Today was a travel
day, leaving Denver by plane for Helena, and then heading out from Helena to
Salmon, Idaho, where I will be preaching in the morning. I love traveling
through our area and stopping by our churches for a quick prayer.
Unfortunately, we were trying to outrun a snowstorm so I had to pray from the highway
as we passed by!
Tomorrow is one of
my favorite Sundays of the Church year: the baptism of Jesus (okay, being
totally transparent, I have a LOT of favorite Sundays!). This Sunday, we
remember Jesus coming to the Jordan, where John is baptizing people. Jesus asks
to be baptized and John pulls back, “I am the one who needs to be baptized by
YOU.” Jesus is insistent, and so John pulls him down into the Jordan and when
he emerges from the water, the Spirit of God descends on him and a voice is
heard, saying, ““This is my beloved Son
with whom I am well pleased.”
Every time I go to the Holy Lands, I look forward with
anticipation stopping at the Jordan. However, I can’t say that the setting is
especially pretty--the Jordan is a muddy river. In fact, it looks fairly
unremarkable, as rivers go. But it is the longest and most important river in
Palestine. Standing on its banks I couldn't help but recall all the songs and
stories of my Christian upbringing that taught me about its important place in
religious tradition: “River Jordan is deep and wide, Alleluia! Milk and honey
on the other side. Alleluia!” “Yes, we'll gather at the river, the beautiful
the beautiful river; Gather with the saints at the river that flows by the
throne of God.” “On Jordan's stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye to
Canaan's fair and happy land, where my possessions lie."
The heart of the
Gospels begins at the Jordan River. It is where John the Baptist came out of
the wilderness to preach the coming realm of heaven, offering to cure the
people not of physical illness but of moral sickness, and that they should
bathe in the Jordan and repent of their sins. He was preparing the people, Jews
and Gentiles alike, for a future baptism to be administered by one who is
greater: "the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
And it is at the
Jordan where Jesus comes to be baptized by John. Upon his baptism, Jesus began
to pray, and we're told that the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit
descended to Jesus like a dove, and God proclaimed Jesus as God's beloved
child.
From the original
Greek, the traditional words, "with you I am well pleased" can be better
translated "in you I have willed the good." Jesus is not simply
pleasing to God. In Jesus' baptism and openness in prayer, God proclaimed and
empowered him for God's purpose--to be God's liberating agent of Good News of
great joy for all people.
Because Jesus now
baptizes with the Holy Spirit, baptism marks us also as God's beloved children
and agents of God's goodwill in our lives today. When you were baptized, God
claimed you as God's own, and said to you just as God said to Jesus, "In
you I have willed the good."
Through Jesus'
life and ministry, we have seen the power present to do good--Jesus opened
himself fully to God's will and strengthened that relationship through prayer
and times of renewal. We today still are inspired by the good that he
demonstrated. Whether it was healing the sick, or standing up for the outcast,
or challenging oppressive powers, in all that he did, Jesus reflected God's
love and power.
Nothing deterred
him from his mission to spread this goodness. Even when faced with death, he
refused to break solidarity with God. So strong was this relationship that not
even death could put a stop to it. Through the resurrection, God's goodness has
been made available to all people.
We are called, no,
we are claimed by God in our baptism to follow in the example of Jesus and let
God's goodness flow through us. This is why, when we reaffirm our baptismal
vows, we are told these words: "Remember your baptism, and be
thankful."
Even when we
backslide and break relationship with God and others, remember that God isn't
going to leave you. In moments of despair and doubt and desolation, the great
church reformer Martin Luther would say to himself as a reminder, "I was
baptized." I was baptized. This makes a difference in my life and in what
I can do in this world.
Tomorrow, be sure
to stop by the baptismal font and let your hands dip in the water. Bring that
water to your forehead and let it drip down your face, remembering your baptism
and all that was promised. May you seek to strengthen and deepen your
relationship with the Divine, that in all you do, in all that you say, in your
work, in all your relationships, God may be seen in you. And in everything you
do, may you work for the good.
