Baptism is a verb

Baptism of our LordA, January 12, 2014, Sullivan Park Care Center by Sr Annette Fricke, OP

            The Baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan is attested to in all four of the gospels in our Bibles.  The mere fact that it is, is testimony that baptism itself was very important to the early Christian Church, especially at the time that these gospels were written to summarize the faith.  At the time of Matthew’s composition, unlike Acts where baptism was done in the name of Jesus, it is clear that baptism was to be done in the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  It is clear that our own baptisms are to follow the example that Jesus gave.  Although some of the particulars have changed throughout the centuries, the basic rite has remained the same.  The author of Matthew writes at the end of his gospel, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

            There is nowhere stated in all of the New Testament that baptism is a graduation and yet there continues to be people who live their lives as though it is.  Those who have continued to stay with the church have seen it happen many times.  Once the baptism is performed, eternal life is guaranteed, so we can go off and live our lives as we please.  That is a gross over-simplification of baptism that has been repeated over and over.  It is like reading the first part of the Matthew text and leaving out the part or paying no attention to the second part: teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. It’s like saying, “OK, you are a Christian, now you can go home. It’s over.”  Rather, it is a commencement, not a graduation.  It is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, not the end.  It’s like omitting everything in Matthew between the story of Jesus’ baptism and the last paragraph.  And while we are at it, we could eliminate the part about evangelism as well.  Why should we tell others about Jesus if all it takes is baptism?

            All four gospels agree that baptism is the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry and is the preparation for that ministry.  Since it is God that acts in baptism, God also prepares us for our ministries as God’s people.  This, above all else appears to be the main purpose of baptism.  Matthew does not mention anything further than this basic message.  Matthew drives home the point further that Jesus is greater than he, therefore deserving of all manner of respect and honor, and the leader par excellence of a ministry that far exceeds any previous prophet.  Jesus is the supreme prophet that we are to emulate throughout our lives and model our ministry and the way we live after him.  The question about those of us who sin and Jesus being without sin does not even come up.  No matter how great the prophets before him, Jesus surpasses them all.  It is an awesome task, but that is what being baptized in his name means.

            Jesus says to John, “… it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness”. The response satisfies John, who proceeds to perform the baptism, leading to the appearance of God and divine approval of Jesus of Nazareth. John recognizes that Jesus is the fulfillment of all righteousness.

            The extended narrative in Matthew’s account forces us to consider the significance of righteousness as a foundation for the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry. Righteousness is one of those biblical terms with elusive meaning. The New Testament usages of “righteousness” associate the term with fair and equitable dealings. Righteousness leads to integrity, virtue, piety, and godliness. It reflects concepts of generosity, while ascertaining values of goodness and justice. We see this spelled out later in Matthew in particular when Jesus teaches these precepts of the Sermon on the Mount.

            While Christian orthodoxy often correlates righteousness to an inner holiness in the context of salvation, the New Testament understandings of righteousness do not separate inner spirituality from outward action. Jesus’ action was that of his ministry here on earth, to reconcile us to God.  Jesus acts out of his identity.  Jesus is proclaimed at his baptism to be God’s Son in whom God is well pleased.  Although we may not be Jesus as God’s Son with a capital “s”, in baptism, we do become God’s sons and daughters, with a small “s”.  Think of the times you want to cry out your identity, to rip Clark Kent's glasses, you know what I’m talking about---Superman--- from your nose, to emerge from the shadows and claim your true name. And admit the irony that the only ones who truly seem to know you--the real you--are your demons: your self-doubts, your anxieties, your weaknesses toward vice.  The demons know your identity, even when no one else does.

Except that today, above all other days, we are reminded that there is more truth than this, greater truth.  On this day of the Baptism of our Lord, we are called to remember into whom we are baptized.  At his own baptism, God spoke to Jesus, and half a Gospel later God spoke to the disciples, saying, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

That only is truly Jesus.  That is his identity.  And in baptism, in this sacrament that rehearses the action to which Jesus consented at the hands of John the Baptist, Jesus' identity becomes our own true selves.  We emerge from the water reborn into him. Baptism is the sacrament in which we declare--in which God declares--that we no longer need Clark Kent's glasses.  We no longer need to mute our tongues from declaring who we are.  We no longer need to duck into the shadows for fear of exposure to the world.  Because who we are--who you and I only and truly are--are the sons and daughters of God.  That identity is etched upon us more deeply than any mask.  Its beauty transforms all ugliness.  Its truth silences the mocking laughter of the demons.

It turns out that even we did not truly know ourselves.  What we secretly thought we were, in both our best and our worst moments, was wrong.  We are not expert or fraud, the angel or the monster, either the beauty or the beast.  The truth of us is far simpler and far more glorious.  We are the baptized, bearing the seal of the Holy Spirit on our brows just as the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove alighted on Jesus.  We can walk the streets of our neighborhoods, the hallways where we live and where we work, sit and meditate in the rooms of our homes--indeed, we can look in the mirror every morning and evening as we brush our teeth or wash our faces--and say, "Look at me, the real me.  I am a child of God.  I am beloved, and with me God is well pleased." 

The words beginning at the second verse of a popular baptismal hymn seem very appropriate, “Then cleansed be every life from sin; Make straight the way for God within, And let us all our hearts prepare For Christ to come and enter there. We hail you as our Savior, Lord, Our refuge and our great reward; Without your grace we waste away Like flowers that wither and decay.  In the sacrament of Baptism, we find that grace upon grace mentioned in the gospel according to St John last week.  That grace of baptism is ours for the journey, it is indeed, strength for the journey.  Being a Christian is not a static noun, it is a verb that calls us to action.  Amen.