We’ve been given a way out of this mess: The Baptismal Covenant. We just need to see that we already know the way.
with the Baptismal Covenant as our guide
Epiphany 1B | Mark 1:4-11
This has been a week.
Apparently 2020 didn’t take its cues to move along. I’m starting to think 2020 wants to go on forever! But we’re not going to let it. 2021 is here.
And while we have a lot on our minds right now, we actually have a feast that speaks into this moment. This first Sunday after the Epiphany we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord.
And this baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John is the real origin story of Jesus. This is where his life as the Christ truly begins.
The birth stories in Luke and Matthew give us a glimpse of the big picture; at what God is doing here. In this place. In one, we have the humble birth and in the other a terrifying escape to Egypt as refugees.
But it is here, in the baptism, that the Christ Event begins. This is where the clock really starts. This is what you skim down to in the Wikipedia entry. When Jesus becomes that Jesus.
And before we undersell how significant this is theologically, church nerds still fight over the significance of this event. The East and West are still divided over what this means. So this is not nothing; Jesus getting dunked in a river is a central plot point in the story.
Now the fight is whether or not Jesus is fully the Christ before the baptism. This amounts to a chicken-or-the-egg debate that is mostly about the metaphysics and the physical character of Jesus. Which is great to argue about with people over beers, but it is such a distraction from the point! Which is not how Jesus becomes the Christ, but that from this point forward, he is.
Baptism is the gateway.
This baptism is introduced as “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. We talked about this back in Advent—like nothing says Christmas cheer like Change your ways, sinful creature! But the point is that we need to turn away from sin and toward God.
So Jesus receives this baptism like everyone else. But unlike what usually happens, which is people go under the water and come out soaking wet and newly committed, Jesus goes under, comes up and the sky tears open. This reminds me of the first Sunday of Advent, when Jesus speaks apocalyptically. [Apocalypse means revealing] So then, Jesus was speaking of a time when the sky would open and the kin-dom would be revealed. Much like this moment.
“he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.”
This is apocalyptic. Revealing. And an epiphany—a great seeing.
“And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.””
This is the start of something profound. A ministry committed to love, justice, mercy, and bringing wholeness to a world broken apart by sin.
And what is sin? Selfishness. Injustice. Hatred. And the destroying of human relationships.
Jesus is bringing the antidote to sin, dysfunction, and separation.
The antidote, or perhaps the vaccine, if you like.
The cost? Turn away from that stuff. And come be washed clean.
We do baptism, too.
Just not in the Jordan River. Getting there is, in normal times, quite cost prohibitive. We take the much easier approach of filling the font with water and pouring it on your head.
And just because we’re not at the river doesn’t mean your hair isn’t supposed to get wet. I can only imagine how bad baptisms were in the ‘80s. All that AquaNet. Hair up to here. How could you fit that over the font? Have to get a bigger font.
But just like that call to repentance that John was offering, the mantle that Jesus takes up, we do the same.
We make promises. This part of the service is called the Examination.
Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?
Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?
Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?
Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?
Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?
Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?
If you’ve been to a hundred baptisms, you know this stuff by heart. But what do we ask three times, but Are you going to turn away from evil? And then three times Are you going to trust Jesus?
This is an examination I’ve never had somebody fail; and I’m not looking to start today. Because we all know deep down that we need to change and that we need help.
So what else do we promise?
We make a collection of promises we call The Baptismal Covenant. Which starts with the Creed we say each week. Then we make some specific promises.
After each one we say “I will, with God’s help.” Because we are turning, doing the heavy lift of wanting to make the change. And we get God’s help to make it happen.
So we ask
“Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers?”
Continue. Teaching and gathering. Not one or the other. But continuing a practice, in the many ways our ancestors have passed down to each generation before us. We’re called to keep it up!
“Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?”
Turn and return. Because we will fall. So we come back. How many times? Seven? No. Seventy seven.
“Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?”
Will you? Proclaim? By word and example? Both! Becoming, being, speaking. Love, justice, wholeness, the whole deal in your words and actions—your very life a testament to making the world whole?
“Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
Setting aside selfish desires and replacing them with service for the sake of the whole human family? For the greater good and the common good? For their good as much as yours?
“Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”
Justice and peace. Not an unjust calm. Not a victory over and a peace declared. But justice, equality, human dignity for every human being. For the able and disabled-bodied, the free and the incarcerated, and the many races, genders, and the glorious multitudes are all deserving of true justice and peace.
This is our Baptismal Covenant. Our promise. A conviction and declaration. This is who we are becoming. Who we are turning ourselves into. People like this who do things like this. People of peace who make peace. Of justice who make justice. To make the world whole.
When all is shaking around us, there is no question who we are to be. We made a promise to God to reject evil and look to Jesus. Whose love is not transactional or dependent upon retribution. It is offered as a gift.
This is who we are.
Apostles, Saints, Friends, as dark and disturbing as this week was, our light is among us. The gross depictions of violence and power in the capital were evil and reprehensible.
But our response to evil is guided by our conviction to reject it. And turn toward Jesus. Even as false prophets declare God is on their side, trying to protect the city on the hill by spreading feces on it, we can be assured of where God’s kin-dom really is. It is never built at the point of a gun, the breaking of windows, the smashing of tradition. The kin-dom was no more visible in the storming of the Capitol than it was 500 years ago when rioters destroyed stained glass windows and burned hymnals. Just because they called themselves Protestants. Or our ancestors.
None of this is the way of Christ. No matter how you dress it up or put a Bible quote on a handmade sign. And we know these aren’t the actions of the righteous, just the mad. Because we have the Way of Love mapped out for us. The Catechism guides us away from evil and toward the good. Reminding us to practice our faith and love one another because we all deserve to be loved.
The Way of Love
Our presiding bishop narrows it down to seven small, but powerful words:
- Turn
- Learn
- Pray
- Worship
- Bless
- Go
- Rest.
This is our roadmap during this confusing, frustrating, frightening time. When the storms of rage make it easier to rage. When the sight of violence might make us long for more violence. We have a way to go, a path to follow, a Christ who leads us to a still better way.
A way founded and filled with Christ’s love. To compel us all through these times until we can all see that justice reigns; we are all fed; we all have homes, safety, community, dignity, and hope. When we are so obviously equal we then realize we’re finally free. And then our land becomes the land of the free.
That is the way Jesus ushers in through baptism.
May we be filled with Christ’s vision, Christ’s peace, and Christ’s love this day and all the days ahead. Amen.