A Moment Of Decision
Sermon
God's Downward Mobility
Cycle B Gospel Texts Sermons for Advent, Christmas, And Epiphany
Experiences have the effect of changing the direction of our lives. These experiences are so casual they are frightening. They are critical experiences because they are life-changing. Albert Schweitzer casually walked into a library and sat down at a table to study. He picked up a magazine that someone had failed to return to the rack. It was a publication of the London Missionary Society. As he thumbed through it, an article about African missions caught his eye. That article changed the direction of his life. He could have been a great organist, performing in the world's most renowned concert halls, or a medical doctor, working in the great research centers of the world. Instead, he would spend the rest of his life in Lambarene, Africa, as a Christian missionary, all because of a casual visit to a library. Some of the weightiest decisions of our lives can turn on the tiniest of hinges.
Life-changing Events
Have you ever had a similar experience? It is not the ostentatious or the loud events, but those that are casual. At the time they are happening you don't give them a second thought. Often those are the events that bring the most profound change. Suddenly, things seem to converge and you meet new people or get a new idea or acquire a different way of looking at things. The results are life-changing.
This is what happened to Jesus at the time of his baptism. John the Baptist declared, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming and he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." John's coming was for Jesus a sign, a turning point, a moment of decision.
This incident in the life of Jesus made sense to the early Christians because it expressed so fully an essential element in their own personal experience of God. This story contains the voice of the Father, the presence of the Son, and the promptings of a gentle dove-like Spirit. This was their own experience of God. This is why this story made so much sense to them. These same things are true for us and our experience of God.
Several things in Jesus' baptism are analogous to our lives. One such thing that stands out is the delay. Jesus had been waiting for thirty years for this to take place. For thirty years he had waited for John to come preaching and baptizing. It must have seemed to Jesus that this time would never come. It appeared that his public ministry would never happen. Luke tells us that "Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work" (3:23). Since life expectancy in the first century was barely forty, this was late in coming. Delays are difficult for us. We interpret God's delays as God's denials. There are those times when we feel that life has passed us by. Today, I simply want to indicate what this baptism meant to Jesus and what it implies for us who are committed to him.
A Turning Point
First, why was Jesus baptized? This moment was a turning point in Jesus' life. It ended forever his life in Nazareth. He was to begin his public ministry. We know very little about these early years. There is evidence that his father died when he was a young man. As the eldest son he cared for the family and took over the family business and ran the carpenter shop in Nazareth. There is some thought that he was a skilled craftsman like his father. One New Testament scholar has suggested that there might have been a sign over his carpenter shop which read, "My Yoke is Easy," indicating that his yokes were so skillfully crafted that they fit perfectly over the shoulders of the oxen, causing no chafing and making heavy burdens light.
John came preaching a baptism of repentance. His message declared that God's judgment was imminent. The only way people could escape it was to confess their sins and in a deliberate act of repentance turn from their wrongdoing. But surely Jesus had no need to be baptized under those conditions. Why then was Jesus baptized by John? There seems to be only one answer. These were the people that Jesus came to save. The only way to save them and reveal his love for them was to get alongside of them. Jesus felt the need to identify with them. He got down in the water alongside these men and women and identified with their need. Jesus also wanted to identify with John both in his message and in his preaching. These seem to be the logical reasons for Jesus' baptism by John that day in the Jordan.
Baptism Is A Decisive Moment
Isn't this what we have been celebrating at Christmas time? God became flesh and knew life exactly as we know it. The whole of Jesus' ministry after the baptism and his identification with us is consistent with the incarnation. Jesus did not stand aloof from human involvement. He entered into all areas of life, accepting the hospitality of those whom the religious leaders regarded as contaminated and unfit. He was accused of being the friend of the publicans and sinners. He did this in defiance of the Jewish law which said that good men kept their hands clean and avoided notorious sinners like the plague. Not Jesus. He deliberately went to them and offered God's forgiveness and the chance for a new life. This complete identification with sinners begins at Jesus' baptism and continues all the way to the cross.
Afterwards, Jesus heard the words, "This is my beloved Son." These words are taken from Psalm 2, a psalm used at the coronation of a king. As the king was crowned and oil poured on his head, the words were said, "You are my son, today I have begotten you" (Psalm 2:7). The king became the messiah. So at this moment Jesus is assured by God that he is the Messiah. This was his coronation. Beyond any shadow of doubt his relationship to God his father is now confirmed with the words, "This is my beloved Son." There may be moments that Jesus would wonder about what is transpiring in his life, but he could look back upon this moment and draw upon its reality and strength. Although he may have had doubts, he would never doubt his call.
The words that followed, "with whom I am well pleased," must have had a tremendous effect on him. The words came from Isaiah 42, a passage in which Isaiah describes the character and mission of God's messiah. According to Isaiah, he would be a servant, but more than that, he would be a suffering servant, taking upon himself the consequences and the punishment of the sins of others. This baptism experience certainly did give meaning and direction to Jesus' public ministry which was about to begin.
At his baptism by John in the river Jordan, the decisive moment in Jesus' life finally arrived. He left his hometown, his family, and friends, and launched out on that mission for which his whole life was directed. To use a good New Testament word, this was his kairos, his time. The Greek language has two words for time: kairos, which means a point in time; and chronos, which means a long period of time. This is where we get our word chronology. Jesus' baptism was his kairos, a critical moment, a decisive moment. He is no longer the waiting messiah or the eldest son caring for the family business. Now, in the words of John, he is "the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."
Jesus Begins His Ministry
What does the baptism of Jesus mean for us today? One thing that stands out for us in the story of Jesus' baptism is that, after a long delay, Jesus' public ministry finally began. It is hard to wait and be patient. We are so used to having things done immediately. We live in a world of the instant -- no delays or waiting. But God is in no hurry. We live and work in the framework of time, and God's framework is eternity. We do not handle delays very well. Patience is not one of our virtues. The words of Howard Thurmond are meaningful:
Always I have an underlying anxiety about things,
Sometimes I am in a hurry to achieve my ends
And am completely without patience. It is hard
For me to realize
That some growth is slow,
That all processes are not swift. I cannot always discriminate
Between what takes time to develop and what can
Be rushed,
Because my sense of time is dulled.
I measure things in terms of happenings.
O, to understand the meaning of perspective
That I may do all things with a profound sense of leisure.1
For several years I have served on the Board of the Ordained Ministry. This board is responsible for the preparedness of candidates for ministry. We are now seeing older men and women who are already established in a career coming before the board as candidates for ministry. They have grown tired of climbing that corporate ladder of success and they are convinced that there is more to life. At this later period they have had the call to the ordained ministry. They have discovered an all-consuming purpose for their lives. They all express amazement that it took so long for them to discover such a deep sense of fulfillment for their lives. This reminds all of us to pray and be patient. The Lord has not given up on us.
Baptized Into Jesus' Ministry
What does the baptism of Jesus mean for us today? Simply, it means that the way we live in the world and the kind of service that we do is the same for us as it was for Jesus. We have been baptized into Christ and into his ministry. The pattern of our life must be one of involvement in the world and identification with people in need. We cannot escape the hard fact that this will be a costly experience and could lead to suffering. The apostle reminds us, "... if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:17).
To be baptized into this ministry of Jesus means involvement on our part. It is at this point we are afflicted with paralysis. We talk a good thing rather than doing a good thing. When discussing his success in sports Deion Sanders, the flamboyant athlete who played both professional football and baseball, said, "You can't just talk the talk; you gotta walk the walk." Success is more than mere words. Many times we Christians get caught up by the delusion of glowing words and statements. Many feel that if they have talked about something or approved a definitive report on the problem, then they have done their job. In our churches we have our endless synods, forums, conferences, and seminars which on so many occasions are unrelated to the real world around us. If mere words and meetings would solve the world's problems, then the church could have accomplished this a long time ago. We need to do more than "talk the talk." We've got to "walk the walk."
In Petrograd, Russia, in 1916, the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church were involved in a heated discussion regarding liturgy and vestments. At the same time in the same building, the Bolsheviks were planning a revolution. The church leaders were so out of touch that the revolution swept away both the Czar and the church. The church is not a place for refuge, to get away from the cares and burdens of modern life. It is not a modern Noah's ark. Our baptism calls us to the ministry of involvement as it did Jesus. Through our baptism we are called to bring the might and the power of the Gospel to bear on every aspect of human life. We cannot do that if we stand aloof, unrelated to the world.
In our baptism, we identify with others as Christ has identified with us. We willingly become the hands of Christ to do the work of love and reconciliation.
____________
1. Howard Thurman, Deep Is The Hunger (Harper and Row, 1973), p.72.
Life-changing Events
Have you ever had a similar experience? It is not the ostentatious or the loud events, but those that are casual. At the time they are happening you don't give them a second thought. Often those are the events that bring the most profound change. Suddenly, things seem to converge and you meet new people or get a new idea or acquire a different way of looking at things. The results are life-changing.
This is what happened to Jesus at the time of his baptism. John the Baptist declared, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming and he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." John's coming was for Jesus a sign, a turning point, a moment of decision.
This incident in the life of Jesus made sense to the early Christians because it expressed so fully an essential element in their own personal experience of God. This story contains the voice of the Father, the presence of the Son, and the promptings of a gentle dove-like Spirit. This was their own experience of God. This is why this story made so much sense to them. These same things are true for us and our experience of God.
Several things in Jesus' baptism are analogous to our lives. One such thing that stands out is the delay. Jesus had been waiting for thirty years for this to take place. For thirty years he had waited for John to come preaching and baptizing. It must have seemed to Jesus that this time would never come. It appeared that his public ministry would never happen. Luke tells us that "Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work" (3:23). Since life expectancy in the first century was barely forty, this was late in coming. Delays are difficult for us. We interpret God's delays as God's denials. There are those times when we feel that life has passed us by. Today, I simply want to indicate what this baptism meant to Jesus and what it implies for us who are committed to him.
A Turning Point
First, why was Jesus baptized? This moment was a turning point in Jesus' life. It ended forever his life in Nazareth. He was to begin his public ministry. We know very little about these early years. There is evidence that his father died when he was a young man. As the eldest son he cared for the family and took over the family business and ran the carpenter shop in Nazareth. There is some thought that he was a skilled craftsman like his father. One New Testament scholar has suggested that there might have been a sign over his carpenter shop which read, "My Yoke is Easy," indicating that his yokes were so skillfully crafted that they fit perfectly over the shoulders of the oxen, causing no chafing and making heavy burdens light.
John came preaching a baptism of repentance. His message declared that God's judgment was imminent. The only way people could escape it was to confess their sins and in a deliberate act of repentance turn from their wrongdoing. But surely Jesus had no need to be baptized under those conditions. Why then was Jesus baptized by John? There seems to be only one answer. These were the people that Jesus came to save. The only way to save them and reveal his love for them was to get alongside of them. Jesus felt the need to identify with them. He got down in the water alongside these men and women and identified with their need. Jesus also wanted to identify with John both in his message and in his preaching. These seem to be the logical reasons for Jesus' baptism by John that day in the Jordan.
Baptism Is A Decisive Moment
Isn't this what we have been celebrating at Christmas time? God became flesh and knew life exactly as we know it. The whole of Jesus' ministry after the baptism and his identification with us is consistent with the incarnation. Jesus did not stand aloof from human involvement. He entered into all areas of life, accepting the hospitality of those whom the religious leaders regarded as contaminated and unfit. He was accused of being the friend of the publicans and sinners. He did this in defiance of the Jewish law which said that good men kept their hands clean and avoided notorious sinners like the plague. Not Jesus. He deliberately went to them and offered God's forgiveness and the chance for a new life. This complete identification with sinners begins at Jesus' baptism and continues all the way to the cross.
Afterwards, Jesus heard the words, "This is my beloved Son." These words are taken from Psalm 2, a psalm used at the coronation of a king. As the king was crowned and oil poured on his head, the words were said, "You are my son, today I have begotten you" (Psalm 2:7). The king became the messiah. So at this moment Jesus is assured by God that he is the Messiah. This was his coronation. Beyond any shadow of doubt his relationship to God his father is now confirmed with the words, "This is my beloved Son." There may be moments that Jesus would wonder about what is transpiring in his life, but he could look back upon this moment and draw upon its reality and strength. Although he may have had doubts, he would never doubt his call.
The words that followed, "with whom I am well pleased," must have had a tremendous effect on him. The words came from Isaiah 42, a passage in which Isaiah describes the character and mission of God's messiah. According to Isaiah, he would be a servant, but more than that, he would be a suffering servant, taking upon himself the consequences and the punishment of the sins of others. This baptism experience certainly did give meaning and direction to Jesus' public ministry which was about to begin.
At his baptism by John in the river Jordan, the decisive moment in Jesus' life finally arrived. He left his hometown, his family, and friends, and launched out on that mission for which his whole life was directed. To use a good New Testament word, this was his kairos, his time. The Greek language has two words for time: kairos, which means a point in time; and chronos, which means a long period of time. This is where we get our word chronology. Jesus' baptism was his kairos, a critical moment, a decisive moment. He is no longer the waiting messiah or the eldest son caring for the family business. Now, in the words of John, he is "the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."
Jesus Begins His Ministry
What does the baptism of Jesus mean for us today? One thing that stands out for us in the story of Jesus' baptism is that, after a long delay, Jesus' public ministry finally began. It is hard to wait and be patient. We are so used to having things done immediately. We live in a world of the instant -- no delays or waiting. But God is in no hurry. We live and work in the framework of time, and God's framework is eternity. We do not handle delays very well. Patience is not one of our virtues. The words of Howard Thurmond are meaningful:
Always I have an underlying anxiety about things,
Sometimes I am in a hurry to achieve my ends
And am completely without patience. It is hard
For me to realize
That some growth is slow,
That all processes are not swift. I cannot always discriminate
Between what takes time to develop and what can
Be rushed,
Because my sense of time is dulled.
I measure things in terms of happenings.
O, to understand the meaning of perspective
That I may do all things with a profound sense of leisure.1
For several years I have served on the Board of the Ordained Ministry. This board is responsible for the preparedness of candidates for ministry. We are now seeing older men and women who are already established in a career coming before the board as candidates for ministry. They have grown tired of climbing that corporate ladder of success and they are convinced that there is more to life. At this later period they have had the call to the ordained ministry. They have discovered an all-consuming purpose for their lives. They all express amazement that it took so long for them to discover such a deep sense of fulfillment for their lives. This reminds all of us to pray and be patient. The Lord has not given up on us.
Baptized Into Jesus' Ministry
What does the baptism of Jesus mean for us today? Simply, it means that the way we live in the world and the kind of service that we do is the same for us as it was for Jesus. We have been baptized into Christ and into his ministry. The pattern of our life must be one of involvement in the world and identification with people in need. We cannot escape the hard fact that this will be a costly experience and could lead to suffering. The apostle reminds us, "... if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:17).
To be baptized into this ministry of Jesus means involvement on our part. It is at this point we are afflicted with paralysis. We talk a good thing rather than doing a good thing. When discussing his success in sports Deion Sanders, the flamboyant athlete who played both professional football and baseball, said, "You can't just talk the talk; you gotta walk the walk." Success is more than mere words. Many times we Christians get caught up by the delusion of glowing words and statements. Many feel that if they have talked about something or approved a definitive report on the problem, then they have done their job. In our churches we have our endless synods, forums, conferences, and seminars which on so many occasions are unrelated to the real world around us. If mere words and meetings would solve the world's problems, then the church could have accomplished this a long time ago. We need to do more than "talk the talk." We've got to "walk the walk."
In Petrograd, Russia, in 1916, the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church were involved in a heated discussion regarding liturgy and vestments. At the same time in the same building, the Bolsheviks were planning a revolution. The church leaders were so out of touch that the revolution swept away both the Czar and the church. The church is not a place for refuge, to get away from the cares and burdens of modern life. It is not a modern Noah's ark. Our baptism calls us to the ministry of involvement as it did Jesus. Through our baptism we are called to bring the might and the power of the Gospel to bear on every aspect of human life. We cannot do that if we stand aloof, unrelated to the world.
In our baptism, we identify with others as Christ has identified with us. We willingly become the hands of Christ to do the work of love and reconciliation.
____________
1. Howard Thurman, Deep Is The Hunger (Harper and Row, 1973), p.72.
