Sunday: Baptism of Christ A
Reading: Matthew 3:13-17
Preacher: S. James Steen

Thirty Years ago a New Testament scholar named E. P. Sanders developed a list of eight irrefutable facts about the life of Jesus and the movement he inaugurated. Of course, there were other facts concerning Jesus' life, but Sanders said that, beyond a doubt, his eight were factual. For Example, Jesus called disciples, and he spoke of there being twelve of them; and Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem by Roman authorities. The first fact on Sander's list is that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist; and even the most skeptical scholars agree.

As the Gospel According to Mark opens, its first sentence concerning Jesus is, "In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan." In Mark there are no magi and no virgin birth. The adult Jesus bursts onto the scene in chapter one and is baptized. And that is just the first of nine places where we find the same message: Jesus was baptized by John.

The curious pour endlessly over the various details about Jesus' Baptism, and I love doing this. Why did Matthew have God address the onlookers, saying, "This is my son, my beloved," when Mark and Luke direct the words to Jesus: "You are my son, the beloved?" Why do Mark and Matthew focus directly on the baptism, while Luke just mentions it in passing? Why does John omit it completely? Questions abound.
But whichever version of the event we read, there is a core message here: Jesus began his public ministry by submitting to Baptism, and not just any Baptism, but John's Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. In no time Christians began debating why Jesus, whom they considered sinless, had chosen for himself a rite with the purpose of washing away sins. It's a good question; but I think it was simple for him. He wanted to identify with sinners. Unlike the religious leaders, he wasn't afraid of sinners. After all, he ate with them, he healed them, and he forgave them. Submitting to John's Baptism for the forgiveness of sins was one way for Jesus to say, "I have good news for you sinners. God can hardly wait to forgive you and to claim you."

The second part of the core message of Jesus' Baptism is in the words, "...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." That's Matthew. The Spirit alighted upon Jesus. Mark has a slight, but significant difference. The sense of the original Greek in Mark is that the Spirit entered into Jesus.

That suggests a profound experience of the presence of God; and this coming of the Spirit is inseparably connected to the words, "You are my son, my child, with whom I am well pleased." Knowledge of his identity as God's son was the gift given Jesus at his Baptism. And his awareness of that God-given identity was so powerful that it thrust him forward to begin his remarkable ministry of forgiveness, healing, and transformation. Wherever he we went, he proclaimed to sinners what he had received at his Baptism: "You are God's child, God's Beloved."

So this Baptism isn't only about Jesus. Beloved Child of God is the identity each of us receives at Baptism. Friend of sinners is what our Baptism calls each of us to become as we go forth and claim, with Jesus, God's work of forgiving, healing and transforming.

Someone who loves me very much is always saying to me, "You are the best!" I typically respond, "No, I'm not." The person replies, "Yes, you are the best." You all may be relieved to know that I really don't believe it. Nor, in a fundamentalist kind of way, do I believe that my friend believes it. But I do believe that I am deeply and unconditionally loved by my friend, and I am sure that receiving such an assurance every time I hear those words, "You are the best," does more to promote my seeking to become more faithful and more loveable than pointing out my many failings could ever do. "You are the best." "You are my child, the beloved."

I suspect that some will say, "But wait! Aren't there any requirements?" The answer is, "Yes," we are called to live according to the Baptismal Covenant. We are called to lives of repentance, service, and reconciliation, lives worthy of God's beloved. But it's fundamentally different to journey from a position of knowing that we are unconditionally loved, than from a position of feeling worthless.

Years ago, a newcomer to St. Paul & the Redeemer came to me and told me that he felt completely worthless. This was what he had been told by others for years. I watched as he lived in this community, as he was nurtured and experienced himself loved by many of you, a love that sometimes simply involved acceptance, but sometimes challenge as well. He slowly changed and became more and more the great person he had always been in God's eyes. Now he has moved on, but he still speaks of how this community changed his life.

As beloved children of God, this is our vocation: to welcome sinners like us, to change one another's lives, to reach out beyond this community and change lives, and finally to support two beautiful children, Katharine and Valencia, whom we will baptize this morning, that they may grow into the full stature of Christ.

Amen.