The First Sunday after the Epiphany-The Baptism of our Lord
January 10, 2021
Sermon by the Rev. Bernadette Hartsough
Todays’ readings are rich in symbolism. We have the creation story in Genesis. The first day of creation. God is speaking through the spirit naming the world into being. Jesus’s baptism also creates a new life. A new way of being. Jesus’s baptism like the creation story, involve the descent of God’s spirit and God’s voice.
Jesus’s baptism in Mark has three main parts: the tearing open of the heavens, the Spirit descending like a dove, and a voice from heaven.
When Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn open. This was a sign that the barrier between God and man was being torn down. What God’s people had begged for was happening. Later in Mark, the curtain of the temple will be torn at Jesus’s death. Jesus’s life on earth meant that he had come to reconcile heaven and earth-God and man.
Jesus came out of the water and saw the spirit descending like a dove. God’s spirit was present at creation. The dove represented a new beginning for the world after the flood. Jesus is ushering in a new beginning.
There was a voice from heaven, “You are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.” The voice was that of God the Father. We have all three persons of the trinity present at Jesus’s baptism. In Mark’s gospel only Jesus and us the readers hear the voice, see the dove, and the heavens open. It is the Markan way of telling the story. More on that in our study of the gospel of Mark starting in a few weeks.
In this scene from Mark, Jesus’s calling, mission, and identity are affirmed. Jesus is affirmed by the Father and the Spirit. The three; Father, Son, and Spirit are united in love and affirmation.
This is what baptism does. In baptism, God affirms us and brings us into the loving affirmation of the Trinity. Only through that love and affirmation can we grow into who God is calling us to become. God affirms and God loves.
This example of loving affirmation at Jesus’s baptism is meant for us. It is meant as a model for us. It is how we are to think of ourselves and how we are to live with others.
We affirm ourselves by believing-really believing that we are God’s beloved. God does not condemn us. Do we believe that we are lovable by God? We make mistakes. We sin. Do we believe God forgives us? Some sins seem simple mistakes. Some sins can change lives. The enormity of the sin doesn’t change the way that God sees us. We are still beloved. It doesn’t change our core identity. God wants us to try and not to make mistakes, not to sin. Because when we sin there are consequences, and we suffer. We try to be better by continuing to read examples of how to behave in scripture. We continue to pray and to grow in a relationship with Jesus. We stay connected to the church and we worship in community. In a few minutes we will renew our baptismal vows. We renew them throughout the church year as a reminder of how to live. We are reminded to repent and to ask God for forgiveness. Our baptismal vows remind us that we are forgiven over and over again.
Affirming words and behaviors are how we are to live. Teachers know that when you affirm one child in a classroom, the rest of the class wants affirmation and behaves better. Children who are affirmed at home are more successful in life. Affirming words mean that you see the positive, the good in someone and you name it.
Some years ago, Fr. Roger and I applied for a large grant for our youth group from Center for Congregations. It involved travelling to Indianapolis to share our projects and to meet other groups who applied for the grants. There was a church from Gary there. Many in the African American culture in Gary believe that the spoken word has enormous power. If spoken, it will happen. The church in Gary wanted to build affirming behaviors into their youth. To teach their youth the importance of it, they used plants. The youth leaders and youth took two sets of identical plants. Both sets of plants had adequate sunlight, water, and plant food. Both sets of plants were kept at the same temperature. The only difference in the plants was the way the youth spoke to the plants. One set of plants was spoken to with affirming words such as you are beautiful. Your stem is so strong. The other set of plants was told that they were ugly. They would never grow big. They were a nuisance. After three weeks, the plants that were being affirmed were strong and healthy. The other set of plants was dying. They were so unhealthy that they stopped that part of the project. They started to affirm the dying set of plants. They started to thrive. As this church presented their project, we were stunned and amazed. We knew the importance of supporting, affirming, and respecting others. We agree to do these things when we renew our baptismal covenant yet, do we really believe it has power to shape lives?
Affirmations come from others, from God, and from ourselves.
People who have deep prayer lives hear, see, and feel this affirmation from God. They hold onto it when they doubt. It strengthens them to make tough decisions. It equips them to do the right thing.
We cannot live into our calling of who God created us to be if we live a life where we are not affirmed enough. This happens with persons who are abused. This happens in relationships with unhealthy power dynamics. This happens when we stereotype people. We cannot grow into the person that God created us to become. We get stuck. We cannot find ourselves. We become someone else- someone other than who God has created us to become.
Affirming and respecting seem so simple. So easy. It doesn’t seem like words can have that much power. Then I think of Jesus. A simple humble man. After his baptism he would go on to be tempted in the wilderness. His arsenal was not weapons or possessions, it was drawing on the affirmation that God had given him in baptism. He was beloved and he had a calling. He drew from the strength of his humanity. As baptized into Jesus’s family, may we do the same.