"Epiphany" is a word that means "to appear" or "to make known." Last week I spoke about it being a mystery revealed. The First Sunday after the Epiphany is always the Baptism of Our Lord – a time when the voice from heaven "makes it known" or “reveals” that Jesus is "my son, the Beloved."
Baptism
is naming and identifying someone as “beloved.” Baptism reminds us that we
discover who we are in relation to whose we are, God’s beloved children. We
belong to God’s family, and baptism is a tangible sign of that. Baptism is
wholly God’s work that we may have confidence that no matter how often we fall
short or fail, nothing that we do, or fail to do, can remove the identity that
God conveys as a gift.
Our
relationship with God is the one relationship in life we can’t screw up
precisely because we did not establish it. And it is in God, not the church,
that we are baptized. Has baptism lost its meaning and purpose in today’s
society?
When
the gospel writers tell Jesus’ story, his baptism is a crucial piece of that
story. Everything starts at the river where Jesus entered the waters and placed
himself in the arms of his cousin John.
“And the heavens
were opened. And the Spirit descended upon him as a dove. And a Voice came from
heaven saying, 'This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Despite
the beauties and sentiment of the birth narratives, in truth, the ministry and
teachings and trials and triumphs and almost all that make us remember Jesus
took place after his baptism. It was at the moment of Baptism that Jesus was
claimed and called.
Jesus’
baptism is a way of understanding our own baptism. For some people, baptism is
“just joining the Jesus club.” Everyone knows what it means to join a club such
as the Scouts, Air Cadets, or Kiwanis. We have all joined clubs and every club
has its rules and regulations. Baptism is joining the “Jesus club” and we now
have to follow the “Jesus rules”.
For
others, baptism is like “hell insurance”, though it’s not what I believe. I
remember when my oldest was born and I went to my priest to talk baptism and she
emphatically said to me, “you know baptism isn’t a ‘get out of hell free’ card,
right?”
Baptism
is a key part of the Christian faith, but the Bible really says little about it
other than Jesus was baptized, and that apostles were told to do it too. Most
of our traditions, however, have a lot to say. Here are some of the questions asked
and answered in Luther’s Small Catechism:
What
is baptism? Baptism is not simply plain water. Instead, it is water used
according to God’s command and connected with God’s word.
What
then is this word of God? Where Jesus says in Matthew 28, “Go therefore and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
What
gifts or benefits does baptism grant? It brings about forgiveness of sin,
redeems from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who
believe it, as the words and promise of God declare.
What
are these words and promise of God? Where Jesus says in Mark 16, “The one who
believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will
be condemned.”
How
can water do such great things? Clearly the water does not do it, but the word
of God, which is with and alongside the water, and faith, which trusts this
word of God in the water.
For
without the word of God, the water is plain water and not a baptism, but with
the word of God, it is a baptism, that is, a grace-filled water of life and a
“bath of the new birth in the Holy Spirit”, as Paul says to Titus in chapter 3.
“Through
the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out
on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified
by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
So,
in the sacrament of baptism, the triune God delivers us from the forces of
evil, puts our sinful self to death, gives us new birth, adopts us as children,
and makes us members of the body of Christ.
That
is a lot to take in, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to
studying the theology and ritual behind baptism. It is why, for some, infant
baptism is unimportant. They want to let the child grow up until they are old
enough to make a decision for themselves.
Which
brings up an interesting question – is there such thing as a second baptism?
There
are many people I have met who were baptized as a baby into one denomination or
another. But then they didn’t go to church, or had a falling out at the church,
or simply found a different church or denomination that connected more with
them than the one in which they were baptized.
I
am no exception to this story. I was baptized Roman Catholic but left that denomination
a long time ago. When I found my faith again, I had a discussion about a
“rebaptism” into the Anglican Church.
But
whether we are baptized as a baby or a child or a young adult, we are baptized
into God, not into a church or a denomination. That is why we have things like
renewal of baptism, or redeclaration of faith, or, in my case, Confirmation,
which is the route I took to reaffirm my faith in God and in Jesus.
Another
situation I have come across with regards to “second baptism” is for those who
are transgender and want to be rebaptized in their new name and identity. Theologically,
that person is still a baptized child of God, thus there is no need for a
second baptism.
The
Anglican Church now has an approved set of liturgies that includes a renaming
ceremony. The goal being that a person can have a special reaffirmation of
faith as they are now, as opposed to who they were before.
I
am going off on tangents here but what I want to say is that with our baptism,
we are fully and wholly children of God, with all the gifts and benefits that
come with it. And each week we reaffirm our baptism with either the Apostles’
or Nicene creed. We also do so during baptisms when we join the baptism
candidates, parents, and sponsors during the profession of faith.
So
today, on this the day of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, I give you
these statements of thanksgiving for our baptism:
Holy
God, mighty Lord, gracious Father: We give you thanks, for in the beginning
your Spirit moved over the waters and you created heaven and earth. By the gift
of water, you nourish and sustain us and all living things.
By
the waters of the flood, you condemned the wicked and saved those whom you had
chosen, Noah and his family. You led Israel by the pillar of cloud and fire
through the sea, out of slavery into the freedom of the promised land.
In
the waters of the Jordan, your Son was baptized by John and anointed with the
Spirit. By the baptism of his own death and resurrection your beloved Son has
set us free from the bandage to sin and death and has opened the way to the joy
and freedom of everlasting life. He made water as sign of the kingdom and of cleansing
and rebirth. In obedience to his command, we make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy
Spirit.
For
some people, baptism has lost its importance, becoming just sprinkling of water
on a baby’s head. Baptism is often considered hell insurance and protects you
from the fiery wrath of God. Baptism is joining the Jesus Club with all its
rules and regulations.
But
what happened in Jesus’ baptism? The Spirit of God came upon him. He was
declared to be the Son of God in whom God delighted. He was called to be the
Suffering Servant who carried the whole sins of the world.
In
our baptism, similar things happen to us as happened to Jesus when he was
baptized: The Spirit of God comes into us and remains in us. We are declared to
be a child of God. We hear that God is well pleased with us.
And so, on this Baptism of Our Lord Sunday, remember your Baptism and live into your calling.
Let us pray.
Lord,
pour out your Holy Spirit, so that those who are here baptized may be given new
life. Wash away the sin of all those who are cleansed by this water and bring
them forth as inheritors of your glorious kingdom.
To
you be given praise and honour and worship through your Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
Amen.
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