Advent Lutheran Church

"The Baptism of Our Lord"

Have you heard the prophet?  You know the one…the baptizer; the one called John the Baptist. He was at the Jordan preaching and teaching just as he had been doing.  There were people everywhere.  Then people started to shout out questions like; what should we do?  He answered; give what you are able; if you have two coats give one to someone who doesn’t have even one; if you have food do the same.  Even tax collectors and soldiers were asking what they should do.  There was an excitement in the crowd; you could hear the questions wondering if he was the Messiah.  Apparently, John heard them because he told us that he wasn’t even able to untie the sandals of the One who was coming and the One will baptize us with wind, the Holy Spirit and fire, while he baptized us with water.  This One will gather us like a farmer gathers the wheat. He urged everyone to start a new ethical life-that is what we needed to do to prepare for the messiah.  He even said that being a descendent of Abraham wasn’t enough.  Can you believe that!  He condemned all who sought his baptism that did not intend to change their ways.  Even after this, people still flocked to the river to be baptized.

Many people were baptized, but there was something different this time.  As we started to get out of the river, there was the usual praying and talking but there was one who continued to pray, we couldn’t hear what he said. Then all of a sudden, this dove came out of the sky and landed on him.  He continued to have a conversation with God but we all watched this dove.

Martin Luther passionately reminded people to “remember their baptism!”  Jesus’ baptism is memorable.  I can’t remember my baptism. I know it happened in Cedar Rapids IA when I was 3 weeks old.  But this isn’t what Luther meant, he was talking about something bigger than that memory of one day. Luther wrote, "A truly Christian life is nothing else than a daily baptism once begun and ever to be continued." I think Martin Luther wanted us to remember each day who we are, and whose we are, and how beloved we are. Even in an age when we spend so much time talking about "self esteem," don't we still long to be called by name and to hear that we are beloved?

"After the death of her husband, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria said, "There is no one left to call me Victoria.”  In spite of her royalty, Queen Victoria needed someone to call her by name.

The God of Israel, the God whose story is told in this scripture, always calls us by name: Adam, Eve, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Samuel, Mary. This is the God we see in the face of Jesus Christ. The God who walks along the shore and calls by name: "Peter, Andrew, John, follow me."

This is the God who knows your name, who knows the number of the hairs on your head, the God who remembers you and does not forget you, the God who, even when the winds howl and the seas roar, listens for your voice, knows your cry, and says to each of us, "Do not be afraid. I know you. I have called you by name. I am coming to help you. You are mine."

This morning we celebrate Faith Stepping Stone #1 Baptism and all of those who were baptized at Advent this last year.  We celebrate God meeting them and us in the waters of baptism.  It is in this water that Jesus meets us, forgives us, claims us and calls us by name.  Like Jesus, we are named as beloved, precious, honored, and loved.  God is always with us.  We don’t know what life will hold in the future. We pray for a life full of joy and health and peace, but we also know that, being human there will be pain and loss and sorrow.   We know, as the prophet Isaiah knew, that faith does not protect us from the realities of life. They will, like all human beings, pass through the waters of life's hardships. They will cross the rivers of life's pains, and they will walk through the fire of being a human being. But we also know that God knows their name, that God created them, formed them, redeemed them, and calls them by name. God will never forget them, will never leave them alone, will come to them and will be with them at every turn. So, as Isaiah tells us, God says to them and says to you and to me too:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.

When you pass through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, the flame shall not consume you.

I have called you by name, and you are mine.

When Jesus meets us in the water, the water overflows with promise--forgiveness, repentance, God calling us by name, God claiming us as God's own. Like Jesus, we are named as beloved, precious, honored, and loved. God is with us always, so that we do not need to be afraid. Jesus is the fulfillment and embodiment of God's promise. For after meeting us in the water, Jesus meets us in every circumstance and season of life and even in the moment of death. From the water, Jesus meets us in the journey of life that ends in a cross and a tomb. Even there Jesus is with us; with Jesus, we pass through to new life.

When Jesus meets us in the water, we overflow with promise ourselves. As God's beloved daughters and sons, we are also anointed for service. Like the people with John at the Jordan, we are filled with expectation.

Baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire, our lives are transformed as the old is burned away and new life is breathed into us. We are the ones in whom Jesus' work of forgiveness and repentance continues. Ours is the voice that proclaims the promise of the gospel, calling all people to the water, where God in Jesus promises to meet them.

We are anointed to be messengers of this good news: God is interested in gathering the harvest, not judging; God is only interested in loving you!   Last week Pastor Susan reminded us and it bears repeating: we are not sent into the world to save it, nor judge it nor condemn it.  As the church we are called to be evangelical to talk about our faith. I want to leave you with a question from the ELCA facebook post this morning: When was the last time you talked about your faith with someone who does not share your beliefs? What did you say? What did you learn?

No matter when it was or what you said, remember God calls you by name and God loves you. Amen