Sermon Script Jan. 9, 2011 "God's Servant"

Below is the script that I took with me into the pulpit yesterday. Parts that I left out are struck through. You'll have to listen to the audio (click here) to see what I actually said.
--Jack Lohr, Interim Pastor

"God's Servant" Matthew 3 January 9, 2011

Why bother with baptism? Why "Bapstism of Jesus" Sunday? Every year & each Gospel.

What difference does baptism make? Like everything else in church, it's whatever we make of it. It's the difference it makes in us. Most of our baptisms, virtually all of them, have been baptisms of infants, or young teenagers (at the time of confirmation). Looking back in the records of this church, we have had only 6 adult baptisms in the past 20 years.

Many of you have had your children baptized here. I've been privileged now to preside at 3 or 4 baptisms. Back in October we seemed to have a new child every other week whose entrance into the church we were celebrating. It's one of the happiest occasions for a minister and for a congregation.

But I wonder if we have taken Baptism and made it cute. It wasn't that way for Jesus, or the other people who came to John. Remember that John's message was that the Jewish people of his community had become like Gentiles…. They needed to go through the ritual washing that was part of the entrance into Judaism. Is that why John demurred when Jesus came to be baptized? John seems to be into comparisons and says that next to Jesus it's John who should be baptized.

Baptism involves more than a sweet sprinkling with water or an occasion for a party to welcome a new child. When the Holy Spirit comes down, it's sometimes hard to tell whether it's a dove or a bird of prey! Read on beyond our lesson today. Immediately after Jesus' epiphany, when he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit coming down upon him, when he heard the Voice saying "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him," IMMEDIATELY, that Spirit-bird harried him into the desert so that the devil could test him. We BEGIN in God's love, with the promise that we don't have to do anything to earn that love. Even before Jesus begins his ministry, God announces, "I am pleased." And THEN we are tested.

We might imagine that the Holy Spirit – She who flies with us and keeps us on the Way – would make the path smooth and comfortable. But as Jesus is our model, we know that temptations and difficulties do not disappear. Just the opposite! When God intends us to grow, to be transformed into servants, we are thrust onto a road that we might not choose to walk.

Matthew's Gospel seems to soften the work of the Spirit after Jesus' baptism. Luke says the Spirit "turned him out" into the desert for temptation. And Mark says she "cast him out," in the same way that Jesus would later cast out demons!
I had lunch the other day with someone who asked me how out congregation is doing. Not someone who knows any of our history, but someone who understands that religion in general is challenged, and that the younger generation generally doesn't have a lot of use for church. I said I was able to give a definitive answer because we've just completed this survey.

I had a chance to use the perspective that I've received from the congregational life survey. I said we are younger than the average Presbyterian church. That we have a lot of young people involved in our church and that many people see it as one of the three top things that set us apart from other churches. We are unique in that way, because so few Presbyterian churches have this kind of energy. I said we are also renowned as a church that is committed to social justice and involvement in causes of equality and fairness. I mentioned specifically our welcoming of all God's people, and a few things of the policy of our denomination excluding leaders who are lesbian or gay. I cited the number of people in our area who are in interfaith marriages. I said that for a long time we have welcomed all without distinction at the Lord's Table. We know that all the people who ate at the last supper were Jewish.

This survey gives us the ability to speak with confidence about our church and who we are. I hope you'll attend the discussion today in the Akin Room, and learn to speak about our strengths when people ask you about PCMK.
You may be aware that Matthew Mark and Luke all give us essentially the same story of Jesus baptism. John also mentions it without giving the whole story. Instead it gives us john's commentary. If you read the synoptics. You will see that in two places the voice from heaven is addressed to the crowd. And in one case the voice speaks directly to Jesus saying, "You are my beloved son." You ask me which one is right. You know me well enough to know that I think it's not helpful to argue. It's fair to say that they're both right. As we reflect on the baptism of Jesus, we need to hear both messages. The voice from heaven is giving us a message about Jesus, but it's also a message about ourselves. God is well pleased with Jesus, the beloved son. And the voice also speaks to us: You are my beloved son/daughter. God is pleased with us as well. That it seems to me is the heart of the message in our own baptism. It's not about the magic, but the commitment.

We Presbyterians understand Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to be "Sacraments, instituted by God and commended by Christ. Sacraments are signs of the real presence and power of Christ in the Church, symbols of God’s action. Through the Sacraments, God seals believers in redemption, renews their identity as the people of God, and marks them for service.

"Baptism is the sign and symbol of inclusion in God’s grace and covenant with the Church. As an identifying mark, Baptism signifies
a. the faithfulness of God,
b. the washing away of sin,
c. rebirth,
d. putting on the fresh garment of Christ,
e. being sealed by God’s Spirit,
f. adoption into the covenant family of the Church,
g. resurrection and illumination in Christ."

Do you see the connection between the Servant songs in Isaiah and the sacrament of Baptism?

"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations." -- Isaiah 42:1

We will hear echoes of this word when the voice speaks again from heaven at the Transfiguration: "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations." --Matthew 12:18

Annie Johnson Flint has written in a poem entitled "What God Hath Promised"
God hath not promised skies always blue, Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through.
God hath not promised sun without rain, Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
But God hath promised strength for the day, Rest for the laborer, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above, Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
Let us pray. "God of our weary years, God of our silent fears, Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way, Thou who hast by the might led us into the light; keep us forever in the path, we pray." Strengthen us for service. Open our hearts and minds to trust the Spirit to be our companion, directing our steps as we move into the future. Amen.