Epiphany 1C (Lk 3:15-17, 21-22) – 01/10/2010

Throughout my childhood, I grew up with many pets, but I’ve always been especially fond of dogs. We had two wonderful collies when I was young and Carol and I eventually became dog owners ourselves and now own 2 chocolate labs, both about 50 pounds in size. Less than a year ago, my parents decided to get a new dog and in order to easily take their dog back and forth to Florida with them, decided to get a Cavalier King Charles spaniel (a small dog weighing about 15 pounds). Shortly after acquiring their new dog, my parents visited our home and Carol and I wondered how the dogs would get along, especially with the obvious disparity in size. After a brief period of getting used to our home and the new surroundings, my parents’ dog seemed quite at home. Bounding around the house and jumping around his new bigger friends, he appeared to be oddly confident, despite being outnumbered and outsized by his two new companions. Throughout his stay in our home, this little dog’s confidence never seemed to fade, at times causing my dogs to wonder what was going on with their new friend. Oddly confident, regardless of the situation or of our circumstances – I think this is at least one of the lessons we should draw from our readings this morning.

Today, we celebrate the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ and on this day, we are asked to reflect on the meaning of our baptism as well. Our Gospel lesson this morning begins with John the Baptist telling of the significance of our baptism in the Holy Spirit and the redemptive grace we receive through this holy sacrament. John makes it very clear that the act of baptism is much more than a simple initiation rite that many other religions may have held. The act of baptism, through the Holy Spirit and fire, changes everything for those who are washed clean.

Our Gospel lesson continues to tell us that in addition to Jesus’ baptism, many people were baptized that day. In our lesson from Acts, we hear also that the apostles, Peter and John, went among the crowd of believers “laying hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” In this, we hear that God’s grace through baptism is both intensely personal, yet an action that is fundamentally rooted in the community of believers…and through this personal and communal sacramental action, we receive strength to “boldly confess Jesus as Lord and Savior,” as we pray in our collect this morning. We have the confidence to be bold because we are not alone in our journey; the road we travel has been traveled before, first by Christ, himself.

In the verses that follow our Gospel lesson this morning, Luke’s Gospel account tells us that immediately following the baptism of Jesus, he was led by the Spirit into the desert for 40 days and suffered temptations at the hands of the devil. In hearing the temptations of Jesus we are strengthened again, and should be sure that through our baptism we gain confidence through Jesus’ resistance to the temptations of the devil and his obedience to his Father’s will. We understand the significance of Jesus’ strength against the devil to our baptism by listening to Thomas Cranmer, one of the earliest Anglican theologians and the author of the first English Prayer Book.

In his discussion of the sacrament of baptism, Cranmer writes, “Christ ordained baptism in water, that as surely as we see, feel, and touch water with our bodies, and be washed with water, so assuredly ought we to believe, when we be baptized, that Christ is verily present with us and that by him we be newly born again spiritually, and washed from our sins, and grafted in the stock of Christ’s own body…[and in such a manner] that as the devil hath no power against Christ, so hath [the devil] none against us, so long as we remain grafted in that stock, [which is Christ’s own body].[i]

As Cranmer eloquently describes, as certain as we see, feel and touch the cleansing water of baptism with all our senses, we can be just as certain that through our baptism God has bestowed on us his radical gift of redemptive grace. And through God’s grace, we are given the power to be confident that we share Christ’s love and protection. To the world, perhaps we appear to be oddly confident in our earthly journey, but if we are grafted into the body of Christ then are eyes are set on a heavenly journey and our confidence cannot be shaken.

Throughout these past few weeks there have been several ordination services to the priesthood. As a new seminary graduate, not only have I recently been ordained but many of my friends have been ordained as well. These services are full of meaning for many reasons: the ordination is a sacrament of the church, the service marks the end of a long process of discernment and training, but also because the service is a celebration of the discovery and blessing of the ordinand’s gifts for ministry. And the ordination service is a reminder to all of us that in our baptism we have all received the grace of God to be children of God and members of the body of Christ. And as members of the body, we each have been given gifts. As the apostle Paul tells the Romans, “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us.” (Rom 12:4-6a) Paul tells the Romans that they are individually responsible to discern and share their God given gifts with their brothers and sisters; and we have a share of this same grace. We, too, participate individually and corporately, in Christ’s journey to the cross, through our baptism and the gifts we have received.

My parents’ dog has visited us a few times since that first day and his confidence has never faded…he is still oddly confident that he is in charge among his bigger friends. Today we celebrate Christ’s baptism and our participation in God’s kingdom through our baptism. In the saving waters of baptism, we are strengthened and begin a life long journey of discerning and exercising our gifts for ministry…perhaps appearing oddly confident to the rest of the world. But as Paul also tells the Romans, “do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, and serve the Lord.” (Rom 12:11) On this day of our celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, let us remember the covenant we have made in our baptism and boldly confess Christ as Lord and Savior through our witness to the world. Amen.

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[i] Thomas Cranmer, “The Purpose of Sacraments” in Love’s Redeeming Work: The Anglican Quest for Holiness, compiled by Geoffrey Rowell, Kenneth Stevenson, and Rowan Williams. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 30-31.