Thru It All

Luke tells the story of Jesus’ baptism a little bit differently than the other Gospels. Luke says that when Jesus had been baptized and was praying, the heaven opened. Communication between the eternal realm and the temporal realm opened up. And God speaks Jesus’ identity.

“You are my son.” We share the closest relationship there is, God declares. In that day and time, fathers and sons shared the closest relationship because inheritance and trade passed from father to son. A father saw his future in his son. He taught his son all he knew. And good sons grew to be like their fathers.

The words God spoke were familiar to Jesus, and they shaped his identity as well. They come from Psalm 2 and Isaiah 42. The second Psalm is a royal psalm. It may have been used in coronations. It speaks of God’s anointed one, who is given power over the nations. While Isaiah 42 is one of the servant songs of the prophet Isaiah. The passage we read this morning from Isaiah 43 is the culmination of the song.

So, as God says, “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” Jesus hears his identity. He hears two songs at once.

One song’s lyrics are “I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Sounds like a rock song, doesn’t it?

And the other song’s lyrics are “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” What a different song~almost a love ballad.

In baptism, Jesus was claimed “My Son.” God declared they shared the closest relationship. And in baptism, Jesus was called. “You are the Beloved” – you are the Messianic King. And with you I am well pleased, – you are the Suffering Servant. And I think it is beautiful that in Luke it doesn’t all happen as he rises out of the water. It is as he opens himself in prayer that the heavens open that Jesus is claimed and called.

Our Book of Order, echoes John Calvin’s two-sided treatment of what happens in baptism, “”Baptism enacts and seals what the Word proclaims: God’s redeeming grace offered to all people. Baptism is God’s gift of grace and also God’s summons to respond to that grace. Baptism calls to repentance, to faithfulness, and to discipleship. Baptism gives the church its identity and commissions the church for ministry to the world.”

Baptism is God’s gift of grace and also God’s summons to respond to that grace.

Baptism is the beginning of a relationship in which we are claimed and called throughout our lives.

Rev. Dr. Joanna Adams tells about a five-year old in the first church she served as pastor who had not been baptized as an infant and whose parents wanted him to be baptized. “So one Sunday after worship–the Sunday before the baptism was scheduled,” says Joanna, “Max, his mom, his dad, and I gathered around the font. I sensed that Max was a little dubious about the whole affair, but I dove in anyway. I took the top off the baptismal font, reached my hand down into the dry bowl, and pretended to scoop up a palm full of water. I placed my dry hand on his dry head and said brightly, “Next week, we’ll be doing this with real water.” Max folded his arms across his chest, looked me straight in the eye, and announced, “No way, lady. No way.”

In our own ways, we echo Max’s sentiments all the time. No way, God, no way. I am not precious in your sight. No way I am worthy. No way I am cherished. There’s no way God says to me, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” Yet, this is God’s invitation. To go thru it all with you. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you.”

“No way,” we say, when we watch the news and shake our heads, shrug our shoulders, roll our eyes. “No way.” It’s not my problem. It’s not in my neighborhood. It’s not effecting my safety. It isn’t threatening my savings. I won’t let it change my life. “No way, lady, no way.”

Maybe Max was wise beyond his five years. These clear waters, they flow over our heads, into our lives, and the heavens are opened, a connection is made, God’s Spirit and grace wash over us, and we are claimed as God’s own. We belong to God. We are not our own.

Martin Luther, the priest and theologian who began the Protestant Revolution by expressing his concerns about the church, was plagued at times by a sense of his own unworthiness and by despair. So, he kept an inscription over his desk that read, “Remember, you have been baptized.” Often, he would touch his forehead and remind himself, “Martin, you have been baptized.”

Every day, God’s grace surrounds us and holds us up. And every day we are living into the identity God has for us. Because in baptism, God has claimed us as his own and graciously filled us with his Spirit to live out the calling that God has for our lives.

Max relented and was baptized with real water. And I wonder about that moment – was the water cold and shocking, or warm and comforting? Did it soak into his hair or drip down his neck and forehead? Was he comforted or challenged? Because the waters of baptism do both.

In the river of life, the waters of baptism mean that we are not at the mercy of the torrent of change in our culture that swirls and changes around us. But they do mean that we stand in the river, confident in the gracious God who promises to be with us, who proclaims that the rivers will not overwhelm us.

Remember, you have been baptized, and you are at the mercy of the Gracious God who is with you thru it all.