“Why Baptism?” January 12, 2020 York Pines United Church Based on Matthew 3:13-17
Matthew 3:13-17 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 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 whom I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 - the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
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A little historical setup: In the early days when John had started his
ministry and Jesus was beginning, John had a large following - those who believed he was the expected
Messiah. He preached radical resistance to the Romans – he was a firebrand – he
fit the picture people had of what their Messiah would be like. If we think
about the Easter story, and Judas, there’s a theory that Judas really believed
if he set up a confrontation, Jesus would defeat the soldiers. A great king
would overthrow the Romans. The people could only think in terms of violent
overthrow, and John the Baptiser with his provocative rhetoric, would fit the
bill. So there was some conflict between the followers of John, and those of
Jesus. Even Matthew leaned a bit towards John, as the text says.Now, we tend to think of baptism as something specifically Christian, and invented by Jesus. Yet Jesus was clearly baptised by John. In fact it wasn’t. The Jews practised baptism as a form of purification. John used and adapted baptism as the central symbol or sacrament of his messianic movement – and it was also a rite of purification. Most scholars agree that John baptised Jesus, and some scholars believe that Jesus was a follower or disciple of John, who took up ministry only when John – who was his cousin - was killed. The New Testament texts in which John is mentioned portray him as rejecting this idea, although several New Testament accounts report that some of Jesus’ early followers had previously been followers of John. Some scholars maintain that John was influenced by the Essenes, who expected an apocalypse and practiced baptismal rituals.
In this text today, John the Baptiser clearly states that one will come who is greater than he is. And he was preaching identity – YOU are the baptised, he said. Word was out that something was happening in the Jordan. So people came by the hundreds to the river – and through the ritual of immersion washed themselves of their old ways, were purified and made new - John used that water as a way for people to express their desire for a new identity, to create a new life. John says one greater than he is coming – and Jesus stepped into the water and the Spirit descended “like a dove” and gave him his identity – God’s son. In a sense, that’s when his life really began. In the waters of baptism with the Spirit.
Rev. Dr. William Willimon says that the question "Who am I?" forms a life-long crisis of identity. Whether in your 20s, 30s, 40s, or well into retirement, the question still stands on our doorstep to haunt us. Who am I? I am quite sure that is a question Jesus was asking as well. I am not one who believes Jesus knew exactly and precisely from the beginning who he was, and what he was to do, nor how his life would end.
In Japan, the current government under PM Abe wishes to change the current constitution which was written following the Second World War; it is an anti-nuclear, anti-military constitution. For children born in that period, many find their identity in a peace constitution for Japan. My husband is one of them. They do not wish to revert to the pre-war constitution, which would give the military much greater authority. My husband says that the anti-nuclear, anti-military constitution is an integral part of his identity – take that away and you take away a part of what has shaped and made whole generations of people. And he says if the Constitution is change,d he will renounce his citizenship.
That question “Who Am I?” When we’re asked – how do we answer? We might give the place we were born, who our parents were and where they came from, our education and training. We might give what our work was and is. Yet at every stage of our lives, a deeper ‘Who am I?’ lives. How do we define ourselves now? What defines us now?
Back in 2013 I did a coastal cruise of Norway, and visited a Sami medicine/teaching lodge. I learned that identity is a critical part of individual and community lives. When a child is born, the parents compose a song which identifies that child. The song is called a ‘yoik’, or ‘vuelie’ in the South Sami language. As the child grows, he or she will create/compose their own song. They will compose a song when they become engaged, when they are married, when there is a major change in family such as a death. Each person knows what his or her song is, but it changes as they grow. And the community also has songs. So in the movie Frozen 2, the Northuldra people, based on the Sami, sing a Vuelie or chanting song.
Christian baptism in our current tradition, gives a name. In earlier times, the Church named the child, not the parents. In Jesus’ time, the day of birth was not celebrated – the day of presentation at the temple when the name was given, was celebrated. Baptism was a cultural practice and a choice. Today among many cultures, when a person becomes a Christian, they replace their given name for a Christian name. They want to express an identity change. Abram becomes Abraham once he received God’s promise to make of him a mighty nation; Sarai becomes Sarah; Cephas becomes Peter the rock upon which Jesus would build. Saul the Persecutor becomes Paul the Apostle. Name changes signify a new beginning, a radical break with the old, a sign of our evolution as individuals and members of a community.
Remember the “Roots” series? In a memorable scene, the slave Kunta Kinte waits beside the horses while his master attends a ball. While he sits in the buggy he hears other music coming from the slaves’ quarters. Different music, strange rhythms. His legs independently take him down the path to the little cabins. There he hears music he remembered from his childhood in Africa. The man was from his part of that continent, and they talked in his native language - stories of home. That night Kunta went home changed. He lay on the dirt floor of his cabin and wept, in sadness because he had almost forgotten; weeping for joy because he had remembered. Slavery and humiliation had almost erased his memory, but the music helped him to remember.
Who are you? Who were you, as a person? Have you changed? How? Each time something changes in our lives – marriage, children, employment, illness, travel – it changes us. Or it should. Even we who claim seniorhood have not reached the end of our development as people – at least I hope we have not.
Who are you, now, as a congregation? You are taking a risk with God and giving up old identities, - you are still York Pines, but in this new configuration, who you are will change – your partnership will mean York Pines is no longer all of who and what you are. With the addition of two new ministers, your identity will change and evolve as well.
So why baptism? Perhaps to establish and then to remind each other that you have been named - as children of God and as a church of God. And as churches together forging a new identity. You are named by your choice and the working of the Spirit, and claimed as God’s own in a new identity. When Jesus went to be baptised, he entered the water one person, but emerged as someone different. So we claim our baptism – by water, and by the Spirit which continues to lead us; be thankful, for this is who you are, who we are. Amen.
Sources:
Who Are You? a sermon based on Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 by
Rev. Tom Hall
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