Epiphany 1: The Baptism of Jesus ~ Truth be told

The Ven Richard I Cluett
January 7, 2007
Isaiah 43:1-7 + Acts 8:14-17 + Luke 3:15-17,21-22

Today I want to tell you a truth. You don’t have to be baptized to be a child of God. Each child, every child born of the flesh of a human mother and father is created by God, created in the image of God, is God’s child – son or daughter of God, simply by virtue of being God’s creation. All people are God’s people, every person is God’s person.

Jesus is God’s son in a unique and wonderfully mysterious way. That is shown to one and all on the banks of the Jordan River and to one and to all who hear of his baptism in the words of scripture. It must be important, it is reported in all four gospels.

Each of us here is God’s child in a unique and wonderfully mysterious way.

What is new in the Baptism of Jesus is the affirmation, the confirmation that this gift is for all people - everyone, without restriction, without merit, without limit, without requirement. Not even the requirement of John the Baptist that we repent.

In our tradition, we usually receive the baptism of Jesus as a child, before there is any need of repentance. As we all know, there is ample opportunity to repent, and repent, and repent, and repent... as we live out our lives and live in this relationship with God. The Good News is that no matter what, no matter whom, we can be baptized in the name of God, and know we are the beloved of God, and that Jesus is our truth and can empower our lives.

We are the beloved of God before, during, and after repentance. The baptism of Jesus was God's Revelation of that Good News, and our baptism is the sign that Good News is for us, too. And we claim it for ourselves and for our children. And so we baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

To be the Beloved of God. What an awesome Gift. What an incredible knowledge. What a welcome call - to live out our lives as the Beloved of God. If you want to really work at getting inside what it means to be the Beloved of the God, there is no better way to spend some time than with Henri Nouwen in his book, The Life of the Beloved.

It is true that the baptism of Jesus is for us. It is for us to know that Jesus is the child of God, that Jesus is the beloved of God, and that Jesus would stand with us in the muddy waters of the Jordan River, as he will stand with each of us in the muddy waters of life.

Do you remember that Advent 1 Collect that speaks and prays "Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us…"

That’s what baptism is about -- putting on the armor of Light -- the baptism of Jesus and the baptism of you and me and the baptism of little Ella later this morning.

God in Jesus of Nazareth has come to join us in this mortal life that you and I, each of us, live, plod through, slog through, and walk through everyday. He who is without sin has come to stand with those who do... sin. He is the one who deems each of us worthy to be baptized with the baptism by which he has been baptized and to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and to be marked as God’s own forever.

Some of you may remember that our diocese had some association for a while with the Russian Orthodox Church through the ministry of Bishop Mark and a partner relationship between St. Nikolai Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow and this cathedral. Many will remember that Bishop Mark's ministry took him to Russia at the invitation of the Patriarch to help support the Rus-sian Christians and the Orthodox Church in re-establishing and spreading their faith in the context of their new freedom.

When Bishop Mark returned from one of his visits he told me a baptism story that I want to share with you. It took place in St. Petersburg – which during the communist era was named Leningrad.

The priest emerged onto the street outside the church where the long Orthodox liturgy that had just taken place. As he did he met a young man who looked like one of the Hell’s Angel’s, although there was no motor-cycle in evidence - leather jacket, jeans, boots, and a bandanna on his head. He was carrying a bundle close to his chest. “Father,” he said, “I want you to baptize my child.” The priest was a bit surprised, and asked, “Are you a believer?” “No, I can't believe,” said the man, “But I want her to” nodding toward the bundle in his arms. The priest took them in and baptized the baby girl.

The priest told Bishop Mark that’s how it was all over Russia. People felt that they had been robbed of faith for the past 75 years. They had been robbed of security. They had been robbed of the power of faith. They realized they couldn't reclaim it just by willing it, but they did want it, and they wanted it for their children most of all.

They saw purpose in the lives of people who believe; they saw hope when they no longer had hope. A new world had been opened up to them and they wanted to come in and be part of that wonder and mystery and to have that power at work in their lives and in the lives of their children.

We just heard God’s vision from Isaiah:
Thus says the Lord,
he who created you,
he who formed you,
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…
you are precious in my sight,
and honored, and I love you,…
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."

Everyone. Everyone. Everyone.

What God revealed in Jesus is the passionate longing of God for humanity and for every human being. There is no limit to God's longing. There is no limit to the time of God's endurance or to God's forbearance. There is no limit to the lengths God will go to claim or reclaim one of God's own.

In the person of Jesus of Nazareth we see this God most clearly. It was what Jesus saw and heard when he came up out of the waters of baptism.

In our own baptism and in the baptism of those we love, we say Amen. Thanks be to God.