Mark 1:4-11 OK, Christmasis past, Epiphany is here, and it has been less than a month since the Nativityand here we are celebrating yet another feast of the Church. Yes, today is the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, and this is not just anotherSunday, but a day upon which we are reminded to focus our attention, on one ofthe major transitions in the life of Our Lord. So what’s the big deal? A littlewater, a few words, and we are on the team. I guess it depends on your perspective of what such a pivotal event thatJesus left for us really means and why he left this path for us to follow. We sometimes ask “Why did Jesus get baptizedafter all?” John who gave him the holybath really asked the same question too. Scripture records that John was abit reluctant to baptize Jesus when he said, ‘I need to be baptized by you, anddo you come to me?’ John really didn’tunderstand the reason and many Theologians have wrestled with this questiontoo.
In the Book ofCommon Prayer, we may have a little evidence for the significance of Jesus’baptism, “Grant, O Lord, that all who are baptized into the death of Jesus Christyour Son may live in the power of his resurrection and look for him to comeagain in glory; who lives and reigns now and forever. Amen.” The Apostle Paul in his letter to theGalatians touched on this notion of dying in a death like his and sharing in aresurrection like his. Paul asserts that“the person who has been baptized is ‘in Christ,’ no longer subject to thedivisions of human society, and part of a unified body.”[1] In baptism, we die to our old self and liveinto a new reality. That new reality isthe church, the Body of Christ. Thedefinition of baptism in the catechism is, “Baptism is full initiation by waterand the Holy Spirit into Christ's Body, the church.” Thus, we are by virtue of our baptism, webecome a full fledged part of “Team Jesus.” So we are on the team, we are unified, we are a group, a gaggle, a community,and we are a family. So, here we are, nowwhat?
The church isa community of folks brought together for a purpose but there are all kinds of groupsand communities out there these days and in each one, folks come together for differentreasons and purposes. There are civicgroups that gather for fun and service to the community, there are golf groupswho gather for fun and well, golf; there are social groups who gather for funand well, fun. These communities can be formal groups orinformal groups, well-defined groups or loosely held associations. We humans are social folks and we need togather with others in order to feel complete and whole. Church is a community with a purpose aswell. The Church, the Body of Christ, “Team Jesus” isbrought together for the purposes of love, and our association is formal, well-defined,and permanent because of an indissoluble bond made possible by something werefer to as baptism.
Baptism ismore than just a little water sprinkle, a cute white gown, and a preciouslittle baby. Baptism is a Christian riteof passage, an initiation, an entry, a turning point, a new phase of life madepossible by water and Spirit. Inbaptism, we pass through water yes, but we also take promises upon ourselves orin the case of infants, they are taken for us and on our behalf. Baptism is ritual and it is a covenant for eachof us as individuals and corporately, and between us and God: the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Inbaptism, God promises that we will be God’s people and we will share in God’skingdom. In baptism, our promises to Godand each other, define how we will live into God’s promise to us, and how wewill be God’s people. This way of lifewe promise to undertake in baptism is of God, because it is the life, death,and resurrection of God in Christ which we promise to follow. The promises of our baptism are not to betaken lightly, but they are the life of Christ to which we are called to live. We the baptized are the new life Godpromises, and the work of this community, this “Team Jesus” is not easy, butJesus never said it would be, he just said he would be with us.
That first baptismalpromise is quite challenging. “Will youcontinue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking ofbread, and in the prayers?” Some of God’speople have dedicated their entire life to studying the teaching of theapostles. So should we. I dare say that a 10-15 minute sermon once aweek is just not enough. We need tostudy the scriptures daily, and we should take advantage of the many AdultChristian Education opportunities that are out there. We are invited by virtue of our baptism intoa deeper love and commitment to Jesus Christ, and that itself takes effort. The fellowship of the body in the breaking ofbread is about coming here each week and receiving the sacrament, but it's notjust about you and me as an individuals. When we share a meal with someone, we just don’t eat and run; we interact. We make ourselves vulnerable, and we enterinto relationship. Communal living inChrist is not a drive-thru, fast food endeavor, but a multi-course meal inwhich, we gather, share, reveal our brokenness, and learn what it really meansto love one another (not just the ones we like or those who are like us). That prayer part seems easy enough, but manyfolks struggle with having a conversation with God. That’s pretty much it though, justlistening. Sometimes we say too much. Maybe the key to prayer is merely taking the timefor a few minutes to listen, to quiet our spirit and wait on God.
The nextbaptismal promise is “Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever youfall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?” We all stray and fall off the path. Simply stated, we all will fail, but it’s in the returning to “TeamJesus,” that we embrace our promise. Thenext promise can raise the hair on the back of the neck for some folks, “Willyou proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?” This promise does not include the use ofbullhorns and Gospel tracts and street preaching on the local main drag. No, simply stated, sharing the Gospel meansthat we are to recognize that our lives may be the only lens through whichothers can see Christ. St. Francis said,“Preach the gospel and if necessary, use words.” We should constantly wrestle with thequestions, “Does my life draw others to Jesus,” and “does this community’s lifereflect the life of Christ?” Ourindividual lives and the life of the community, “Team Jesus,” can best be mademanifest in the world if we truly live into the next two promises which are, “Willyou seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” and“Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect thedignity of every human being?”
Responding tothe poor, afflicted, and broken is more than a clichéd litany of teachings thatJesus offered us, but didn’t really expect us to follow. The other night when freezing temperaturesthreatened all of us here in Florida, I watched people in my neighborhood takediligent precautions to insure that our shrubs would not freeze. Many of us spent hours taking care to makesure these precious living things did not die from the cold. Much effort and time went into caring forGod’s creation when it was threatened. Interestinglyenough, here in this place, right here at St. David’s a group of people alsotook some life-saving precautions to insure some very precious living things didn’tfreeze either. One of our many mission opportunities in thislocal branch of “Team Jesus,” is our ministry to the homeless and poverty–stricken in our community.
Two nightslast week, there were at least a half dozen homeless folk who stayed the night hereat St. David’s. These were God's peoplewho would have spent the night in the cold without food, without shelter, and withoutsufficient protection to stay alive. Righthere at St. David’s we opened our doors and made a shelter, provided food, andsaved God’s people from the freezing temperatures. These are the same folks about whom theApostle referred, when he challenged us as the baptized to remember “we are no longersubject to the divisions of human society, and we are part of a unified body.” “Team Jesus” was definitely at work in ourvery midst. So who did the work thatnight? Who made the food? Who setup the sleepingcots? Who took down the equipment the next morning? Who sat with the folks andlistened to their stories? Whocared? It was only a few folks who helped. Barely enough team players were here, butjust enough to make a warm, safe, shelter possible. We need more help. We need more folks to join the team, to showup for practice, to hit the field and run the plays.
We must takeour baptismal promises seriously. We mustrespond. Stephen Colbert, rhetoricaltelevision news show host once touted, "Because if this is gonna be aChristian nation that DOESN'T help the poor, either we've got to pretend thatJesus is just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that hecommanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition - thenadmit that we just don't want to do it." We as the Body of Christ are a missional community whether we embracethat fact or not; whether we live into that proposition or not. The Church has been commissioned to bringothers to unity with God and each other in Christ and that circle of the "eachothers," extends well beyond just us.
The folk for whomJesus wants to serve on and be served by “Team Jesus,” includes all of us, andthe “others” as well. The Church’s purpose is to gather, worship,and fellowship yes, but our mission does not stop at the doors of the Narthex. A priest friend of mine each Sunday ends the Eucharistwith these words at the dismissal, "The worship has ended, the servicebegins." We need to heed these words of challenge and warning. They are words of challenge because theyremind us to live into our baptismal promises and to get to work and reallyfollow Christ. They are words of warningbecause the scary part really is that even though our baptism calls us into alife of service, many of us are not in the business of clothing the cold andnaked, feeding the hungry, and visiting the sick and the imprisoned. As we go out today to “love and serve theLord,” as the candles are extinguished and the Alleluias are thrice shouted,never forget your baptismal promises. Asyou walk past the baptismal font today, the symbolic reminder of your baptismalcovenant, heed these words, “the worship has ended, but the service has onlybegun.”
Bibliography
Schowalter, Daniel N. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Edited by Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
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