Sermon:Mark 1: 4-11 (Baptism of Our Lord B)

Christ Church Riverdale, 8 January 2006

The Rev. Robert Lamborn, Rector

 ^NRS Mark 1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸ I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." ⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

We’re a week and a day into 2006 . . .  so how are the New Year’s resolutions going? I can honestly say I haven’t broken a single resolution yet this year–my record is perfect!  Of course I didn’t make any resolutions this year, not because I couldn’t use improvement in some areas.  I read in the Times that parents of young children tend to make fewer resolutions, because we don’t feel well enough in control of our lives!  A week and a day into 2006 we’re celebrating the baptism of Jesus, with baptism itself at the 11:00 service, and with the renewal of our baptismal vows, the opportunity to make a new beginning as Christians.  We make this new beginning not once a year, but renew our vows on the four or five baptismal occasions in each church year.  Then again, our vows are more significant than taking off that stubborn ten pounds getting up earlier in the morning so we don’t have to rush around, or organizing the family finances better.

Our baptismal vows are about living and loving the way we were made for by God and restored to by Jesus.The Gospel text for celebrating Jesus’ baptism this morning tells us all about John the Baptizer exercising what seems to be a very successful ministry--baptizing lots of people in the river Jordan as they repent of their sins and are forgiven.  “I’m not the main attraction,” John tells them, however.  “The one more powerful than I is coming, and you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

So how is the main attraction going to come on stage after receiving this big buildup from John, the warm-up act?  Not with flashy lights and smoke and music, but by singing backup to John in the warm-up act!  “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan,” Mark tells us simply.

So why does he do it?  Why does the one person who our theology says doesn’t need to repent of his sins, get in line anyway and choose to sink down into the mud of the Jordan stirred up by the feet, and the sins, of all these people John is baptizing?  A rector I know told me about one of the higher-ups in another diocese–“You know, I never felt like this guy ever really got into my mud puddle,” meaning he didn’t really get involved personally in the situation of the local parish.

Well, Jesus gets into our mud puddle, with both feet and goes all the way under--soaking wet from head to toe.  Why does Jesus go public with his ministry be receiving a baptism he doesn’t need?  Since Jesus didn’t need it for himself, he must have done it for us, to be in solidarity with us.  Willingly he plunges and sinks into the mud our sins create, and rises back out able to transform us and make us new creations.

And now comes the important part–he stays there!  Jesus doesn’t just get in our mud puddle, he stays–his baptism is not the end, but the beginning of his public ministry.  And what happens after baptism, whether for Jesus or for us, gives baptism its significance.  One time a basketball player for a major university was doing just a great job coming off the bench–making lots of key plays, even ones which helped win games.  More and more reporters were asking the coach, “When’s he going to start?”  “Look, you don’t understand,” the coach said.  What’s important isn’t who starts, but who finishes.” 

It’s easy to make a start, whether it’s a New Year’s resolution, or a husband holding his wife’s hand in the delivery room and saying “You’re doing great, honey!” or a backpack full of sharp pencils and clean notebooks at the beginning of a school year.  The real work comes later, continuing those beginnings, making the choices to live out what we’ve started.  Jesus, who starts out squarely in our mud puddle stays with us in it–teaching and healing and reconciling, stays with us in it all the way to the very grave and to the new life that follows stays with us in order to lift us out.

Jesus isn’t the only person to come up today who doesn’t need baptism for repentance and forgiveness of sins.  These babies are innocent–they haven’t developed the moral capacity for sin to be a category applicable to their lives yet.  Although their families might disagree when they have to wake up late at night, they don’t need to make new year’s resolutions, either. The older kids coming forward this morning have developed more of a sense of right and wrong, but are far from adult accountability.  God already loves these children completely, and yet we baptize them, bring them into the family, make them our new sisters and brothers, promise to raise them in the faith. 

Houseplants have never been my thing.  Before I met Amy I had been the undoing of several ferns, basically out of benign neglect, until I learned that philodendrons were pretty much indestructible.  So I got a philodendron and had managed not to kill it!  Amy is the opposite–loves to garden and take care of plants.  Since my study in the rectory has a bay window, several plants that are outside when it’s warmer are spending the winter in my study.

These plants in the bay window show phototropism–they grow in the direction of the sunlight. Amy and I don’t create the sunlight–it’s a gift from God, but we put the plants where they can receive it and nurture them with the things we can provide–water and soil. 

These children’s baptism, and ours, is about being put in the situation where we can grow toward the light.  And this morning those of us old enough to make our own decisions can in renewing our baptismal vows make the decision to recommit ourselves to that light, to become as new and full of potential as young children.  We can ask God’s help in becoming the people God created us to be–living and loving with generosity and joy.  Maybe we’ll succeed in those resolutions about getting better organized, losing a few pounds or keeping a better schedule, and maybe we won’t.  But if we choose to place ourselves and those we love consistently where we and they can receive the light, and so we can grow toward that light as expressed in baptism, God will absolutely delight in giving us abundant growth beyond anything we can imagine!