Baptism: Christ's & Ours

This Sunday is the Baptism of the Lord in liturgical calendars, so the the passages assigned were Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 29, Acts 10:34-43, and Matthew 3:13-17. Here's the sermon I just finished preaching,

In the Baptism of Jesus Christ our Lord, I see three things going on. As John the Baptist takes his cousin in his arms, lowers Jesus into the waters of the River Jordan and raises Him up out of the waters, God, the Father, sends down His Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and calls Jesus His beloved Son. In so doing, God the Father is recognizing Jesus as His beloved Son, anointing Him with His Holy Spirit and sending Him into the world to preach His good news.

A similar thing happens when we are baptized. As God, the Father, recognized Jesus as His Son, so He recognizes and adopts us as His Children. God loves each of us as His own sons and daughters. We were each made in His image and He longs for us to come and know Him. To come and know just how much we are loved!

God, the Father, also anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit. Likewise, He anoints each of us with that same Holy Spirit. In this anointing we are both sealed in salvation and empowered to walk in His love. For as God loves us just as we are, He calls and enables us to be all He longs for us to be in and through Him.

Finally, God, the Father, sent Jesus out to preach His good news. So He also sends us. In preaching God's good news, we are called not just to say it in word, but to let our actions speak it as well. So, when we hear of the terrible suffering brought forth by the tsunami and earthquake in South Eastern Asia, let us be moved in compassion to show forth God's love and grace towards those victims. Let us, like Christ, be poured out to those less fortunate than ourselves.

So, just as Christ was baptized and sent into a world that desperately needed His light, love and compassion, so we are as well. Through our baptism in Him, our old lives have been crucified with Him on the cross and with Him we have been raised to new life. Through this baptism, we have also been adopted in to His family and service. We are His representatives on earth. When we see all the devastation around us, let us have the same heart as our heavenly Father, Who when He looked down and saw our plight, sent His only Son that all might have life in His name. As His children, you are recipients of His love, may you share that with all those around you who need it so much.