The gospel of Luke describes the people who gathered to hear
John the Baptizer's words and to participate in the baptism he offered as
“filled with expectation.” Did you come to St. Nicholas' this morning “filled
with expectation?” What might that
expectation be?
I imagine we were pretty sure there would be nothing so
exciting here this morning as John declaring the Messiah will come with a
winnowing fork to gather up the good wheat into the granary and burn the chaff
with unquenchable fire. What a colorful
image of God's judgement! Out of
politeness we might listen to John, but then leave as quickly as possible to
find church setting where the message isn't so scary!
What was Jesus' experience in the crowd around John the
Baptizer that day like from Luke's perspective?
Luke reports that Jesus was among many people who came to be baptized
that day. In Luke's gospel we saw that
Jesus' had some understanding of himself as in an intimate relationship with
God when he was just 12 years old.
Remember how he stayed in the Temple listening to and asking questions
of the teachers there when his family, relatives and friends were returning
home. When questioned by his mother
about why he had chosen to do something that upset his parents, Jesus answered,
“Did you not know I must be in my Father's house?”
Most likely he heard John's prophecy about the coming of the
Messiah and God's judgement executed by the Messiah. How did he respond? He chose to be baptized with water, placing
himself among the other people who came for the baptism for the forgiveness of
sins. Then he began to pray. That day
Jesus chose to be like all the others who came to hear John with the expectation
that being baptized would bring them closer to the holiness God intended for
them. Led by the experience into prayer,
Jesus became open to a full revelation of his identity. God as Holy Spirit declares Jesus as “my son,
the Beloved.”
In the passage that follows the baptism account Luke comments
on the claim Jesus being God's son by tracing his lineage from “son (as was
thought) of Joseph” all the way back to “son of Seth, son of Adam, son of
God.” So Luke provides us with both the
mystical evidence of Jesus' origin and nature in the appearance of the Holy
Spirit at his baptism and in the human evidence of a genealogy based on the
Hebrew scripture.
So in Christian baptism we are following the path that Jesus
took as he began his ministry. When an
adult decides to follow, he or she begins as Jesus did: being baptized with water and then being
sealed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
When a child is presented by his or her family and godparents to become
a member of the Christian community, there is that same beginning. For a child, of course, what has happened
must be explained when he or she becomes old enough to understand.
Luke told us in the seventh and eighth chapters of Acts
about the experience of the Samaritans who responded to Philip's healing people
who were ill and “proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the
name of Jesus Christ.” After choosing to
become Christian, they were baptized with water. Yet the Christians who remained in Jerusalem
knew that these new Christians needed affirmation of their connection with
them. So they sent Peter and John to lay
hands on them. Through this, the
Samaritan Christians became empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Last Sunday, when I baptized A--, I preached about how God
reveals God's self to us in the sacraments—the outward and visible signs of an
inward and spiritual grace. I said that
this revelation called us to respond to the love of God revealed. Today we see that this sacramental pattern of
allowing ourselves to be open to God's revelation began with Jesus' coming to
John for baptism.
In the case of John the Baptizer and Jesus, the moment of
baptism came during a time of prophetic declaration. The writings of the
prophets in Hebrew scripture and prophetic tradition called for repentance and
turning back to following the guidance God gave them in the Law. John acted out of that prophetic tradition,
and Jesus responded.
Our moment of turning to God can come suddenly—or we may
experience many moments of slowly turning to God—or we may experience
both. These moments may have come or
perhaps will come in the midst of hearing someone preach, as the sacrament of
Eucharist is received, during a time of prayer, when scripture is read, when
music touches our hearts, or . . . . you could add more moments here as you
remember them. No matter what the
moment, God can use it.
We will
experience, as Jesus did, the desire that God places in our hearts to be
renewed and empowered. We will
experience a moment of knowing we are beloved by God—a child with whom God is
well pleased. Remember that
moment—remember all of those moments—and carry them in your heart. For life can be full of challenges, some of
which we may find trouble facing—Jesus certainly did. But never forget, beloved ones, God's Holy
Spirit will come with love and with power to sustain us, as indeed the Holy
Spirit came for the Samaritan Christians—and as the Holy Spirit came for Jesus.
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