Sermon Reflections and More!
(scroll down and check out all the links in the left column!)

The Baptism of Our Lord                                               January 14, 2018


This Weekend's Readings (click each reading to view the passage)
Genesis 1:1-5Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11
 

Pr. Steve's Sermon -
Pr. Steve's Sermon - "What's Wrong with John's Baptism?"


Children's Sermon -
Children's Sermon - "Jesus' Baptism"




Like us on Facebook


View our videos on YouTube


Follow us on Twitter



Sermon Notes from Pastor Steve...

So what's wrong with John's baptism?!  It's the unspoken question that should jump off the page in today's second reading. Paul is traveling through what is today Turkey, when he gets to Ephesus. And when he arrives, he finds some people who believe in Jesus, but have never heard of the Holy Spirit.
 
How could that be? "Into what were you baptized?" asks Paul. And they respond, "into John's baptism." But somehow, baptism by John the Baptist isn't good enough. But why not? After all:
  • Jesus was baptized by John (and the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus when John baptized him, too...) 
  • Other people in the book of Acts receive the Holy Spirit even before they're baptized (so it's not like the Holy Spirit can only come through baptism...)
  • Paul gets the formula wrong, too! Jesus says, 'baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit", not just in the name of Jesus...
So what's up? Is this just an early Christian fight over the practice of baptism?  Or is it something more? After all, both Paul and these folks in Ephesus believed in Jesus. They all understood baptism to be a commandment of Jesus. And they all believed baptism was an important part of Christian life.
 
So I don't think John the Baptist was the issue. Nor was it the actual act of baptism. Instead, it seems what Paul was concerned about was that, after the Resurrection of Jesus, understanding baptism the way John did it wasn't enough anymore. And it wasn't because John's baptism wasn't "valid" or didn't have enough water attached to it, or even because you couldn't get experience the Spirit through John's baptism. Instead, it was because the baptism of John was about:
  • looking backwards ... (Paul says that the baptism of John was about preparing for something that had now already happened; and so, the baptism of John was about looking backwards, and in a sense, living in the past instead of into God's future ...)
  • relying on your own strength to repent ... (the people who came out to John were told to fix their own lives; but now, people were called to look to Jesus to forgive their sins, and to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to help them live in a new way...)
  • personal holiness ... (people who went out to John were called to live better, personal lives; there's certainly nothing wrong with that, but now, Paul says, people who are baptized are called to do what Jesus did - to proclaim to others through their words and actions, the good news of the presence of God in the world ...)
The baptism of John wasn't enough because thinking of baptism in the old ways wasn't enough anymore. Paul says that baptism into Jesus creates a new and living relationship with God. And if you're going to live in a new way, you can't keep living in the old ways.
 
Probably, this is why most New Year's resolutions have already failed by now, only a couple of weeks into the year! Most resolutions that people make fail, but it's not because the intentions aren't good. Nor is it because the goals aren't worthy. Instead, very often our personal resolutions fail because we think about them in the same ways that people thought about the Baptism of John. That is, many resolutions fail because we get fixated on:
  • looking backwards ... (we're focused on returning things to the way they were before - if only I could get back to the weight I used to weigh; or if only I could organize my life so I'd have less stress like I used to have; ... instead of looking forward to the possibilities of what my life could be in the future and working towards that ...)
  • relying on our own strength and smarts ... (THIS year, I'm going to be smart enough and disciplined enough to meet my goals! But, if I were really smart enough and disciplined enough by myself, I'd have done this all last year and the year before! Instead, we often find that the goals we meet are the goals we engage in with others, which is why we often need gyms, or running partners or financial planners to help us meet our resolutions...)
  • what we can do for ourselves ... (most of my resolutions are about me; yet what's often most fulfilling is what makes me significant and important to others - and maybe it's good if some of my personal resolutions fail, because it means that my centering on myself failed when I instead spent time and energy to help and be with others ...)
And this is also why we're called to see our baptisms into Jesus not as John's baptism, but as a continuing relationship with God that's new each day. For us, baptism isn't supposed to be focused on when we were baptized, or who baptized us, or how much water was used. Instead, baptism into Jesus is a living covenant through which Jesus invites us each day to:
  • look to God's future, instead of hoping for the past to come back ... (part of living our baptism each day is to look for and expect the new opportunities God is giving us, even if they're not quite like the good old days; it may turn out that the new things God is doing are actually better ...) 
  • rely on God's help instead of our own strength to meet the challenges of life ... (part of living our baptism each day is about constantly looking for and expecting the power of God's Holy Spirit to work with us and in us to give us the strength and courage to meet challenges we shouldn't try to face on our own ...)
  • focus on how we can be meaningful in the lives of others, not just for ourselves ... (part of living our baptism each day is about being open to how we can be God's instruments of help and healing and hope in the lives of our neighbors, co-workers, friends and strangers. Jesus' baptism was the beginning of his public sharing of the good news, and that's what baptism is supposed to be about for us, too...)
Today, we celebrate Jesus' baptism. But more than that, we celebrate our own baptism into Jesus. And in Jesus, we have a living relationship with God that's new each day. 
 
And so each day, we're called to live into our baptism by looking forward to the future that God is preparing for us. Each day, we're called to live into our baptism by looking for and relying on the power of God's Holy Spirit to help us. And each day, we're called to live into our baptism by opening ourselves to becoming God's instruments of hope and help in the lives of those around us.
 
Amen.