The Epiphany of Baptism, January 11, 2015

The Epiphany of Baptism

Genesis 1:1-5, Mark 1:4-11

January 11, 2015

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

 

The World of Epiphanies  Last Sunday, we entered the fascinating world of epiphanies - those special snippets of time when God reveals his love and guidance for us in very special ways. We heard that over the centuries, the Church has observed three of those epiphanies as they relate to Jesus - the Star that led the wisemen to Jesus, Jesus’ baptism, and when Jesus changed the water into wine during a marriage celebration in Cana. Last week I suggested that epiphanies still occur in our lives. They all depend upon what we know, who we follow, where we look and what we give.

Baptism of the Lord Sunday  This morning we move to the second of the three great epiphanies that relate to Jesus - his baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. As we do this, we will look at our own baptism, and identify the ways in which all of life is baptism.

Our Baptism Let’s start by remembering our own baptism. Were any of you baptized in the River Jordan? The Mississippi? Any river at all? How many were baptized as babies? As youth or adults? Were any of you baptized right here in this sanctuary? It is likely that each of you has a fairly definite idea of when and where you were baptized. On December 28th, I baptized Louis Edward Pigg. If you were to ask me, I would tell you that I was baptized by complete immersion on Easter Sunday, 1942 in a country German Baptist church in Iowa when I was eleven years old.

Jesus’ Baptism If we turn to Jesus’ baptism, we find it was quite impressive. First of all, let’s look at the man called John the Baptist or John the baptizer. John essentially was in the baptism business. People would come from all over to be cleansed of their sins through the water of baptism.

 Jesus had asked John to baptize him. John had been reluctant to do this because he felt that baptism was just for sinners and Jesus was sinless. However, Jesus knew that baptism would accomplish several things.

1. First of all, it would become the sign of the New Covenant that God would establish with his people through his death and resurrection.

2. Second, it would serve as a means by which he could identify himself with the people he had come to save.

3. Next, it would provide a means by which people like you and me could spiritually connect with Jesus through our own baptism.

4. Finally, his baptism was an epiphany from God as a divine validation of his Messiahship. As Jesus emerged from the water, the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove. Then a voice from heaven proclaimed, “This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17). Jesus now knew this was God’s will for his life and so began his journey to the Cross.

Water in Scripture It is important to remember that Jesus and all of us here this morning were baptized with water, not some exotic ointment or costly balm. It wasn’t Gatorade that players pour on their coaches with when they win a game. No, we were baptized with ordinary water. But water was exactly the right thing to us since water is used to cleanse and water is essential if we’re going to live.  

Cleansing from Sin In the Bible, water symbolized the washing and cleansing from sin. Jewish converts were always immersed in water to symbolize their cleansing from sin. In the time of Noah, God washed away the sins of the world by the water of the great flood. Peter wrote, “In the ark only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also...” [1 Peter 3:20-21]

Deliverance from Slavery  When God through his servant Moses led Israel through the water of the Red Sea, he delivered them out of slavery into the freedom of the promised land, from death to new life. Paul wrote, “our forefathers were all under the cloud and they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” [1 Corinthians 10:1-2]

Two Aspects of Baptism This morning I ask us to expand our thinking of baptism as an event of our past and explore the thoughts that:

1. Our baptismal experience is grounded in the great creation saga of Genesis, and

2. We are being baptized by the Spirit every day of our lives.

Genesis In our morning scripture we read the first few lines of the creation story. They are familiar words to all of us since we’ve heard them many times before. In fact, over the years, we read the Genesis account of the Creation and see it as simply something that happened in history eons and eons ago. And for the life of us, we can’t see what an empty and formless earth with darkness over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovering over the primordial waters, has to do with us. We tend to skip over it and move quickly on to the great stories of Abraham and his descendants or to the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and receiving the Ten Commandments, or to Joshua leading the Israelites into the Promised Land. After all, these accounts deal with real people, just like us.

However, I propose this morning that the creation story has everything to do with us because in a way it is the original baptism story. Why? Because out of the formless and empty earth shrouded in darkness, God brought light and order out of the primeval chaos. God created life out of death. That’s exactly what God does for us each day when our lives become formless and empty and dark because of our sin.

One person put it this way: “Genesis, Chapter One, is about your creation, about how God creates and re-creates you and me. God is always hovering over the chaos of our world and our life, speaking new things into existence. God is always baptizing us - making ways for new life when we can only see dead ends. It means that every painful moment that seems like a little death in our lives is also the moment of the outpouring of new life, the overflow of Jesus’ baptismal waters, the movement of the Holy Spirit.” [From sermon, “Fully Alive” by Isaac Villegas, pastor of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship in North Carolina]

Thus baptism is the act of God creating something new and orderly out of the chaos of our lives.

All of Life is Baptism  The second thought that I offer for our consideration builds upon the assertion just made about Genesis and creation. It is that we affirm what Martin Luther once said, All of Life is Baptism.

 

 

In looking at Jesus’ baptism and remembering our own, it is logical to think of them only as one-time events that took place at a certain time and place in history. We were baptized and have a baptismal certificate to prove it. As far as our water baptism is concerned, our thoughts are correct. It was a one-time event that took place in the past.

However, we also are baptized in the Spirit countless times in our lives. Why? Every day we mess up by hurting others with our words and actions. And by so doing, we separate ourselves from them and from God. Then it is that God’s waters of forgiveness and redemption wash over us making us a new creation. The old is gone. Behold we’ve been baptized anew.

However, it also means that sometimes we are in distress because of things that happen to us and we find our lives in complete chaos. We find we don’t have enough money to meet the bills. We’ve been laid off from work. Our spouse has died. Our child has become addicted to drugs. Our house has been destroyed by a tornado. Such events as these, and many more, can plunge us into despair. We think there is no hope, no solution. All is in shambles. But just as the Spirit of God hovered over the darkness of the deep and the formless and empty earth, the Spirit comes to the chaotic darkness of our lives and says, “Let there be light!” And God’s epiphany raises us up and baptizes us into hope. We are immersed in a fountain of deliverance and rebirth and now have a light to our path.

Final Thoughts  Finally, it is my assertion this morning that:

Every breath we take is a baptism of the Spirit and a deliverance from death to life.

Every friend we have is a baptism of the Spirit and a deliverance from loneliness to fellowship.

Everyone who loves us is a baptism of the Spirit and a deliverance from isolation to affirmation.

Every time we are forgiven is a baptism of the Spirit and a deliverance from separation to intimacy.

Remember: baptism doesn’t save us. Christ saved us. Baptism doesn’t make us better persons. The Holy Spirit makes us better persons. Baptism is God’s “Yes” to us. Our lives are spent in saying “Yes” back to God because all of life is baptism.

Genesis 1:1-5 NRSV

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Mark 1:4-11 NRSV

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 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. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 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. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’

 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

Prayer