Sermon from Matthew 3:13-17 for January 13

How many of you remember your baptisms?

All you undercover Baptists and Pentecostals likely remember, but for those of us baptized in the Catholic or Orthodox or Lutheran, or Methodist or Episcopal or Presbyterian or Reformed traditions, and boy oh boy there are a bunch of us, we don’t; in particular if it happened in our first year, and maybe even later.

It’s a question I always ask the Confirmation Class, because I want them to know why they are taking confirmation class. What are they confirming? Their baptism. Do they remember their baptisms? No! Then what are they confirming, since they can’t confirm the fact that they were unceremoniously swizzle-d by the pastor?

They are confirming that while they may have been baptized on the basis of their parent’s faith, they are now claiming that faith for themselves and with it their status as baptized believers in Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior!

It’s so cool, right! Baptism is amazing!

It is an opportunity to participate in a public event that symbolizes so many wonderful things: birth and the bursting out of the water to life, the washing away the sins that so stubbornly cling, the putting to death an old life in the flood, and rising out of the grave to resurrection.

But is also raises interesting questions, like should we baptize children and/or adults? 

And, why did Jesus need to be baptized?

And here in Matthew chapter 3, the question zooms large. Jesus, the incarnate son of God, who doesn’t need to have his sins washed away, who is already filled with God’s Spirit, who doesn’t need to put to death an old life and who will not only be raised from death, but who will raise others from death, and who will raise us from death at the end of time, why is he getting baptized?

And why would he come to John? Shouldn’t it be the other way around, that John, a mere mortal, filled with God’s spirit for sure, but still not God incarnate, should come to Jesus. 

Which is exactly John’s question!

Why do you need to come to me?

Jesus answer on the surface seems a bit cryptic. Jesus says in so many words, because this is how it begins.

You get that? This is how it begins, at baptism!

It is how it begins for all of us, a moment where we identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Where we commit ourselves to being his disciples. Where we cast off the old life and start anew.

It is where Jesus is to be consecrated to the Messianic task!

This is where Jesus begins his appointed ministry, as do we all, including our Deacons and Elders. We all start with baptism, with a commitment to the Messiah, to his kingdom, to his work of disciple making.

We ordain leaders. We don’t ordain to discipleship - that is the responsibility of all the followers of Christ.

We believe that every disciple is appointed to ministry at their baptisms. That discipleship and the gathering of others into the Kingdom is not just a task of the ordained, but of the whole community of the baptized.

Ordination, on the other hand, is the calling out of some, a few, to specialized ministry, to leadership and to particular tasks; Teaching Elders to the ministry of preaching the word and administering the sacraments, Ruling Elders to guiding communities of believers and seeing that they are all growing in faith, and Deacons to caring for the weary and worn among us who need special care and attention.

Even they are still called to discipleship: to prayer, the reading of scripture, to the gathering in worship, to support and further the growth of God’s kingdom by reaching out constantly to meet new followers of Jesus, to make new disciples.

To all of this we commit ourselves at the beginning of a new year of mission and ministry. We join Jesus at baptism and then take on the task of “getter done!”

So, the question becomes, how do we be the church God intends?

How do we become that community of disciples who are always on the lookout to help others into the Kingdom of God, a place where they will find the grace and the love they need?

What could we do together that would make us better disciples, and how can we open our doors even wider to the world?

This is no time to be shy!

Now is the time to speak up, so we like Jesus can begin our ministry!

To God be the glory. Amen.