January 10, 2010 - Baptism of Our Lord

Called, Claimed, Commissioned!
Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
The Baptism of Our Lord – January 10, 2010

Baptism of our Lord Sunday
My nephew Chase's baptism,
the reason I wasn't here 2 weeks ago,
to meet my newest nephew,
to celebrate God's gift of baptism,
to welcome him to God's family.
But also to welcome him into my family -
the 1st time I got to meet him, to hold him, to see him in person.
And so we all got dressed up in our Sunday best,
and off to my brother Rob's church,
the same church (Roman Catholic, by the way)
where he was baptized as an adult, just a few years ago -
Everyone beaming,
happy, excited, proud –
the way all families are at such a moment.http://http://
And to hear us talk afterwards at the family gathering...
how good he was during church,
how quiet, how he really seemed to be paying attention.
His other grandmother, Jen's mom, thinks maybe he's destined to be a priest.
He held his hands as if he were praying while they stood at the baptismal font at the front of the church.
This child who hates to get baths, not a real fan of water, I guess,
didn't let out a peep as the priest poured water over his head,
baptizing him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Plenty of photo ops before and after,
wanting to capture this moment
filled with hope and promise and great expectations
of who Chase will become, what his life will hold.

It's how we all feel at a baptism,
whether it's a baby or an older child or a grown-up
– whether it's someone in our own family,
or someone we barely know.
The moment of baptism brings with it these great expectations
as we witness the beginning of a new life,
life given by God in Christ,
and we anticipate what could be.

We see that in Luke's telling of when Jesus was baptized.
The crowd is there at the Jordan.
Jesus is there too,
and he enters the river,
he feels the water wash over him,
and he comes up on the banks of the river
and stops for a time in prayer.
(Wouldn't you like to know what he said?)
Luke tells us that while Jesus was praying, the heavens were opened,
and the Holy Spirit comes down as a dove,
and a voice comes from heaven, saying,
“You are my Son, the Beloved;
with you I am well-pleased.”
It's a powerful moment,
a moment filled with great expectations
for who Jesus is,
and who he will become,
and all that his life will hold.

If we knew nothing else about this story of Jesus,
we might think, here at this new beginning,
hearing these words of love,
hearing the voice of God claiming Jesus as God's very own Son,
that his life holds nothing but promise,
that surely with God as his father,
Jesus will experience nothing but sunshine and roses.
Because surely those who are claimed by God,
who have this special relationship with God,
will have nothing but good luck and good fortune.
Surely his life will hold happiness and love and joy.
That's what God must want for God's beloved son.

And yet, what lies ahead for Jesus is not all goodness & light.
It will not all be smooth sailing from here on out for Jesus.
We have this powerful, poignant moment,
but read a little further,
past the long genealogy that Luke lays out
that connects Jesus to a long line of God's people,
all the way back to David,
all the way back to Israel, and Isaac, and Abraham,
all the way back to Adam,
keep going just a little bit past these verses,
and what happens next falls short of those great human expectations.
Because Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, leaves that place
and is led by the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness
where for 40 days he is tempted and tested by the devil.
Go beyond that, and it is not long before he is being resisted
and resented and rejected
by the very people he has been sent here to redeem.
(the end of chapter 4 has his hometown ready to throw Jesus off a cliff!)
And you know the end of that story,
how the road Jesus travels leads to Jerusalem
and the cross,
how these great expectations will lead him to die.
It's not what we would expect,
if all we had to go on was this snapshot Luke shows us this morning.
It's not what we would expect if all we had to go on
was the picture of all the smiling people taken at our baptism,
or the baptism of our child or grandchild
or niece or nephew or neighbor or friend.

But this gift of baptism,
as much as sometimes we act as though it's just divine fire insurance,
our get out of hell free card,
is not something that leads to safety or security in this life.
God claims Jesus as God's beloved son,
but that claiming is also a commissioning.
That claiming is a call –
not to escape from the world,
but to enter even more deeply in to the world,
where he will be tempted and troubled and tried.
He will be sent into the heart of humanity's hurt – to heal us;
into the anguish of our addictions – to assist us;
into the struggle of our sins & our sickness – to save us.

And we who follow Jesus,
who are baptized in his name,
are claimed and called by the same God.
We are saved and sent into our world with a mission,
changed so that we might be agents of change,
given a tangible promise of God's love that will never let us go,
so that we might share that love,
set free by being joined to Christ in his death and resurrection
so that we might serve God and each other.

Because before we ever did a thing to earn it,
God claimed us in the waters of baptism.
God called us God's own beloved sons & daughters.
God opened up the heavens and said,
“I have called you by name,
and you are mine.” (Is. 43)

This is the promise God gives to each of us -
a promise we are meant to share.

Amen.