Matthew, Mark, Luke and John tell the story of Jesus’ baptism – each with their own twist and turn. Today we look at Luke. Luke does not mention the place of the baptism – though the Jordan was named earlier in verse 3. Luke does not mention who baptized Jesus. As a matter of fact, in the few verses that we are skipping in the middle of this story, there is talk of Herod and mention of the fact that John has already been imprisoned. For Luke the focus is not on the baptism itself. Luke only tells a before and after account. In fact, he does not focus on the scene until after Jesus has been baptized. And finally it is interesting to note that for Luke, Jesus hears the voice from God after the baptism while in prayer.
All four Gospels give a slightly different picture of the occasion, yet the Truth resides in all four: Jesus was loved by God, and God was well pleased.
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I met with Alex Veilleux this week to talk about his baptism. He needed to know that I was excited for him and proud of him. He needed to know that this was a big and important step in his journey of faith. He needed to know that the Church would always be here for him – to support him and guide him and love him and to continue to teach him the Way of Jesus. He needed to know that there would be nothing magical about the water – that the chances are that he will feel much the same tomorrow as he did yesterday, but that the water did hold meaning. He needed to know that baptism was much like the poetry unit in his English class – hard to understand, not to be taken too literally, often even confusing – but that it did mean something important. Today, Alex is making public what he has already been living for his lifetime. He’s been living it for a lifetime because his parents have been living it for a lifetime, and today he claims this faith as his own in a real and tangible way. And Alex needed to know that as important as this day is for him, it is more important for the Church. Today, Alex has provided a witness for you. Our youth need to take notice. The parents of our children and youth need to take notice. We all, baptized or not, need to take notice today. For today, Alex has made public his profession of faith in God. And today, he makes public that he chooses to follow the Way as set by Jesus. Alex also needed to know that with this public act, he would now need to be responsible – that his actions and words should reflect Jesus, and now that it is all out in the open, he will have to be responsible.
But of all the things he needed to know, this seems the most important to me: he needed to be sure and listen for the voice today - because that same voice that spoke to Jesus some 2000 years ago would be speaking again today. It would be the voice that said, “Alex, you are my Beloved. With you I am well pleased.” Do you hear it?
Often, baptism is tacked on to a service – almost as an aside to whatever else is the order of the day. That is a shame, for every baptism should be celebrated to it’s fullest! Today is Baptism of the Lord Sunday. The Christmas ornaments have barely settled in for their year-long rest in the attic and all of a sudden that babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger is now wading through the waters of the river Jordan.
I can think of no better way to respond to the story of Christmas than in baptismal waters. We have just celebrated the birth of the One who would come among us and change us by setting a new course, a new direction. This One would reshape old laws and teach us something about love, not legalism. This One would show us how to touch the unclean. This One would tell us all about the “least of these.” This One would help us understand about loving our neighbor even if our neighbor was nothing like us. We have just finished celebrating the birth of the One who would change the world, and now, we wade through the waters of baptism.
In his baptism, Jesus was finally named: My Beloved. And in his baptism, Jesus was claimed as One who pleased God. And in his baptism, Jesus heard the voice that each of us longs to hear – it is the voice of the One who “calls you by name and says you are mine . . . when you pass through the waters I will be with you . . . you are precious in my sight and I love you.” (Isaiah 43) And if the truth be known – those are the words we all long to hear. And I contend that those words are just as audible today as they were then - if we could just learn how to speak them. Perhaps the problem is not that we are not listening for the Good News, for the voice. Perhaps we not speaking the words enough.
If we were speaking the words of God, we would hear them from one another. If we were living the truths of God, we would see them in one another. Perhaps we too often blame our busy lives for our inability to hear. But maybe, just maybe, it is our busy lives that prohibit us from speaking and acting and living the Way of Jesus. I said earlier that the same voice that spoke to Jesus some 2000 years ago would be speaking again today, and I believe that – for God is always speaking to us. I believe God’s voice comes to us in a variety of ways – in silence and mediation and prayer, in the beauty of creation and in the sound of music – but I must confess that I understand the voice of God best when it comes to me when I hear it from you. You have the power to bring a word from God. How else will Alex ever hear it, if you don’t say it? How else will you ever hear it if I don’t say it?
So here is the voice of God for today. The voice was stirred in the baptismal waters behind me and it hovers in this room and the voice whispers: You are my Beloved – You have been named. The voice was stirred in the baptismal waters behind me and it hovers in this room and the voice shouts: With you I am well pleased – You have been claimed. The voice was stirred in the baptismal waters behind me and it hovers in this room and the voice clearly states: You have been called.
You have been named and claimed today, and the question remains, will you live like it? “[Water] is used as a compelling symbol of the Holy One’s transformative power. From Isaiah to Luke, [water] represents the promise of God’s redemptive love, a love so powerful that . . . we are free to care for others with the same reckless abandon and meritless compassion with which we have been blessed.. . . When we truly, viscerally “know” how much we are cherished by God, we can approach the world as God does – with unconditional love, generous acceptance, and a passionate concern for one another’s welfare. (Sojourner’s – Michaela Bruzzese – Jan/Feb 2001)
In the chronology of Luke’s telling, Jesus moves from his baptism in the Jordan River to beginning his ministry to temptation in the wilderness to teaching in the synagogues. And with each new turn in the story, there is a phrase concerning being filled with the Spirit. In Luke’s version, fairly soon after the baptism, Jesus finds himself in his hometown, in the synagogue, on the Sabbath, and he stood up to read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus had heard the Voice at his baptism, and now, beginning in his own hometown, he would become the Voice.
You see, once we have heard our name and accepted our claim, we have responsibilities. “The word of baptism is first of all about the delight of God in this beloved, this chosen, this child called by name.. . .The words embrace us and promise to hold us. This is where it begins [and this is what holds our future] Yet in between that beginning and [our future . . .is a call to action . . . These waters today are a sign of blessing and a sign of commissioning.] (Christian Century, “The Outset”, John Stendahl, Dec 24-31, 1997, p. 1219)
Many preachers, including this one, work to find a different word to say – something that will catch your attention, something that will make a difference, something that will make this hour worth your while, something that you’ve never heard before that would call you to come back again (not to hear another sermon – but call you back in response to faith). The truth is we listen to a song over and over until we have it memorized. We don’t just rent movies, we buy them so that we can watch them over and over again until we can reenact the classic scenes ourselves. Our children want the same bedtime story read every night. How many times can you find the mouse on each page of Good Night, Moon, and how many times do they love to hear about the Wild Things that roar their terrible roars and gnash their terrible teeth and roll their terrible eyes and show their terrible claws? It is the same with the story of faith. I don’t need a different or clever new word. I need the same old story that’s been told from the beginning. I need to voice the same Word that was heard some 2000 years ago that was spoken when the water was stirred: You are my Beloved. With you I am well pleased – because that same old Word is made new every time we hear our name and accept our claim.
This Word runs counter to what is heard out there. The word on the street is that you are not good enough. The word on the street is that you don’t fit the image. The word on the street is attain more money so you’ll have more stuff so everyone will think of you as successful. The word on the street is lose more weight so that you can fit the perverse image needed to stimulate our sexually overstimulated culture. The word on the street is that power and strength always rule over peace. The word on the street is that you often mess up.
But the Word in here has always been, is, and will always be: You are loved. And with you, God is well pleased. That is why you come here – to hear a Good Word of hope and peace and joy and Love. You come here to hear it – and once you have heard it and accepted it – then you have a responsibility to Voice it. I promise you, those in the streets could sure use a Good Word today.
So Alex, thank you for stepping into the stirred waters today. Because of your profession of faith, we heard the voice, and it was exactly as audible as it was 2000 years ago. May it always be so.
We, your children are listening today, O God. All we ask is that you tell us again what we’ve already heard before. Tell us again that you love us. Tell us again that you are pleased with us. Tell us again.
We, your children are speaking today, O God. We pray that our voices will sound like yours. We pray that we would be the ones to bring good news to the poor and to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
We, your children are speaking today, O God. We pray that our voices will sound like yours. We pray that we would speak the Word in the street so that your voice may be heard there as well as it is in this room where waters have been stirred.
O God of Love, tell us again so that we might tell it ourselves. Amen.