Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ
January 13, 2013
Year C: The First Sunday after the Epiphany – the Baptism of
Our Lord
Isaiah 43:1-7
Psalm 29
(Acts 8:14-17)
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Living Sacraments
Last
Sunday was the Feast of the Epiphany when we remembered the manifestation of
God’s glory to the mysterious wise men from the East. God’s glory appeared to
the wise men not in the capital city of Jerusalem – not in King Herod’s palace –
but in the form of a little child and his mother under a star in Bethlehem.
As
Lauren reminded us in her sermon last Sunday, the Feast of the Epiphany marks
the beginning of the Epiphany season – a season when we remember a whole series
of manifestations – a whole series of appearances – of God’s glory.
And
so here we are today, remembering Epiphany number two: the Baptism of Jesus.
All
four gospels tell us something about Jesus’ baptism, but they tell the story in
somewhat different ways.
Partly
that’s because of different traditions that were circulating about Jesus in the
years before the gospels were written down.
Partly
that’s because the four gospels have different theological interests.
And
partly it’s because of some early Christian discomfort with the fact that Jesus
was baptized by John the Baptist.
And
we can understand that discomfort.
After
all, remember that John preached a baptism of repentance – but, of course,
Jesus had nothing to repent.
And,
it’s reasonable to assume that the baptizer – the one doing the dunking – has
greater spiritual power and experience than the one being baptized, the one
getting dunked.
So
all the gospels go to great lengths to make sure that we get that Jesus is
far greater than John the Baptist!
And
we hear that very clearly in today’s lesson from Luke.
According
to Luke, John says to the crowd: “I baptize you with water; but one who is more
powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
And
then Luke goes even further to minimize John by completely removing him from
the scene of Jesus’ baptism.
You
may have noticed there’s a gap in today’s lesson. The part that’s missing is
about John’s arrest by Herod.
Then,
after getting John out of the way, Luke gets to what he really wants to tell
us. Luke jumps ahead to when Jesus is praying after his baptism.
Luke
tells us “the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a
dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am
well pleased.’”
At
his baptism, Jesus has an epiphany.
At
his baptism, Jesus – maybe for the first time – recognizes his special,
unbreakable, indissoluble, bond with God.
And
right after his baptism, Jesus begins his work, begins his ministry of sharing
God’s love with the whole world.
I
get the discomfort with John the Baptist, but I’m glad we know that Jesus was
baptized.
For
us, of course, Baptism is the first sacrament. And at least some of you will
remember the prayer book definition of sacrament: an outward and visible sign
of an inward and spiritual grace.
In
the outward and visible water we receive an inward and spiritual grace.
In
baptism we recognize our own special, unbreakable, indissoluble, bond with God.
Which
we forget about all the time. So, we are reminded of that unbreakable,
indissoluble, bond every time we have a baptism – every time we gather at the
font and welcome another new Christian into the fold.
Every
time there’s a baptism we’re reminded of our unbreakable, indissoluble bond
with God – we’re reminded that there’s nothing we can do or not do that would
make God stop loving us.
And,
though we might not want to hear it, every time there’s a baptism we also renew
our Baptismal Covenant – we’re reminded that God expects a lot of us.
Every
time there’s a baptism we’re reminded that we’re expected to break bread
together, to pray together.
Every
time there’s a baptism we’re reminded that God expects us to resist evil and,
when we sin, to repent and turn back to God.
Every
time there’s a baptism we’re reminded that God expects us to proclaim the Good
News by word and example.
Every
time there’s a baptism we’re reminded that God expects us to seek and serve
Christ in every single person.
Every
time there’s a baptism we’re reminded that God expects us to respect the
dignity of every human being.
It’s
a lot.
Of
course, we can only do any of this with God’s help.
But,
still...it’s a lot.
Even
with God’s help, seeking and serving Christ in every person and loving our
neighbor as our self is a lot.
Life
is hard enough. Even with God’s help, how can we do all this?
And,
I admit, I’m a big believer in doing stuff. Most of you have heard me preach
over and over about the Food for Friends barrel, the soup kitchen, mission
trips, and on and on.
But
all that doing can make us miss what’s most important.
God
knows, there’s plenty to do – but before and behind and beneath all that doing,
what’s most important - all that’s really expected of us – all that God hopes
for us - is openness to God’s love.
At
his baptism, Jesus was open to God.
Because
he was open to God, Jesus was able to hear and feel God’s love. “You are my
Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
And,
after his baptism, Jesus became an outward and visible sign of inward and
spiritual grace.
After
his baptism, Jesus became a living sacrament.
Yes,
Jesus shared God’s love by doing lots of things – by teaching and healing, by
challenging and forgiving.
But,
you know, all of that doing is not what’s most special about Jesus.
Jesus
is special because when people met him they met God’s love.
Think
about the people closest to Jesus – Peter, Mary Magdalene, James and John, Mary
and Martha.
They
didn’t become followers of Jesus because of all the amazing things he did.
They
became followers of Jesus because in and through him they felt God’s love in a
way they had never felt it before.
Because
Jesus was supremely open to God – because Jesus is a living sacrament - people
around him felt God’s love and then unleashed God’s love on the world.
We
Christians are meant to be outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual
grace.
Most
of the time we don’t do such a great job of being living sacraments because usually
God’s love gets locked inside of us – chained by our fears and resentments and
jealousies and guilt. God’s love gets locked inside of us – chained by all the usual
human hang-ups.
But,
every once in a while, we read about or hear about people who are so open to
God’s love that they really become living sacraments.
And,
if we’re really fortunate, we get to meet someone who is a living sacrament.
That’s
what Jack Harter was to me – and, I believe, to all of us.
Jack
couldn’t do anything, and yet, somehow, Jack was so open to God that through
him God’s love was unleashed in all of us.
In
his brief life, free of all of our usual hang-ups, Jack offered all of us an
epiphany – offered all of us a manifestation, an appearance, of God’s grace.
In
his brief life, Jack was an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual
grace.
In
his brief life, Jack was a living sacrament.
So,
today as we remember Jesus’ baptism - Jesus’ own epiphany – and today as
we mourn the loss of Jack, may we be open to God’s love. May we unlock our
hearts to God’s love. May we unleash God’s love to the world.
May
we be living sacraments.
Amen.
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