Sermon, January 13, 2002
The Baptism of our Lord / 2 Epiphany, Year A
The Rev. Lowell E. Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Sermon, January 13, 2002
The Baptism of our Lord / 2 Epiphany, Year A
The Rev. Lowell E. Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Gospel – Matthew 3:13-17 The Baptism of Jesus
We are at the Jordan River. Jesus emerges from the water, and he experiences something profound. The membrane between the earthly and the spiritual breaks apart, and he feels God’s Spirit upon him. The message he hears at his deepest core says, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." What wonderful words! What a profound sense of acceptance! Thus begins Jesus’ ministry.
Matthew’s congregation would have recognized those words spoken to Jesus. The first half "You are my Son," comes from Psalm 2, a coronation psalm celebrating the power of the mighty King. The second half, "the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased" comes from the passage we heard from Isaiah earlier this morning. It is one of the servant songs. It announces one who will bring justice to the nations, one who will repair the creation and make it what God intended from the beginning. However, the Justice Bearer will not come as a King in front of a mighty army, but rather as a gentle gardener and a lamp lighter. A bruised reed he will not break. A dimly burning wick, he will not extinguish. Isaiah describes how this gentle, suffering servant will heal the world by his own self-sacrifice.
Put these two phrases together and we have a picture of how God enters into our world – the mighty Ruler who comes in power to bring justice does so as a quiet, gentle suffering servant.
Today we reenact that event as we bring to the waters of baptism four of God’s people: an infant, two children and an adult. A cross section of our world. As the ancient holy waters pour over them, if you have living eyes to see and open ears to hear, the membrane between the earthly and spiritual will break apart and a cosmic voice will speak, "This is my child, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased." God’s Holy Spirit, the very life of God will quicken anew within them, and they will be changed. They will become incorporated into the Church as members of Body of Christ, our particular window into the divine. And they will embrace the profound truth of their identity from their beginning of time: each is created in the image and likeness of God.
An old rabbi who has seen through that thin membrane imagines our empowerment this way: "In front of every child of God, 10,000 angels blow their trumpets and proclaim, ‘Make way for the Image of God; make way for the Image of God.’" Through baptism four royal children are being anointed with divine power today.
Then, these four bruised reeds and dimly burning wicks will go forth to do the same work that Jesus did, for they have become his hands, his feet, his eyes, his voice, his mind, his heart. If the world is to know the love and justice of Christ, it will know it only through them and through you and me, his Body, the baptized.
"The most important office in a democracy is the office of citizen," said Justice Louis Brandeis. Just so, the most important office in the church is the office of baptized member. That’s why our worship is the way it is. You don’t just sit there as spectators or audience. You have words to say. You stand, you sit, you kneel, you sing, you come forward to receive Christ’s gifts and you are sent into the world to serve.
This worship service continues right out those doors. Because of your baptism, you have been ordained to serve, anointed for ministry. The Holy Spirit has entered into you and given you gifts. You are responsible to use those gifts and to create ministry.
We have no consumers in this church. St. Paul’s does not exist to serve you. St. Paul’s exists to serve God in Christ and to reconcile the world to God. That means you are a worker, not a consumer. You as a baptized person, are a minister.
I tell the staff of St. Paul’s their primary job is to enable your ministry. My job is to get everything out of the way that might block your ministry. My job is to give you the church’s authority and support to do whatever God calls you to do as your ministry.
Here’s how it works. I have a friend who is Rector of another church. A woman came in to him to ask what she should be doing. He asked her, what are you good at; what do you do naturally and well, and when you do it, it gives you energy. She said, well, you might think this is silly, but I set a good table. I love to entertain, and all my guests comment on what a good table I prepare. He said to her, go and think how you can set a good table as your ministry for God.
She came back the next week with a proposal. The priest and the staff of the church did their part in giving her the means to do her ministry. And for over twenty years, she prepared a weekly businessman’s luncheon for that downtown church, creating a welcoming, nurturing atmosphere that draws hundreds each year into their parish hall for a hospitable meal, and for those who wish, a nourishing Bible Study afterwards. Her ministry was so important, that it continues now even after her death.
That’s how our own Seven Hills Homeless Center happened. Kimberly Gross came in one day telling of what she had learned after two years of interviews, study and service with the homeless. She described a vision of a day shelter for the homeless. The staff and the vestry gave her the authority and resources she needed, and less than two years from that conversation she leads a ministry that is offering life-giving care to our most vulnerable neighbors.
I have a friend who is an attorney. He does his work as a lawyer as his ministry. He listens deeply to the needs of each client and tries to treat each as a child of God. He is scrupulously honest. He defends their interests with sacrificial energy, moving beyond the technicalities of legal expectations to their deepest needs. I’ve known him to turn away couples seeking a divorce when he was convinced their relationship was a strong one in need of reconciliation. I’ve known him to fight tenaciously for security and justice for a vulnerable partner of a destructive marriage. He is well paid, but he is also very generous with clients of modest means. His work is his ministry. He saves lives. And he comes to church to orient and ground his vocation. Our job is to bless, affirm and empower his good work, his ministry.
Today God will empower four more of the most important people in the church. Through their baptism they will be anointed by God as royalty, children of the monarch of the universe. Through their baptism they will be called to ministry, service, even suffering service. And all of us together stand to support their vocations.
What is your ministry? What is your calling? What are you good at? What do you do naturally and well? What gives you energy when you do it? Claim your gifts and your ministry. Don’t just come here and sit down like a consumer. You are the most important part of the church. This institution exists to support your work, your ministry. If the world is to know the love and justice of Christ, it will know it only through you and me, his Body, the baptized. God’s gentle ones.