SERMON
Sunday, January 9, 2005
1st Sunday after Epiphany, The
Baptism of Our Lord
Fr. Ronald E. Drummond, Jr.
GOD IS
WITH US
God is with us. This is the mystery that we await during
the season of Advent. It is the mystery that we proclaim in the celebration of
the Christ Mass. It is the mystery that is manifested, shown forth to the
nations of the world in the persons of the Wise Men at Epiphany. And it is the
mystery whose meaning is unfolded to us as we go throughout the rest of the
Church year. Each Sunday, each feast day opens to us the meaning of some aspect
of what it means for God to be with us. One could say that this is the message
of the entire New Testament. One could say that this is the message of the
entire Bible. But certainly it is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God is with us.
And today we find Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us, entering
the River Jordan and seeking baptism from John, who conveniently enough, does
this sort of thing. And John's quandary has been the Church's quandary
throughout the ages.. . why
would Jesus need to be baptized?
This question becomes even more relevant when we look at
what baptism meant for a Jew in the time of John the Baptist.
·
Proselyte Baptism for the cleansing of
the polluted and sin-stained outsider before he might enter the people of God
·
But no Jew would think himself in need
of this cleansing. . .after all, he was already one of God's chosen people
·
John came to prepare the way of the
Lord, as it is written of him in the prophet Isaiah. And his message must have
resounded in the hearts of many who heard him, for many Jews came to be
baptized by him.
·
There was a recognition,
brought out by John's preaching, that ALL
people needed to repent and be cleansed of their sins.
·
Jesus, waiting in the wings for 30
years before starting his public ministry, sees this as his moment, the moment
he has been waiting for to begin the work he came to do.
·
In being baptized, Jesus totally
identified himself with the sorry condition of mankind. Not that he had any sin
from which to be cleansed, but he had a broken mass of humanity that needed his
ministry. And so he began that ministry by identifying himself with the very
ones he came to save. . . that is, ALL of us.
·
Not only did Jesus identify himself
with us at baptism, he was empowered by God to do the work he was called to do.
. . [The descent of the Holy Spirit]
From that point on, Jesus went out and did what the
prophets said he would do. . .he opened the eyes of
the blind, he released those imprisoned by sin and darkness, he healed the sick
and cast out demons.
Jesus' presence among the people of 1st century Palestine
meant that God had come among them in the person of Jesus to fulfill all of the
things that the prophets said about the messiah. Jesus did these things
according to the perfect plan of God IN THE POWEROF GOD. Even the Son of God
needed the anointing power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill his mission on earth.
If the Son of God himself needed power from on high to
fulfill his life's calling, how much more so do we frail mortal believers need
power.
We are too often content to live "doing the best we
can. . . "
Perhaps it's our:
·
pride -
·
lack of faith or trust -
·
fear
But the power that was given to Jesus in his baptism is the
power that is given to us. For the Spirit that descended upon
Jesus at his baptism is the same Spirit that seals us and marks us as Christ's Own
forever in our baptism.
We are baptized into Christ. Who or what else would we be baptized into?
As members of the Body of Christ we are called to continue
the work of Christ on earth in the power of the Holy Spirit.
·
Not simply "helping people live better
lives," but by inviting them to new life in Christ Jesus
·
Not simply "doing right" but
by bringing justice and righteousness to the oppressed
·
Feeding the hungry
·
Clothing the naked
·
Opening the eyes of the blind and the
ears of the deaf
·
Caring for the poor
·
Healing the sick
·
Freeing those oppressed by the devil
and his minions.
THIS is our calling as the Body of Christ and all of these
activities that seem to be the work of "charity or social work
organizations" are actually the job of the Body of Christ. As such, all of
these earthly activities are brought into the realm of the eternal.
Is it any wonder that only the power of God could equip us
for such a task? It is only by the power of God that we can do the work of God.
And it's not just in the big stuff either. Every moment of
our lives as Christians is dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit. Every
good word, every prayer, every pious thought, every test taken, every diaper
changed, every sale made. . .for the Christian these
things come by God's power.
It's become fashionable to say that "the power lies
inside of us." This is only true in so far as we who have been baptized
and filled with the Spirit have that same Spirit inside of us.
It is this same Spirit that will shortly come upon the gifts
of bread and wine that we offer to God and transform them into Christ's Body
and Blood. And with God-with-us inside of us we are equipped to live as he
would have us live and do what he would have us do.
God is with us. God was with the first disciples in the
person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ went about teaching, preaching the Kingdom
of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. And when he left this earth, he
promised that he would not leave us helpless. And so God sent the Holy Spirit.
And it is because of His presence that God is with us today.
And God IS with
us today. He is in you and He is in me. He is waiting for us to fully surrender
our lives to his power so that he may do great things in us and through us. His
power is available every day, every hour, every moment, every breath. And with
this power comes great responsibility.
How will you and I respond today?