure what to make of him.  Luke doesn't go into as much detail about this as does the gospel of John (1:19-28), but John the Baptist fields all kinds of questions about his identity.

His time spent in the wilderness has done little to hone his social skills, appearing as he does, dressed like a wild man and lunching on locusts!  And ranting about his hearers being a "brood of vipers" and making threats about trees being "thrown into the fire" doesn't exactly eliminate the confusion (vv. 7, 9)!  Still, the message does get through, with a great deal of success.

You see, for John the Baptist, the delivery is part of the message.  The people need to be shaken up, because John's message is a baptism of repentance.  John the Baptist has the unique role of preparing the nation for the ministry of Jesus the Messiah.  There had been a number of would-be Messiahs in recent history.  Oppression by a foreign power (such as Rome) will often lead desperate people to put their hope in any convincing pretender who comes along.  It's John's job to set the story straight, to let everyone know that the real thing is coming:  You think I've said something?  You think I've stirred things up?  You ain't seen nothin' yet!  There's one coming who will baptize you with fire.  I don't even deserve "to untie the thong of his sandals" (v. 16).

Despite the modest self-description of John the Baptist, Jesus submits to his baptism.  Unlike Matthew (3:14-15), Luke doesn't say anything about John's reluctance to perform the act.  Matthew includes as Jesus' reason to undergo baptism that "it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness" (v. 15).  (That's often seemed to me to be a rather vague response.)  Luke, however, mentions no explanation, other than to say what happens after Jesus is baptized.  Maintaining a trinitarian focus, Luke tells us that "the Holy Spirit descended upon [Jesus] in bodily form like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased'" (v. 22).

Why does Jesus submit to a baptism of repentance?  Has he sinned?  Does he need to be forgiven?  Maybe a better question is:  does he want to set an example?  Does he want to identify with the people?  "Fulfill[ing] all righteousness" surely means—it surely includes—showing the way.  One thing we can say is that by undergoing the ritual, Jesus gives baptism an even deeper meaning than what it's had during the ministry of John the Baptist.

Something that we as the church must understand is that baptism is a gift—a gift from Jesus Christ.  In the often-recalled words of John Calvin, "Baptism is the initiatory sign by which we are admitted to the fellowship of the Church," and what's more, "that being ingrafted into Christ we may be accounted children of God."^[1]  It's indeed a precious gift.

In his classic, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer makes a similar point.  "Baptism is not an offer made by [humans] to God, but an offer made by Christ to [humans].  It is grounded solely on the will of Jesus Christ, as expressed in his gracious call.  Baptism is essentially passive—being baptized."^[2]  Contrary to Robert Duvall in the movie, "The Apostle," one doesn't baptize oneself.  We don't do that physically, and neither do we do it theologically!

Baptism isn’t just another church activity.  It’s in a category all by itself, because it can only be done once.  Baptism is a life-changing event.  As Bonhoeffer says, “In baptism, [one] becomes Christ’s own possession.”  We are taken “from the dominion of the world [and pass] into the ownership of Christ.”  Baptism constitutes “a breach,” as he puts it.^[3]  It represents a fracture, something that divides.  It sets us apart from what we once were; it sets us apart from what the world would have us be.

Baptism can’t be repeated, because in baptism “we are made partakers in the death of Christ.”  Baptism is a death; we die to our old self.  As the apostle Paul says in Romans, “we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (6:4).  Baptism means that we “must consider [ourselves] dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Ro 6:11).

This is true, no matter at what age baptism occurs.  It’s true because baptism isn’t simply an ending—it’s a beginning.  The death and new life in baptism must be confirmed—and not simply in the single act we call “confirmation.”  Baptism, if it is to be life and not death, must be continually affirmed and reaffirmed.  If we are truly people of a new creation, of a new way, how else can we live?

In a few moments, Banu and I will lead you in the reaffirmation of the baptismal covenant.  This provides the opportunity to incorporate into our worship as a community our recommitment to the promises made for us, and by us, at baptism.  But this comes with a note of caution.  Remember that we speak these words before God.  It’s not just a matter of reading something written on a piece of paper.  (Actually, that’s true of our prayers and confessions every week.)

In approaching John and presenting himself for baptism, Jesus does something wonderful and powerful.  It’s something so wonderful and powerful that the heavens themselves explode with approval.  The presence of the Holy Spirit is so intense that the Spirit seems to take bodily form.  And the voice of God, reaching from the celestial realm, assures Jesus that he is indeed a source of deep joy to his heavenly Father.