Text: Mark 1:4-11 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
4 John the baptizer appeared[a] in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The Baptism of Jesus
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; 11 and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son;[b] with thee I am well pleased.”
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
This is the first Sunday of 2018, which is barely a week old, and I think it’s very appropriate that we begin the year by talking about newness of life.
Many of us begin every New Year with resolutions to do something – “this year, I’m going to take that trip I’ve been putting off for so many years,” or to change something – “This year, I’m going to lose that weight,” or to learn something – “this is the year I learn how to ski.” The old year is gone, and the new one is a clean slate. It’s a time of new beginnings.
Even though most of our New Year’s resolutions are never realized, we still continue to make them. And I think that’s as it should be – the point is really not this or that resolution, but the recognition that maybe a change is in order, and with it the spirit of hope that helps us to believe that that change is possible. The 18th-Century English poet Alexander Pope wrote this about hope:
Hope humbly then; with trembling pinions soar;
Wait the great teacher Death; and God adore!
What future bliss, he gives not thee to know,
But gives that hope to be thy blessing now.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin’d from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.[1]
Hope truly does spring eternal in the human breast – the hope that, if we offend another, we can yet make amends; the hope that, if we fall short of a goal, it may yet be achieved; the hope that, if we but admit our sins, God will expunge them. There is no one in this world who is harder to face than that man or that woman who stares back at us from our bathroom mirrors every morning. That person knows us and can’t be fooled. No rationalization, no excuse, will work with that person. Only the truth will.
“An elderly woman was being called on by her pastor. As the pastor sat at her sickbed, the woman said, ‘Well, I’ve had a long life and a good life. I’ve tried to do the right thing. I’ve never wanted to hurt anybody. I’ve tried to keep the Ten Commandments as best I could.’ The pastor listening to her thought, ‘Not dear old Mrs. Peter! After all her Christian education, the sermons she’s heard… still believing she’s saved by her own works!’ The woman continued, ‘So I’ve tried to live the best life I could, pastor, but I know that isn’t good enough. I know I’ve broken God’s Law over and over again. But thank God, I am saved through the merits of Jesus Christ. He has done for me what I am unable to do. I can look forward to the end of my life trusting in God’s grace and mercy.’ And the pastor smiled.[2]
Sure, we know we’re far from perfect. Every one of us has blemishes and warts. So, even though our New Year’s resolutions might not seem to have any deep significance to them, I would argue that the impulse that makes us go through the effort of making them in the first place does have a spiritual dimension. And so the first step to unleashing that hope in our human hearts is to admit to ourselves that we need a change – or to put it in “church language,” we need to repent – so we can fully enjoy a right relationship with God. We have to cast off the old habits; we need a new beginning.
And what is a baptism if not a new beginning? The people who flocked to John to be baptized desperately needed a new beginning. For the three centuries before John came on the scene, the strident voice of prophecy had been silent. No new Isaiah or Jeremiah, or Amos, had arisen in Israel in all that time. The people were lost. They were desperate. And so they flocked to John because, at long last, he was that voice. John was at one and the same time both the messenger and the message – he was authentic, the “real deal.” And the people listened. John was effective because he told them what they already knew, deep down in their heart of hearts. And so they came from far and near so that they, too, might have that new beginning of hope and promise.
John tells them, finally, that the baptism he gives them is just the beginning – the one coming after him is the real “real deal” to whom he, John, is merely the forerunner. And the people listened to him because he pointed to the One we all need. John was the last of an old order, the last prophet in that long line that includes Isaiah and Jeremiah, the last to baptize only with water and not also the Holy Spirit, and the last to demand repentance before the immanent coming of the kingdom of God.
Because the days of prophecy had now come to an end – the time of fulfillment was at hand. With the coming of Jesus, God pressed a cosmic “reset button,” and saved the world from itself.
From the moment Jesus is baptized, His path is set; and each of us is a particular beneficiary by virtue of our own baptisms.
When we are baptized, we re-enact Jesus’ baptism, and, like him, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And that is a very big deal. It is a defining moment in our lives – it’s no accident, for example, that we light a candle for the newly baptized person. That candle symbolizes the Light that is Christ which now burns within that person, the Light which drives away the darkness. We enter into union with Christ and into the Family of God. We are not left to our own devices in this big, scary world.
And we are empowered to do things that we might never even consider otherwise. The early Christians were known far and wide for their acts of love and charity, and not just those acts of love and charity that they did for each other, but also for the acts they did for total strangers, whether or not they were followers of The Way.
A Greek man named Aristides once described the followers of Jesus Christ to the Roman Emperor Hadrian like this: They love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If they have something they give freely to the man who has nothing; if they see a stranger, they take him home, and are happy, as though he were a real brother.”
When we receive the gift of baptism, we are indelibly marked and claimed as Christ’s own forever. But it goes even deeper than that. Our baptisms turned our old human life into a “kingdom life,” a life lived for God through Jesus Christ. The baptism into Jesus’ Body has changed us from the inside out. It has transformed us. The grace of Christ, given to us in our baptisms, allows us, spurs us on, to do acts of kindness and gratitude.
These acts, by the way, do not have to be the kind that make the nightly news. In fact, the most meaningful ones are small – and are the most important because they are small. These are the acts that really do change the world. And anyone can do them.
The last time this lesson came up, I closed with this little story, and I love it so much, I’ll close with it again – it’s called “Twinkies and Root Beer.” I don’t know that it’s a true story, but I sure wish it were…
twinkies and root beer
— Author unknown
A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.
The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.
The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.
Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.
As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.
When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, “What did you do today that made you so happy?
“He replied, “I had lunch with God.” But before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what? God’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!”
Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked,” Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?”
He replied, “I ate Twinkies in the park with God.” However, before his son responded, he added,” You know, he’s much younger than I expected.”
Let us be kind. Let us share the Light of Christ in the world!
In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.
[1] Pope, Alexander, “An Essay on Man: Epistle I,” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44899/an-essay-on-man-epistle-i
[2] Kegel, the Rev. Dr. James D., “Born Again,” Lectionary.org