“Eleven seconds, you got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now. Five seconds left in the game! Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” exclaimed ABC-TV sports commentator, Al Michaels. And then the patriotic celebration ensued as the 1980 U.S. hockey team staged the biggest upset in Olympic history beating the heavily favored Soviets. On February 22, 1980, over 1,100 athletes from 37 countries participated in the Winter Games, but the only ones most people will ever remember are a bunch of college kids (average age 22) who beat the unbeatable Russians.
The U.S. hockey team was the decided underdog. And yet, an unlikely miracle occurred, as the U.S. upset the Soviets in the final round, 4-3. That was one of the most unlikely events in sports history. This morning we are reminded how the unlikely still happens quite regularly. The improbable takes place every time we witness a baptism. Now a baptism may not pack the same human drama or emotion as a great sports upset, yet, it is none-the-less it is a mind-boggling event. This miracle of God shows us his love and mercy. So today as we celebrate the baptism of our Lord, we can quote a phrase from Al Michaels, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” We are able to rejoice in the unlikely truth that God reveals to us in baptism. And St. Paul encourages us to rejoice: Rejoice in the Unlikely Miracle of Baptism. By that miracle, 1) we are made alive by God’s Spirit and 2) we are gaining life by God’s Son.
1) We Are Made Alive By God’s Spirit
In his letter to Titus, Paul was instructing this young pastor about the work that needed to be done on the island of Crete. Paul reminded Titus that he needed to teach his congregation sound doctrine, and to encourage them to do what is good. To provide encouragement for God’s people Paul reminded the Christians of Titus’ congregation of how they once were. The Christians of Crete were once disobedient, foolish, and enslaved by their desire for pleasure. At one time it was unlikely, implausible, improbable that they’d ever be one with God. They were steeped in sin, without Christ and God’s love. In other words they needed saving. They needed to restore their relationship with God.
This is a need all people have. And yet it seemed so unlikely that this most important need would be met. After all, we humans ruined it for ourselves. You will recall that God created Adam and Eve in his image; an image of righteousness and holiness. But sin changed that image and our fellowship with God. Because of sin mankind was separated from our Father in heaven. This original sin was then passed down through each generation after Adam and Eve. Everyone born was born sinful and separated from God with no interest in serving him. The psalmist tells us, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." We, too, were separated from God at birth. Born spiritually dead and heading straight for hell. This is a truth that affects us all.
One day, a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly notices that her mother has several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?" she asks. Her mother replies, "Well, every time you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white." The little girl thinks about this awhile, then asks, "So how come ALL of Grandma’s hair is white?"
The painful truth is we are not perfect. We are sinful. We sin against God and each other and it shows. We have not kept one commandment perfectly. Our love for God is not always as wholehearted as it should be, and it shows itself when our minds drift in prayer. We do not always gladly and willing come to church and when we do we doze off or daydream. We’re not willing to share our time, talents and treasures with God. Too often we gossip against each other. We complain about each other. Even the good things we do are not perfect. No matter how well we think we can curry favor with God, we always fail and fall short of his holy requirements.
It appeared so unlikely that we would ever know peace with God. It seems so unlikely to us, but he put his plan into action. Paul tells us: “when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”
When the kindness and love of God appeared, he saved us through Holy Baptism. Paul tells us how God restores our relationship, he writes: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Through the miracle of Holy Baptism, the Holy Spirit does the unthinkable. He enters dead hearts, these unclean temples, and he performs this most improbable miracle – he washes and renews. In our baptism the Holy Spirit comes to us and creates saving faith in our hearts. We are reborn into a new relationship with God.
It’s almost unthinkable! Yet think of it like this: In the flood, God destroyed all life on this earth with the exception of the occupants in the ark. The whole world was totally submerged under water. Everyone and everything was dead, rotting and decaying. Moses records for us the state the earth was in, he writes, “Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.” Above the water the ark floated under sunny skies but beneath the water the earth was a mass grave. Can you imagine such a thing?
Then the waters receded and when Noah came out of the ark, he saw the beautiful flowers and the green grass. The waters of the flood had washed all that filth of decaying bodies and death away. The earth was reborn. In the same way, our baptismal waters have washed away the decaying flesh of sin from us; returning us to that right relationship with God. It seems almost unthinkable!
We are reborn but still our sinful nature is present in us. To keep us from losing what we have the Holy Spirit continually renews us. As we remember our baptism, we daily put down that sinful nature. Daily we drown our sinful flesh in our baptism so that our new life in Christ can rise and shine. That new life shines right now. We’ve made the effort to get here this morning to praise God. That’s a result of the new life God has placed in us though faith in his Son. God’s Spirit has made us alive. As water poured on the dry ground renews the earth and gives life, so water with the word of God, poured on sinful human beings, renews the sinful heart.
All this is ours in Holy Baptism! Every one of our sins has been washed away. We are reborn and renewed. Made alive by God’s Spirit with just simple water connected with the power of God’s word. What power! What a miracle! Rejoice in the unlikely miracle of baptism!
2) We Are Gaining Life By God’s Son
Throughout history people have considered Holy Baptism to be unlikely. “How can water do these great things?” Paul gives us the answer we seek. Baptism gives us new live because it joins us to Jesus. We are gaining life by God’s Son.
God’s plan of salvation was always focused in Jesus Christ. In God’s plan, Jesus was the sin bearer. God placed all our sins on Jesus. We can see Jesus in this role at his baptism. John the Baptist cried out "Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins!" St. Luke in our Gospel reading for today tells us, "When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too." Jesus came to John to be baptized even though he had no sins of his own. Yet, he was baptized. Jesus placed himself under baptism to experience the cleansing for sin. Yet this sin was not his but ours. Our sin was transferred onto Jesus. St. Paul tells us, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Jesus shed his innocent blood on the cross, sacrificing himself, as payment for our sin. Jesus was the perfect sin offering, the Lamb of God, without defect or sin.
Jesus was carrying out his Father’s will by being baptized. This pleased our Father in heaven. St. Luke writes for us, “And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” However, a day would come when the Father would not seem so pleased. That day was Good Friday. On the cross, God was silent. Jesus was undergoing our punishment. Suffering our death for the sins, we commit. There was no voice from heaven, no cry of approval. Only the words “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” But the Father was pleased! So pleased he raised Jesus from the dead. So pleased he declared the world no longer guilty for its sin. Paul tells us in the last verse of our text, “that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” The Son of God gave himself as a ransom for the world; in doing so we gain eternal life. How unlikely!
Yet, the miracle is true! We have life in Jesus. We are no longer dead in sin. Because of what Jesus has done, we are free from sin, death, and the devil. Jesus lived that perfect life that we can never live. He suffered an innocent death to pay for our debt of sin. Jesus’ saving work is what adds power to our baptism. Paul tells us, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
We have that new life in Baptism. God comes to us and ties his word of promise to the water. He vows we are cleansed because Jesus Christ has won our salvation just as he promised. And now God proves it in a most tangible way. He washes us in the water of baptism – his pledge of forgiveness, which he promised in his Son. How unlikely that God would take you and me and turn us into his children! Our lives are no longer our own but they belong to God.
Yet the improbable, the unlikely, is true! We are God’s children and as his children, we are moved to live a Christian life serving our Lord for the benefit of his kingdom. In spite of all the temptations and distractions, we have still managed to find our way here this morning. We listen to God’s Word. We strive to join our hearts in prayer, we long to try and maintain our bond of fellowship with one another here. How unlikely, that among all the faces in the world, we should be brought to this congregation and given the desire to serve one another as we’re able. How unlikely, that, in this world of sin and evil, we are the lights that shine brightly through the darkness, just as Jesus says, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
We have a loving and gracious God who has in his mercy has done everything for us and for our salvation. By the work of the God’s Spirit in our baptism, he has made us alive again. By the work of his beloved Son, we are gaining eternal life. Now when you think about baptism my prayer is that you think about the miracle that took place. That miracle has washed away the sins of a spiritually dead, lost, and condemned sinner and made us alive again in Christ Jesus. That miracle has taken away death and eternity in hell and gained for us eternity in heaven. So, to once again quote the sportscaster, Al Michaels, “Do you believe in miracle?” We can answer in confidence with a resounding, “Yes!” May God grant us his Spirit to keep us in true steadfast faith of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that we may always rejoice in the unlikely miracle of baptism -- yours and mine. Amen.
