Baptism of our Lord

Matthew 3:13-17

Like many stories in the Bible, this morning’s gospel leaves us with a few questions and maybe the biggest one is, “Why?” Why is Jesus being baptized? We already know he’s the Son of God, the Messiah who has fulfilled the ancient prophecy and we’ve already called him Emmanuel, God with us. So, what is going on here?

Many of us have heard about believer’s baptism – an affirmation or acceptance of what God has done in a person’s life. We often think of it as a practice in Baptist traditions, but even within Lutheranism, if a person comes to know God’s love and hasn’t already been baptized, he or she is invited to come to the font, and the youth who were baptized in our congregations as infants or early in childhood often affirm their baptisms at confirmation.

But what Matthew describes isn’t a believer’s baptism.

In our Lutheran understanding, baptism is a sacrament where the earthly element of water is joined with the Word of God where the resurrected Jesus commands us to “go therefore and make disciples, baptizing  them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28). And in baptism, our sins and evil desires are drowned and we are raised to new life as children of God.

But what Matthew describes isn’t a Christian baptism for the forgiveness of sins either.

Instead, what we witness in Matthew’s account is the Jewish Jesus humbling himself to be baptized “in order to fulfill all righteousness.” (v. 15) Jesus is
being obedient to God,
bringing to completion the will of God, and
upholding God’s own faithfulness to Israel.[i]

In one of his sermons on this text, Martin Luther says Jesus does not have to submit to baptism, but he does anyway. He does more than what is required. The gospel frees us from the law, but it always invites us to do more than what is required, not less.[ii]

Today during worship, together we will affirm our baptisms, renouncing the forces that draw us away from God and recalling that baptism is our inauguration into a new life in Christ. We are called to the same obedience and faithfulness that Jesus demonstrated, as we follow Him in our lives.

Living as God’s beloved sons and daughters, we respond to God’s activity in our lives, and we are called to share the good news of God’s love with the people we meet. 

You may remember that since October I have been participating in clinical pastoral education at the hospital. Part of that work includes visiting patients as one of the hospital chaplains, and one of my chaplain colleagues recently shared the story of a young woman who was admitted. She wasn’t especially supported by family or friends, but during her stay, the nurses on her floor befriended her, and two of the other chaplains visited regularly also, and as this young woman experienced the unconditional love of these nurses and chaplains, she made a discovery. She discovered she was loved by God, too. And before she left the hospital she asked to be baptized.

“Everyone needs to hear that they are God’s beloved child, loved unconditionally, precious.”[iii] That is the work we are baptized into, and freed by the gospel to do.

Thankfully, we don’t do this work alone. It is always with God’s help, and it is always in community. So it makes sense that this morning, after our affirmation of baptism, we’ll also promise to pray for the leaders in our congregation who are beginning a new year as our congregation council. These six folks have agreed to serve on the council, but the work of the Church belongs to all of us.

Another way to understand Jesus’ baptism is to see it as God christening his public ministry in the world. In the same way, as we begin this new year, we too are christening the ministry that is ahead of us:

the very work where we will meet people who have never heard or believed that they are beloved by God;

the very work where we will give out of what we have first been given to meet the needs of the neighbor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger;

the very work where we will tend the sick, give rest to the weary, and comfort the afflicted.

And it is in this work where our faith is most active and alive, where we most clearly see the God who calls us beloved.

Let us pray….
Good and gracious God,
We give You thanks for Your Son Jesus who humbled himself to live among us.
We give you thanks for the promises of forgiveness and new life that You make to every one of us.
Most of all we give You thanks for the merciful love You give us, making us Your own children.
Show us how to use the gifts You have given us and encourage us to share Your abundant love with others that they, too, will know they are loved.
Help us hear Your voice in our lives and teach us to follow Your Son.
We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus.
Amen.

[i] Donald Senior. Matthew. 55.
[ii] Martin Luther. “This is My Son, the Beloved”: Sermon on the Baptism of Jesus. The Epiphany of Our Lord (January 6, 1534) Word & World, Luther Seminary, St.Paul, MN. https://wordandworld.luthersem.edu/content/pdfs/16-1_Edges_of_Life/16-1_Luther_Sermon.pdf, accessed 1/11/2020
[iii] Bishop Michael Rinehart. https://www.bishopmike.com