Remember your baptism

Today we enter a new season in the liturgical calendar of the church; the season called Time after Epiphany.

As followers of Jesus who practice our faith according to Lutheran teachings, we order our worship life by the liturgical seasons to help us keep our focus on Jesus. These liturgical seasons (that begin with Advent and end with Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday in the Time after Pentecost) follow the cycle of Jesus’ birth and early days on this earth; the three short years of his ministry; the three days of his arrest, suffering, and death; his glorious resurrection and his dramatic ascension back to God. In each season, we hear scripture stories and readings connected with a particular time of Jesus’ life. As we go through the seasons and hear the stories each year, and repeat the cycle every year over the course of our lives, we gain wisdom and understanding and knowledge about what it means to be joined with Jesus in this life on earth that God has given us.

We’ve covered a lot of ground since this current church year began 6 weeks – we’ve gone through the 4 weeks of Advent and the 12 days of Christmas and the day of Epiphany itself. So, we’ve waited for the promised Christ child to be born of Mary and worshiped that newborn child with the shepherds and followed the star with the Magi -the shining light that reveals the glory of God illuminated in the Christ child – and we’ve fallen down to pay homage – to worship – and bring our gifts to the newborn king. 

Now during this Time after Epiphany – this season of ordinary time, as our Episcopal siblings would say – the glory of God that shines through Christ Jesus will continue to be revealed to us through the gospel stories we will hear. These stories will tell us of the early days of Jesus’ ministry; as he grows in his true identity and begins his public ministry; as he performs miracles and gathers his disciples and followers around him and shares the good news that the promise of scripture has been fulfilled through him. 

And so we begin today – with Jesus’ baptism.

The story of Jesus’ baptism is told in 3 of the 4 gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke); yet, only the gospel of Luke frames the story with these intriguing words – As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah…I find these words intriguing because they remind us that the people were waiting…waiting for the Messiah, the anointed one, that God had promised in their scriptures to send and to deliver them from the oppressive power of evil under which they lived (that is, at that time, the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire). The people were waiting – with exception and hope – to be set free from the bondage that held them captive.

And so they wondered – is John the one for whom they are waiting? John is clear in his response – he is clear in his own identity – he is not the one. He is neither powerful enough nor worthy enough to set the people free. John does what he is called to do and he does it well – he cries out in the wilderness, calling people to repent and to be baptized with water – to turn back to God and come clean; and he points the people toward Jesus, the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 

John does his job well; so well, in fact, that he is soon imprisoned for rebuking Herod the ruler. By the time Jesus begins his ministry, John’s voice is silenced; again, a sign that John is not the Messiah. (You can read of John’s arrest in the in between verses that are missing from today’s gospel reading.)

Then, we are told, Jesus appears; he has been baptized, along with all the people gathered at the river. Jesus is baptized as a sign of his full humanity and his solidarity with all of humanity. Jesus is truly human; he  is one of us….yet…at the same time, he is Emmanuel, God with us, who comes down to earth to proclaim God’s love for all people through his words and his deeds and through his own body and blood, given up for us on the cross.

Notice what Jesus does next, after his baptism – he prays. He connects back with God and stays in relationship with God, the source of his life and the foundation of his mission. While he is praying, the heavens open and the dove (the sign of the Holy Spirit) descends and the voice of the Lord proclaims Jesus’ true identity – Your are my Son, my beloved; with you I am well pleased.

Through the love and grace of God, we too are claimed by God and given our true identity as God’s beloved people in the waters of baptism. We are washed clean of all of our sin; forgiven; and raised from the water into new life in Jesus Christ. In baptism we are marked with the sign of the cross and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever. This is God’s sign to us – God’s promise to us – that no matter what happens in life – in all the ups and downs of life – we are not alone; God is with us; Jesus is standing with us; the Holy Spirit is leading us toward God’s kin-dom. God is as close to us as our next breath; our next prayer.

These past days have been difficult days in the world. Massive wildfires in Los Angeles are burning out of control, killing people and destroying property; another example of the devastation caused by climate change. Babies are freezing to death in Gaza because their family homes have been destroyed and humanitarian aid has been blocked by the State of Israel and with the complicity of the United States. 

We are a week away from the inauguration of a new president and some of us wonder what unexpected chaos and hardship might result from that. In all these tribulations, we, as followers of Jesus, hold on to the promise of our baptism – we are not alone. God is with us.

So today brings us this sweet gospel message…in the waters of life, Jesus is always with us, washing over us, renewing us, giving us life. And when we listen in the prayers we offer, in the silence of the moment, we hear the voice of the Lord calling us and claiming us as beloved children of God, with whom God is well pleased. And when we pay attention we can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit surrounding us, giving us power to stand strong in the time of trial and tribulation, to resist the power of evil forces in the world, and to work for the coming of God’s kin-dom, God’s reign of justice, love and peace that God has promised us and for which we wait with expectation and hope. 

My prayer for you today is that you will remember your baptism every day. Remember your true identity – you are God’s beloved child; redeemed by Jesus; and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live boldly in the world. Go out from this place with joy and share this good news with everyone you meet.