January 10, 2010: 1 Epiphany
God is present, prophecies Isaiah. “Do not fear, for I am with you.” God created us, Isaiah cries, and because of this God will redeem us. God will be with us as we pass through waters, rivers, fire, and flame. He will gathers us together, our sons from far away and our daughters from the ends of the earth. Everyone will be gathered and called, for God is present in our lives.
John picks up on Isaiah’s words and announces to all of creation a specific calling. To baptism, John cries, calling forth all to pass through the waters. John’s faith is firmly grounded in Isaiah’s words. John recognizes that God is present in this baptism, for John knows that the baptism he offers only calls people to the water; it is God who goes with the willing into the water, and more than that it is God whose fire and flame try and temper those who pass through to the other side.
Today we celebrate baptism, both in the retelling of the story of Jesus entering the Jordan’s holy flow and in the beautiful children we baptize today, precious William and Luke who will come to the waters with us and accept God’s hand as they pass through. The water of baptism is more than a personal adventure for the faithful follower of Christ that each of us baptized have become. Baptism recalls and defines the gracious act of Jesus, who chooses to join with us in earthly life, with all of existence’s dirt and grime gathering upon him as he walks in God’s fallen creation. God himself in perfection and wholeness chooses the path of one who collects the soil and dis-ease of earthly life, and so to the waters Jesus goes, a swim in the Jordan that for no heavenly reason he plunges into. Jesus, as God, whole and perfect, does not need to be made clean! Yet into the water he goes, accepting the fullness of human life, and taking the lead in where that life must go. Jesus diving into the water is part of the sacred act of God’s redemption, a redemption God wishes to give to all, for out of love God has chosen us.
Hear part of Isaiah’s prophecy again. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you. Even though we collect the dirt of sin and brokenness in our existence, God loves us. Each one of us. We are precious. And why not? We are his creation, his creatures. God could no more dislike us as we could dislike something we have made.
(skip at 10 AM) You might have heard that wonderful acerbic description of certain folks, “Someone only a mother could love”. Someone only a mother could love is a backhanded compliment if you think about it. Sure they are unlovable by those around them (hence the backhand), but they are loved, and that is a gift of precious strength. We have plenty of examples of those who find hard to love. More than those who frustrate us or who unnerve us there are more extreme examples. Criminals come to mind, those who are tried and convicted and those who have collected so much power they seem to exist above human law. No matter. Their actions and personalities make it almost impossible for our hearts to open up and love. More poignantly than these unsavory characters are those whose mental or physical challenges make us too uncomfortable, whose situation and challenges remind us too much of our weaknesses and make us squeamish and unsettled. Recently there have been advertisements from groups looking for financial help in finding medical care for third world children born with congenital issues. The pictures they use are startling and upsetting. I have found myself, quite sadly, having to turn the page quickly, the photo too unnerving for me to look at. We find ourselves unable to open our hearts and love these precious children of God, if only because of our limited ability to see. Our own fear blocks us from loving. Pity perhaps, but for many the challenge to love is too great. At least there is a mother somewhere for this precious child, for weak human hearts sometimes meet barriers they cannot scale or break through.
(Pick up at 10) For God, there is no barrier to love. God acts without fear. God’s eyes are as open and willing as the mother, whose child cannot stray far enough to ever leave the protective warmth of their mother’s heart. God’s heart is open and filled with passion for each and every piece of his creation, and God’s love pours out freely for all.
God’s love leads him to accept the dirtiness of our existence and choose to fearlessly plunge into the Jordan. God’s love, greater than our imagining, accepts the unacceptable brokenness of human existence and chooses the baptism of release. And as Jesus descends, the invitation is offered back to the rest of God’s broken and beloved creation. Jesus’ footsteps become the invitation for us to follow, for us to become fearless and fling ourselves not into the death that deep water can bring, but to a death that leads to the life that living in God’s embrace promises.
And the calling does not end at the surface of the water as our newly cleaned bodies break the surface. The calling leads on. John knows that baptism is more than a cleaning ritual; baptism calls the faithful through the water to the test of life lived on the other side. A trial of fire, John says.
That life may be dangerous and hard, yet hear where the call is coming from. The call to baptism that John gives voice to is sent from our creator, but the invitation is made not in anger or in a desire for justice. God’s call to us is made in love, a love beyond all others, a love that has no equal. For God invites us to the waters and into a relationship through and beyond them to remind us of his love in creating us and to prove his love in redeeming us and blessing us. The blessing is to be joined with Christ on the other side, called to be with Jesus, to follow Jesus, to learn from Jesus.
This calling, to follow and truly to be Christ like in our lives, means confronting the very problems that Jesus did. Immediately after his baptism Jesus’ life has him in the desert confronting his demons, the demons of selfishness and fear that could keep Jesus from completing his mission. Past this confrontation Jesus is sent into the world, casting out demons, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, providing for those with nothing, making peace where there is anger, cleaning the disease from the holy places, and finally announcing the Good News of what Jesus’ arrival holds for all.
Joined with Jesus on the other side of the waters of baptism we can overcome our demons, and his mission becomes ours. If hearing about it here in the scriptures, sermons, and the baptismal creed we will soon recite is not enough, as you leave this place you will be charged to go forth. If nothing else our worship together is meant to remind you of and reinforce your baptismal calling, to go forth and be God’s hands, feet, and voice in the world. All because you passed through the water, a passage you remember, celebrate, and reaffirm today. All because a community of faith and a family full of love brought you to the water’s edge, knowing that the only life available for you is the life lived on the other side, bonded forever to Jesus in God’s mission. All of us, from eldest leader to youngest newborn child, have a place on the other side of the water, ever growing in the knowledge and love of God and of our savior, redeemer, and co-worker, Jesus Christ.
(skip at 10 ) As part of God, working in the world, barriers to love cease. Criminals can be loved and cherished, even if safely placed where they cannot hurt us. Those beyond the law can be ignored, for our lives are tied not to their unwanted success but to a mission that leaves their exploits as miniscule and worthless. And God’s love pouring into and through us empowers us to overcome pity and fear and reach out our loving hearts to those with challenges in life. This is but a small window in to the world of the baptized, for Jesus’ ministry extends to every corner of existence that needs reclaiming.
(pick up at 10) Our lives, securely on the other side of the waters, joined with Christ in the work of redeeming creation, is ready to be sent forth. Lives called through the waters into new life, lives called and sent. Lives grounded in God’s love that is made known in baptism.
