Sermon for: January 13, 2008 [Epiphany 1_Baptism of Christ
Brian McHugh, priest & vicar
[Is 42:1-9][Ps 29][Acts 10:34-43][Matt 3:13-17]


I often hear human beings begging God to help them. And I often hear people complaining that God doesn’t help them. Yet it seems to me that one of the major problems in our relationship with God is that we reject God and what God wants to do, will do, or can do for us. Given what a relationship with God can mean for our lives, I am not surprised.

What happens to Jesus when he comes to John in the wilderness to be baptized happens to Him a lot. [1] Matthew presents Jesus as someone Who knows that God has sent Him to bring the message of salvation to God’s people. In a very public setting where many will see it, Jesus comes to John to be baptized with John’s baptism of water for repentance so that He can publically begin His ministry and preach His Gospel. But John says No. John says, “I need to be baptized by You; why would You be coming to me?”[2] Jesus has to tell John to do it. Jesus has to make it clear that John must allow Jesus to, in a sense, serve him if God’s purpose is to be fulfilled.

This will happen again and again. Jesus comes to His friends Mary and Martha because their brother Lazarus had died. When Jesus is told that His friend Lazarus is deathly ill, He doesn’t go directly to him. He knows what He will do and the effect it will have. When Jesus arrives at Martha and Mary’s, He says He will go to Lazarus’s grave. By their reactions, the sisters gently show that they are not ready to accept what Jesus can offer. One says that she knows that if Jesus had come earlier her brother would not have died – and that he will rise again on the last day. The other reminds Him that Lazarus has been dead for days. Dead is dead. They wonder how Jesus can help, but perhaps because they have been friends they have some hope.

And Peter of course. I think there is a telling reason why Peter is the chief of the apostles. He is so very human, so very like us. At the last meal that they share together, Jesus washes the disciples’ feet. He has something very important to teach them by doing so. But you remember Peter’s answer: “No, Lord”, You will never wash my feet!” Pushing Jesus away. The hesitancy of those close to Jesus not to allow Him to minister to them is heightened by the fact that so many strangers in real need do let Him touch them and heal them and give them new life though both His acts and His teachings.

What about you and me? Are we open to the ways in which God-in-Christ can serve us, help us? My experience is that often we are not. Is it because we think we are unworthy, consciously or unconsciously? This could be one reason. Lots of people in Scripture thought so. And many of the ones who thought they were worthy, like the religious establishment, are pretty unpleasant.

This is where the Mystery of the Incarnation comes in. Its mythical-message is that God chooses to come and live among us and share in our humanity. This is a pretty improbable message, especially if we think that we are not worth it. We are fallible, often uncaring, unloving, selfish, thoughtless people. Why would the God of Unconditional Love want to share in our humanity? But the Mystery of The Incarnation says that God does. And our liturgy teaches us this too. There is that lovely line in our present Book of Common Prayer, in Eucharistic Prayer B: “In Him You have delivered us from evil, and made us worthy to stand before You”. This is the amazing message of “Christ-in-Us”.

But maybe there’s a second reason we don’t really want to embrace the message, worthy or not. Baptism is a sacrament that plunges us into the waters of Incarnation. Baptism requires of us that we accept the God Who shares our Life, and that we live our lives accordingly. Baptism requires of us that we accept our worthiness, and let God minister to us, pronounce us worthy. But the problem is - this will change us. This will ask us to strive, each in our own unique way, by our own determination and aided by grace, to be the person God created us to be - like Him, like His Christ. This is scary. Most of the time most of us prefer the devil we know to the devil we don’t. And so we put up with a World that can get pretty messy and discouraging. We make do with muddling along. It’s too challenging to think about being healed or changed or given new life. Like John, like Peter, like Mary & Martha, we often reach out for, but at the same time push God away. When Jesus asked John to baptize Him, the people would see that this was a serious issue. Baptism was not just something to do because everyone was doing it; not just something to do to hedge our bets about staying on God’s good side while living the same old way.

If we let God serve us, if we let God be our Saviour and Liberator and Messiah, it’s a serious business. We must grow and change. We must let go of old ideas which limit our own personal lives and our understanding of family, community and culture. We will embrace new ideas about neighbor, family, friendship, male & female, dignity, respect, poverty, war, mortality, gender roles, success, greatness - all those things that Jesus’ teachings are full of.

Jesus says to John about the baptism: "Do it. God's work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism." Oh yes: the baptism of Jesus is the opening salvo of Jesus’ Gospel and Messiahship. It’s going to be a bumpy ride if we choose to take up our Cross and follow Him and become fully human. But I know what I want. And believe me, we all would have more glorious lives and a more blessed human community is we really opened our hearts and lives to the God Who serves us in Love.

Remember what Gandhi said when asked what he thought of Christianity. He said, “I think is a wonderful thing; I hope someone tries it sometime.” I hope we/you all know from coming to worship how much we are loved. Let’s us “try it”, take the next steps towards letting God serve us, heal us, give us Life.


[1] As the Rev. Barbara Crafton says
[2] Matt 3:13