The Rev. Robert Lundquist           The Baptism of Jesus    1/8/06 St Paul’s, Ft Collins

Mark 1:7-11  - Online Text -

It is said that Martin Luther, upon rising from bed each morning, would place his hand on top of his head and proclaim, “I am baptized!”  Try it.  It’s a tremendous affirmation.  When you say it, you’re expressing several things:

• “I am marked!”  There is a sign on your forehead that will never wash away.  The sign of the cross, where you were “marked as Christ’s own forever” at your baptism. 

• “I am freed!”  We are freed from sin and brokenness in baptism.  The late Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled, called it the “freedom of uncommitment,” this aimlessness and indecision that seems to define so much of our culture and society.  That is no freedom at all. True freedom is found in the commitment of baptism.

• “I belong!”  We understand baptism and belonging – but do we realize how deeply that goes?  When I was serving Good Samaritan Church in Virginia Beach, I the privilege of baptizing a 70 year-old man named Melvin.  Melvin was mentally ill – he was capable of living on his own, but not able to hold a job.  He spoke with me a length about his being baptized.  And on the day, he showed up dressed to the nines – bright yellow pants, white shoes, lime green and white checked sport coat, all obviously secondhand.  He was so delighted with the service that I was quite surprised at his question of me in the hallway afterwards.  “Can I come back next week?”  I was stunned – “Of course you can come back, Melvin.  You belong!  Why do you ask?”  He said, “I’ve been asked to leave every other church I’ve attended.”  It nearly broke my heart to hear it.  “Of course you are always welcome, Melvin – you belong.”

• “I am loved!”  When Jesus rises from the water of the Jordan River God proclaims, “This is my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.”  And as God said it to Jesus, who leads us into baptism, so does God say it to each of us.  “You are beloved of God.”  Such an intimate and tender affirmation from our Creator.

“I am baptized!”

We follow Jesus into the Jordan River – to be washed, to be purified.  John offered baptism for the washing away of sins, and the people flocked from the cities into the wilderness.  Such a deep hunger for purity, for reconciliation with God!  In Christian baptism we actually die to the world and to sin.  We are then born anew in Christ, to God.  Baptism is about our death and life.

Christian Educator John Westerhoff made a wonderful teaching videotape years ago entitled, Will Our Children Have Faith?  In it he tells the story of attending a baptism in a small Mexican village.  The faithful gathered, as they always did, on the far side of the square from the Roman Catholic church into which they processed.  On this day the people were dressed in their funeral clothes, and the music was dirge-like.  At the end of the line, just before the priest, came the parents of the infant.  Mother held the child, and father carried a tiny casket which he’d made.  The congregation made their way slowly into the church, where father placed the casket on the altar, and the priest poured water into it, filling it to the brim.  Taking the naked child, the priest plunged him into the water, saying, “We bury you with Christ in the water of baptism…”  and raising the now-squalling child high above his head, proclaimed, “… and we raised you to new life in the name of Jesus!”  The people threw off their funeral garb to reveal the bright colors of Easter, and the music changed as well to celebration.  The priest took oil and made the sign of the cross on the forehead of the child, saying, “I brand you, like we brand our cattle, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  Never forget who you are and whose you are!”

“Now that’s a baptism,” says Westerhoff.  And I agree.

Writer John Eldredge has said, “For most Christians, heaven is a backup plan.”  It’s Plan B.  Do you operate this way?  I can make it on my own, but if I run into trouble, there’s always heaven…  I believe that heaven is more than “pie in the sky when you die.”  Heaven is found whenever we find ourselves unmistakably in the presence and love of God, just as hell is the experience of complete separation from God.  Heaven is the backup plan when we forget who we are and whose we are. 

As we baptize you today, Madeleine & Kira, don’t forget.  And that goes for each of us – Don’t forget.  In a few moments this community, representing the entire Body of Christ, past, present and yet to come, will promise to uphold Kira & Madeleine in their life in Christ.  Your Christian family embraces you, beloved of God.

You are marked.

You are freed.

You belong.

And you are loved.

You are baptized!

Never forget who you are and whose you are.

Amen.