Introduction:
This is the Pastor’s Blog for the Service on Sunday Jan 11th at 10:45AM. Included here is the primary Scripture of this message and the Pastor’s notes. Prior to the service it will include an excerpt of the Pastor’s notes and following the service the complete notes will be added. Also following the service a link will be provided at the bottom to Replay this service. We hope you will join us in Worship on Sunday.
Scripture: Matthew 3: 13-17
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Pastors Message;
Let’s begin with a question this morning: do you remember your baptism? And if you haven’t been baptized, what are your questions about it? Turn to the folks sitting around you and share.
[small group discussion; invite folks to share with the congregation]We have varied and diverse experiences, don’t we? Some of us actually remember our baptisms. Others of us were baptized with the understanding that it’s “one and done “ – no need to worry about one’s life or faith practice afterward. One is baptized, “covered” – we have fire insurance that keeps one out of eternal damnation. (This is the understanding I was raised with.) Others of us were baptized after going through confirmation in which we learned about the beliefs, traditions, and practices of the Church. Still others of us were baptized as infants and have heard stories from our parents and friends that help us “remember” our baptisms.
The Church has spent a lot of time and energy arguing about baptism over the centuries – how much water is necessary for it to “work”; how old one has to be for baptism to ”count”; who can or cannot be present. Some of these questions have been answered with persecution and violence.
Matthew, however, doesn’t seem interested in these questions. Matthew seems to be more interested in the identity of one person in particular: Jesus of Nazareth. There are other related considerations, too: the authority of John the Baptist, the relationship between John and Jesus, and the biggie: who might be the messiah?
The people have come to John as he dwelled in the wilderness by the Jordan River. They’ve come to hear him preach and scold. John calls the people to repent and turn to a new way of Life. He baptizes the people in the river as a sign of their repentance. The people are also curious, wondering if John might be the anointed one to lead the people out from under Roman domination. John, however, points beyond himself to another who is more powerful than he is; one who will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is one among the crowd who is listening to John, and Jesus presents himself for baptism. John protests, but Jesus urges John to baptize him as a fulfillment of righteousness. There is no description of the baptism itself – no reference to how much water, or if the water is running or still – no description of Jesus holding his nose or not, or what clothes he had on. Matthew gives us no details.
It’s what happens next that Matthew wants us to pay special attention to. The heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove. A heavenly voice speaks to the identity of the one who has just been baptized: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
What’s important to Matthew is who Jesus is and to Whom he belongs.
Matthew doesn’t tell us anything about Jesus’ reaction in the moment. However, Matthew spends the rest of his gospel telling us about how Jesus lives out that moment of love and call. Jesus hears that he is beloved, that God’s favor rests on him, and he shapes his ministry out of that belovedness. His baptism provides fuel for his work among the people.
Jesus doesn’t wrap that belovedness around himself like an insulating blanket that sets him apart from everyone else. He spends his life teaching and showing others that they’re beloved, too. His baptism sends him to the people that need to hear his message of mercy and compassion.
It’s sobering to think about how baptism has become a point of division between Christians. Some of us have come to worship this morning with some negative – perhaps toxic – understandings or experiences of baptism. Many of these understandings we’ve inherited from our predecessors in the Church. These understandings have woven themselves into our own self-doubts and shame: were we baptized “right?” Have we lived up to what it means to be baptized? Have we fallen out of favor with God? Are we worthy?
I think it’s good to recall our Wesleyan understanding of grace – prevenient grace, especially. God’s grace isn’t dependent on our understanding of it, nor is God’s grace dependent on our will or ability to accept. Grace just is – grace is God’s identity and character. It has existed before our birth and will continue beyond our death. God’s grace is the air we breathe. God has loved us first, individually and communally.
With time, baptism reveals to us who we are. Knowing this deep in our bones and souls isn’t apparent at first, whether we’re baptized as infants, children, teenagers or adults. We grow into this identity – the identity of the beloved.
There is a deep sweetness in all of this – a gift beyond compare. Through something as simple and profound as water, the Holy One marks us with a wet spot. With nurture and care, that spot grows and grows, becoming a sweet spot with expanding boundaries. The sweetness envelops us as individuals, and expands through communities. Imagine if that sweetness encompassed the whole world.
Our lives are made up of moments, crossroads big and small at which we can say “Yes” to the divine voice. That “yes” grounds us, affirms who we really are – people marked by the sweet spot of grace, loved beyond compare by a God who calls us God’s own.
Let us say “yes” once again, as we live into the sweetness of God’s grace and love.
Let us pray:
Holy one, we are so grateful for your presence with us, for your claim on our lives that is loving and merciful. May we rest in our identity as your own. And may we share this in our homes, in our communities, and in the world so that others may hear your word of love. Amen.
