Sermons for the Month
Baptism As A Way Of Life
DATE: January 9th, 2005
SERVICE: The Baptism of our Lord
TEXT: Matthew 3:13-17 and Acts 10:34-43“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
The first things that happen often are important. People record the dates of their children's first steps, haircuts and words - at least for the first child. Businesses frame the first dollar they earned and writers' portfolios contain first articles published.
So, it's probably accurate to say that when the writer of the Gospel of Matthew decided what words would be the first ones attributed to Jesus they would be important. We read those first words today, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness."
This is an important statement - perhaps not all that easy to understand - but important never-the-less. So, let's consider, what the "it" is in "Let it be…?" Let what be?
Here is the situation, Jesus had come to John to be baptized by him. Now remember, John and Jesus are related to one another, they are about six months apart in age, they probably know each other well and, most importantly, since his birth it has been clear that John's job is to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. He did so by proclaiming a baptism of repentance, and those being baptized confessed their sins.
Well, Jesus has nothing to repent and no sins to confess. John does not want to baptize him. But, Jesus insists saying, "Let it be…", in other words, "Let this baptism be…." By being baptized Jesus is doing God's will; that's what it means to fulfill all righteousness. He is fulfilling all righteousness by doing what God has sent him to do.
First, he fulfilled all righteousness by being born in human likeness. Now, he fulfills all righteousness by identifying - in baptism - with the sinners he has come to save. And, his willingness to do so is acknowledged by God, who anoints Jesus with the Holy Spirit at his baptism and claims him as the very Son of God, the promised One.
Now, Jesus' public, messianic ministry begins. Let it be, Jesus says, because what is to be will change the world.
After his baptism, by the power of the Spirit, the turning upside down of earthly life began. I like the way it's summarized in the reading from Acts. "…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."
Today we not only remember the baptism of Jesus, but our own baptisms as well. As Avery was (is) baptized today we believe that what was true for Jesus is true for him. He was (will be) filled with the Holy Spirit, with Godly power. The Holy Spirit will, first of all, give him the gift of faith and, secondly, will empower him to fulfill all righteousness in his life, that is to do God's will.
The same is true for all of us. Of course, we cannot do what Jesus did, but we can do what God calls us to do. Exactly what that is, in general terms, is clear in scripture. The two central responsibilities of a child of God are to love one another and to proclaim the Good News about Jesus Christ. The details of how we do that depends on our setting, our gifts and our willingness to be led by the Holy Spirit.
And it all begins with baptism. In the past year new worship materials called "Renewing Worship" have been distributed by the ELCA and in the book titled Holy Baptism and Related Rites baptism is described not only as a singular event and a gracious gift of God but as an on-going way of life.
I like that imagery of a life-long journey that begins with baptism. Here at Faith we mark milestones in that journey. There is the first day of Explorers' Club at age 3, receiving Bibles in first grade and preparing for Holy Communion when the child, parents and pastor feel the time is right, often in third grade. Then, the faith journey continues and is highlighted at Affirmation of Baptism (Confirmation) by young adults.
That's not the end, though. Instead, it's a beginning, as we constantly take advantages of opportunities to grow in faith and use our gifts. We are on this journey together; we are not just a bunch of random people who happen to be in the same building once a week. We are a Family of Faith, that's why it's important that infants, toddlers, children, youth and adults - people of all ages - worship together as we celebrate God's love and support one another.
Daily we have the opportunity to drown sin through repentance and forgiveness and to start over. Daily we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to use the gifts God has given us. Each moment baptism is a way of life for us, until the day our loved ones gather in the place of baptism, the church, to celebrate our earthly lives and our new eternal life in God's care.
So, it's good every once in awhile to pause and ask, "How am I doing when it comes to living out my baptism?" And, each congregation needs to ask, "How are we doing when it comes to being a place where people can live out their baptisms? What kind of opportunities to grow in faith, support and challenges are there to help people make baptism a way of life?"
This has been a major topic of discussion during the past six months for the Church Council as the congregation's worship schedule and learning, faith-development opportunities have been reviewed. You all can look forward to a report on the Council's deliberations at the end of the month, after the Church Council retreat. In the meantime, though, I would ask you to serious consider how, in our own lives, baptism might become more and more a way of life.
How can you draw on the power of the Holy Spirit, given in baptism, to fulfill all righteousness? Or, to put it another way, how can each one of us do God's work day in and day out, knowing that God will bless our efforts and that our lives will make a difference?
Once in a great while a television commercial catches my attention. The one I noticed this week was for a bank and it stressed the important of showing kindness to one another. So, a business man picked up toys dropped from a stroller and returned them to a hassled Mom; an offer to share an umbrella was made to someone getting drenched in a rainstorm and a young man offered his seat on a bus to a pregnant woman, all what was called a few years ago "random acts of kindness".
These are all day-to-day ways to live out our baptisms. They join the more obviously "spiritual stuff" - like praying for and donating to the victims of the Tsunamis or offering a word of comfort to someone who is grieving or inviting someone who feels far from God to worship or to DETOUR or saying "no" in a questionable situation with "because I'm a Christian" being the reason why - as ways to be faithful.
These actions, and thousands more like them, are the results of being a baptized, forgiven, God-powered child of God. And, as baptism becomes more and more a way of life, we will be impacting the world in ways that are completely unknown to us, because the Holy Spirit will bless every caring word and faithful action.
Like Jesus we will fulfill all righteousness because we will be doing God's will. Indeed, what else can we say to that than, "Let it be."
AMEN