Sermon: “This One Is Mine!”
A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. John D. Painter at Centenary United Methodist Church Metuchen, New Jersey January 9, 2005 (Baptism of Christ Sunday)
Texts: Matthew 3:13-17; Acts 10:34-43
And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” –Matthew 3:17 (NRSV)
Water is a powerful creation. We need water to survive, for without it we would die. In recent days we’ve seen massive destruction and we’ve seen enormous human compassion, both the result of water. As we have witnessed so vividly in the past two weeks, too much water can kill while too little water can also take life away. While we have gathered today to remember and celebrate our baptisms, and to be reminded of the good things about water—water renews, cleanses and nurtures—we’ve also come with somber hearts. Many of us have struggled with our faith as we’ve watched the hurts of the world. We don’t blame God for the wounds of the world. Water, like the wind, moves where it wills. Still, we wish our tears could be dammed up and held back, but we ache so for the people in the tsunami’s wake. And we ask God to buoy us up on the waves of hope as we remember our baptisms and are thankful for the gift of life-giving waters. We come with hope and pray for healing this day.
One person recently wrote: “When the news first broke of the earthquake and the tsu-nami, I kept thinking, ‘Oh my, what if that was happening here, to people I love, my brothers and sisters?’ Well, guess what?! It is happening to my brothers and sisters. I don’t know a single one of them by name, but God does because they are [God’s] children. So, while many of the victims and many of the survivors may never have been baptized, I have. I am called by my baptism into relationship with Jesus Christ and with all God’s children everywhere. Who is my brother, who is my sister? The very ones who are hurting to their core right now. What do brothers and sisters do? Love each other in meaningful ways. By my baptism, I am called to respond.” By our bap-tisms we are all called to respond.
In his early thirties, Jesus came to the wilderness shores of the Jordan River and stood be-fore John the Baptist seeking baptism. And as he rose from the muddy waters, a voice from heaven declared, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
What did God “say” at your baptism and at mine? Can we still hear it? “You are my daughter…my son…my beloved. I am well-pleased with you!” We’re uncomfortable today speaking of anyone as God’s chosen. But God’s call is to service, not to privilege. Anyone who hears God’s voice in one way or another can discover she or he is God’s beloved. As Peter real-ized, God shows no partiality.
Where and when do we hear God’s voice? In the stillness of our souls? In conversation with trusted friends? Through the scriptures? When we worship? When we’re busy serving as we’re called to serve? And, often, even in the shocks and surprises of life.
All too often we think God’s voice only sounds like thunder. We know God wants to speak to us, but we’re often afraid to listen. Sometimes God shakes us out of our complacency and prejudices, like a sudden thunderstorm in summer. But more often than not, what God wants us to hear is, “You are my daughter…my son…my servant…in whom my soul delights. Here is where I need you to serve. Now, let me delight in you as you share the love I’ve invested in you.”
Regardless of what else happens during the sacrament of baptism–whether the water is sprinkled or poured over the head, or the person is dipped under the water; whether the person laughs or cries or tries to climb into the font–baptism is about what God is doing. In baptism, God claims us. Adopts us. Gives us a new name: My daughter! My son! In baptism, God singles us out and says, “This one is mine!”
Christian baptism gives you a name. Gives you an identity. In earlier times children were “christened” and given a Christian name. In ancient times, the Church literally named the child. Even today among many cultures, when persons are baptized they replace their given names with Christian names. They want to express an identity change. Like when Abram becomes Abraham when he receives God’s promise to make of him a mighty nation; Like when Cephas became Peter when Jesus promised to build his church “upon this rock.” Saul the Persecutor becomes Paul the Apostle. Name changes signify a new beginning, a radical break with the old. At bap-tism, God takes you and says, “Your name is Christian.” You are mine!
Many years ago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson used to begin worship in his inner-city Chicago congregation with a two-line call and response:
I was a NOBODY,
But now, thank God, I’m a SOMEBODY!
Everything around the people told them that they were nothing more than nobodies, but the Church dared to claim a different name for them and declared that because they were God’s children, they were somebodies. The Christian message is not that we should try hard to “act like somebody.” The Christian message is simply, “we are somebody.”
It may well be that we, the Church, ought to rise up at every baptism and say: “This one is ours. This one belongs to us. God has a lot of promise riding on this one. This one is set aside for God. We’re calling this one ‘Christian.’”
Baptism says that not only are we named but that we are owned by God. God keeps what God purchases, and on the cross an awesome price was paid. As we celebrate renewal and re-membrance through our baptism, we would do well to recall Martin Luther’s remark that “There is no greater comfort to a Christian than baptism.” Why? In times of great doubt, when the ref-ormation faltered and seemed about to disintegrate, Luther would frequently touch his forehead and say to himself, “Martin, be calm, be calm Martin; you are baptized.”
In those times of our greatest trials, confusion, spiritual dryness, and hopelessness, we might do well to touch our foreheads and remind ourselves who and whose we really are. So many times we are tempted to consider our relationship with God as mostly a matter of what we think, feel or believe. Baptism is an ever-present reminder of our salvation, our nearness to God as the result of what God has done. The same God who reached out and claimed us in our bap-tism continues to hold onto us in life. The source of our hope is in the active, resourceful love of God. The One who continues to declare, “This one is mine!”
In a memorable scene in the Roots series many years ago, Kunta Kinte waits beside the horses while his master attends a ball. While he sits in the buggy he hears other music coming from the slaves’ quarters. Different music. Strange rhythms. His legs quickly take him down the path to the little cabins behind the big house. There he sees a man playing African music, the music which he remembered hearing in Africa as a child—music which he had almost forgotten. Kunta Kinte found that the man was from his section of Africa. They talked excitedly in his na-tive language of home and stories. That night Kunta Kinte went home changed. He lay upon the dirt floor of his cabin and wept, weeping in sadness because he had almost forgotten; weeping for joy because he had remembered. Slavery and humiliation had almost erased his memory, but the music helped him to remember
It is easy in the confusion of this life to forget who you are and more importantly, whose you are. So this morning the Church is here to remind you—we are here, all of us, to remind each other—that we have been named and purchased. That Someone greater than John the Bap-tist has claimed us and loves us with a love that will never give up on us. That same Someone who continues to proclaim, “You are my daughter…my son…my beloved. I am well-pleased with you! You are mine!” Can you still hear it? Remember your baptism and be thankful, for this is who you are.
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PRAYER
Come all who are weary,
Come, all who yearn for joy.
As the waters of the Jordan washed over Jesus,
So the Spirit washes over you and me!
The source of life and love,
Through the power of the Holy Spirit,
Changes water to the gladness of wine,
Speaks the Word that says, “This one is mine!”. Amen.
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