Personal, Not Private

Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ
January 10, 2010

Year C: The Baptism of Our Lord
Isaiah 43:1-7
Psalm 29
(Acts 8:14-17)
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Personal, Not Private

Show of hands - do people ever ask you why you joined or why you go to the Episcopal Church? When Sue and I started going to the Episcopal Church, I used to get asked that question a lot by family and friends.

I used to give many different reasons for the switch – some pretty typical, others maybe not. I liked the friendliness of the congregation, the preaching, the music, the smaller scale. I liked how I was encouraged to think for myself. All very typical, I guess. But one of the things I like best about the Episcopal Church, that might not be typical, is that we have our baptisms during regular Sunday church services.

Now, I know it wasn’t always this way and some of you “Cradle Episcopalians” can remember the days when private baptisms were very common. Maybe you miss those days. Now private baptisms are rare - and are really only supposed to be done in emergencies. Now our custom is to gather as a community, to witness the baptisms of our brothers and sisters, and to promise to support the newly baptized in the Christian life.

Public Baptism is important for lots of reasons. It reminds us of our own baptism – and the baptismal promises we made or were made for us.
Public Baptism reminds us that we live our Christian lives in community – making the journey beside people we might otherwise never encounter and, frankly, might never choose to be with.

Public Baptism reminds me of a line from Jim Wallis, the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine. Wallis says, “God is always personal, but never private.” And the same is true of our baptism – baptism is personal, but never private. And the same should be true of our Christian faith – our faith should be personal, but never private.

During the season of Epiphany we remember a series of manifestations of who Jesus really is and what he means for all of us. Last week we remembered the first of these epiphanies when the wise men arrive in Bethlehem and recognize the newborn king, not in a palace but in a simple house in a little town.

Today we remember the second in our series of epiphanies, the baptism of our Lord. But, this epiphany is an epiphany for Jesus himself. At his baptism it seems that Jesus discovers who he is. Luke tells us that after his baptism while Jesus was praying he hears the voice from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

It’s obviously a very important moment in Jesus’ life.

This year we heard Luke’s version. Let’s take a look at what Luke tells us, piece by piece.

Luke writes, “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized…” So, first off, Luke makes it pretty clear that Jesus’ baptism is a public event. Jesus is baptized with other people. Jesus’ baptism is not some secret, private event.

Second, Luke makes it clear that he’s interested in Jesus, and not so interested in John the Baptist. Just as in the other two gospels Luke begins the baptism story with John telling the crowd that, no, he’s not the messiah; someone greater is coming who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Mark, the earliest of the gospels, leaves it at that.

Scholars think that there was competition between the followers of John and the followers of Jesus. So, Luke wants to make sure we really get that John can’t hold a candle to his cousin Jesus. The point of Luke’s gospel is that Jesus is the Lord, the Son of God.

Luke’s other point is that in baptism it’s not about the person who is actually pouring the water. At our 11:15 service today Lauren is going to pour water over two children, Samuel and Chelsea. But Lauren, or I or John or any baptizer is just a vehicle used by God.

Baptism is an encounter between God and the person being baptized.

So, if we look carefully at the baptism scene itself, Luke bends over backwards to actually eliminate John from the scene. We can presume that it was John who baptized Jesus, but that’s not exactly what the text says.

Take a look: Luke writes, “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized…”

So, this baptism is a public event that is all about Jesus.

But there’s more. Luke writes, “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Jesus’ baptism is definitely a public event, but Luke tells us that Jesus’ baptism is also personal encounter between God the Father and Jesus the Son.

God is always personal, but never private. Baptism is always personal, but never private. Our faith should always be personal but never be private.

Just in case we forget the public nature of Jesus’ life and the public nature of our Christian life, the next verses in Luke’s gospel are, “Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work…”

After Jesus’ public baptism, after Jesus’ personal encounter with God the Father, Jesus doesn’t just continue his life as if nothing happened. After his baptism, Jesus doesn’t just keep this experience private. Just the opposite! After his baptism, Jesus begins his work, begins his public ministry, begins his teaching, preaching, and healing.

And what was true for Jesus should also be true for us.

After our baptism, we shouldn’t continue our lives as if nothing happened, as if we’re the same. Just the opposite! After our baptism, just like Jesus, we are called to publicly begin our work, to share the Good News with a broken and hungry world.

We often forget – or would like to forget – that we are called to live out our Christian faith in public. Many of us were taught and maybe believe that religion is a private matter. We may be embarrassed to reveal our faith to the world. In our hearts we may think that all this stuff is fine in church but doesn’t really apply to the “real world” of work or school or the Shop Rite parking lot.

We also may confuse being a public Christian with boasting about how religious we are. For good reason, we don’t want to be part of that crowd.

But, let’s be honest, even if we’re ready to try, it’s not easy to be a public Christian. In the Baptismal Covenant there are some powerful reminders of how we are to live out our faith in public.

We are asked, “Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?” So, here’s some good news – congratulations to us - just by being here in church today we are living out our faith in public!
Our faith should always be personal but never be private.

But, hold on; let’s not get too self-congratulatory. The next questions about being a public Christian get harder. We are asked, “Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?”

“Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”
“Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”

Even those of us who have heard these questions many times can still find them at best challenging and at worst impossible. I mean, can we really “seek and serve Christ in all persons”? Can we really “strive for justice and peace among all people”?

It’s not easy being a public Christian. But, although the questions asked in the Baptismal Covenant are important, maybe the answer we give is even more important. After each of these tough questions we answer, “I will, with God’s help.”

If we try to live our public Christian lives without God’s help then we are doomed to dismal failure. But, the story changes when we recognize that we can do nothing on our own. With God’s help and the support of the Christian community, then all things are possible, then loving our neighbors as ourselves becomes a real possibility.

And since God makes an unbreakable bond with us in baptism, then God’s help is always available to us as we try to live as public Christians.

Today we remember and celebrate the second in our series of epiphanies. In his public baptism, Jesus the Son had a personal experience with God the Father.
After his baptism, Jesus doesn’t just continue his life as if nothing happened. After his baptism, Jesus begins his work, begins his public ministry, begins his teaching, preaching, and healing.

Today we recall our own baptism and the promises we made or were made for us and we celebrate the baptism of Samuel and Chelsea.

And we remember that God is always personal but never private. We remember that Baptism is always personal but never private. And we remember that our Christian faith is always personal but should never be private.

Amen.