St. John’s Lutheran Church, Toluca, IL – The Baptism of Our Lord
Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17
Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17
13Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16And 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. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
NRSV
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Changed upon the Waters
Grace and peace, beloved of God, from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
If paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beat paper, what beats all three at the same time? Chuck Norris.
Once a cobra bit Chuck Norris’ leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.
The only time Chuck Norris was wrong was when he thought he had made a mistake.
When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he’s moving the Earth down.
Outer space exists because it’s afraid to be on the same planet as Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris can divide by zero.
You may not like the person or his movies. I hear you. But some of these are too funny. Chuck Norris is a powerful entity in our humorous collective consciousness. It perhaps entertains our hidden desires to be able to do awesome things and achieve what the world deems impossible.
The voice of the Lord is also a powerful entity in our collective consciousness as beloved people of God from all times, peoples, and places. For the author of psalm 29, this voice is the supreme force among us. It is stronger than anything we know. It moves what is immovable. It can transform an entire landscape and break into the world the kingdom of justice, solidarity, love, and peace. That is awesome. However, it changes everything and has a will of its own. That part can be as scary as Mr. Norris, but it is often not as fun.
I don’t need to tell you that we don’t usually react very well to change. The more profound, the harder it is to embrace it. The collection of emotions triggered can go beyond being a little uncomfortable. People may feel self-conscious, devalued, displaced, angry, and fearful. Sooner or later, in one way or another, they will long for things to return to the way they were before, even if the change is necessary, and the net effect is supposed to be positive. The process of change is the hard part. It is a little more complicated than buck up cowboy, pull yourself by the bootstraps, and just do it. It is such a thing that a whole discipline called change management has been developed in recent years. Most organizations now rely on specialists and well-thought-out strategies to implement change.
When it comes to God’s people, it is like they say, if the change of a bulb may be challenging enough, imagine the anxiety that may be triggered by profound change.
Our challenge as disciples is that God in scripture has always been in the business of creation, re-creation, motion, and transformation. God does not seem to settle or dwell in sameness. The voice of the Lord – the air in movement, the breath of life, God’s Holy Spirit – is always impactful, and its power is greatest when it moves upon the water. There where the Glory of God thunders!
There, upon the waters, God created everything out of nonexistence.
Upon the waters, the voice of the Lord declared Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph, from the town of Nazareth, his beloved son, king of all creation, and the one to whom our hearts should belong.
Upon the waters, we were claimed, reborn, made anew, called righteous, and adopted as heirs of God’s kingdom of peace, solidarity, and love.
There we were profoundly transformed.
Over the waters, the voice of the Lord took us by the hand and primed us to become for others what Jesus is for all who believe, vision to the blind, comfort to the distressed, food for the hungry, water for the thirsty, freedom for those in chains, givers of life, and servants of all, and all this is a lot of change. It is a necessary one. It is supposed to be for the better. However, it is often more change than we can take, and we are only mere mortals.
Show me the voice! That demand can be made with a fair amount of ease. If there is one, nobody is listening, or it is not making its way where it should be. Nothing is changing. It is pointless! See how distressed we may become.
Well, we are always hearing even if we are not listening. Sounds and voices have the power to work on us, even if we are somewhat tuning them out. For as long as we have ears, may the voice of the Lord work within and among us. May we find the ability to struggle alongside each other to discern what it’s trying to tell us. May its power lead us to where we are supposed to go and what we are supposed to do as the community of all the saints, followers of Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 