St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Wesley Chapel, FL
Preacher: The Rev. Adrienne R. Hymes
The Baptism of Our Lord/Year B ▪ January 10, 2021
Mark 1:4-11
“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Just as Jesus was coming out of the water in which, only seconds before, he had been baptized by immersion, Jesus saw a cosmic event unfold before his eyes: the heavens were torn, and the Holy Spirit came down and alighted on him.
If we were to view this post-immersion baptismal event in a movie, we might interpret the narrated, detailed points as simultaneous happenings. But what if our passage was a section in a movie in which the director made the cinematic decision to present—in slow motion—the points sandwiched in between Jesus’ rising from the waters of baptism to the inbreaking of the heavenly voice? As viewers of movies, we know that when the slow-motion effect is used, the viewer is forced to suspend the concept of temporal reality. In doing so the viewer is able to recognize essential details that might otherwise be conflated or missed altogether.
The baptism of Jesus, in Mark’s gospel, is only three verses, but the gospel writer, in his point-by-point description of the happenings, offers the reader a slow-motion experience that invites us to suspend expectations of time, and to pay attention to what transpires after Jesus’ baptism as he rises from the water.
The lead up to Jesus’ baptism was John’s prophetic proclamation about the coming of the Lord. John, whose very identity, as the Baptizer, was inextricably tied to his function, had a following; people came to him to be baptized with water for the forgiveness of sins. But if we slow down, and pay attention to John’s proclamation, we witness the humility of a powerful minister optimally serving his people by telling them the truth about his identity and his limitations. With great clarity and with great humility, John prepared the way for one who was more powerful than him, and who would baptize, not with water, but with the Holy Spirit.
Our passage in the first chapter of Mark opens with Isaiah’s prophecy. Based on Isaiah’s prophecy, we are to view John the Baptizer as the messenger sent ahead of the Lord to prepare his way and to make his paths straight (1:2-3). John’s words affirmed that he also viewed himself as the messenger preparing the people for the Lord’s arrival.
And, viewing, in slow motion, the activities leading up to Jesus’ arrival and subsequent baptism, we see, John, a powerful servant of God, showing up in the world, and serving God’s people, with hopeful anticipation of the powerful one to come after him. John claimed his unworthiness to even tie the thong of his Lord’s sandal, in coming to John to be baptized, Jesus’ very presence in his submission to John’s baptism, affirmed that John was indeed worthy. Jesus, who was like us in every way, yet, without sin, came, nevertheless, to John to be baptized. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus said, “It is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt 3:15). Jesus came to John to be baptized so that God’s will might be fulfilled and so that John’s purpose would be fully realized.
Another important point that examining this scripture in slow motion brings forth, is something so obvious that it is not. Jesus went to John; he showed up to be baptized by John at the Jordan River where John baptized.
In holy baptism, we die to sin and are raised to new life in Christ—emerging as new creations. The dying and falling away is not optional; it is necessary in order that transformation may take place. Viewing the world through the sacramental lens of Baptism enables the faithful to recognize the myriad ways that the dying and rising manifests in the creation that God is always making new. If one is attentive, one can recognize the inevitable changes of life as “baptismal moments”—moments that are individually or collectively experienced and are inherent agents of transformation.
The collective “baptismal moments” reflected to us as historical points in our nation’s history are myriad. We are currently living several “baptismal moments.” This ongoing pandemic is certainly a baptismal moment as we try to make sense of the sickness, death, grief and fear that seem to have no end in sight. We certainly cannot ignore the current manifestations of centuries-old oppression, rooted in systemic racism, are natural expressions of an insidious sin that must necessarily die and fall away. The ongoing “baptismal moments” of civil unrest that continue to erupt in the streets across this nation demand that we slow down and pay attention to a nation’s soul that continues to be traumatized.
By faith, God’s beloved children, as this one nation under God, can be liberated from the sin that violently enslaves physically, mentally and spiritually. But that takes courage. It takes courage to show up to the Jordan with a heart of repentance. It takes courage to show up for each other in order to tell the truth in love, without shame and without guilt, the truth of our communal life in a nation stained by the sin of racism.
We are not there yet. Many will not see noticeable transformation in our lifetimes. Even knowing this, our Baptismal Covenant compels us to show up as beacons of social justice, lighting the way for souls seeking the living water of Christ—even if they do not know that it is God’s only son for whom their soul thirsts.
The Church is uniquely equipped to lead this charge toward healing and reconciliation for living in Christ is living with the expectant hope that through these “baptismal moments,” as unsettling as they may be, God is making all things new. And, we must never silence that truth. If we do not hold ourselves, and the Church, accountable to making Christ known, and by sharing the life-giving and liberating gospel message, we are complicit in maintaining the brokenness of this world, and we cannot claim to be instruments of God’s healing and reconciliation. The weight of such responsibility and even trying to figure out how to do the work might feel overwhelming; but never is this work done without God.
As we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord this day, and prepare to reaffirm our baptismal vows, remember that being nurtured into the full stature of Christ is a lifelong journey. It is a journey which demands that you slow down, and give your full attention to the transformational work that God is doing through those “baptismal moments” constantly taking place in you, around you and through you. We, who are baptized must, with courage, humility and clarity of purpose, show up in this broken world as God’s instrument of grace and healing. Remember, that through Christ, you are God’s beloved in whom God is well pleased. Act accordingly.
Amen.
