January 14, 2024
Mark 1:9-11
Introduction
In the span of just a week or so, we have gone from the warmth of the baby Jesus lying in a manger, to the cold waters of the Jordan river, where stands the man Jesus. We have gone from starlight shining upon Jesus to a dove lighting upon him. And we have gone from an angel speaking to Mary and Joseph about what will be, to God speaking to Jesus about what is.
And just like the birth story of Jesus, every time we hear his baptism story, we know what’s coming—God is well pleased with God’s Son, and the dove that descends upon Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love and approval. We usually just accept this event the way it is without giving it much thought, but if we think about it, we’ll realize there’s something about this scene that is out of place.
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We all like to receive affirmations and “Atta boys!” And we devote a great deal of time and energy trying to earn them; trying to get someone we admire or respect or fear or need to impress to look at us and say, “Well done! You did a great job!” But that’s precisely what is out of place with the baptism of Jesus. God’s approval of Jesus takes place at the wrong end of Jesus’ ministry and life. I mean, here is God gushing over Jesus; booming forth divine affirmations and thundering out love and pride and approval—but as of yet Jesus hasn’t done anything to earn it. He hasn’t even started his ministry.
Jesus has yet to face the great temptations. He has yet to stand up to the Pharisees and Sadducees, his greatest critics. He has yet to perform any miracles, teach anyone anything, preach a single sermon, or heal a hurt. He hasn’t done anything noteworthy to be receiving any of this grand and glorious approval.
Now, if these words were boomed out from heaven while Jesus hung on the cross, and with his last, dying breath Jesus uttered: “There, it is finished. I’ve done everything just the way you wanted. Now what do you think of me?” And God replied, “You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased,” then those words would make more sense. There would be a reason for God sending down approval and love. But as of yet, all we have is a Jesus who is soaked to the bone by the waters of the Jordan River and God’s voice proclaiming love and acceptance of this baptized man. Nothing else. There is no basis for God saying what God said. There is no record to look at, or grades to judge, or achievements to base this approval upon. It falls unmerited upon the baptized Jesus. That is the gift baptism gives to us.
Move 1
For a long time, the baptism of Jesus right after Christmas always threw me for a loop. That is until I realized at the beginning of a New Year, we need to hear, anew, the Word that comes before everything else. Before new temptations come our way. Before new doubts try to discourage our heart. Before new challenges and new trials makes us question our faith. Before new failures cause us to question our worth, we need to hear this Word of baptism Jesus heard before he had done a thing.
And that Word is—we belong to God. God is pleased with us. God’s love is given to us because God wants to give it and for no other reason. There is nothing we will ever do that could make God love us anymore than we are loved right now. That is the gift baptism gives to us. Baptism marks us for life. Baptism marks us with God’s approval. The day the waters of baptism soaked us is the day the love of God soaked us. That was when we were adopted into the divine family.
Whether we were twelve days old, or twelve years old, or a hundred and twelve; whether we were squirming in the arms of the priest as water trickled down our forehead, or leaned back upon the minister’s arms as water rushed over us— at that moment something happened to us we cannot undo. We were accepted by God into God’s very heart and filled with God’s deepest love.
Why didn’t God wait until after the cross to say those wonderful words to Jesus? Because those words would be the power Jesus would draw upon time and again throughout his life. Satan would tempt Jesus to doubt himself by saying, “If you are the Son of God, then do this or do that.” But Jesus knew there was no “if” about it—he was the Son of God, and he would not let go of that baptismal truth. And Jesus’ ethics would forever be marked by mercy, unmerited love, and grace that reached to the heart of people beyond what they had done or achieved or failed to achieve just as God’s love had claimed him before he had achieved a thing.
Move 2
There was a father who would tell his son every day he was a fine young man and he loved him very much. One day a friend of the man, who heard him say this to his son often, asked just what it was his son was doing to warrant such frequent praise. The father answered: “I tell him he is a fine young man and that I love him every day because I believe if he hears that every day it will help him to know it is true and he will live accordingly.” The father’s words, his approval, is not in response to his son’s actions, but rather the father wants his child’s actions to be in response to the parent’s approval.
“You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased.” Sit with those words for a moment. They are your words. Jesus walked into the waters of baptism to lead us into those waters so that we too would receive God’s unmerited love and approval.
And don’t start adding, “Yea, but what about…” or “How about the time when…” Nobody is denying there haven’t been times when we have acted shamefully; when we have tried to deny we are in the divine family; when the decisions we made were made for the wrong reasons and our lack of morals and poor attitudes should have disqualified us from any divine favor.
But today we are taken back to the beginning, back to our baptism and reminded that God’s love of us is not something we merit. It is not something we earn. Which is hard for us to understand that because it goes counter to the way we tend to view our worth.
Move 3
A fair number of years ago, the Beacon Journal ran an article I couldn’t forget. The headline read: Family Honor Upheld with SAT Math Score. The article was about a young man whose parents were math majors and had careers where an advance aptitude for math was necessary. The young man’s two brothers both got the highest possible score on the math portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test—an 800 and, now the third son had also achieved an 800 on the math portion of the SAT.
Here’s the interesting part… It took this young man four tries before he was able to ace the math section himself. Referring to his two brothers, he said: “It’s about time. They both made it, and I had to make it.”
But here’s the really interesting part of the article, and the reason I’ve remembered it for so long… the young man was taking the SAT for college entrance purposes, taking it four times in order to get a perfect score on the math section, all while planning to go to college and major in… theater.
There’s something troubling about his words, “I had to make it.” It’s haunting that he tried four times to ace a section of a test that will have little to no bearing on his major course of study. So why take the SAT four times? Because it was the way to prove his worth and value. A score of 800 meant he was worthy to be of the same family. Anything less and I wonder if he could have faced himself.
God cries out to us not to do this. God cries out to us that in God’s family we do not need to score an 800 to be worthy. God cries out that we do not have to pretend to be someone we are not to be accepted and approved. We are accepted, we are approved, we are loved… not for what we have done, but for who we are… and what we are… God’s holy and beloved children. That’s why God boomed aloud for all to hear love and approval at the beginning and not the end of Jesus’ ministry. That’s the good news. And when that good news sinks into our soul, it changes everything.
Conclusion
What does it do for you, who are discouraged about how your life has gone, and who are down on yourselves for what you have failed to achieve, to realize God is showing your picture around and saying, “This is my beloved, and I am so pleased with them”? What does it do for you, who have drifted far from home, and have done things for which you are not proud, to find out your heavenly Parent is still showing your picture around saying, “This is my beloved, and I am so pleased with them”? What does it do for you, who are withholding your approval of another, until he or she achieves an 800 score of worthy accomplishments, to realize your approval from God came before you even sat down to take the test.
This is the gift of baptism, and this is why we so quickly go from manger to river. We are invited… encouraged, to let the waters of our baptism wash over us once again; then open our ears to hear God’s voice of approval and love; then open our hearts to receive God’s unconditional love; and then—and only then— walk out of those waters and plunge back into life.
When life brings its challenges and trials, its doubts, temptations, and failures, that is when we need to remember the gift of baptism, and the words that come with it: “You are my beloved. With you I am well pleased.” Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, January 14, 2024
God of new beginnings… We cannot say that enough. God of new beginnings… We cannot over state this truth. You are our God who gives us new beginnings every day. How grateful we are for such a gift.
For everyday we have the chance to be who you call us to be; to live and do as you would have us; to love our neighbor as Jesus commanded.
And if, every day, we were to fall short, to fail to live in these ways; your love remains still. It never falters, fades, or fails.
We can’t begin to comprehend this truth, so we won’t bother to ask why you love us so, and will simply ask you to keep showing us the way, the truth, the life. We ask you to keep believing we can live, and do, and love as you command—especially when we try to convince ourselves we can’t.
For in doing so we will succeed, because it is our aim, always, to live up to how you see us, and to love others as you love us.
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God of new beginnings, this weekend we remember and celebrate one who dared to live and love as Jesus— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Truly he preached and taught the truth that all your children are holy and beloved and worthy of respect, dignity, acceptance, compassion, and love.
We celebrate the dream he shared of a society where children of all races and backgrounds would live together as brothers and sisters of Spirit.
So we pray you help us to be as committed to that dream as Dr. King was; to care as much about the poor and disenfranchised as he did; striving always for the beloved community.
Teach us to love all people as our brothers and sisters, and to strive to see all people as you see them—as your holy and beloved child.
For that is the church we strive to be: for you, for our community, for all your children who you love and are well pleased.
We ask for you to hear now the prayers that come from our hearts, in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of your beloved Son Jesus, who taught us to pray, saying, “Our…”