Sermon for Sunday, 11 January 2015: Baptism of Our Lord
Sermon for Sunday, 11 January 2015
Baptism of Our Lord: Mark 1:4-11
The Rev. Carrie B. Smith
Grace and peace to you from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Early this
week I had the unexpected opportunity to visit the Evangelical Lutheran Church
at Bethany Beyond the Jordan—the ELCJHL’s newest church, built at the site of
Jesus’ baptism by John. This was a last minute trip, made possible only because
the official ELCA representative to the international board could not attend. I
was thrilled to see the church for the first time (although perhaps less than
thrilled at the thought of a three day board meeting!) I was also certain that
such a visit would mean this week’s sermon would write itself. That turned out not to be true—but it was indeed powerful
to be standing at the Jordan River, in this week when the church remembers
Jesus’ baptism in those very waters.
The board
members gathered in Amman on Sunday evening, and then our first day began with
a tour of the entire historic baptism site. We saw ruins of chapels and
monasteries.
We saw streams of water, tall rushes and tangled bushes – the
wilderness where John the baptizer appeared. We saw rolling hills and deep
valleys, and tried to imagine the hundreds of hermit cells which used to
inhabit the hillsides.
Finally, we made our way to the Jordan itself, where
dozens of Russian pilgrims on the Israeli-controlled side were bathing in the greenish-brown
waters. Armed guards stood watch on both sides, ready to stop anyone who
approached the border, which happens to be the middle of the river.
Dressed as
we were for a board meeting, not a baptism, most of us stood a safe distance
away and observed. But one member of the board, Ennio, ventured closer,
stooping down to collect some of the murky water into an old Coke bottle. Next,
I watched as he scooped up some dirt into an empty can which said, “Mixed
Nuts.” “What are you doing?” I asked. “This is for my sister, who is sick with
cancer,” he said. “I try to bring her water from all the holy places I visit. Who
knows if it helps, but she appreciates it.”
Back at the
church, we settled in for the board meeting. First item on the agenda: Create a
Vision and Mission Statement.
If you have
ever served on a board or a church council before, you know the agony this task
can be! There’s little that is more frustrating than creating a concise,
meaningful, marketable (and theologically accurate!) vision and mission
statement…by committee. Having just experienced
a sacred site, however, and being that many of us were pastors and even
bishops, it seemed that this time, it should be easy. We just had to put down
on paper what made this place and this event in the life of Jesus so special.
Ready, set, go…. Silence.
Come on,
this is the baptismal site of Jesus! Five historic churches over many centuries
were built to mark the spot. Bedouin have carried the oral history of this
place for thousands of years. Today, because of the generosity of King Abdullah
in gifting the land, there are seven modern churches being built there. People still
come from around the world to be baptized, or to remember their baptisms, in
these waters. And, as I had earlier observed, this place is so special that
people literally want to take it home with them, bottles of Jordan River water
and boxes of Jordanian earth traveling across the world to those who are sick, or
dying, or soon to be baptized.
The members
of the board all agreed this place is important, and historic, and sacred, and
worth visiting. But what we weren’t clear about was: why? Why do we care about the baptism of Jesus?
To be fair,
the baptism of Jesus is a little
difficult to explain. When John appeared in the wilderness, he came preaching a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He also said that although he
was baptizing with water, one who was greater would come and baptize with the
Holy Spirit. So why, then, did Jesus need to be baptized? Why did the one who
was without sin need to be washed clean?
Some have
said Jesus was simply showing solidarity with us. He was just giving us a good
example to follow, avoiding the whole “Do as I say, not as I do” discussion. Others
have said he was washed to be refreshed for his upcoming years of ministry and
controversy. Still others have said this baptism is the moment when Jesus was “adopted”
as God’s Son. (These folks, it should be noted, were declared heretics numerous
times, including at the First Council of Nicea in the year 325 A.D.)
But if
Jesus’ baptism wasn’t required, and it didn’t make him sinless or magically
turn him into God’s Son, then what’s the deal?
The
important action in the story takes place in verses 10 and 11:
‘And just as
he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit
descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son,
the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”’
It wasn’t
required for him. And it didn’t change Jesus’ essential nature. But when Jesus
was baptized in the waters of the Jordan by John, something truly amazing
happened: the heavens were torn apart. The Holy Spirit came down like a dove. A
voice sounded out from heaven –the voice of the Father – naming Jesus as
Beloved Son. This was the moment when plain water became something much more;
when a simple bath in the river became a meeting place for the divine.
Sisters and
brothers in Christ, this is what we experience in our own baptisms, too. Whether
we come to the water as infants or as believers; whether we are sprinkled in a
birdbath or dunked in a swimming pool; in baptism it is the meeting of water with
the Word which turns an ordinary thing into a holy and sacred event. In
baptism, the heavens are torn open, so that ordinary sinners receive new life
in Christ. It’s not that the water of the Jordan itself is so special. It’s
that the meeting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the waters that day makes
holy all waters—and, indeed, all creation.
Bishop
Maximus of Turin put it this way (in the 5th C.):
“Christ is
baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by
his cleansing to purify the waters which he touched. For the consecration of
Christ involves a more significant consecration of the water. For when the
Savior is washed, all water for our baptism is made clean, purified at its
source for the dispensing of baptismal grace to the people of future ages.
Christ is the first to be baptized, then, so that Christians will follow after
him with confidence.”
It turns
out, a divine encounter is what the international board members experienced this
week, too. We came for a board meeting, and ended up meeting God--in the
desert, in the wilderness, and in the green and murky waters of the Jordan. We met Christ in the breaking of the bread,
in the strengthening of friendships, and even around the boardroom table. It
turns out our tour guide was right when he told us, standing at the baptismal
site, nearly 422 meters below sea level: “This is the lowest place on earth, but
it’s actually the closest to God.”
Slowly but
surely, as we reflected on what we had seen and experienced, the phrases started
to appear before us, giving voice to the holiness of this place and this event:
The
beginning of Christianity…
The center
of our faith…
The source
of baptism…
Renewal and
commitment…
You can see
the whole story of our faith from here…
Finally, it
was finished. A vision statement for this new church, for better or for worse:
“Being a
meeting point at the source of baptism, deepening the experience of God's love
for humanity."
In the end,
what became clear is that what makes the baptismal site so special is not what
happened to Jesus in the river, but what happened there for all creation. Jesus
in the water, the Spirit moving over the water, and the Father’s voice sounding
out above the waters sanctified and made holy every place and every person. When
we remember Jesus’ baptism, we remember that our faith is tangible, earthy, and
material. We believe that God comes to us in the midst of dust, wind, desert,
bugs, camel hair, honey, and wilderness.
We meet God in water, in bread, and in wine. We meet God in a crying
baby lying in a manger. We meet God in the sweat, blood, and tears of the
cross. We meet God in our neighbor, and even in our enemy. Nothing, and
nowhere, is beyond God’s reach. Nothing, and no one, is too ordinary for God’s
presence.
This is the
Good News of Jesus’ baptism, and the Good News of our baptismal identities. The
challenge is in living this Good News in our daily lives. Knowing that God has
made holy all of creation through the baptism of Jesus, how do we respond to
the crisis facing Syrian refugees and the children of Gaza in this cold winter
weather? Knowing that no human being is beyond God’s love, how do we speak about
the terrible situation in Paris this week, or the mounting horror in Nigeria?
All creation being holy, and all humanity being beloved, it is not so easy to
turn our backs, take sides, or stay silent. Our baptisms call us to much, much
more.
My ordinary
friends, sisters and brothers in Christ, hear the Good News: in baptism you
have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ
forever. You are God’s beloved children. Amen.
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