Isaiah 42:1-9

Acts 10:34-38

Mark 1:7-11

Psalm 89:1-29 or 89:20-29

Brothers and sisters in Christ, pray with me, that the words I speak may be those God wants us to hear.

Today we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord. We actually have portions of 2 baptism stories in our lessons today. Our Gospel reading from Mark tells the story of Jesus’ baptism, and the reading from Acts gives us a portion of Peter’s speech to Cornelius and his relatives. It is from the story of what some call “the Pentecost of the Gentiles”, when it became so evident to Peter that the Holy Spirit was at work in Cornelius and his family that he baptized them. This was the first baptizing of Gentiles, and echoes the theme of our season of Epiphany—“Jesus is the savior of the whole world, and God’s promises of salvation to Israel now apply to all the peoples of the earth.” ¹

Our Gospel lesson from Mark tells the story of Jesus baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. The Jordan River isn’t just any old stream…it’s the river that Israel had to pass through to get from the wilderness to the promised land. So being baptized in the Jordan has special significance in this story. It is a time of beginning for Jesus. And his beginning is affirmed by God…who pours out the Holy Spirit upon him like a dove…and Jesus hears the Father’s gentle words…”You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 

The coming of the Holy Spirit for Jesus is very different than other Holy Spirit stories in the bible. There are no flames, there is no rushing wind, there is no wild dancing or prophetic utterance, no speaking in tongues, no still small voice. Jesus sees the heavens torn apart, but the spirit descends on him like a dove, a symbol of love, gentleness and purity, but also of sacrifice. And the words he hears from God are loving and affirming.

And that is the kind of savior Jesus is. In the wilderness he put aside temptations to be any other kind of messiah. As Peter puts it, “He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. …And as was foretold by Isaiah, ”A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.”. Jesus is the loving son, showing by word and deed that the nature of God is Love.

Do you remember your baptism? I was about 16 months old when I was baptized, so I have no recollection of mine at all. But I like to visit the Holy Water stoup in the back of the nave often. It is a physical reminder that I am God’s child, that I have a part in Jesus because of my baptism into Him, that because of that baptism I have work to do! And that I can’t do it without God’s help! So for me, crossing myself after dipping my fingers in Holy water is sort of a physical way of saying both “Here I am Lord, send me!” and “I will with God’s help”. It helps me remember and affirm my baptism.

Another place we find water is in the Eucharist. Have you ever noticed that water has a place of honor? It is brought forward and presented with the bread and wine. Some water goes into the communion cup with the wine. It was the customary to add water to wine in Jesus day, and that may have been a practicality before wine became the carefully controlled commercial product it is today. But this is still done. Very early on it came to represent the mystery of Christ in his divinity sharing in our humanity, and us sharing in his divinity …water and wine are mixed together in the cup and cannot be separated. The baptized, the folk of the water, are joined with Christ in his blood, and become one with Him. We are the body of Christ.

Jesus went into that water of baptism before us. So did Cornelius and his relatives and friends, filled with the Holy Spirit. And the disciples, and the early Christians, from that time down to today. And most of us have gone into that water, too…and some of us will soon. We are joined together in the fellowship of Jesus, the family of God.

And Christians, we have work to do! During the collect today we prayed for help in keeping our baptismal covenant. Let’s turn to that covenant now and read it together.

 

Please stand and turn to page 304 in the Book of Common Prayer.

(Read the baptismal covenant together.)

Let us pray.

Open the heavens, Holy Spirit, for us to see Jesus interceding for us; may we be strengthened to share his baptism, strengthened to share his cup, and ready to serve him forever.

Amen.²

¹ A Dictionary for Episcopalians, by John N. Wall. Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 2000.

² A New Zealand Prayer Book. The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. San Francisco, CA: HarperSan Francisco, 1997. p.562.