A Sermon preached on Epiphany I: 12 January at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden
Isaiah 43:1-7, Acts 8:14-17, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
In the Western tradition, the first Sunday after the Epiphany is when we remember and celebrate the Baptism of our Lord. Eastern Christians already commemorate the baptism of Jesus on the Day of the Epiphany. As part of our service today, we will renew our Baptismal Covenant and, following the Eastern tradition, I will first bless and then sprinkle you with water!
Together with the Eucharist, Baptism is one of the only two sacraments shared across almost all Christian denominations, at least those denominations that have sacraments (or ordinances) at all. The Quakers and Salvation Army do not. Many mainline churches recognise each other’s baptism, as long as two conditions are fulfilled. The candidate has been baptized by water – either by immersion or by pouring water on his or her head. And the Trinitarian formula “I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” is used. For all churches, our common understanding is that Baptism is the initiation event incorporating people into the one Church of Jesus Christ.
We get this concept of baptism as membership from the Great Commission in Matthew (28:19) when Jesus commands the disciples to “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 from the Book of Acts (2:41) “So those who welcomed (Peter’s) message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.”
At the same time, we accept and tolerate that different churches have very different ideas about exactly how this incorporation happens: Some churches focus on the individual, mature confession of faith as constitutive, others on God’s action in the sacrament without any preconditions. And beyond and besides membership, there are other, additional meanings and implications of baptism that we do not all share, and that have changed over time!
It is a pity that we have not yet been able to agree on a similar common minimum understanding for Holy Communion, allowing us to at least extend a mutual invitation to the Eucharist to believers from all mainline denominations. As you know, and as I say at the beginning of the service, in our tradition the sole condition for participation is that you have been baptised.
Today’s readings show us that there were even different understandings and usages very early in the life and history of the church. In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how Peter and John had to correct or complete the baptism of some Samarians as “they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,” and had not received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:16) Later in the Book of Acts, Paul encounters some disciples who had only been baptised ‘into John’s baptism’ and who had not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2-3) and on whom Paul then laid his hands. And in the Gospel passage we hear John himself explaining that he baptises (only) with water and that it is for repentance, but that “one who is more powerful than I is coming; … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16) Jesus’ baptism, John says, will be different, it will purify and renew.
We used to be very worried about the timing of Baptism. The 16th century Book of Common Prayer states that “the Curates of every parish shall often admonish the People, that they defer not the Baptism of their Children longer than the first or second Sunday next after their Birth, or other Holy-day falling between.” And the whole concept of an “emergency baptism,” that can be administered by any baptised person, especially to infants who are in mortal danger, has its origin in the idea of baptism as a condition for salvation. Although, as for example the Church of England states, “Parents … should be assured that questions of ultimate salvation … for an infant who dies do not depend upon whether or not the child has been baptized.”
The other extreme was “death bed” baptisms. The most famous example was the Emperor Constantine who, it is claimed, was not baptised until just before he died as he believed that if he waited to get baptized on his death bed, he was in less danger of polluting his soul with sin and not getting to heaven! The phrase we heard in today’s Gospel, that “His (Jesus’) 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," (3:17) does sound a lot like judgment. But as it describes what happens at the moment of Baptism, and not on the last day, it is in fact more about the transformation or regeneration that begins with our Baptism.
If we look at our own Baptismal Liturgy, we find all of these themes. The questions asked of the candidates or of the parents and godparents are all about repentance, literally turning from evil and to Christ. The Baptismal Covenant is our confession of faith and our promise to put that faith into action. The prayer of thanksgiving over the water focuses on the idea of rebirth: “Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit” and regeneration “Now sanctify this water, we pray you, by the power of your Holy Spirit, that those who here are cleansed from sin and born again may continue for ever in the risen life of Jesus.”[1] Baptism is a combination of God’s action and our action and response, of outward and visible signs, water, also chrism, the covenant and prayers, and what we call and inward and spiritual grace that, quoting from our catechism, is “union with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into God's family the Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit.”[2]
Christ did not need to be born into God’s family, did not need forgiveness, did not really need the gift of the Holy Spirit that were his by his very being. So why was he baptised? The Evangelists were not entirely comfortable with him being baptised either. If you look carefully at Luke’s account you will see that he for example does not explicitly say that John baptised Jesus, because how can a greater person be baptised by a lesser one? And in his Gospel, John simply avoids mentioning Jesus’ baptism at all! In fact, Jesus’ baptism is a logical consequence of the Incarnation. It is a further sign that he became fully human, it is a further sign of his great humility and self-emptying, and in it he sets an example for us to follow. At the same time his baptism was also a moment when Jesus’ full divinity and authority as God’s Son was revealed. The heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit, representing divinity, descended upon him, and a voice came from heaven saying, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." (Luke 3:16) Jesus’ mission is to reconcile heaven and earth, God and humanity. His baptism, at the very beginning of his ministry, is a visible sign that he is the connection between heaven and earth.
Our baptism may be the moment when we become part of the Church, but it is not the moment we become part of God’s family. We already are by virtue of our creation in God’s image. Baptism is one step, the first step towards recognising and acknowledging that existing, intimate relationship with God. We are not beloved because we get baptised, but it is at our baptism that we hear and know and feel that message of love for sure. At baptism God says to each and every one of us: “You are my child and beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And then, with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we spend the rest of our lives doing our very best to live into that message and promise of God’s love for us and for all of creation. Amen.
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