A New Beginning

The Baptism of Our Lord, Year A

January 12, 2014

The Rev. Christopher L. Caddell

A new beginning….

This week ten of your fellow parishioners made a New Year’s resolution, of sorts.  Like the group last year, this group has committed itself to taking the Bible Challenge – to read the bible in its entirety in one year. That’s no small task, and yet, encouraged by those who came before, they have made the commitment and on Monday these 10 people jumped in with both feet. 

In the introduction to the book that that group is using, the editor suggests that we should, “Read the bible slowly and meditatively, as if it were a love letter written by God especially to you.”

On day one that wasn’t too hard.

We began from the very beginning.  The story of creation.  The story of a loving, powerful God who spoke everything into being – the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the creatures that live in it, the birds of the air and beasts of the field, and every living creature that has breath – God created them, and God said it was good.

Still, God’s creation is not finished.  It is not complete without humankind.  And so, God creates Adam and Eve, creatures in God’s own image, a son and daughter of the Creator himself.  And God said it was very good.

And yet very soon, the wheels begin to fall off, and before too long, things have turned downright bleak.

The good creation that God had made is so corrupt, so far from his plan that God sees no other option but to destroy all living creatures, save Noah and the things he brings on the ark, and start anew. 

As bleak as that story is, it points to a God who is actively engaged in restoring his creation.  Through Noah and his descendants, life as God intended is given a new chance.

Yet things turn as quickly after Noah as they had before, and the rest of this story will be God moving through people, places, and events, looking to restore the goodness, the righteousness of his creation.

There will be Abraham, the father of many nations, through whom the entire world will be blessed.

Then Moses who, by God’s power, will lead a people out of slavery into freedom.

That people will make a covenant with God so that they might be a beacon of light to all. Through them all nations would be able to see God’s goodness and choose to live as God intended.

There will be Judges, Kings, and Prophets, all of whom, when they are at their best, seek to point God’s people toward living into the covenant that was made.

There will be exile and return, again providing a fresh slate though which that light might be rekindled and burn brightly.

And, of course, in time comes Jesus.  The one through whom we know God’s plans would finally be fulfilled.

And yet that story starts quite oddly.

Jesus travels from his home in Galilee to the Jordan where John is baptizing.  After some initial hesitation, John consents to baptizing Jesus.  The heavens are opened, God’s Spirit descends, and a voice from heaven declares, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

It is a scene that has caused much confusion and even some embarrassment for Christians over the centuries.  Why, after all, would Jesus need to be baptized?

And then we are reminded of where we are in the story. Jesus’ baptism is the first recorded act of Jesus’ adult life and ministry.  This is the beginning of the Christian story.  All that flows from here – the teaching, the healing, the calling of disciples, the selfless act of laying down his life for the sake of others – all of that began in the river Jordan.

And while we might hear pieces of our Trinitarian theology in the voice that comes from heaven, the first Christians would have heard son of God as a royal title.  It was an anointing, a commissioning, a public act that identifies Jesus as the Messiah.  This is the new king; this is the one who is to bring in God’s reign, this is God acting in the world to set things right.

It is a fresh start.  A new Moses. A new Adam.  And from here, all righteousness will finally be fulfilled.

The interesting thing about the arc of scripture is that the story doesn’t end when we come to the end of the book.   That sweeping story that begins with Genesis and moves through Revelation does not complete the story.  God’s active work in healing the world did not end with Noah, or Abraham, or Moses, or the people of Israel, or even with Jesus and his disciples.

We are deeply intertwined in God’s plan for restoring the creation to wholeness.

We are anointed in our baptism.  With that we say, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”  It is not something we simply do or say, but symbolizes the reality of what is taking place.  We are anointed, marked, and forever changed to be – in Christ and through Christ – the very agents of God’s healing of the world.  In short, we carry on the work begun by Jesus – loving, forgiving, healing, caring for others, and putting the needs of others before our own.

It is that time of year when some are naturally inclined to step back and take a look at their lives.  With the best of intentions, we seek to make changes.  We look for ways to better ourselves, our habits, our health, our relationships.

And while all of that is good, I want to suggest to you that you take a moment to listen to the words that are spoken in our baptism and take them into yourself –

“You are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and marked as Christ’s own forever.”

Hear in them the words of God who is deeply committed to setting the world right.  A God who loves His creation so much that He will not stop until all things in heaven and on earth are the way that they are intended to be.  A God who sees in you and in me the continuation of his love story with all that he has made.

Our whole story and life begins here.  It’s a clean slate.  A new beginning.  And a chance to live life as it was intended, as sons and daughters of God, made in his image.  Amen.