On Baptism Sunday as we remember our own baptism, we use the opportunity for us to reclaim, to reaffirm who we are, especially when that narrative in our heads sometimes tells us that we are not enough, especially because we live in a world that tells us we need to strive for more, to be more, to be perfect, to never admit that things may be falling apart.
January 12, 2025
“Baptism”
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
The people were filled with expectation, and everyone wondered whether John might be the Christ. John replied to them all, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.” With many other words John appealed to them, proclaiming good news to the people.
When everyone was being baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form like a dove. And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”
Baptism Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
In some shape or fashion, this text occurs in all four Gospels. Which means as many of you have heard me say…if a story occurs more than once in our sacred text, we as people of faith need to pay attention. Because usually the authors of the four Gospels do not agree on much. They were pretty selective of what they included in their own Gospels, choosing to only add stories which supported their overall themes. The fact that all four Gospels agreed to include this particular story in some shape or fashion is a miracle in and of itself.
Sure, they may not have agreed on the details exactly and only a few of them actually mention Jesus being baptized. But they all recognize that something significant happened in this moment, this moment when Jesus claims his identity, this moment which marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
So, knowing all four Gospels include this story in some shape or fashion leads me to ask probably a heretical question…Why? What is it about this story which allowed all four Gospel writers to find common ground? Why not a story about world peace? Why not a story about solving world poverty? Why not a story about breaking the oppressive systems? What is it about the practice of inviting everyone to come forward, of creating space for us to put aside all the stuff which separates us from becoming the person God created us to be? What is it about the practice of inviting everyone to come forward, to feel the water washing themselves clean? What is it about the practice of us emerging from the waters, renewed, refreshed and restored?
For me, for us as people of faith, it is simply this: It is in that moment we are transformed. It is in that moment we began the journey of becoming the person God created us to be. It is in that moment we encounter the Holy. It is in that moment we discover who we really are by embracing the life-giving knowledge of whose we are.
That is the point Luke is making through his version of this particular story. A few verses are left out in the lectionary today. When we go back and take a look at them, we learn that John the Baptist is not the one who baptizes Jesus. At this point in the story, John the Baptist is in prison. For Luke, He has already done what he was supposed to do. He has prepared the way. He has announced the coming of God’s Beloved Community. John the Baptist has done what he was called to do. He has prepared the way for the coming of God’s Beloved Community.
Which means, again another heretical thought, as people of faith, Luke is telling us we don’t really need to know who baptized Jesus because well, that’s not important. What is important is what comes after the baptism. What is important is the moment when the Holy Spirit comes down like a dove. What is important is that we hear… You are My Beloved in Whom I am Well Pleased.
Or let me say it this way… Every year I am asked a particular question regarding this Sunday… “I have not been baptized. Am I allowed to participate?”
Please hear me say, please hear this community of faith say that you don’t need to have been baptized to participate in this practice of remembering. EVERYONE is invited to come forward and dip their hands in the water. This remembering is more of an invitation to reflect on the moment when we were transformed, when we began the journey of becoming the person God created us to be. This moment could have happened when we first emerged from the baptismal waters. This moment could have happened the first time we decided to embrace this crazy thing called faith. This moment could have happened in a coffee shop when we were having a conversation.
What is important is that we had this moment because it was in this moment we claimed our true identity… Beloved Children of God. In this moment we heard the words, maybe for the first time…that We Are God’s Beloved Sons, We Are God’s Beloved Daughters in whom God is well pleased.
This remembering of this moment is an opportunity for us to reclaim, to reaffirm who we are, especially when that narrative in our heads sometimes tells us that we are not enough, especially because we live in a world which tells us we need to strive for more, to be more, to be perfect, to never admit that things may be falling apart.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying baptism isn’t important. It is because it is a visible sign of our commitment to our faith, a visible sign of embracing who we are becoming. However, being baptized or not baptized does not prevent us from remembering, from reclaiming, from reframing the narrative which is often put upon us by others in this world.
For Midway Christian Church, for us as people of faith, whether we are baptized or not, this invitation to remember the moment when we encountered the Holy, maybe for the first time is a moment for new beginnings. It is a moment where we as a community of faith are invited to open our hearts, to our minds to “becoming instruments which bring unity and peace to our neighbors.” It is a moment to remember our personal transformation into becoming the person God created and calls us to be.
As we dip our hands in the water, let us Remember that we are claimed and named. Remember that we have been transformed. Remember that from the moment we first heard those words claiming us and naming us, we were called to live a life based on the principles of the Kingdom of God, embracing our mission which is to bring love, healing, comfort, justice and peace for all of God’s creation.
In just a few moments, everyone will be invited to come forward and remember that moment when you were first transformed by God’s grace. And as you do, remember your call as one of God’s children to bring hope and grace to all that are hurting. remember your call as one of God’s servants to support those around you on their journey. Remember your call to pray for one another and to pray to nourish your spirit.
As we dip our hands in the water, remember whose we are. We are God’s, named and claimed as one of God’s own, loved more than we could ever imagine. Remember we are children of God in whom God takes great delight. Let us Never forget this good news because this life-transforming, this earth-shattering, this life-giving news makes all the difference for you and me as children of God. We are loved more than we could ever imagine. This good news challenges us, invites us, inspires us to become the people of love God created and calls us to be. This good news challenges us to become people of grace whom this world so desperately needs right now. This good news, this life changing news, this life-giving news challenges us, inspires us, invites us to become people who are building up God’s Beloved Community here on Earth for all of God’s people. May it be so. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, January 12, 2025 – Baptism Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22.
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