Rev.
Debbie Cato
Isaiah
43:1-7 and Luke 3:15-22
Fairfield
Community Church
January
12, 2025, Baptism of the Lord
Holy
God. Help us to connect to your word today
and then to our daily
lives.
Open the Scriptures to us in a way that is life-giving. Encourage us to
listen to
the message your Spirit makes known through the words that have
been prepared
for us today. Amen.
You are God’s
Beloved
In just 18 days – three Sundays, we have gone from Jesus the baby, to Jesus the refugee, to 30-year-old Jesus being baptized by his cousin, John the Baptist. Time flies! There are two short mentions of Jesus as a child. His presentation at the temple for circumcision forty days after his birth, and a story about Jesus in the temple at 12-years–old, learning from the rabbis. Those are the only glimpses we get of Jesus between infancy and adulthood.
Today, on this Baptism of the Lord Sunday, we are called to remember the truth of baptism. The truth that we are claimed and called by God. The prophet Isaiah spoke this promise from God to the Israelites: (43:1-2): “I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” Friends, we are not alone. God is at our window whispering words of truth. Will we listen?
I am always surprised to remember that Jesus begins his ministry by being baptized in the Jordan River by John who calls for all sinners to repent. Jesus was not a sinner. He was sinless. Yet, he insists on being baptized. Even after John protests.
With the promise of a Messiah, we are expecting a great leader, the living God himself, sweeping in with a great explosion, a blaze of light and transforming everything in a single blow.[1]
Instead we get Jesus. A baby with a price on his head. Helpless. Homeless. A refugee. A Jesus who comes and stands humbly before John, asking for baptism, sharing the remorseful mood of the rest of Judaea, Jerusalem, and Galilee. A Jesus who seems to identify himself, not with a God who is all powerful and all knowing, but with the people who are themselves facing the judgement of God and needing to repent.[2]
John, of course, is horrified! He seems to know that Jesus is the one he was waiting for; but why would Jesus be coming to him for baptism? What happened to the agenda that John expected? What happened to the wind and the fire?
N.T. Wright says that “Jesus’ reply to John, tells us something important about the whole gospel story that is going to unfold. Yes, Jesus is coming to fulfil God’s plan. Yes, he’s coming to fulfill the promises God made ages ago and has never forgotten. Yes, these are promises which will blow God’s wind, God’s spirit through the world. The promise that God will rescue His people once and for all from every kind of exile to which they have been driven. But the baptism of Jesus says that if he is going to do all this, this is how he is going to do it; by humbly identifying himself with God’s people, by taking their place, sharing their repentance, living their life, ultimately dying their death.”[3]
When Jesus comes up out of the water after John baptizes him, God’s Spirit descends on Jesus and his voice says, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Now, here is the really good news. The same voice speaks to everyone who repents out of faith and is baptized. To everyone who is baptized, as an infant or young child baptized through the faith of their parents, or an older child, a young adult, or an adult baptized by their own faith, God says, “You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
Jesus's baptism inaugurated his public ministry when Jesus identified with what Mark describes as "the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem." Jesus aligned himself with their faults and failures, their pains and problems, and with all the broken and hurting people who had flocked to the Jordan River to be baptized. By wading into the waters with them Jesus took his place beside us and among us. In fact, it was not long into his public mission, the sanctimonious religious leaders derided Jesus as a "friend of gluttons and sinners." They were right about that.
With his baptism, Jesus openly and decisively stood shoulder to shoulder with us in our fears and anxieties. He intentionally took sides with people in their neediness, and declared that God was biased in their favor: The author of the Book of Hebrews says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.”[4] Jesus declares, that God's abundant mercy is available freely and fully to every person. It is not the private preserve doled out by the temple establishment in Jerusalem.[5]
When you were baptized, whatever your age and whoever made the vows for you, the baptismal waters washed away the sins and evil of the world and brought you new life in Christ. It claimed you as a beloved child of God. Created by God in his image. Claimed by God. And, loved by God beyond anything that we can imagine or grasp. Nothing we can do will ever separate us from the love of God. And because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, our sins are forgiven. We receive eternal life. That is good news!
In his commentary on Luke’s Gospel, Rev. Fred Craddock highlights the often-missed reality that Jesus was praying as he was baptized. Comparing the story of Jesus baptism in all the gospels, only Luke adds the mention of Jesus praying. Jesus’ prayer life is especially important to Luke, who often describes Jesus wandering off to a quiet spot, especially at critical moments such as the choosing his twelve disciples, asking the disciples who they say he is, or on the mountain before the transfiguration.[7]
“Jesus was praying,” Luke writes, rarely adding any dialogue to these scenes. Perhaps this was the gospel writer’s way of emphasizing the importance of listening in prayer. Had he been too tired, or distracted, Jesus would not have heard the voice declaring the truth of his existence: “You are my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
We could all use some practice when it comes to listening. In a culture that prioritizes doing over being, action over stillness, sitting for wordless prayer may feel pointless. Its hard for us to just sit quietly and listen for God’s voice.[8]
In a poem called “Dust” by Dorianne Laux, someone speaks words of truth to the poet in the quiet of the night. She recognizes the significance of the message, but she cannot get herself up to write it down. In the morning, the truth had turned to dust. She cannot remember. The poem goes on to say:
“That is how it is sometimes —
God comes to your window,
and you are just too tired to open it.”[9]
That resonates with me. God comes to your window, and you are just too tired to open it.
ØHow do
you practice listening to God? How could you strengthen your practice? What are
some easy things you could do to have quiet time each day listening to God? Is
there a place in your home that you could carve out for alone time with God?
Ø What
truths might you discover if you stopped to listen for God? How might God speak
into your life? What might he reveal to you?
[1] Matthew for Everyone, Part
i. N.T. Wright. Westminster John Knox Press. 2002.
P. 21.
[2] Matthew for Everyone, Part i. N.T. Wright.
Westminster John Knox Press.
2002. P. 21
[3] Ibid. p21-22.
[4] Hebrews
4:15-16.
[5] https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/3791-you-belong-to-god. Dan Clendenin. “You Belong to God.” 1/5/2025.
[6] https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/3791-you-belong-to-god. Dan Clendenin. “You Belong to God.” 1/5/2025.
[7]
Teri-McDowell Ott. Presbyterian Outlook
Commentary for January 12. 2025.
[8]
Teri-McDowell Ott. Presbyterian Outlook
Commentary for January 12. 2025.
[9] Teri-McDowell Ott.
Presbyterian Outlook Commentary for January 12. 2025.
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