St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
January 9, 2022
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
Plunging Into the Depths
In the Episcopal Church and in many other faith traditions, one of the requirements for ordination is a program called Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE).
In most cases, CPE means spending a summer as a hospital chaplain trainee, visiting and sometimes praying with patients and their families and friends, and then reflecting with the others in the program on all that we had seen and heard and said.
So, about 15 years ago, I spent a memorable summer at Christ Hospital in Jersey City.
Since, I guess like most people, I try to avoid the hospital as much as possible, I can’t say that I was excited about fulfilling this particular requirement. I dreaded facing all the fear and pain that we encounter in the hospital. And, I was not sure at all that I would be able to offer much comfort to people in distress.
It felt like being tossed into the deep end of the pool before my first swimming lesson.
Well, one of the many things I learned that summer is that there is a real sense of community in hospitals.
There’s community among many of the people who work there, who help each other get through some really hard stuff, and I’m sure that’s especially true these days.
And, even more surprising, some patients are part of the community, too - especially people who are in for long stays, and chronically ill people who are frequently in and out of the hospital.
That summer in the hospital I got to know many members of those hospital communities, including a few people I’ll never forget.
One was a longtime patient named Paula.
At first I was really uncomfortable with Paula.
She was about my age and she was very sick.
Despite the heroic and often very painful efforts of modern medicine, cancer was slowly but inevitably getting the better of Paula.
After a few awkward and fumbling visits, she and I began to relax together, sharing our stories, praying together, sometimes crying together, as she acknowledged her fate, grieving for all that she would be leaving behind.
Yet, despite so much pain and sadness, for the most part Paula was at peace. One time she said, “When I first got sick, I asked, ‘why me?’ But, after seeing all these other sick people, now I ask ‘why not me?’”
Amazing, right?
It was hard to be with Paula in the depths of her disease and suffering, but being close with her was also a great privilege and even, maybe strange to say, a gift that I will always cherish.
If you have been around here over the past few weeks, you know that we’ve heard a lot about John the Baptist.
John called people to live ethical lives – don’t steal from others – if you have a second coat give it to someone who has none – don’t think that just because your ancestors were holy that everything is OK between you and God.
Most of all, John preached repentance – he called on people to change their ways – to change direction – to head back toward God – and, of course this dramatic change was symbolized by baptism, a ritual washing in the River Jordan, presided over by John himself.
Despite – or maybe because of – his harsh message, John attracted big crowds.
It seems that lots of people recognized that they were on the wrong path, and realized that John offered them a way to change direction – a way to new life.
Actually, John was such a remarkable person that at least some people, maybe a lot of people, thought that he must be the long-awaited messiah.
So, it’s surprising that Jesus the Messiah presented himself to John for baptism.
Jesus surely did not need a baptism of repentance, right?
So, what was he doing there?
Well, there is a sense that John’s work ends with the baptism of Jesus. Luke says that all the people had been baptized, including Jesus. Now it’s time for John to make way for the more powerful One.
And, Jesus’ baptism is also an example of his obedience. Jesus was baptized because the Father wanted him to be baptized.
But, on a deeper level, it’s in and through Baptism that Jesus discovers who he really is. The voice from heaven says to Jesus, “You are my Son, the Beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
It’s by plunging into the depths, that Jesus finds out who really is.
It’s by plunging into the depths, that Jesus fulfills God’s will.
And, for the rest of his life, Jesus will continue to plunge into the depths.
Immediately after his Baptism, Jesus is driven into the wilderness, where he will be sorely tempted – driven into the wilderness where Satan knows how to quote the Bible and is able to come up with temptations specially designed for Jesus.
Jesus survived that experience, but for the rest of his life, Jesus will plunge into the depths of human life – hanging around with the wrong kinds of people, being close to lepers and tax collectors, offering new life to people broken by guilt, fear, disease and grief.
Jesus will plunge into the depths, eventually rejected and abandoned by just about everybody.
Into the depths, Jesus went – into the depths of the tomb, which sure looked like the end, but just as Jesus came up out of the baptismal water, he will rise again on the third day.
And now, on the day we remember the baptism of Jesus, I have the honor of baptizing Jackson.
Like at many churches, Baptism here at St. Thomas’ is a quite lot different from plunging into the Jordan, but don’t let the beautiful baptismal font and our sharp outfits fool you.
It may look like I’m just pouring a little bit of water over his head, but, in fact, Jackson is about to plunge into the depths.
And then, after the spiritual swimming lesson, Jackson will be brought back up, now with an indissoluble, unbreakable, bond that will keep him close to God forever.
In baptism, all of us are plunged into the depths and brought back up.
In baptism, all of us discover who we really are – beloved children of God.
And, for the rest of our lives, all of us are invited to plunge into the depths with God and one another – plunging into the depths to uphold each other during the hard times – plunging into the depths to face suffering and fight injustice – plunging into the depths to respect people with very different ideas and beliefs – plunging into the depths to love even the people we may not like or don’t trust one bit.
In a time when, for lots of reasons, so many of us have grown apart, remembering Jesus’ baptism, and our own baptism, is more important than ever.
So, like Jackson, let’s plunge into the depths, trusting that God will not let go of us no matter what.
Let’s plunge into the depths, knowing that this is the way of God – the way of community, the way of love – and the way of new life.
Amen.
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