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The Baptism of our Lord January 9, 2011 Matthew 3:13-17 I suspect I have not previously shared with you that I have been a Sherlock Holmes fan since I was a young boy, and as a somewhat older man, am an acknowledged expert in the field. Now as a child, I was fascinated by the great detective's ability to piece together clues and come up with theories and explanations, which, of course, always made sense. Now I also noticed early on that Sherlock would change his theory if necessary when new clues became available. I am still fairly good when it comes to noticing what some might call disparate clues, piecing them together, and coming to a conclusion. Before you ask, my conclusions are invariably right. Now, there are some clues in our gospel today. Clues? To what? Well, let us find out. Recall for a moment what you have been hearing about recently. We have a young couple, betrothed, who journey to Bethlehem, where this young mother-to-be becomes a mom indeed. A baby boy is born, who shall be named Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. He shall be called, as the angel told Mary, Emmanuel, which means God With Us. He grows up and becomes a man. A man who is without sin, who knows his Father in heaven, who fulfills all righteousness. Now Jesus knows as well as you and I do that doing what God requires, doing God's will, is difficult. You and I cannot do it, no matter how hard we try. But Jesus could, temptations and all, and did. This young man humbles the proud but exalts the humble, he is meek but forceful when needed and teaches us to do the same. This young man talks about a Good Samaritan and lives a life that exemplifies his parable. A young man who encourages the study of scripture as he did when he lifted up Mary who listened at his feet. This is a young man who is faithful, who prays for discernment of God's will, who teaches us to also pray for discernment as to where God is leading us. More clues coming up... Reflect that in the last couple weeks, we have heard a story that teaches us that sometimes what we think is righteous is not what God considers right. For example, think of Joseph's intent to divorce his betrothed. Joseph, a righteous man, was going to do the right thing, at least by the standards of the day. Yet that was not what God considered righteous, it was not what God wanted done, and God sent an angel to Joseph. Now unfortunately, much as we might wish it, God does not send angels to us, to correct us in our assumptions and false conclusions. I noticed another clue in this gospel. Did you pick up how John says, "I need to be baptized by you..." Did you catch that John used the word need? John is right, he humbly knows that he is a sinner and he knows that he needs to be baptized by Jesus, but in this instance, God has something else in mind. Jesus says that he must be baptized to "fulfill all righteousness," meaning to do God's will and it is God's will that Jesus be baptized. Not because Jesus is a sinner, he is sinless, but because he will save his people from their sins. The sinless is baptized for the forgiveness of sin. The Holy eats with the unholy, with tax collectors and others. He invites us to his banquet as well. Immortal God dies on the cross, emptying himself and becoming human. Remember last week hearing how the Word became flesh and dwelt among us? Yeah, that Word, that Jesus, that Emmanuel. Here is another clue. It is something else I have noticed over the years, and that is that every year about this time, we as the people of God are reminded about Jesus' baptism, that it took place, that the Son of God, the Son of Man was baptized. The sinless was baptized! There is incredible, cosmic significance to this! It is significant for you and for me, to your life, to my life, to our lives now, to our lives to come, to our lives together as part of the body of Christ! This is where our clues are pointing! The significance of Jesus' baptism literally means that we do not just accept our baptism and go on our merry ways living what we consider to be our normal, ordinary, everyday lives. We are baptized, we are set free. We should celebrate the day of our baptisms, and we should celebrate that we are baptized. As we tell parents and sponsors when they bring a child, baby or otherwise, to be baptized, that their child is baptized into Christ, sealed with the cross of Christ forever. Their child has received the Holy Spirit, not in the form of a descending dove, but received in the water and the words by the power and command of Christ who was baptized before us. In addition, promises are made, by parents, by sponsors, by you as members of this worshipping community. Promises such as living with them among God's faithful people, bringing them to the word of God and communion, teaching them the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, placing into their hands the holy scriptures, nurturing them in faith and prayer, that our children learn to trust God, to proclaim Christ through their lives, caring for others and God's word, working for justice and peace. Now you may not remember your own baptism, but those of you who have received instruction in the Christian faith, through confirmation classes or as adults, made these same promises on your own behalf. My friends, you have been baptized by a baptism that is life changing. Now imagine what Lutheran Church of the Cross might look like if you grab hold of what God has given you in your baptism. You have heard these words from Isaiah in our first reading this morning:
I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the LORD, that is my name; Brothers and sisters, these are words, that if we live them, can change the world! We are reminded to celebrate Jesus' baptism and we are reminded to celebrate and live our own baptisms. Maybe we should think again about our baptisms, because we have been baptized by water and the Holy Spirit, and that should ignite a fire within our hearts, the fire the smolders even now. Let your fire burn, my friends, let it burn, and remember we are in God's image, loved beyond all reckoning, imagine LCC on fire with the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus makes all things new, that includes you and me! AMEN Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota |
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