Readings for the Baptism of our Lord: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43;
Next month I will be going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where I will have the opportunity to renew my Baptismal Covenant in the Jordan River, near where it is believed Jesus was baptized by John.
I expect this will
be a highlight of the pilgrimage:
touching the living water where John reluctantly baptized Jesus. The water where Jesus publicly went through a
ritual Jewish act of repentance.
This Jewish
purification rite,[1]
called tvilah (ti-veh-la) was
something used, for example, when a Gentile would convert to Judaism. The Greek word for “repentance” is metanoia,
which means to change your mind.[2] Individuals going through this rite of
repentance would be making a public display to show they were changing their
mind or turning their life around to place their focus on the Hebrew God.
Tvilah was
also used when a Jew became ritually unclean, like being with a corpse or a
sick person, or being sick themselves, or they had sinned against God. The purification rite, in this way, restored them
as members of their religious community.
What that means is that they were purifying themselves to re-enter the
synagogue or temple. When done this way,
ritual cleansing, or tvilah, would be repeated multiple times in the life of a Jew.
John
knew all this. And he knew his cousin
did not need to convert or be made clean in order to be restored to his
religious community. He protested to Jesus,
acknowledging that it was he, not Jesus, who should be baptized, who should be
made ritually clean.
But
for Jesus, this act marked the beginning of his adult ministry. He chose to be baptized to mark this moment. He did not need to be baptized. Yet he comes into the water to be with us, to
show his commitment to us, as mentor and priest, brother and friend, to walk
with humility and unity with us. Because
of his example, we who follow him express our desire to do as he did and
publicly admit our desire to turn our lives around, perhaps even change our
minds, hearts and ways of being to live for God.
As
Episcopalians, we believe that a single baptism is all that is needed to become
a member of the Body of Christ. And
while a single baptism, as a baby, child, teen or adult, is all we need, we do
renew our baptismal vows, like we will do in a few minutes, to keep us grounded
in the commitment we made, or others made on our behalf, in our baptism.
Sometimes,
in the renewal of our vows, we might find reason to seek repentance: to change our minds and live a little
differently than we did before. We might
find the words particularly poignant at certain moments in our lives. Other times, we might read the words, not
giving much thought to them at all.
Today,
we will pause between each of the vows, after we say, “I will, with God’s
help,” for a few seconds, to reflect on what we are saying.
Before
we renew our vows, however, I’d like to go back to the Gospel story.
In Matthew’s version of the story, we hear that the heavens
broke open and a dove, representing the Holy Spirit, flew above him. We hear that God spoke directly to Jesus,
identifying him as his beloved Son, with whom God is well pleased.
I love
the way Eugene Peterson interpreted this in The Message: “This is my Son,
chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” The delight of my life!
We might wonder how this part of the story is even a part
of scripture, since the way it is written in this Gospel, it seems that only
Jesus heard God speaking.
An
image was shared earlier this week and has been running through my mind. Imagine with me:
The
followers of Jesus are sitting around the dying embers of a fire, the sky is
lit up with stars and the moon is shining, when one of them asks Jesus, “Tell
us the story when John baptized you!”
Jesus shakes his head and smiles, because if he’s told it
once, he’s told it a hundred times.
“Little children, you know the story, but you have asked for it again,
so I will tell you. I closed my eyes and
held my breath as John laid me back into the water. Even though my eyes were closed, it was dark
under the water. He held me under for a few seconds, and I could feel the
current of the river trying to pull me and push me. Then, John lifted my soaking wet body up out
of the Jordan River. I gasped for breath
and looked up as the sky opened up above me.”
One of the disciples would interrupt: “Jesus, Jesus! Did anyone else see what you saw?”
Jesus would gently shake his head and say, “Dear one, you
know only I saw the sky open above me.
But others saw a dove fly overhead.”
Another interruption: “Jesus, I love the next part! Tell us again what you heard!”
And Jesus would
kindly remind them, “Beloveds, I heard the voice of my Father, speaking
words I hold deep in my heart. But
because I love you, as my Father loves you, I will tell you, again. The voice told me, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved,
with whom I am well pleased.’
“You know, you, too, are beloved, don’t you? Ponder that in your hearts as you fall asleep
tonight. Tomorrow is another day and I
will teach you more about how my Father loves you. We will walk together and
share that love with everyone we meet.”
And
that’s just what Jesus did. Every day he
walked and talked and taught and shared God’s love in ways that were
counter-cultural. Ways that are still considered
counter-cultural.
When we renew our baptismal covenant, our promises to God
today, think about what they mean to you.
How do these words, these commitments, shine from you? What is easy?
What is hard?
Then, take some time this week and talk with someone you
trust about what these vows mean to you.
And while you are pondering and sharing, remember that you,
too are God’s beloved and that God delights in you!
Let us pray. God, we believe that all we need is one
baptism. Yet we also know that we
sometimes need to recommit or refocus our lives on you. Thank you for the example of Jesus, who chose
to be baptized to show us that in our baptism we are unified with you and with
one another; humbled, no matter our status; and that we are your beloved
children, just like Jesus. Give us grace
and courage to show your love, through worship, prayer, repentance,
proclamation, justice, peace, and love.
We ask these things in your Holy Name. Amen.
[2]
https://www.saltproject.org/progressive-christian-blog/2020/1/8/the-way-of-love-salts-lectionary-commentary-on-jesus-baptism ‘the Greek word for “repentance” here is metanoia (from meta, “change,” and noia, “mind”).’