Sermon for Matthew 3:13-17
Baptism of our Lord
January 9th 2005
First things first. What is Baptism? It is simple water combined with God’s word of Promise. It is one of two Sacraments in the Lutheran Tradition along with Holy Communion. Both of which we will experience today. So what is a sacrament? A sacrament is simply a visible sign of God’s Word of Promise. It is a Latin word that means mystery.
So what you might say. Tell me something I don’t already know. Well, I like to think of Baptism as a humidifier for my mind, body, and soul. That’s right, a humidifier, you know one of those things that puts moisture into places that are dry. Let me explain.
When God created the world the Bible says the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. Then God took clay or mud and formed the first human being. God then recreated a world gone bad with the waters of the flood. He/She then set the chosen people free by separating the water so the Israelites could pass through to safety.
And finally in today’s gospel the promises of God are fulfilled when Jesus is baptized. It says, “Just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’”
So you see, when you return to your Baptism your cracked and dried out body now becomes moist and pliable so the Spirit of God will make you wonder at God spectacular creation, make you realize you have been made and formed by a loving parent, even when your life goes bad you too can be recreated with the promise of forgiveness, and led through whatever keeps you in slavery, and hopefully someday hear the voice of God calling out, “This is my Son/Daughter, my Beloved with whom I am well pleased.”
But that’s not all one receives through Baptism. The benefits of water and promise are absolutely amazing. Through the event that happen along time ago, for some of you a really long time ago, we are promised freedom from Sin, Death, and the Devil. That’s right freedom from Sin, Death, and the Devil.
Some of you might say, Well I can buy into that humidifier thing of softening me up to be more receptive to God’s Spirit, but freedom from sin, death, and evil, come on, that’s pushing it a little too far. How can water do such great things? But remember, it is water combined with God’s promise and God don’t lie.
Sure we are going to sin, sure you and I are going to die, sure you are going to be surrounded by the work of the devil, but you don’t have to be enslaved to it. Through the waters of baptism you can and will be set free.
Let me once again try and explain. I can’t tell you how many times I have done things that are so wrong. One of my favorite passages of the Bible comes from the writing of Paul to Romans where he says, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
When you return to the waters of baptism all your sins of the past are washed clean, gone, forgotten by your Lord.
Now you are truly free from the guilt and anguish that burdens our hearts and soul. Now you are truly free to begin a new day in service of the Lord and in service of others. And in the next day when once again you fall short of the Glory of God, go right back to the waters of the promise made you so many years ago.
Second, You all know that you are also going to die someday. Just this past week I thought it might be sooner than later. But once again when I return to promise of God through those simple waters I am made to believe that death will not hold me.
I will be resurrected just like my Lord and Savior, resting in the arms of Jesus forever, and the prophecy of Hosea is fulfilled, “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
Finally we are promised freedom from the devil or the evil one. Here I think most people underestimate the power of the evil one. If one thinks of evil in terms of a person or being in a little or big red suit, we do not take seriously the immense power that it has. Evil grows and grows so large and fast that it permeates into every single aspect of our lives.
Evil exist in all parts of the world, in our minds, in our schools and churches. It exists in the air we breathe and the water we drink. So how in the blazes can simple water free us from this devil?
Yet once again when you return to your baptism, you become more Christ-like and like I said, can hear the Word of God saying, “You are my beloved son/daughter with you I am well pleased.” You begin like Christ to work through all things for the good.
Take for example the tragedy of the tsunami. A force that has taken the lives of some 150,000 saints and sinners. Yet through this tragedy the sons and daughters of God have come together in a single cause trying to do the work of Christ in a region that is suffering, and hopefully, hopefully the world may come to be a more peaceful and secure place.
Or perhaps when you return to your baptism God will give to a person the Spirit of Wisdom where one can fight evil with technology that will result in cleaner air and purer water. Or maybe when you return to your baptism God will give you a Spirit of Understanding where you can bury the ax with those at work, school, or church.
So you see there are some great things that happen through Baptism. What is about to occur with Zander and Anakin is nothing to sneeze at. It comes with the promise that God has named them and you as a son/daughter of the Most High and they/you have been freed from sin, death, and the devil.
However, in order to receive the full benefits of these promises you must use your Baptism. You use it by returning to it daily. When you wash your hands, take a shower, when you do the dishes, even when you flush the toilet after a good movement. Watch that cleansing water take all the waste and stinky things of your past and simply make them disappear. And then, then listen for the voice of God saying to you, “You are my beloved son/daughter with you I am well pleased.”
Thanks be to God for this wonderful mystery. Amen.
