January 9, 2011
Readings for the Baptism of the Lord, Year A
Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29 (UMH 761)
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:3-17
Back in the mid 1970s, I served as pastor of the Sheffield Federated Church, a union of United Methodists and American Baptists. I conducted a Confirmation class for some youth in the church, and discovered that five of them had not been baptized. Three were from Baptist families, so they had waited until they were old enough to take their own vows and, as their tradition requires, to be baptized by immersion. The other two were from Methodist families, but they also decided they wanted to be baptized by immersion ⎯ which Methodists sometimes do. So on a warm summer Sunday morning, we held our service at a small glacial pond known as Holbrook Pond, at the top of Sheffield Heights.
I had never done a baptism by immersion ⎯ didn’t have a clue how to go about it ⎯ so I spoke to a Baptist pastor and learned the technique, which works like this. Once waist deep in the water, the person to be baptized holds onto the pastor’s outstretched arm. The baptizer/pastor then places the other hand on the upper back of the person to be baptized and gently lowers him/her over backwards and under the water. Simple enough!
Now, this pond, being glacial, was very deep in the middle ⎯ deep enough that the water was very dark. There was a shallow water ledge along one side of the pond that extended about 10 feet out before it dropped off into the dark watery abyss. The plan was to wade out a short distance on this ledge for the baptism.
The first four baptisms went well. The fifth was a 14-year-old girl who was worried about getting water up her nose. And the water was quite cold. So, instead of allowing me to gently lower her into the water, she kept backing up. And I kept following her ⎯ I really had no choice since she was clinging tightly to my arm. I kept saying, “Are you ready?” and she’d say, “Yes.” But she would not go under. She just kept backing up. I noticed that we were getting very close to the drop-off, so I whispered, “Lisa, we are almost to the drop-off.” Immediately ⎯ and I do mean immediately ⎯ she let go of my arm, grabbed her nose, and dunked herself under the water.
The scriptures for the first Sunday after the Epiphany always deal with the Baptism of the Lord. This being Year A, we hear the story from Matthew’s perspective. In Year B, we hear Mark’s account, and in Year C, we hear Luke’s account. All three of these gospels, known as the synoptic gospels (because they all provide a synopsis of Jesus’ life), pretty much agree on the details. The Gospel of John, however, does not report on the baptism itself, or even if there were a baptism. Instead the focus is on what John the Baptist saw and heard. You can read John the Baptist’s testimony in the Gospel of John 1:19-34. That story is part of next week’s lectionary readings, and perhaps our Lay Speaker, Allan Michaud, will deal with this.
Since all four gospels tell of Jesus’ baptism, and since the first three gospels pretty much agree on the details, biblical scholars readily accept that the event is actual historical fact. And the church views the Baptism of the Lord as a significant event, for it tells of God’s affirmation of Jesus as God’s beloved Son, with whom God is well pleased. And it marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. It is also the basis of our Sacrament of Baptism, which most churches celebrate in some form or other, either by immersion, or by sprinkling or by pouring water over the head.
Some denominations, like the Baptists, for example, insist on “believer baptism” when the person is old enough to understand the significance of baptism and to take their own vows. Other denominations, like Methodists, for example, will baptize in any of those ways, and practice infant baptism, letting the parents take vows on the child’s behalf. Controversy arises when the groups that insist on “believer baptism” will not accept an infant baptism as being “efficacious” ⎯ that is, legitimate according to their beliefs ⎯ and so they will re-baptize by immersion to satisfy the belief of their tradition. Until the 1960s and the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church would not recognize a Protestant baptism of any kind as legitimate. And so they also re-baptized. But the Second Vatican Council decreed that Protestant baptism is a legitimate Sacrament, and anyone receiving it did not need to be re-baptized to be confirmed a Catholic.
That’s why the quote I put in the bulletin from Pope Benedict XVI came as a shock to me when I first read it. He recently decreed:
"The ecclesial communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery, are not Churches in the proper sense; however, those who are baptized in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the Church."1
Well, as Methodists, at least we believe we are moving on to perfection!
I placed two other quotes in your bulletin as well, to counter the words of the pope with words from Scripture ⎯ these from the Apostle Paul. They speak to the unity of the body of Christ ⎯ something that was under constant threat in Paul’s time as well.
To the troubled and conflicted church at Corinth, Paul wrote:
“For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greek, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”[1 Corinthians 12:13]
And to the church at Ephesus, a well-grounded, open and loving community, he wrote:
“There is one body, and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.” [Ephesians 4:4]
The church reminds us every year at this time about Jesus’ baptism. That should be a clue that our own baptism is vitally important. Our baptism should be life changing. Imagine what the church might look like if each baptized member grasped hold of and used the power that is freely given us by God in our baptism. In Isaiah today we heard these words of the Lord: “I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as 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.” We know these words were used in Isaiah’s time for his community, and we now use them to talk about the Messiah, but we must understand that they are meant for us too. Doesn’t Jesus constantly tell his followers, and us, that we must take up his ministry and continue spreading the good news? Aren’t we supposed to care for the poor, build up the weak, and spread peace? Can we change the world or should we just give up in despair?
The church gives us this celebration of Jesus’ baptism every year, maybe in the hope that it will make us think again about our own baptism. Maybe that re-calling or re-collecting or re-membering our baptism will ignite the fire that smolders in our souls. That fire is there. Baptism gives it to us, and it never goes out. It sends us out to do what good we can in the places where we are.2
I read a poem this week that I like ⎯ it’s about doing what we are capable of doing. It’s entitled “Famous” and was written by Naomi Nye.
The river is famous to the fish.
"The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.
The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.
The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.
The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.
The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.
The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.
I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.
I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do."3
We are not required to do the spectacular ⎯ although if we manage to do so, that’s wonderful! But we are called to never ever forget what we can do! And then to do it!
So may we be! Amen!
Endnotes:
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1 Pope Benedict XVI (b.1927) baptized Joseph Alois Ratzinger.Elected Pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 2005
2 Acknowledging ideas in the last 2 paragraphs from a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Susanna Metz, January 9, 2011 – First Sunday After Epiphany/Baptism of Our Lord, Year A. Online at www.episcopalchurch.org/sermons_that_work_126349_ENG_HTM.htm
3 Naomi Shihab Nye, “Famous” from Words Under the Words: Selected Poems (Portland, OR:Far Corner Books,1995).
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© Carol J. Borland, Pastor Emeritus & Interim Pastor, West Danville United Methodist Church, West Danville, VT. Preached on the first Sunday after Epiphany [Year A]. January 9, 2011.
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