Baptism: The Light Shatters The Darkness
Sermon
Sermons on the First Readings
Series III, Cycle B
Object:
Winston Churchill, the famous British statesman who led England as prime minister through the horrors of World War II, was a man who prepared the people for future joy. He was born in 1874 to a British Lord and an American heiress. His heroics during the infamous Boer War in the last days of the nineteenth century made him a national hero and greatly aided his election to Parliament in 1900. In only four years he renounced his aristocratic background and joined the Liberal Party. During World War I and the interwar years, Churchill's political career was almost ruined due to his controversial positions on many issues, including his denunciation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy, "Peace in Our Time," signed with Adolf Hitler at Munich in 1938. When Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, however, Churchill's views became quite popular leading him to succeed Chamberlain as prime minister in May 1940.
Churchill was the man to whom the British people and many in Europe looked to bring solace and comfort in the continent's darkest hour of the twentieth century. His pugnacity and rousing speeches rallied the British to continue the fight during the midst of the almost daily bombing of London by the German Luftwafa, the infamous blitz. He urged his compatriots to conduct themselves so that "if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, 'This was their finest hour.' " He firmly believed that while Britain was in a period of darkness, if the people persevered and believed in themselves, the light would return. Churchill was able to convince Franklin Roosevelt to aid England, morally and materially. He established close ties with all Allied leaders in what became known as the Grand Alliance. Yes, Churchill knew that the dark hour would pass and that peace, prosperity, and joy would once again reign. He was a leader, but his life and his work pointed to something greater, the ideals for which he and all free people live. He prepared his people and led them to the light of joy.
Winston Churchill, through his charismatic outreach, pugnacious personality, and inspirational rhetoric, was able to champion the cause as Great Britain moved from the darkness of the Battle of Britain and the blitz on London to the brightness of victory and a new day. Churchill's ability to inspire a nation to move from the darkness of near death to the light and promise of new life serves as an excellent illustration of how God moved the world from darkness to light at the dawn of creation. On this feast of the Baptism of our Lord we honor the action of John the Baptist toward Jesus in the Jordan River, but more importantly we recall our own baptism, which called us to live as people in the light in the face of much darkness.
Although the Genesis account of the creation of the world is familiar to all, we need periodically to read this important story of God's love. We are told that God initially created the heavens and the earth, but the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep. Then God created the light. Immediately, God realized the light was good; it was preferable to the darkness. While the text of Genesis does not indicate any pejorative sense of darkness, there certainly seems to be a distinct contrast drawn between the light and the darkness of the world. God intentionally separates the light from the darkness. Since the light is good it is something that we want to seek. Darkness is lonely, quiet, and cold. We generally avoid the darkness. Darkness is filled with uncertainty. Because we cannot see well in the darkness, we often choose not to venture out and discover what it contains. The light, on the other hand, is lively, boisterous, and warm. The light is inviting and thus we seek it with much vigor and effort. God created the light so that we could move from the darkness and seek that which is good.
The creation of the light by God immediately after the heavens and the earth, the first production of God's hand, certainly gives it primacy and significance. Not only did God see that the light was good, he saw a sense of urgency in its creation. The darkness would allow no differentiation in time; without the light the future manifestations of God's creation, plants and animals, and of course human beings, would remain in a perpetual state of indifference. The light would provide vision by which the rest of God's creation could guide its daily existence. Thus, it was absolutely necessary at the outset to create the light so God's plan for the world could go forward. Without the light, the creation story and eventually salvation history would be stunted. The world would have never existed.
Baptism, the premier sacrament that unites us as Christians, is a celebration of one's movement from the darkness into the light. When we are born we enter into the human community -- our family, national origin, racial background, and ethnic sensibility. While, as the book of Genesis says, we are made in the image and likeness of God, still something significant is missing from human birth alone. Baptism supplies what we need. We no longer are simply members of the human community. Through baptism we are members of God's family, the Christian community. The words of the baptism formula are very significant. We are baptized, we are brought into the light, through our oneness with God. We are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that is the Trinity, the God whom we adore. Baptism unites us with God through Jesus Christ and to all who bear the same name of Christian.
The Baptism of our Lord, which we celebrate today, gives us the opportunity to consider many important ideas. First, we should remember the symbolic importance of Jesus' action. As the Son of God, Jesus did not require a ritual cleansing, especially one of repentance that John was performing at the Jordan River. And, even though John protested at Jesus' request for baptism, the Lord insisted that this be done showing that even Jesus could be one with his people. Jesus was willing to experience precisely what he asked his followers to engage. This is certainly an important idea of the feast we celebrate today.
The celebration of the baptism of Jesus is, however, much more than our remembrance of a historical event. More importantly it calls us to recognize both the privilege and the responsibilities we have as baptized Christians. The privileges of baptism, and thereby being a child of God, are numerous, but unfortunately often not recognized or acknowledged. We have the privilege of the name Christian, which designates us as official followers of Jesus Christ. We have the privilege of the Christian community that surrounds us. It seems we rarely consider our Christian name or our membership in a community of faith to be great privileges, but living in a country of freedom and democratic principles, we often take for granted that which is most basic. The church always serves as a great source of strength, but most especially during difficult times in our life. It is the source of our sustenance in many ways. The church is always there for us; we will never be abandoned.
The church provides many additional privileges for us. It helps us to understand and apply the timeless message of scripture to our lives. Unless we can appropriately utilize the New Testament message, then our reading of this sacred book is merely an academic exercise and not one of faith. Thus, it is essential that we take into our hearts what the gospel evangelists, Saint Paul, and the other New Testament writers tell us and make it the structure within which we will live our lives. The church gives us the sacraments, special signs from God that provide us with grace, namely charis or gift. The first and premier sacrament, baptism, brings us from the darkness of ignorance of God to the light of Christian revelation. We must rejoice that we have been so privileged. We have been enlightened through our baptism. Now it is time for us to utilize this great privilege and apply it as responsible Christians in the world.
The basic responsibility the Christian life demands of us is to properly and fully live the message of Jesus Christ. Based on our first lesson today from the book of Genesis, this responsibility means we are to transform the darkness present in our lives and those of our brothers and sisters into the light of Christian joy. We do this in general by setting a good example in action and in word. We are to be evangelists to a world that badly needs Christ's message of hope and peace. There is no need to stand on a street corner or go door to door and tell people in an overt way about the message of Jesus. Evangelization is conducted each and every moment of our life by what we do and say. Therefore, we must concentrate our daily activity on removing the darkness and bringing light to others.
Yes, it is our primary responsibility as Christians to transform the darkness of ignorance into the light of the knowledge of Christ. In order to do this well we must continue our own education in the faith. We cannot assume that what we were taught as children (that is a teenager's level of Christian knowledge) is sufficient to adequately provide the light. We would never dare to think we could adequately operate as professionals, whether that is a teacher, attorney, physician, or engineer, without regular updates of our knowledge. Why do many professions mandate "continuing education units" or similar updating systems? These professions realize that to stagnate is actually to move backward. Professionals always want to move forward, to be on the cutting edge, and therefore, they sacrifice time and energy to continually update themselves in their expertise.
In a similar way, the Christian community, especially if we want to help people find the light and all the goodness that comes from it, must continually update and keep abreast of what is happening in our churches. Darkness, as manifest in the many aspects of society today, continues to lurk at our doors. If we do not proactively seek the light the darkness will most assuredly envelop us. It is easy to become lazy and complacent and believe that we can operate on past knowledge and ways of doing things. But such an attitude will not only be harmful to ourselves but will not allow the light to shine. Such an attitude, in the end, will bring darkness back to our world. But, as the first lesson tells us today, God created the light and found it good. Thus we must seek the good and charge forward to the light, as we move daily toward our return to God.
Jesus came to bring the light of truth and hope and dispel the darkness of ignorance and fear. As the prologue of Saint John's gospel says, "What has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:3b-5). Inspired by the ability of Winston Churchill to bring Great Britain from darkness to light in the midst of a terrible world war, let us celebrate Jesus' baptism by remembering the privileges and responsibilities that our own baptism brought us. Let us bring the light of Christ to all we meet, today and to life eternal. Amen.
Churchill was the man to whom the British people and many in Europe looked to bring solace and comfort in the continent's darkest hour of the twentieth century. His pugnacity and rousing speeches rallied the British to continue the fight during the midst of the almost daily bombing of London by the German Luftwafa, the infamous blitz. He urged his compatriots to conduct themselves so that "if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, 'This was their finest hour.' " He firmly believed that while Britain was in a period of darkness, if the people persevered and believed in themselves, the light would return. Churchill was able to convince Franklin Roosevelt to aid England, morally and materially. He established close ties with all Allied leaders in what became known as the Grand Alliance. Yes, Churchill knew that the dark hour would pass and that peace, prosperity, and joy would once again reign. He was a leader, but his life and his work pointed to something greater, the ideals for which he and all free people live. He prepared his people and led them to the light of joy.
Winston Churchill, through his charismatic outreach, pugnacious personality, and inspirational rhetoric, was able to champion the cause as Great Britain moved from the darkness of the Battle of Britain and the blitz on London to the brightness of victory and a new day. Churchill's ability to inspire a nation to move from the darkness of near death to the light and promise of new life serves as an excellent illustration of how God moved the world from darkness to light at the dawn of creation. On this feast of the Baptism of our Lord we honor the action of John the Baptist toward Jesus in the Jordan River, but more importantly we recall our own baptism, which called us to live as people in the light in the face of much darkness.
Although the Genesis account of the creation of the world is familiar to all, we need periodically to read this important story of God's love. We are told that God initially created the heavens and the earth, but the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep. Then God created the light. Immediately, God realized the light was good; it was preferable to the darkness. While the text of Genesis does not indicate any pejorative sense of darkness, there certainly seems to be a distinct contrast drawn between the light and the darkness of the world. God intentionally separates the light from the darkness. Since the light is good it is something that we want to seek. Darkness is lonely, quiet, and cold. We generally avoid the darkness. Darkness is filled with uncertainty. Because we cannot see well in the darkness, we often choose not to venture out and discover what it contains. The light, on the other hand, is lively, boisterous, and warm. The light is inviting and thus we seek it with much vigor and effort. God created the light so that we could move from the darkness and seek that which is good.
The creation of the light by God immediately after the heavens and the earth, the first production of God's hand, certainly gives it primacy and significance. Not only did God see that the light was good, he saw a sense of urgency in its creation. The darkness would allow no differentiation in time; without the light the future manifestations of God's creation, plants and animals, and of course human beings, would remain in a perpetual state of indifference. The light would provide vision by which the rest of God's creation could guide its daily existence. Thus, it was absolutely necessary at the outset to create the light so God's plan for the world could go forward. Without the light, the creation story and eventually salvation history would be stunted. The world would have never existed.
Baptism, the premier sacrament that unites us as Christians, is a celebration of one's movement from the darkness into the light. When we are born we enter into the human community -- our family, national origin, racial background, and ethnic sensibility. While, as the book of Genesis says, we are made in the image and likeness of God, still something significant is missing from human birth alone. Baptism supplies what we need. We no longer are simply members of the human community. Through baptism we are members of God's family, the Christian community. The words of the baptism formula are very significant. We are baptized, we are brought into the light, through our oneness with God. We are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that is the Trinity, the God whom we adore. Baptism unites us with God through Jesus Christ and to all who bear the same name of Christian.
The Baptism of our Lord, which we celebrate today, gives us the opportunity to consider many important ideas. First, we should remember the symbolic importance of Jesus' action. As the Son of God, Jesus did not require a ritual cleansing, especially one of repentance that John was performing at the Jordan River. And, even though John protested at Jesus' request for baptism, the Lord insisted that this be done showing that even Jesus could be one with his people. Jesus was willing to experience precisely what he asked his followers to engage. This is certainly an important idea of the feast we celebrate today.
The celebration of the baptism of Jesus is, however, much more than our remembrance of a historical event. More importantly it calls us to recognize both the privilege and the responsibilities we have as baptized Christians. The privileges of baptism, and thereby being a child of God, are numerous, but unfortunately often not recognized or acknowledged. We have the privilege of the name Christian, which designates us as official followers of Jesus Christ. We have the privilege of the Christian community that surrounds us. It seems we rarely consider our Christian name or our membership in a community of faith to be great privileges, but living in a country of freedom and democratic principles, we often take for granted that which is most basic. The church always serves as a great source of strength, but most especially during difficult times in our life. It is the source of our sustenance in many ways. The church is always there for us; we will never be abandoned.
The church provides many additional privileges for us. It helps us to understand and apply the timeless message of scripture to our lives. Unless we can appropriately utilize the New Testament message, then our reading of this sacred book is merely an academic exercise and not one of faith. Thus, it is essential that we take into our hearts what the gospel evangelists, Saint Paul, and the other New Testament writers tell us and make it the structure within which we will live our lives. The church gives us the sacraments, special signs from God that provide us with grace, namely charis or gift. The first and premier sacrament, baptism, brings us from the darkness of ignorance of God to the light of Christian revelation. We must rejoice that we have been so privileged. We have been enlightened through our baptism. Now it is time for us to utilize this great privilege and apply it as responsible Christians in the world.
The basic responsibility the Christian life demands of us is to properly and fully live the message of Jesus Christ. Based on our first lesson today from the book of Genesis, this responsibility means we are to transform the darkness present in our lives and those of our brothers and sisters into the light of Christian joy. We do this in general by setting a good example in action and in word. We are to be evangelists to a world that badly needs Christ's message of hope and peace. There is no need to stand on a street corner or go door to door and tell people in an overt way about the message of Jesus. Evangelization is conducted each and every moment of our life by what we do and say. Therefore, we must concentrate our daily activity on removing the darkness and bringing light to others.
Yes, it is our primary responsibility as Christians to transform the darkness of ignorance into the light of the knowledge of Christ. In order to do this well we must continue our own education in the faith. We cannot assume that what we were taught as children (that is a teenager's level of Christian knowledge) is sufficient to adequately provide the light. We would never dare to think we could adequately operate as professionals, whether that is a teacher, attorney, physician, or engineer, without regular updates of our knowledge. Why do many professions mandate "continuing education units" or similar updating systems? These professions realize that to stagnate is actually to move backward. Professionals always want to move forward, to be on the cutting edge, and therefore, they sacrifice time and energy to continually update themselves in their expertise.
In a similar way, the Christian community, especially if we want to help people find the light and all the goodness that comes from it, must continually update and keep abreast of what is happening in our churches. Darkness, as manifest in the many aspects of society today, continues to lurk at our doors. If we do not proactively seek the light the darkness will most assuredly envelop us. It is easy to become lazy and complacent and believe that we can operate on past knowledge and ways of doing things. But such an attitude will not only be harmful to ourselves but will not allow the light to shine. Such an attitude, in the end, will bring darkness back to our world. But, as the first lesson tells us today, God created the light and found it good. Thus we must seek the good and charge forward to the light, as we move daily toward our return to God.
Jesus came to bring the light of truth and hope and dispel the darkness of ignorance and fear. As the prologue of Saint John's gospel says, "What has come into being in him was life and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it" (John 1:3b-5). Inspired by the ability of Winston Churchill to bring Great Britain from darkness to light in the midst of a terrible world war, let us celebrate Jesus' baptism by remembering the privileges and responsibilities that our own baptism brought us. Let us bring the light of Christ to all we meet, today and to life eternal. Amen.
