Baptism of Our Lord 2021

 Every year at Baptism of Our Lord Sunday, I wonder why Jesus, the sinless one, would need to be baptized.  If baptism is for the forgiveness of sin, why does Jesus need to do it?  Baptism is about a lot of things.  Let’s take a look at some of them.

It recalls all the other times the Israelites washed.  Moses was saved when his sister and mother put him in a basket and floated him among the reeds to save him.  It was difficult to let go of this baby who was in danger from Pharaoh who felt threatened, but they let go in faith.  Moses was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter and given back to his mother to be nursed.  But Moses also go the privilege of living in 2 worlds that would make him the one to lead the Israelite people to freedom.  The Israelites washed as they crossed the Red Sea out of Slavery in Egypt.  The water became a barrier that saved them from their past life.  Sometimes they longed to return to their security and the only life they knew, but God was calling them to trust in something new, relationship, liberation, covenant.  The Israelites were washed when Moses struck the rock and God provided for them in the desert.  This was the beginning of trust, of the Israelite people learning to look to God for help in their trouble.  The Israelite people were washed when the crossed the Jordan River into the promised land.  They were leaving their whole life of wandering behind and coming to settle and live abundantly.  The Israelite people were washed whenever they were sick or sinned or became unclean.  They found their way back into community through washing.  So when they went to the river Jordan to be washed by John, they brought all this history with them of all the times God had washed them.

We are baptized once, but we are invited to remember our baptism, either literally or to commemorate it even if we can’t remember it.  Whenever someone is baptized we can image ourselves in that role.  Who or what brought us to the font?  The whole community made promises to us.  We may have made promises—some of which we kept to a greater or lesser extent.  Relationships were established—who am I, a child of God.  Who is God?  One who loves me and continues to forgive me.  What will my life be?  One of a continual returning to the waters to be washed because I will fail and I will say and do things that are unworthy of my calling as a child of God.  I will need to look at my reflection in the water and say what I honestly see and know God is calling me to do better.  We are called to remember our baptism, not just at church, but in the shower, when we wash our hands or face, when we stand in the rain, when we clean out the gutters, when we swim, when we go fishing, when we take a drink.   We are always getting dirty, messy.  Sometimes it’s the things we touch, food, doorknobs, soil, our pets.  Sometimes it’s the dirt and mess that gets on us from living in the world—the hate we hear between groups of people, the violence we see on television, the helplessness we feel to help our neighbors in need, the judgements we feel when we encounter someone different from us, the lies we hear that we’re tempted to believe.  Remembering our baptism and remembering who we are, that we are beloved, that we are called by Jesus who was nonviolent to a way of peace, that we are called by one who truly sees, who sheds light to reveal truths that are difficult, who became a vulnerable servant to all in his life and on the cross.  Remembering this Jesus who we follow, turns us around from our hateful and sinful tendencies to live in a new way.

Baptism is about a change of direction.  As humans we are directionally challenged.  We think it is our duty to follow the wealth, to follow the power, to follow charismatic leaders who promise us that we are special.  This is what we value.  This is not what God values.  God asks for a change of direction.  That’s what repentance means.  Turn around.  Jesus is our shepherd.  He is leading us, so he’s going first through the waters, to repentance, to new life.  He’s not asking us to go anywhere he didn’t go.  Did he need to be washed?  He was sinless.  He needed to be washed so that we would see the waters aren’t all that scary.  He’s there with us whether he needed to be or not.  He didn’t need to walk this earth to know what we go through.  We needed him to, so we would trust.  He didn’t need to die on the cross.  We needed him to so that we would know that even death can’t keep us from God’s love and care.  Jesus went through the waters for our sake, so that we would follow to the new life God offers.  A new life of peace.  A new life of community.  A new life of vulnerability.  A new life of new values, valuing the weak, the sick, the poor, the grieving, the immigrant, the child, etc.

Baptism is about a whole community.  Jesus is the head of the church, the body of Christ.  Jesus is sinless, but the church could really use a shower.  Christianity, the church, has used its power to keep people hungry, to amass wealth, to turn away refugees, to justify violence, to spread lies, to shame and attack people who are divorced or gay or different—all things Christ abhors.  Jesus washed, so that the body would know we need to wash, too.  We are far from perfect.  God made us good, but we are easily led astray and we go astray and take others with us.  We are far from clean.  So we have baptism as a ritual to practice admitting our mistakes, admitting our wrongheadedness, our misplaced values, and a way to let that go, to learn from those mistakes and move on in a whole new way.

Baptism is about servanthood.  Christ means anointed one.  Jesus was washed as the anointing as the Christ.  He was washed and set apart.  Just as we wash our clothes and they are set apart from the soiled clothes, so Christ is set apart.  What was he set apart for?  Right after this baptism, the Holy Spirit will drive Jesus out in the desert to see what he is set apart for?  Is he set apart to get God’s attention and get God to treat him special by sparing him from destruction if he throws himself off a tower?  No.  Jesus declines that temptation.  Is he set aside to rule over the nations and be the big boss.  No.  Jesus declines that temptation.  Is he set aside to feed himself all the bread he wants?  No.  Jesus declines that temptation.  Jesus is anointed as the servant.  It’s the servant who does the washing, right?  It’s an endless, thankless task as any of us in charge of the dishes or laundry can tell you, but it brings health to the whole household.  Everything stinks a whole lot less because of washing.  People get sick a lot less.  God has always done the thankless tasks, creating the world, bringing the rain, washing the people, holding people responsible, giving people the covenant, honoring the lowly, visiting the sick, comforting the bereaved. 

Baptism is God doing the wash.  This is God saying to us, you’re a mess but you’re of too much value to throw away.  Let’s get you cleaned up and start again.  This is God claiming us, taking the care to get the grime out from behind our ears when we jumped in the mud puddle on purpose, this is God cleaning between our toes—yes, even foot washing is Biblical, because in life we walk and walking gets us dirty, interacting gets us dirty.  We attract dirt.  We attract sin.  Yet, we are God’s beloved children.  All the terrible things we do and say and all the things we should have done but didn’t, all the dirt we collect, all the violence we incite, all the lies we believe, all the hate we feel, all the arrogance we feel, are not enough to make God give up on us. 

We are not washed to go around feeling all arrogant again, or go back to believing the world’s lies.  We are called to be servants, like the one we follow.  When we follow Jesus, we let go of all the things that we think make us important, more important than other people, and we bow before Jesus and see Jesus in all those little people in need and without hope.  We do the washing for people who think they are too good to be washed all the people no one will look at or stand next to.  All are children of God, all are claimed, all are anointed, all are called to cross the rivers to freedom, all are called good, all are part of the beloved community, all clean up and get dirty again and are continually claimed for new abundant life, all are called to turn around.  There is someone standing there who knows us, loves us, claims us, and sees who we really are and still pulls us closer.