Sunday, January 11, 1998
Joey Noble

"AFFIRMATIONS FROM HEAVEN"

Psalm 29; Acts 19:1 - 6; Mark 1:4-11

Baptism. We celebrate it often in this community of faith, We had an infant baptism just last week. In one way we are very familiar with baptism. The words and act are familiar ritual.

And yet, baptism remains a mystery. We don't fully understand it, can't easily explain it. And, in one way, it doesn't really matter if we are baptized Most of us have moved beyond the "scariness" associated with baptism -- that is that if children or adults are not baptized, they are stuck in a kind of purgatory, unable to enter the eternal realm of God. This notion terrorized parents for several decades -- perhaps we all know real-life stories of the agony parents suffered when they were unable to have their child baptized before she or he died. This is certainly one of the sins the church has in its past -- adding guilt to grief as a family mourned the loss of a child. I would venture to say that there are few who still attribute this kind of "magical" power to baptism. I certainly hope this false understanding is a thing of the past.

Still, baptism is central to our faith community -- one of the two sacraments we celebrate in our United Church of Christ. It is God's gift to us, and it is our response to God.

In Mark's Gospel, we meet Jesus for the first time on the occasion of his baptism. There are no birth stories -- no manger scene, no shepherds, no magi. Instead we meet him at the critical moment when he comes up out of the waters of the Jordan River, anointed in preparation for his ministry. Immediately ahead of him is the time of testing in the wilderness. The next verses after Mark's story of Jesus' baptism read as Follows:

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness where for 40 days he was tempted by Satan and was with the wild beasts.

Baptism, then, seems to be a kind of preparation for what lies ahead. It gives him strength for his journey, courage to withstand the temptations that would lead him away from his calling. For at his baptism, he hears the voice of God: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." When Jesus comes up out of the water, he is changed. He is a marked man, marked for God's work of love and justice in a world that prefers selfishness and power over others as a way of protecting one's own space and being.

As our Psalm reading described this morning, to hear the voice of God is powerful The Psalmist couldn't use stronger images:

The voice of God is full of majesty The voice of God breaks the cedars. The voice of God flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of God shakes the wilderness. The voice of God strips the forests bare.

These couldn't be stronger images. When we hear the voice of God, our lives are changed. We cannot be the same as we were.

And this voice comes to Jesus -- and comes to us -- in the act of baptism. It is baptism with water, and it is baptism with the Holy Spirit. The water symbolizes or suggests something of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The water we use in baptizing reminds us of the waters of chaos, when the Spirit moved in the beginning of creation. It recalls the waters in our mother's wombs from which we were born, It suggests the waters of the flood which washed away the accumulated sin of humanity, the brokenness that alienated men and women from God and from each other. The water we use in baptism recalls other stories of our faith: the waters of the Red Sea that parted for the people of the Exodus, the waters of the Jordan River over which they crossed into the promised land. This water suggests the way to freedom, to release from bondage. It also reminds us of Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well when he tells her he is the Living Water -- life-giving water. Water is a rich and multivalent image.

There are at least two qualities of water that are worth considering on this day when we celebrate the baptism of our Lord and renew our own baptismal vows. The first quality is that of cleansing. The second quality is that it is dangerous. Both qualities are part of our history as Christians. As we hear the words of that Voice speaking from heaven -- "You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased" -- we are challenged to confront the paradox of water which both kills and gives birth.

First, the water of baptism cleanses us as the water of the flood cleansed the earth. As the flood waters washed away the past and gave humanity the opportunity to begin anew, so the waters of baptism symbolically wash that sin and brokenness that obscures the glory of God's image in us. It sets us apart from the world's values which ranks and marginalizes people. It invites us to new life that, in the words of the prophet Micah, "acts justly loves compassionately, and walks humbly with God". When we baptize young babies like Carly Ann, we are obviously not referring to the sins she has already committed. She is innocent, undefiled, unblemished. But we are recognizing that she will grow up in a world that will tempt her to be selfish, that will entice her to be a part of oppressive structures that hurt and demean others. Her baptism points to another way -- not only of being cleansed, but also of being open to God's Spirit that gives strength to resist the evil powers.

Our Scripture lesson that Caroline read earlier from the Book of Acts emphasizes this point. When Paul came to Ephesus and found some disciples, he asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit when they were baptized. They replied that they had received John's baptism, a baptism that called them to repentance. Paul insisted that was not enough, that they needed to baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus so that the Holy Spirit could dwell in them. In our tradition we recognize that repentance is a part of baptism, but baptism is primarily a recognition that now there is new openness and receptivity to the Holy Spirit. When we are baptized or when we renew our baptismal vows, we are entering into and rising from the refreshing and cleansing waters that enable us to better hear God's voice: "l am calling you. You are my beloved child."

But water not only cleanses. Water is also dangerous, very dangerous. That same water that parted for the people of the Exodus came crashing back to destroy Pharaoh's army. We have recently seen the fury of flood waters in the Northwest that have washed away homes, swept away lives. Uncontrolled water moves rapidly and indiscriminately, causing untold destruction in its path. Jesus even told James and John that the way of baptism is the way of the cross, the way of crucifixion. The temporal self enters the water of baptism and is "crossed out", swept away. It dies, drowned in the waters of chaos, in order that the eternal self or life attuned to God's Holy Spirit, can be born anew.

This is frightening. It is why we must be on guard that the act of baptism in our midst never becomes "routine" or "sweet" -- no matter how adorable the one being baptized is. Baptism is serious business that marks us for a new life of commitment to God's inclusive love and radical justice.

Yet, baptism also empowers us in two critical ways. It connects us with a community, and it dramatizes God's love for us. When we baptize a child or an adult, we baptize them into a community of faith. They become part of the Body of Christ in a particular place This is why Jim and I are reluctant to do "private" baptisms. Baptism is not a private act. It is a public declaration that says we claim our place in the corporate, communal Body of Christ. We covenant with this community of faith in this place at this time because we or the parents of a baby recognize the need for other people to help us listen for and respond to God's intention for our lives. We need other people to accomplish God's hope for a world of compassion and equality. We need to be nurtured and challenged in our life journeys by the stories of faith that have sustained others for thousands of years as they have walked "this lonesome valley". We need help in withstanding the times of wilderness in our lives when we are tempted by Satan, by the powers of evil. Baptism connects us to a community of faith.

Baptism is also a powerful reminder of how much God loves us. God calls by name in the ceremony of baptism and says, "You, Carly Ann, are my beloved daughter, In you I am well pleased. I am delighted by your very being!" Wow! What affirmation! It is affirmation that can see us through all the storms of life. When others tell us we are worthless, we can remember we are beloved. When others try to define us by gender or race or class as a way of limiting or stifling our God-given goodness, we can listen for God's voice saying, "You are my beloved." In my case God is saying, "Joey, you are my beloved daughter -- female, middle-aged, not very healthy, sometimes wonderfully enthusiastic and sometimes irritating in your unrealistic expectations for yourself and others -- you are my beloved daughter. I am delighted by your very being!"

God is saying the same to you. So before we renew our baptismal vows, renew our commitment by symbolically entering the cleansing if dangerous water, renew our commitment to be part of a community of faith that seeks justice and loves mercy, we need to hear God's voice speaking particularly to us. I know this is going to be hard for some and a little awkward in this setting, but I want you to say the name of your neighbor aloud, and then say, "You are God's son or daughter. God is delighted by your very being." We need to hear this voice, hear God's voice through another person in this community of faith. We need to be aware of this affirmation, aware of God's unconditional love for us. This awareness will sustain us as we move in the unknown of a new year, as we seek to be faithful stewards of God's love for us. So take a moment to ask the name of the person next to you if you do not know it. Make sure that each person in your pew has another person to speak God's affirmation for his or her life. Say the affirmation twice if there is an uneven number in your pew. If you are alone in a pew, move to another pew for the renewal of our baptismal vows. We will speak aloud God's affirmation for one of our sisters or brothers, have a few moments of silence, then read together the words of renewal as printed in the bulletin. I invite you to join me in saying another's name in this way: "Caroline, you are God's daughter. You delight God!" Let us be in silence for a few moments. Let us join in the litany of renewal as printed in the bulletin.

Back to Table of Contents.