Today the Church celebrates the Baptism of our Lord. All four gospels have an account of Jesus being baptized by John but today we hear from Mark, whose gospel is the earliest and shortest.
Lutheran pastor Delmer Chilton has called Mark’s gospel “the Cliff Notes version” of the gospel. [i]In this account of Jesus’ baptism, we don’t hear the objection the Baptizer raises in Matthew’s gospel and we don’t have the crowd of people who Luke says are there and we don’t hear John call Jesus the Lamb of God.
What we hear is John, standing outside Jerusalem in the waters of the river Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for all who come and confess their sins. And we hear John promising that one who is stronger, mightier or more powerful is coming after him. (v. 7)
What we hear is Mark revealing who Jesus is: The Christ or Messiah. The Son of God.
And then Jesus is there and we witness his baptism, and we see and hear the heavenly acclamation:
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." (verses 10-11)
As Lamar Williamson explains in his commentary on Mark, the Greek is even more vivid. He translates it as, “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens in the process of being ripped apart.”[ii]
The verb here skizomenos is the same word that will be used when the Temple curtain is torn in two from top to bottom when Jesus is crucified at the end of Mark’s gospel. (15:38)
Its root skizo is the same as the word that is used when the Red Sea divides to let the Israelites escape from Pharaoh’s army in Exodus 14, and the same as the word that is used to describe the division in the congregations or communities of faith in Acts 14.
Division and disunity are part of the biblical narrative from beginning to end.
But here’s the Good News: so is God.
God shows up in the divisions, the tearing apart and the rending and creates something new:
A new ministry where the baptism is one of grace;
a new land where the people are servants of God and one another, instead of Pharaohs, patrons or benefactors;
a new kingdom where our allegiance is not to any one human leader or even country, but to God.
That is good news, living, as we do, in a world where the divides seem deeper and more disruptive than ever. Living as we do, when the fabric of our nation appeared to be torn and tattered on Wednesday when rioters assaulted the Capitol building in Washington, DC.
Our redeeming and reconciling God is found in the midst of the chaos.
The Acts text moves us from Jesus’ baptism to our own.
Paul tells the Ephesians, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” (Acts 19:4)
And it is in our baptism into Christ Jesus that we are baptized into grace.
Baptism isn’t merely a sentimental ceremony that yields an opportunity for families to gather or fire insurance against a Dante-esque inferno in the life hereafter. It is a sacrament where an ordinary element is joined with God’s command and promise. In the sacrament of Holy Baptism, the ordinary element of water is joined with God’s command[iii] and the promise that “You are a child of God, sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.” [iv]
Martin Luther emphasizes how baptism is a precious and inexpressible treasure that God has given us, a treasure that depends on the Word and commandment of God.[v] In his Small Catechism, Luther asks how ordinary water can deliver all the benefits of baptism – the forgiveness of sins, redemption from death and the devil, and salvation.
Calling baptism “a grace-filled water of life” and a “bath of the new birth in the Holy Spirit” Luther reminds us that, water – the most ordinary of elements - is made holy when it is placed in the setting of God’s Word and command. It is God’s gift and action for us that is transformational.
“Baptism frees us from sin and death by uniting us to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”[vi] We hear this again in the words from Romans that are included in the thanksgiving for baptism in the funeral liturgy:
“When we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”[vii]
God gets all the verbs, not us. We were baptized, we were buried, and we are raised.
All through God’s grace.
In this new baptismal life, just as Jesus was commissioned into ministry to usher in the kingdom of God, we are commissioned for Christ's ministry to work for justice and peace.[viii] And in the affirmation of our baptism, when we remember what God has done, we are asked to renounce three things that corrupt justice and peace.
First, we are asked, “Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God?”
Second, we are asked, Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God?”
And finally, we are asked, “Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from God?”
The devil and the forces that defy God; the powers of this world that rebel against God; the ways of sin that draw you from God.
I renounce them. Again and again, I renounce them.
Within our congregation and denomination, we have different political views, but we must be united in renouncing the violence at the Capitol building on Wednesday. While it is not a sacred religious space, it is a hallowed space, venerated in history and as a symbol of our republic, and it was violated, needlessly and recklessly. And even more grievously, lives were lost.
But that isn’t going far enough, is it?
Because, of course, we renounce evil and sin when we see them on display in the actions of others. But that’s the easy part.
What’s even more important to my life with God though is that I renounce them fully and completely, because when I am honest, I know that these enemies of God’s justice and peace scale the walls of my heart, break through my defenses and tell me lies. Unchecked, they settle into my heart and mind and seed resentment and anger.
Thankfully, baptism promises the sustaining presence of the One who gives us a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, and a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. The Holy Spirit empowers us to confront evil and sin, renounce and repudiate it, and with our eyes opened, see beyond it to the new thing God is doing in the midst of the chaos and division.
So, now, let us
face the schisms that divide us and tear us apart;
renounce the God-defying evil that we have witnessed;
name and confront the sin that draws us away from God;
and, let us wade into the grace filled waters,
confident of God’s life-giving promises for us all.
Let us pray.[ix]
Lord God, Heavenly Father,
Sprinkle water upon us that we might remember our baptism;
Clean us from all our uncleanness and from our idols.
Give us new hearts and put new spirits within us.
Remove our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh.
Unite us with Your Son Jesus in the life you have given us.
Amen.
[i] 211. “Lectionary Lab Live”
[ii] Lamar Williamson. Mark. 35.
[iii] Matthew 28:19 NRS
[iv] Small Catechism, 79.
[v] Large Catechism, 463.
[vi] ELW, 227
[vii] ELW, 280; Romans 6:3-4, NRS
[viii] ELW, 237
[ix] adapted from Ezekiel 36:25-26
No comments:
Post a Comment