Baptism of our Lord

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A little boy was upset with his parents' financial situation, so he decided to write God a letter.

Dear God,
My mommy and daddy need $500 for bills and I don't know who else to ask. Could You please help?
Johnny

The letter was received by the local post office and put in the 'dead' letters pile. The clerk, being curious of the letter addressed to God, opened to see what it said. As you can imagine, he was touched by the letter and decided to help. He asked all his fellow workers to 'chip-in' a few dollars to help a family in need. When all the money was collected, it came to $300. The clerk sent a money order in an official Post Office envelope with the return address simply, God.
Several weeks later the same clerk found another letter addressed to God in the same writing.

The letter said,
Dear God,
Thank you for the $300, but next time don't use the Post Office, they have a $200 service charge.
Johnny

Lucky for us, Baptism is a free gift from God and does not involve the post office. Baptism for us is very different from the baptism that Jesus experienced. Mark’s version of the baptism of Jesus is very urgent feeling. It fits in with Mark’s theme of urgency through out the Gospel. Mark wants to move readers through his Gospel to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus appears in the wilderness, the River Jordan where John was baptizing, Jesus and the people around him experience this amazing revelation. It says “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.” The word “torn apart” in Greek only appears twice in the Gospel; here in this story and at the Crucifixion of Jesus. This is a major event in Mark’s Gospel. Using this form of the word, it shows that God is with the people, his people.

And then this voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” You are MY Son. This phrase echoes the Father/Son relationship found in the Old Testament. One example is found in Genesis involving Abraham and his son Isaac. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” The author of Psalm 2 is another example. “I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” This small phrase emphasis a major point of Jesus’ relationship to the Father and Father’s relationship to Jesus: God and Messianc King, God and Servant of the Lord.

I know what some of are you are thinking. This is all well and good but why did Jesus need to be baptized? Jesus was sinless and he didn’t need a baptism for the forgiveness of sin. Why was he baptized? To answer this question we need to know that to be Baptized means to die. I know is hard to grasp this understand that to be baptized means to die especially when we baptize little babies but it more of a rebirth that we all experience when we are baptized. That is why we say we are reborn when we are baptized. For Jesus, his acceptance of his baptism meant two things: One, he was accepting the death on the Cross—a death he freely accepted—and Two, he was accepting his own humanity—he was accepting that he was just like you and me.

Our Baptism is much different from the one Jesus experienced. Jesus was sinless but we are not. We are all born with this original sin—the sin that separated Adam and Eve from God. It is by our baptism that we find forgiveness of this sin and in this Baptism God claims us as his own. Yes we will still sin but we will always find forgiveness in the loving arms of Christ because of our Baptism. Jesus is our mediator and when we sin it is Jesus proclaiming that “I died for that man” or “I died for that woman.” Christ still promises that he will bear our sins all because of our baptism. Our baptism is not done by us but it something that is done by God.

So today, as many of you have noticed, we have placed the baptismal font down in the center of the church. There has been a huge revival in the Lutheran Church over the years dealing with the Remembrance of our Baptism. Martin Luther wrote that “every time you wash your face, remember your baptism.” I feel that over the years, the act of baptism has been down played when in reality it is a life changing, life altering experienced that we go through. It is when we were claimed by God as one of his own and there was a promised made that God would never leave us when we needed him.

So today, as you leave, I encourage you all to remember your baptism by dipping your hand into the water, making a sign of the cross, or even just saying a prayer while touching the font thanking God for the Gift of baptism. Remember your baptism every time you go fishing or hunting, go for a walk, take a shower, wash your hands. For it was by your baptism God has said in the words of Isaiah , “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon them; they will bring forth justice to the nations.” In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen