"Baptism is Dangerous" - January 1, 2012

Scripture: Matthew 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 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. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

The Sermon:
I really appreciate this portion of Matthew’s Gospel because it evokes stories and images from the Old Testament. It is very significant that Jesus was Baptized in the Jordan River. For Matthew and his Jewish audience, Jesus is revealed as the new Moses. You remember that Moses delivered his people from physical slavery under the Egyptians. Matthew reveals that Jesus is delivering us from slavery to sin and death. Let’s look at a few parallels between Moses and Jesus. Jesus, as an infant escaped death from Herod by hiding out in Egypt…Moses escaped death from the Pharoah by hiding our in a basket of reeds and being found by Pharoah’s daughter. Like Moses, Jesus comes out of Egypt…like Moses, Jesus crosses the water. Jesus goes into the desert for 40 days of temptation and preparation, which is a reminder of Moses leading the people in the desert for 40 yrs. So the Jordan is symbolic as a crossing point of liberation and of entrance into a new kind of “promised land” that Jesus would proclaim as the Kingdom of God.

While many Christians do not always agree on the mode of Baptism, that is sprinkling, pouring or immersion, we do understand that all the ancient stories of the Bible coalesce into a present reality for all Christians. In Baptism, we are liberated from slavery to sin and death through the forgiveness of sins. We become new person in Christ through a relationship with God, who is present at our Baptism as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At Baptism, we are invited to take on our vocation as people created in God’s image…a vocation that involves stewardship and care for each other and for God’s good Creation.

What we sometimes fail to fully understand, however, regardless of the mode of Baptism, is that it is also a dangerous act. It is dangerous because it marks us as belonging to Jesus and taking on the mission and message of the One in whose name we are Baptized.

Remember what happened immediately after Jesus was Baptized? He finds himself wandering in the desert, hungry and thirsty and being tempted by Satan. Satan invites Jesus to an easier kind of life…plenty of food and drink, etc. Once we are Baptized, we face similar situations regarding comfortable living…having enough wealth to be satisfied, instead of focusing on a life of service and sacrifice that God calls us to live. Baptism marks us as being set apart for a different kind of life…a life that often denies the temporal, pleasurable and consumable things that the rest of the world values. Jesus teaches us to live simply and generously in a culture of excess.

Just like the story of the ‘rich young ruler’, it is difficult for us to walk away from our possessions, our status and our former life… it is truly painful. Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God and God’s justice for the poor, the infirm, the alien, the stranger, the imprisoned and the lost. His ministry took Him into back alleys and often hostile territories. He risked not only his reputation but also His life in order to bring Good News to those who needed it most. His calls for justice and the company He kept with outsiders and the unclean, made some angry enough to want to kill Him.

Whenever the followers of Christ stand for and with those who cannot stand for themselves, then those who seek to keep their power and the status quo will always react negatively… and as history has demonstrated, often violently. Jesus told His followers that their being identified as His followers would mark them as being guilty by association in the eyes of those around them.

Yes, being Baptized is being commissioned to a dangerous vocation, but when we live out our vocation, it is world-changing ! While our association with Jesus marks us in the eyes of the rest of the world, it ALSO marks us in the eyes of God as His beloved children. Children who are willing to participate with Him in the renewal of God’s creation. God is using us in what Dominic Crossan describes as , “The Great Divine Cleanup of the World”, through the ministry of Christ and His church.

Whether the tasks we are called to are easily do-able or imminently dangerous, the Baptized are called to follow Jesus out of the water and into the world !!!

AMEN.