Jesus starts his earthly ministry by showing us that he is not that different from the people he has been sent to save. He gets tired, he gets hungry, and he is tempted by all the same sins that we ourselves struggle against.
O God be in my mouth as I speak for you and fill this
place with your great grace, that we may leave this place less of what we use
to be and more of what we ought to be, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from
the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said,
“This is my Son, the Beloved, with who I am well pleased.”
I have always been intrigued about how our current culture
chooses to anoint certain people for greatness.
On the one hand we have reality television shows like “Joe
Millionaire” or “the Swan” that bring a brief moment of stardom to people that
don’t appear to have much talent.
But on the other, we have shows like “American Idol” that
at least on the surface appear to reward talented folk.
Have you ever seen it? Although I am not a regular
television watcher, I must confess that for the past three years, I have been
hooked.
The only thing I can say in my defense is that I have
never sent in a text message vote for a contestant…okay well maybe I did for my
daughter…but it was her vote not mine and I was only dialing the numbers.
Now, if you haven’t seen “American Idol,” you’ll have to
indulge me for a few minutes while I give a description.
The show has three pop music industry experts assessing
the talents of singing contestants. One is honest but nice, another is always
nice and the third judge is honest and cruel.
They start out with huge group auditions in major cities
and then try and pare the group down to about a hundred folks that make the
trip to LA for further auditions.
Once the final group is set, they sing against each other
in different formats for about fifteen weeks.
One week it might be country music, and the next week
might be Motown.
Following each week’s performance, people call in and vote
for their favorite singer. The lowest vote getter is cut from the group and the
contest goes on until one singer is left standing.
It is that person who is anointed the new American idol.
The winner receives a recording contract and an opportunity to make it as a pop
singer in America.
Of course, the show has also spawned a group of folks who
have tried to make a name for themselves being bad, really bad.
The point being, and I don’t pretend to understand this
myself, it is better for America to know you as that person who can’t carry a
tune than it is not to be known as all.
Yet if we are honest with ourselves, there have been times
in our lives where we have all felt a desire for some kind of stardom or
recognition. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, if other people knew how great we each
were really were?
This kind of human pride brings me back to our gospel
lesson this morning that celebrates Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan.
Jesus chooses to start off his pubic ministry by the river
Jordan with the local Judean Idol and superstar of his day, John the Baptist.
What brought Jesus to that river? As the Son of God, he
must have known that he was destined for some kind of greatness. Maybe he had
heard stories about wise men visiting his home as a young child.
Yet he finds himself in our lesson standing alongside so
many other nameless people, seeking forgiveness, renewal, and a chance to start
over.
Perhaps some of you think that Jesus just stopped by the
river to show up John?
Maybe he wanted John to know there was a new superstar in
town.
Certainly, this is one way for the more cynical of us to
see this gospel story.
Yet this interpretation doesn’t make much sense to
me. After all, John the Baptist quickly
acknowledges that Jesus is different from the rest of the crowds that have come
to the river for baptism.
“I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus’ response to John is not entirely clear either. He
says, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all
righteousness.”
In the Bible, the word righteousness is usually used to
indicate that someone has been vindicated or they are in the right.
Jesus words indicate to John that he desires something he
does not need in order that God’s purpose can be revealed to other people.
Or maybe Jesus thinks that by submitting himself to
baptism. God’s purpose can be vindicated to those that doubt God’s ability to
act and to save his people.
Of course, Jesus is the embodiment of the dream that
Israel has had for its redemption.
From the earliest days of exile in Babylon to the current
threat of Roman occupation, the people living in Israel have longed for a
savior, a brand new idol that will come and save them.
This longing appears to be fulfilled in the end of our
lesson as a voice from heaven thunders out the words, “This is my Son, the
Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Now before going further, it is important to remember that
Jesus has not really accomplished anything that would seem to merit this kind
of adulation from God.
There has been no contest between he and John the Baptist
for prophetical domination.
He has not fed 5,000, walked on water, or given folks some
new teaching.
He has simply come to John and said that he desires to be
baptized.
He desires to have his life renewed and refreshed for what
he is going to do for the next three years of his earthly life.
For someone that knew he was God, this is one of the most
startling occurrences we read about in all of Holy Scripture.
Jesus could have told everyone at the river Jordan that he
was God, he had power to destroy the Roman domination of Israel. He could have
been an idol to a nation bigger than Abraham, larger in life than King David.
Yet this is not how Jesus chooses to begin his ministry.
This is not the way he wants God’s purpose to be revealed.
Jesus starts his earthly ministry by showing us that he is
not that different from the people he has been sent to save. He gets tired, he
gets hungry, and he is tempted by all the same sins that we ourselves struggle
against.
He needs to feel the cool water of baptism rush over his
tired frame and renew his spirit for the work that God has given him to do.
To put it another way, Jesus is a lot like the child we
will baptize today. He is like all the children that we honor in our liturgy
and worship.
In baptism as a church, we gather to honor the God-given
life our children have each received and we honor the enormous potential that
lies within each of them.
We see, as Jesus did, that through Holy Baptism we all
have the opportunity to be reborn for service to God and this church.
This is the true miracle of this day for us as Christians.
We see that our potential as servants of God is not based on the opinion of
judges, or votes that come in text messages.
No instead, we are given the privilege of hearing that
same voice ring out from heaven when we submit ourselves to baptism and a new
life that is shaped and formed by God’s spirit and power.
“This is my Son, my Daughter, the Beloved, with whom I am
well pleased.”