Jesus Baptism and Ours

Matthew 3:13-17

January 12, 2013

Baptism of our Lord

I always thought it was strange

that we go right from Jesus birth to his baptism.
He’s an older man by this time, around 30,

it seems like there would be some other events in there.

But this is actually how our life in the church goes too.
We’re born and, for most of us,

our first church involvement milestone is baptism.

We know that baptism is important to our lives as Christians.

The Scriptures stressed its importance

Luther stressed its importance of baptism

we stress its importance too. We remember it we discuss it,

we teach it, we give the gift of baptism

to our children and anyone who wants it, we do it.

Now for many years,

people have stressed that baptism is primarily

about the forgiveness of sins.

Even for Lutherans, we have gotten the impression that baptism
is mainly –sometimes only - about forgiveness and repentance.

A ritual that forgives our sins so that we can

enter into heaven as righteous people when we die.

A “get out of jail free card”, so to speak.

Some of us grew up hearing nothing much more about baptism.

But the question is holds, if baptism is just about forgiveness of sins

then why did Jesus need to be baptized in the Jordan?

And John was right, if that’s all it was about,

Jesus should be baptizing him,
not the other way around.

  

I think the answer for us about what baptism

really means, is found in the scriptures, in this event. Jesus baptism.

Jesus baptism is in every gospel. It’s important.

Only Jesus death and resurrections and a few

other things are in each book.

Each writer thought it was important enough to include.

Now John’s baptisms were for repentance and forgiveness of sins.

He makes that pretty clear to everyone.

And some have tried to say that Jesus was just doing it

as an example to the rest of us. He did it, so we should too.

But it doesn’t say that at all.

And a lot more things happen in Jesus baptism.

It’s a unique event. Different than the rest of the baptisms John did.

And that is what we are given. Not John’s baptism, but Jesus baptism.

In Jesus baptism, he was named by God.

Given an identity as belonging to God.

“This is my son”, the voice said.

We get this in our baptism too.

More than just created by God as all creatures are

The Baptism of Christ, Daniel Bonnell

when we are baptized, we are identified as God’s own.

In Jesus baptism,

The voice from heaven
said that Jesus was loved.

“This is my son, my beloved, 

with whom I am pleased.”

When we are loved,
it is important to be told we are loved.

To have that expressed
to us in different ways.

When we are baptized,
we are told that we are loved by God.

We are cherished forever.

In every account, when Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened up.
Maybe this was a also a description for how the clouds parted,

but each one says it like this – heaven was opened up.

When we are baptized in Jesus name, the separation between

us and the eternal is broken. We are joined with our creator.

And in every account,

the Spirit, in the form of a dove lands on Jesus.

And it's then that he is called into his public ministry.

In our baptism, the Spirit lands on us too.

And when we are baptized,

we are commissioned to do ministry in Jesus name,

to spread the word of God, the love and acceptance of Christ,

to be kind and compassionate to others,

to stand up for justice and the oppressed

we are commissioned to share the word

and the gift of baptism that we’ve received.

We don’t have to ask permission,

that is given to us from the start.

And finally, in baptism our sins are forgiven.
But not primarily so we can escape eternal punishment,

but so we can start anew after each stumble.

Forgiveness is a second, third, and

four hundreth chance to start again every day.

So we are not permanently marked by our past.

We are not spending our whole time trying to redeem ourselves.

So God’s ministry through us is not hampered by our

own shortcomings, God has given us forgiveness -

the gift of being able to start anew.

The church by definition, is the community of people

who have received this gift of baptism.

People who know we have been given this gift

and are living in it’s light and deciding

what it means and what God wants us to do with it.

It is central to our lives together.

When we are baptized we become part of that group forever.

 

I want you to take a second now.

Close your eyes to take away any distraction.

That cross of water you put on your forehead

at the beginning of the worship is dry now.

Just like the water of  your baptism has dried off

but even though you can’t see it or feel it, it’s still there.

Remember that water.

And remember that you have been baptized.

•  You have been named by God.
• You have been chosen as God’s own child.
• You have been told that you are loved forever.
• The separation between you and God has been taken away.
• You have been anointed by the Spirit for ministry
• And whenever you don’t live up to your calling in life, every day you are forgiven and given a chance to start again.

Thank you Jesus for giving us this gift.
May we always live it,

and share it’s joy with others.