Baptism of Jesus

Baptism of Jesus

Genesis 1:1-5 The beginning of creation
Psalm 29 The voice of the Lord
Acts 19:1-7 Baptism and the Holy Spirit
Mark 1:4-11 Jesus baptized by John

"Back to Basics!” We hear that phrase a great deal these days. It is a term tossed around the political arena in relation to our government. It is a term spoken of in relation to how we consume and in terms of the environment. This morning I would like to use this term as the bases for our reflecting together on our baptism.

Let’s start with water. There is no substance more basic to our survival than water. What do you know about water? A lot. You drink it, you bathe in it, you swim in it, wash your clothes in it. Water can be just there, as when we use it for washing, it can be healthful, as when we use it for drinking, and it can be downright dangerous as when there is a flood. When we refer to water as a used in our baptism, it is much more symbolic of the dangerous waters of a flood than the just there water of washing or the healthy waters of drinking. Turns out that then John the Baptizer baptizes Jesus the water was very dangerous. And the waters of baptism are still very dangerous.

The baptism of Jesus is an epiphany, it is a revelation, a manifestation of God made flesh. “I am your God and you are my people” says God. This is water made dangerous. It is dangerous being God’s people. If you don’t believe me, go ask the long list of those who have given their very lives for the faith.

Baptism is a covenant. A covenant (Hebrew berith, Greek diatheke) is a legal agreement between two or more parties. The word "covenant(s)" occurs 284 times in the Old Testament (as found in the New American Standard Bible). "Covenant(s)" occurs 37 times in the New Testament, which gives a total of 321 occurances.

Using covenants is how God communicates to us, redeems us, and guarantees us eternal life in Jesus. He does this because a covenant is a promise, and God's promises cannot be broken since they rest in his infinite, pure character. The Bible is a covenant document. The Old and New Testaments are really Old and New Covenants. The word "testament" is Latin for Covenant..

The disturbing part of all this is very few of us, understand, really understand, what a dangerous thing baptism is? This is not surprising since we know that the church has been transformed by the culture into something resembling a feel-good, warm and fuzzy country club. Who in their right mind would want to give their heart and soul to the person we know Jesus to have been? Who among us would truly want to follow this One who never had 5 cents to call his own, who ate with tax collectors and sinners, who welcomed prostitutes and all other sorts of unsavory people, and ended up arrested and hanging on a cross. Sure isn’t the American dream, is it?? Who would have thought that baptism, whether of an infant or an adult, was so radical, so dangerous?

And so it has been for 2000 years. Literally millions of us have been baptized. God has said to each one of us, “You are mine,” but very few have joined the dangerous covenant of baptism: to die to the dominant culture, and rise with Jesus the Christ to new life.

A fellow Covenant pastor told me about a 10 year-old boy in her congregation named Cameron. Cameron walked into her office and said he needed to talk to her. Fresh from soccer practice, and wearing his Red Sox baseball cap, he had a request for her. "I'd like to be baptized," he said. "We were learning about Jesus' baptism in Sunday School. The teacher asked the class who was baptized, and all the other kids raised their hands. I want to be baptized too."

Using her best pastoral care tone of voice, she said, "Cameron, do you want to be baptized because everyone else is?" He replied, "No. I want to be baptized because it means I belong to God."

She was touched by his understanding. "Well, then," she said, "How about this Sunday?" His smile turned to concern and he asked, "Do I have to be baptized in front of all those people in the church? Can't I just have a friend baptize me in the river?" She asked where he came up with that idea. "Well, Jesus was baptized by his cousin John in a river, wasn't he?"

Caught off guard, she conceded, "You have a point. But, if a friend baptized you in the river, how would the church recognize it?"

"I guess by my new way of living" he said.

Here was a boy who understood something about the dangerous covenant of baptism.

There are many ways of thinking about Jesus and baptism. It seems clear that Mark—the earliest of our four Gospels—saw something extremely important in God’s calling Jesus His son. It was not just about Jesus, but about each member of the Church.

Your baptism is a dangerous covenant with God, a covenant sealed in the blood of Jesus, a covenant that says you will not live as a mere follower of the culture, or the politically correct, or the official government pronouncement. No, the covenant of baptism is a covenant that says because of God’s love, you will demonstrate a new way of living, a way that may have to oppose the culture, the politically correct, or the official government.

God’s love is not shown through cheap grace where baptism is an initiation rite into a warm fuzzy feel good type of club that does little service, doesn’t care about attendance, essentially expects nothing. God’s love is shown through a dangerous covenant, a life and death covenant, a covenant that results in a new life of worship, tithing, serving, and prayer. God expects His people to live UP toward Him, not DOWN toward “what’s in it for me.”

The baptism of Jesus Christ is a covenant that means life is lived in a different way, a new way, a way through which God works to redeem the world. Baptism means something and requires something. Baptism is a dangerous covenant.

Some of you have a deep appreciation for C.S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles. Anyone who has read the books or seen the movie knows that C.S. Lewis wrote a kind of mythology that reflects the Christian story. In the movie, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, there is a scene where the forces of good, supported by the boy Peter, are facing a battle for life and death against the forces of the evil White Queen. Though the forces of evil are greater than those led by Peter, he, nevertheless, expresses courage and commitment. He turns to his second in command, and asks, “Are you with me?” The response is instantaneous: “To the death, sir.”

“To the death, Sir:” the covenant made at our baptism.

“To the death, Sir:” the covenant we made when we became members of the church.

"To the death, Sir:” the covenant we are invited to reaffirm today. It is obviously a dangerous covenant, and I urge you NOT to renew it if you prefer to feel good and want to be in control of things. “To the death sir:” a covenant that requires our trust and our transformation, that this church, this region, this state, this country, this planet may finally realize what it is to live as the people of God.