Why was Jesus baptized?

1/8

We are gathered to celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. Our special music includes Jesus the Light of the World, Take me to the Water, Jeremy and I do Bob Ferguson’s On the Wings of a Dove, Wade in the Water and Down to the River to Pray…as always, a joy to sing with Jeremy.

After scriptures, here is our refelction: 

It is Baptism of Jesus Sunday.

71.7 % of the earth is water, the oceans contain 96.5% of the earth’s water

Our bodies are  50-65% water, and bodies of infants are 75-78%

There can be life without light. Life without air. But there is no life without water. 

Water looms large in the the Bible beginning with creation, the flood, crossing the Red Sea, and Jesus baptized in the Jordan

Our creation story has roots in the Babylonian story with the ultimate defeat of the great sea monster of chaos, Tiamat. (Though our Biblical story does go a radically different direction) Although as my friend Pastor Heidi  Neumark likes to point out, and recent events have made clear, Tiamat is never far behind "chaos and confusion” were the words used to describe the scene at the Ft.Lauderdale airport where five were killed and another eight injured…It is a sign of our insanity when the question is asked “Well was this terrorism or just another typical American mass shooting”? Tiamat is never far behind..

Until we took to the air, water was our fastest way of getting from one place to another..the rivers, and later canals…my great grandfather spent some time as a drover on the C&O canal…I’ve often  fantasized taking a long river trip…and of course the oceans..

My son watched the movie Titanic the other  day….and I pondered the awesome overwhelming power of water overwhelming the human hubris that thought we had created an unsinkable ship..and of course as always, there were significant  class issues involved in the Titanic tragedy as well…

Water continues to be a serious political issue whether it’s drought in California, the failure to provide potable water to Flint or what we have done to our rivers and streams, not to mention the ocean..

All goes to say, no wonder water is one of the central symbols of the Christian faith…and today we celebrate, commemorate the  baptism of Jesus and consider our own…the official end of Christmastide

First of all what…

1. Here comes John the Baptist (again!) … Jesus’ cousin, his father aTemple official, a child of privilege, born into religious/political establishment 
2. He has gone out into the wilderness (like the Essenes and Nazirites))
3. He has adopted a ritual, rooted in Jewish purity rites, the mikveh,  suggesting that the  whole religious institution has become so corrupted, we all need to be converted again
4. And so Jesus comes to be baptized

Before we get to why?  Lets reflect on relationships. Jesus and John were cousins. Imagine their conversations. Jesus was the poor country cousin so to speak. Imagine their childhood experiences. One remains an unmarried working guy in his  father’s workshop. Odd for his day. The other rejects his privilege and goes out into wild as a prophet, What had John been told about Jesus growing up? All that is the unwritten background..John’s hesitation to baptize Jesus, Jesus’ insistence on being baptized…why? if he is sinless?  And then the dove. As Leonard Cohen sang:

The birds they sang

At the break of day

Start again

I heard them say

Don't dwell on what

Has passed away

Or what is yet to be

Yeah the wars they will

Be fought again

The holy dove

She will be caught again

Bought and sold

And bought again

The dove is never free

The why is what wraps up our Christmas…the key reality of Christmas is incarnation, word made flesh, God made flesh ….living in the midst of us…it is for Jesus a symbolic act of solidarity with us…he is fully human

By tradition, baptism is emotionally understood like another vaccination/innoculation .My father was always anxious over the fact that my nieces were never baptized. 

It’s also a rite of initiation, of inclusion

In our tradition we baptize children because for us salvation  is not by our will, or anything we do, or choose, it is a free gift.

We promise community responsibility for a child..We historically rejected godparents, but due to popular demand  have ultimately let them in (Although we officially call them SPONSORS)

Each of our own unique  ministries  comes not through ordination, but through baptism. It is 

no longer a ticket to the club, as our denomination declared at its last General Assembly that we offer an open table, baptism not required.   

it is a call to us to join Jesus in that solidarity.

Last night I saw Silence, Martin Scorsese’s  film of Shushaku Endo’s novel. It’s ultimate truth is that the way of Jesus, our way, is our willingness.to give up all for the sake of others..That is the solidarity we are brought into through our baptism, joining with Jesus as he joins with us. 

Following our reflection, we go to the baptismal basin created for us by Cheryl Jaffee, the mother of  Occupier Dan after our baptismal font lid disappeared during the Occupy days ..

The "Occupy" basin

It cracked when she brought it out of the kiln. She thought of redoing it, but then decided not to because in her eyes, We were repairing the cracks in the world. There is a crack in everything, that’s how  the light gets in (Cohen). 

I mix the water fro the Jordan Alistair brought to us with the other water as i pour it  into the basin and bless the water. The congregation comes forward to receive a blessing. Each individually. And then, I am profoundly moved as Marsha claims her own ministry as a ruling elder and lays hands on land blesses me. More than any sermon, she has made clear its meaning. 

Baptism Sunday

Baptism of Jesus Sunday 2016

Sermon

1/10/16

Jesus' Baptism by Angelo Romano

It’s Baptism Sunday. And because our 600 pound late Victorian Baptismal font is in the Chapel, due to Antigona in the Sanctuary, we will worship there this morning. Dion is there when I arrive, getting everything ready. And John Roggie will be our musician. A young couple with a 2 month old named Jack is visiting.

We’ll share a lot of good Baptism songs today, like Take Me to the Water, and Baptized in Water, and of course, When I Went Down to the River to Pray. We read Isaiah 43: 1-7 and Psalm 29 and Luke 3: 15-17 and 19-22, the story of Jesus’ Baptism.

I ask everyone how many remember their baptism. About a third received adult baptism. Including one by full immersion  in a baptistery in public.

So we’re talking about Baptism. In Isaiah, we’re told that God calls us by name…..you could say that it is at baptism , when you receive your name, , is when YOU become YOU so to  speak.

I’m wearing today my father’s watch. My mom told my sister she wanted to give it to one of the boys someday, and my sister said, Do you know how old the boys are?  So my mom gave o tot me for Christmas.  Baptism was really important to my dad. SO it was really special when he was so pleased at the bris (Jewish circumcision /naming ceremony) when my son received his name.  My Dad said, ..at least he’s not a nameless waif… a blessing had been invoked, a name given, our friends and family celebrated.

At Baptism we receive our Christian name…..we only baptize using the  first (and second) name….Our last name is shared by family, but the first and second names, those are unique to us, make us who we are.

We sometimes used to say Christening as an alternative word for baptism pointing to being dedicated to Christ and also the receiving of our Christian name.

Isaiah speaks of redemption . In the Old Testament, it related to debt, to debts owed. Your redeemer was the one who paid your debt, thus setting you free. The pawn bought back to its original owner.

Isaiah also says Do not fear….a common theme, like the angels in the Christmas story. Do not fear…

So we have water baptism ….and by fire…the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Of the three basic elements, Sun, air and water…does everything need all? No…creatures can live without sun or without air (in the water) but no creature can live without water. Water is primordial…it’s where life begins…and we ourselves are 98% water.

By tradition, water was Chaos…God brings order out of chaos. …Defeats Tiamat  of the Babylonian creation story. But Tiamat, chaos is always there…as my friend Pastor Heidi…of Trinity Lutheran likes to say.

In Luke, John speaks of  Jesus coming to separate the wheat from the  chaff…..separating out…we have come to see this not only in the individual but  in the communal sense as well.  At the end of the day, we are both. We have both within us and Jesus comes to burn the chaff part out of us.

But there is a communal issue as well. The question always arises, so Why Jesus? If Jesus was sinless, why did  he need to be baptized? I’m not going to get into “sinless” discussion. The story of Jesus in the Temple spoke of him as needing to grow in wisdom and stature, even as normal children do.

At any rate, some commentators see this as Jesus’ commitment to be in solidarity with humanity. In the middle verses, before Jesus’ baptism, we find John in prison…SO Jesus in essence picks up John’s mantle…To understand this, you have to understand John.  He left security of the Temple world where his father was an official. The center of Jewish religious power living in collaboration with the Empire.

John’s baptism was an act of  protest/judgment against temple system, a call to come out from empire…So after Jesus lived within the system for 30 years, he had to COME OUT too. Separate  his life from the power of the Empire to where only God the creator has authority. Baptism is a public witness to that authority.

           

So what does it mean for us? First we are called to answer and demonstrate the question of what authority is primary. We need to understand that if  Jesus is our redeemer, in the time of Jubilee, all debts to empire cancelled…

Hear this…and know this…YOU are God’s child…in YOU God is well pleased…you have your own name, you have your own ministry…name it, claim it and live it…

AMEN

After our prayers, I lead evryone to the baptismal font. Tell the story of its florid Tiffany design. The uncommon  water lily, lotus motif rising from the waters of chaos, rippled by the breath of the Holy Spirit.  How the lid disappeared during Occupy and how a very special mother, Sheryl Jaffe, made us a new ceramic cover. How the one on the other is a metaphor for who we are.

I say the Thanksgiving over water. Pour drops of Jordan River water in.  And invite every one to come up for laying on of hands and a blessing. I remember doing that for so many years with Katherine and how I felt the first time I did it alone.

We have our benediction. Sing Amen. And go out into the world….

FIRST READING ISAIAH 43:1-7

¹But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

²When 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.

³For I am the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.

⁴Because you are precious in my sight,

and honored, and I love you,

I give people in return for you,

nations in exchange for your life.

⁵Do not fear, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you;

⁶I will say to the north, "Give them up,"

and to the south, "Do not withhold;

bring my sons from far away

and my daughters from the end of the earth —

⁷everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made."

PSALM PSALM 29

¹Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

²Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name;

worship the LORD in holy splendor.

³The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the LORD, over mighty waters.

⁴The voice of the LORD is powerful;

the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

⁵The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;

the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

and Sirion like a young wild ox.

⁷The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.

⁸The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;

the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl,

and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, "Glory!"

¹⁰The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;

the LORD sits enthroned as king for ever.

¹¹May the LORD give strength to his people!

May the LORD bless his people with peace!

GOSPEL LUKE 3:15-17, 21-22

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, ²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Baptism of Jesus Sunday: Wade in the water..

1/11

Freezing cold.  It’s Baptism Sunday. Remembering the baptism of  Jesus. And our own.  Time to bring our baptismal font out front and center. Late Victoriana Tiffany. Lotus blossoms, water lilies arising out of the waters of chaos. (Our ancestors were already stepping outside  the circle with the Buddhist symbols.) Lid missing during Occupy. FOX news spreads a simplistic story around the world. (Literally). The new ceramic lid made my Cheryl Jaffe whose son Dan , now a chef in Coorado, was one of our occupier alumni. That’s us in a nutshell,classic Tiffany topped by contemporary ceramic.

Our baptismal font

I begin with a proclamation from the opening words of the Bible:

¹In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, ²the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. ³Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Then we sing the traditional   Morning Has Broken and after the greetings, Take me to the water. Jeremy has prepared a response to the Psalm 29, Glory.Glory. Glory. After we read the story of Jesus’ baptism in  Mark 1: 4-11, we do Wade in the Water as our musical reflection, and then it’s time for our reflection.

^{I ask Who here remembers their baptism?Only Dion. Baptized as an adult. By full immersion. His Journey church has a mobile baptistery, he says.}

^{So we have three questions:}

                  ^{What was Baptism?}

 What is Baptism?

                  ^{So what?}

^{First, what was baptism? We’ve got John tbe Baptist out in the wilderness. He was, according to scripture, the child of Zechariah and Elizabeth.  Cousin of Jesus. Father a priest in the temple. He was a tall steeple preacher’s kid. Like 5th Avenue Presbyterian. Or Riverside, someone says.  You might say the table was set for him. But instead, he goes out to the desert and dresses like  Elijah. Or the life of a nazarite. or Essene.  He’s living a strict, countercultural life.}

^{In Judaism, thee is a bath called a mikvah. For ritual cleansing, And conversion.  John is making a declaration through ritual. He is saying that the current religious establishment (including his father?) Is so corrupt that everyone needs to be converted all over again or at least cleansed. The judgment Is not against the people, but against the institution. (Although by implication, if the people are within the Temple system, they too, are corrupted. And  therefore sinners…}

 ^{So why did Jesus have to be baptized?  If this season has been about incarnation,}

God alive in human flesh, God in the

^{midst of humanity, in the midst of us. And Jesus’ baptism is a sign and symbol a sign of of solidarity, his} 

complete and total solidarity with humanity.

^{What is baptism? There a re two kinds, infant and adult.  Infant, in our culture, is emotionally experienced as a spiritual inoculation. Our tradition baptises infants because we believe that  our salvation comes from God and is a gift, not earned or an act of will,}

^{It is also a sign of community responsibility. (We didn’t used to have godparents, but now we do…if everyone is, nobody is…so our new Book of Common  Worship recognizes that.)}

^{If a non-baptized adult wishes to join, recognizing a choice, a conscious decision, we baptize adults. But it happens once and once only and our various historic traditions mutually recognize our baptisms…as long as they are done in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit.}

^{So what? It is in baptism that Jesus receives his ministry. As he comes out of the water, there is a voice….and in Mark, only he hears the voice …saying you are my son, my beloved .in you I am well pleased…(1:11)}

^{And baptism is where you receive your ministry…these words are intended for you:}

You are my child the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.

 For you…so say this:

I am a child of God

I am beloved

In me, God is well pleased

Believe it.  Now the work begins.

Then Jeremy and I sing the old song made famous by the Blind Boys of Alabama, He Gave Me Water.

Singing with Jeremy

After our prayers and offerings, I say the words of Thanksgiving  over the water:

We give you thanks, O God, for you nourish and sustain all living things by the gift of water. In the beginning of time, your Spirit moved over the watery chaos, calling forth life itself. 

You led the people of God out of slavery, through the waters of the sea, into the freedom of the promised land. 

In the waters of Jordan Jesus was baptized by John and filled with your Spirit which gives life to all. 

We thank you, O God, for the water of baptism. Through it we cleansed of our sins and reminded that all good things come from God, especially the gift of life. 

The minister may touch the water. 

Send your Spirit to move over this water as it did on the day creation, that we each may fully share in the creative and life giving power and Spirit of God. 

And I invite each one to come up, to touch the water, and then I lay hands on them and give each a personal blessing.

A blessing for  Dion

That used to be Katherine’s specialty. It used to frighten me. But no more.

And one for Russ

And finally we sing Down to the River to Pray, like out of the movie, O brothers

I spend time talking with Amber Lee who has come back to visit us from Toronto again.

Late in the day, I come back from seeing Noche’s Antigona. The Francophone African church

Is preparing for their service. The deep sounds of song echoing in the empty sanctuary like a voice echoing over the waters. 

(Videos for most music in yesterday's post. Many thanks it AnnaYamada for photographs)

Baptism of Jesus Sunday: bruised reeds and dimly burning wicks

1/11

My only companion as I prepare for Sunday morning is Rachel. I have to tell her I have to prepare.

Baptism of Jesus by Angelo Romano

1/12

Baptism of Jesus Sunday. Rachel wants to help so I send her outside to sweep. I hear the buzzer and it’s Andre, ready to sing. Jeremy arrives soon after and Dion is hard at work getting the sanctuary set up. As we gather, there are four Asian visitors, not quite sure what to make of the service. And a woman visitor, Evelyn, who joins the circle.

Jason and Dion roll our 800 pound florid late Victoriana Tiffany font with its contemporary Occupy basin lid to the front and center of the Sanctuary.

We begin by singing God welcomes all, strangers and friends, God’s love is strong and it never ends…

And I explain that even though Christmas ended on the 12^th day last week, Christmastide extends through today and we’ll go deeper into that later. Today is the last day for our tree.

Next follows the classic Wade in the water, by Jeremy and Andre.

And then we begin our scriptures.  First, Isaiah 42: 1-9.

I ask what words stands out and its no surprise that justice comes first from this circle. And then righteousness.

I first mention this passage:

He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 
³ 

And recall back in Tulsa, Jonathan the street preacher, from the Ultimate Trip Ministry,  who would witness on street corners, strip clubs and synagogues. (As if in his mind they were of the same value.) He enjoyed making  people angry. One day when he hurled a Bible verse my way, I came right back with  He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 
³ 

What I’m really drawn to are these words..

….a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; 
he will faithfully bring forth justice….

When I ask what that means to them,  Cara says Like I said the other night, don’t shoot the wounded.. And of course she is right. I explain how Calvin’s total depravity is a mistranslation. What he really meant was that all of us are marred. Imperfect. And that’s OK.

I point to the baptism  basin crafted by Sheryl and explain how when she made it, there was a crack. And that she accepted whether to fix it or not and decided not to. Because for her, it was symbolic of what this  church does, ie, fix the cracks in the world.  And Cara responds that in Japanese pottery, the cracks are gilded because that’s what makes that pot unique.  All of us, broken reeds, dimly burning wicks. 

Next we do Psalm 29 singing triple alleluias in response. And are drawn to

The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; 
the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 
⁶   He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, 
and Sirion like a young wild

So the Lord may not break a bruised reed or blow out a dimly burning wick but he can split cedars and make the cosmos skip. And as Dion points out, those dimly burning wicks can be blown on by the Holy Spirit and burst into flame.

Then in Acts 10:34-43, we read that

God shows no partiality, ³⁵but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him

And notice it is every nation, every…God shows no partiality…no American exceptionalism, God does not bless America over and above anyone else…every…anyone who fears…and that fears, is not about fear, being afraid, but of awe…

( I mention the perhaps apocryophyl story of John Wayne in the Greatest Story Ever Told as the Centurion who looks at Jesus  and says, Surely this man was the son of God…and how director Georg Stephens was frustrated with John’s line reading and after several attempts said, John you’ve got to say that with awe….and Wayne responded, Ah, surely this man….)

After Arcadia reads the gospel in Spanish, Andre and Jeremy lead us in take me to the water…

And at last we read the story of Jesus’ baptism in Matthew this year. (3 13-17)I ask who is baptized. Nearly all hands go up. Who remembers? Probably half. Today we seem to have as many former Baptists as former Catholics. Jason was seven and felt a real calling to commitment to his parents wonder and surprise. Are you sure? they said. Dion may have been baptized as a child but chose baptism when for him it became real. Marsha remembers baptism on the banks of a river in south Texas, her brother throwing and skipping stones. Andre explains  full immersion and when I ask him how it was, he says, Wet. 

So why Jesus? John says Because in all ways he was human as well as divine. The reason this ends Christmastide is because Christmas is all about the incarnation. God alive in human flesh. So that when we as bruised reeds or dimly burning wicks talk to God honestly and openly, God can respond Been there….Forget all the debates about sinlessness and all that. This for Jesus is an act of solidarity. Being with us in every way. Being one with us in nature.

I explain how in our tradition we baptize children because we believe salvation is a gift of grace, not earned or a function  of any decision we make. It then somehow becomes , in the popular mind, beyond theology, a kind of spiritual vaccination, a spiritual inoculation. And that after trying to resist godparents out of a theology of collective responsibility, our tradition gave in and now welcomes godparents. 

And that for us, as part if what we believe to be the holy Catholic (IE, universal church) there is only one baptism and we recognize each other’s even though we have not yet recognized each other’s communion.

John and Stephen hold the Occupy basin after I tell its story.  I say the blessings, remembering creation, Noah and the flood, Moses and the parting of the Red Sea, Jesus at the Jordan…and add some drops of Jordan water to the basin. One by one people come up and dip their finger in the water, cross themselves, touch their forehead. Then come to me for the laying on of hands, with oil and the sign of the cross. That is who we are former Baptists, former Catholics, one people, one body.

We finish our service with a rousing Down to the river to pray….

As Andre and Jeremy remain at the piano, Wayne comes over and in his sweet and easy voice, sings his own Ode to Joy.

The Session meets. Approves hosting representatives of the Sikh community in February.  And begins to contemplate all that lies ahead. But first we have a sale and a move to get through.

After the meeting, Wayne and Andre are still deep in conversation about the making of music.

I’ve got Gale Brewer’s inauguration to get to and then a long night of packing.