Remember Your Baptism!
Luke 3:21-22

Rev. Stephen H. Wilkins
Georgetown Presbyterian Church
January 7, 2007

A Presbyterian and a Baptist were having an argument over the proper understanding of Baptism. The Presbyterian insisted that sprinkling water on the head of the person being baptized was completely legitimate; the Baptist, on the other hand, refused to accept anything other than full immersion. And so the Presbyterian sought to make his point. He asked the Baptist, "Now, let me get this right. If a person wades into the water up to her waist, has she been baptized yet?"

The Baptist was quick to reply, "No, she hasn’t been baptized if the water only goes up to her waist."

"Well, then," continued the Presbyterian, "if the water goes up to her chin, has she been baptized?"

Again, the Baptist was emphatic: "No, she’s still not baptized."

Finally, the Presbyterian asks, "Suppose she’s all the way under the water, except for the very top of her head, which is still dry. Has she been baptized yet?" To which the Baptist again answers firmly, "No. She still isn’t baptized at that point."

"So," concludes the Presbyterian, "you must agree that it’s just that little bit of water on the top of the head that makes a person baptized!"

…He never did get an answer out of the Baptist!

Today the lectionary brings us to the text in Luke’s gospel in which he relates to us the Baptism of the Lord. In terms of the church year, this is the first Sunday after Epiphany. Yesterday was Epiphany, also known as the twelfth day of Christmas. It is more celebrated in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions than it is in our Presbyterian tradition. It is traditionally observed with an emphasis on the journey of the Magi, as they followed the star so that they could honor the newborn King. At Epiphany we note, among other things, that the identity of Jesus was revealed to the Gentile world.

The baptism of the Lord is also an occasion in which the identity of Jesus is revealed and confirmed for us. For Luke tells us that after Jesus was baptized, he was praying, and while he was praying, "heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him… And a voice came from Heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’" Through the years, the Church has seen the baptism of the Lord as, among other things, a model for Christians as we set out to live the life of discipleship. In all four gospels, the baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of his public ministry. And so as we recall the baptism of the Jesus, what Jesus receives for his public ministry by right we are able to receive for our own discipleship by grace.

From these two verses from Luke’s gospel, I want to highlight three significant activities that inform our calling and our discipleship: There is a seeking, there is a naming, and there is an equipping.

There is a seeking. Out of the four accounts of Jesus’ baptism, Luke separates the actual baptism from the heavenly voice and the descending of the Holy Spirit. In Luke’s account, we are told that after his baptism, Jesus was praying. And it was while Jesus was praying that heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him. It was while he was seeking a word from God that the voice is heard and the Holy Spirit is sent.

We must not gloss over this detail. Especially in a tradition such as ours, where very few of us are in a position to think about the significance of our own baptism when it happens, it is important as adults to pause and consider what our baptism has meant for us. There needs to be a seeking on our part.

What does your baptism mean to you, especially if it’s something that you didn’t choose? What does your baptism mean to you, even if it was the faith of your parents (and not your own faith) that brought you to the waters of baptism? What does it mean to be baptized? It is important for us, like Jesus, to seek a word from God. "Like Jesus, we search prayerfully to understand our identity as the baptized and our place in God’s ongoing redemptive work."

There must be a seeking, because it is when we are in the posture of seeking—of searching for meaning, of praying for discernment—that we put ourselves in a position to hear God calling our name. As Luke tells us, it is while Jesus is seeking God in prayer that he hears the voice come out of heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased…

There is power in the utterance of a name, more than we ever consider. Maya Lin, the designer of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, was explaining to a TV interviewer why her remarkable work has come to have such a strong grip upon the emotions of the American people. "It’s the names," she said. "The names are the memorial. No edifice or structure can bring people to mind as powerfully as their names."

It is significant for Jesus that as he embarks on his public ministry, his commissioning from God includes the words, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." In his commissioning, God has given Jesus a special name.

And so it is with us. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed it, but when we baptize children, we don’t use the child’s surname, because at baptism the child is not a Smith or a Jones, but "Child of God." In our baptism, God names us as one of his beloved children! What Jesus was given by right, we are given by grace.

"You are my beloved child; my favor rests on you." In a world that tells us that we are nothing unless we earn it, that is a word we need to hear. In a world that says, "If you want to be loved, you had better prove that you are worth loving; you have to show it," it is like a breath of fresh air to hear the Lord of the universe call out to us: You are my beloved child; in you I am well pleased.

You are a precious child of God! What power there is in being named! Naming validates. Naming declares that you belong.

This year there has been an interesting storyline between the new coach of the New York Jets, Eric Mangini, and the coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichik. Mangini was one of Belichik’s assistant coaches last year, and so when Mangini was named to be the head coach of the rival Jets, there was some kind of falling out between the two. All season long, Belichik refused to utter the name of the Jets’ coach. When they met at midfield to shake hands after the teams played each other twice this season, they did not make eye contact. Finally, this past week, Belichik uttered Mangini’s name in a press conference, and it was a positive remark. It was a moment of validation.

There is power in naming. Naming validates. Naming declares that you belong. In our baptism, you are given a name: Beloved Child of God. God validates you! God declares that you belong to him!

And in baptism we are given a gift that enables us to live into our new family name: the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descends visibly from heaven in the form of a dove. In our baptism we, too, are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. It’s the gift of God’s presence with us, and it’s the gift that helps us live the life of the beloved.

We need to hear that word. Today marks the beginning of three years of active service on Session for our newly elected elders. As they begin their tenure, they need to know that they aren’t serving on their own power. They need to hear that the same God who has called them to serve as the spiritual leaders of this congregation is with them and is empowering them to live into their calling.

And you know and I know that we do not limit this dynamic to those who are "officially" ordained and installed as church leaders. For the truth is, your baptism is your ordination. Your baptism is the moment when God has called you by name and commissions you to live into your name. Perhaps it is serendipitous that the Baptism of the Lord Sunday traditionally falls so early in our civil observation of New Year, for it is at this time of the year that we resolve to change things in our lives for the coming year. And so as we make those resolutions, I urge you to remember your baptism as a way of renewing your resolve to live as a servant of the Lord.

Remember your baptism, because in your baptism God has named you as his precious and beloved child, and he has given you the seal of his Holy Spirit as the promise of his presence and as the equipping agent that enables you to fulfill all the expectations that come with the name, Beloved Child of God.

As tradition has it, whenever Martin Luther—a man who struggled with personal demons of self-doubt and despair as well as with persecution from the world—whenever he felt his energy flagging, his doubt growing, or his fear strengthening, he would cry out, "I am baptized!" In that cry would be the renewal of strength to go forward on whatever journey he faced. He knew that he was baptized to face the trials and tribulations of the world with courage and hope and love.

Make that your rallying call: I am baptized! Do you find yourself wondering if your life means something? Remember your baptism, for you are a beloved child of God! Do you find yourself thinking that you’re all alone as a follower of Christ? Remember your baptism, for God is with you! Do you find yourself thinking that you have no special gift or ability to offer in service to God? Remember your baptism, for God has given you the Holy Spirit to equip you for doing the work God has called you to do!

Remember your baptism, and hear the words that God speaks to you: "You are my beloved child; my favor rests on you." Amen.