Isaiah 49:1-7 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 John 1:29-41 Psalm 40:1-10
On a cold winter day, quite a long time ago, I was baptized in a small church in New York City or so my mother tells me. I don't remember a thing about my baptism as I was just an infant and too young to remember what actually took place. My mother told me a number of relatives were present; it wasn't done during a Eucharist and we had or I should say the adults had a celebration after it in my house in my honor. While they celebrated, I was sleeping or having my bottle. I wasn't even able to partake of the food nor participate in the festivities because of my young age. (Talk about your baptismal certificate and some people framing it and hanging it in their office or study).
We baptize infants, according to our catechism, "so that they can share citizenship in the Covenant, membership in Christ, and redemption by God." In our own Articles of Religion, it says about baptism that "it is also a sign of regeneration or new birth, whereby they that receive baptism are grafted into the church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin and of our adoption to be the sons and daughters of God by the Holy Spirit, are visibly signed and sealed; Faith is confirmed and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God."
And how are promises for infants made and carried out? "The promises are made for them by their parents and sponsors (godparents) who guarantee that the infant will be brought up in their the church to know Christ and be able to follow him." Perhaps you have been godparents.
As a way of reminding and reinforcing those promises made by our parents and godparents for us at our own baptism, we oftentimes throughout the church year renew our own baptismal covenant. We renew our commitment to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are "born again!"
In today's Gospel, Jesus goes to John the Baptist to be baptized. John is aghast and tells Jesus - "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
Jesus responds by saying, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness:" to do it by the book, by tradition. To live it out, just like everybody else. And so John agreed.
And as Jesus was being lifted out of the water, something mysterious, mystical and unexplainable happened - Just as his head and shoulders came up out of the water, Jesus saw the heavens open and a dove descended on him. And he heard a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
Matthew seems to imply that this was a private moment between God and Jesus alone. Jesus' understanding of his life was certainly affected by it because he went off alone for 40 days in the wilderness to pray and contemplate the message he had received that day in his baptism.
And what does today's Gospel mean for you and me? I don't know about you but aside from not even remembering my own baptism, my parents have assured me that there were no appearing doves or heavenly music after I was baptized.
None of us is called to be the Messiah, the Christ! But, conversely, through our baptism, all of us become one with Christ. As we pray in the baptismal service, "We thank you, Almighty God, for the water of baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit." As Jesus was baptized, so are we baptized - to become who we are called to be, to begin a ministry.
And this ministry is not only the baptismal promises we make but also our own particular ministry in the church. You may not be an " official" member of the Spirit of the Heartland team but what is your own unique ministry? Part of our life after baptism is to figure out who we are called to be and then live it out as fully as we can - with God's help, no matter what age we are. Have you figured it out? Is your ministry lay reading, Altar Guild or just telling others about St. Stephen's/Good Samaritan?
We may not remember our own baptism but relive and renew through our own baptismal covenant.
We are reborn and raised to a new life of grace. We are born again. We are received into God's household, we confess the faith of Christ crucified, we proclaim his resurrection and we share with our brothers and sisters in his eternal priesthood - the priesthood of all believers not only in the Spirit of the Heartland but in the world. And on the last day of judgment, God will receive us into his loving arms and tell us he was pleased - pleased with our ministry and out lives. So, we don't want to forget our commitment to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior through our own baptism - now - do we?
Amen