THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD (EPIPHANY 1, C) – January 10, 2010

SCRIPTURES – Isaiah 43:1-7; Romans 6:1-11; Luke 3:15-22 

Happy New Year! I realize that we’re now ten days into the new year, but, this is my first Sunday with you in 2010. So, Happy New Year! 

I certainly hope it is a better year than last year. 2009 came in with our country in a financial and economic crisis and growing unemployment, and this only worsened as the year progressed. The year ended with a terrorist’s attempt to blow up an airplane on Christmas Day, an attempt that thankfully failed, and a successful suicide bombing in Afghanistan that killed seven CIA officers. It was a rough year.

What will this year bring? Specifically, what will it bring you? What will happen in your life in 2010? Well, you will certainly have happy days: birthday and anniversary celebrations, holidays, family gatherings, church gatherings. There will be fun things you will enjoy. What difficulties and hardships will befall you this year? Will there be sickness; serious injury; or a car accident? Will you be injured in a fall? Some of you are already dealing with such issues.

As we enter into this new year, with all of its knowns and unknowns, God says this to us:

Thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Is. 43:1-3)

God doesn’t simply give us reassurances. He doesn’t say, “Don’t worry, be happy.” No, He promises us Himself, saying: “You are mine.” You can be sure, then, of a blessed new year. You may or may not be happy; but, since you are God’s, you will be blessed. For:

I.              GOD IS YOUR CREATOR.

“Thus says the Lord, he who created you, he who formed you…” How comforting are these words! For, our God not only created everything. We know that He is an involved Creator. We have just celebrated again God’s entering into His creation, as the eternal Son of God and Creator became incarnate as a child growing in the womb of the Virgin Mary and was born into this world. God entered into our world because He saw the brokenness and evil sin – our sin – has brought about, and so came to make things new and bring new life and hope to us. He is outside of this world, but also within it. He knows you and is intimately concerned with and involved in your life. “You are mine,” He says as your Creator.

Plenty of people go through this life without confidence, without certainty, buffeted and beaten down by seemingly random and purposeless events. Not us! “You are mine.” The Creator and Ruler of all things holds us in His loving hands!

II.            GOD IS YOUR REDEEMER.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you.” A redeemer is one who purchases something for himself. God purchased you, and a great cost: the life of His Son. You belong to Him!

Many will tell you that this is not a good thing. “That’s the problem with Christianity,” they’ll say. “You’re not free. You’re not independent. You’re given rules to follow. We should be able to live the way we want!” Yea, I’ve seen plenty of people who live without rules. They end up in jail.

You belong to God, and so, yes, you cannot live however you want. “You must consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus,” Romans 6 says. What God calls sin you must reject and turn away from. You must learn His command-ments and follow how they tell you to live. To not do so is to choose death and hell.

But, how blessed it is to have been redeemed and so belong to God! Just think of how you treat something that you paid a lot of money for; jewelry, for instance. It means a lot to you, and so you take care of it. You keep it in a safe and protected place. You are careful with it and protective of it when you wear it. It is valuable, and you treat it that way.

You are more valuable than anything else, for no greater price has ever been paid for anything than the price God paid for you: the blood of His Son. Your God is “the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” says Isaiah. The Holy One has saved you from the unholiness of your sins! How precious and beautiful you now are to Him! How protective and careful with you He will be! “Fear not, for I have redeemed you.”

III.           GOD HAS NAMED YOU.

“I have called you by name, you are mine.” When were you first called by name, and by whom? It was when you were born. It was not the doctor who delivered you or the nurse who assisted who named you. Your name was not drawn from a hat in a hospital nursery and given to you there. Your parents named you, and probably after much thought and deliberation. They may have given you the name of a beloved parent or grandparent.

When God says, “I have called you by name, you are mine,” He is saying that He is your Father. He will be a good Father to you. He will love you, forgive you, train you, protect you, help you, guide you, and continually care for you. How wonderful to know this as we enter into another year in this often turbulent world!

But, in this new year in which many problems from last year continue to trouble us, can you be sure of all of these things, sure that God is your Creator, your Redeemer, and your Father? Yes, because God became this for you when you were baptized.

Baptism is the focus of today’s readings, and how fitting this is as we enter into a new year. It is fitting, because:

1)    Baptism is a creation act. Romans 6 says: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Death and resurrection to new life: this is creation language. God created you and gave you a new life – with Him – when you were baptized. He is not just the Creator; He is your Creator in your baptism.

2)    Baptism is a redemptive act. We see this in the fact that Jesus was baptized just like, and along with, all the other people. Although He was the pure and holy Son of God who did not need John’s baptism of repentance, He was baptized by John just like all the other people.

à        On a cold day like this, how would you like to take a bath in a large, claw foot tub filled with hot water and bubbles… after a bunch of other people had also taken a bath in the same tub and in the same water? Ugh! I’d want the water drained and the tub cleaned first, and then fresh water and soap put in.

Jesus went into the same water as the rest of us. He joined Himself to us sinners when He was baptized. He came to be one with us and take upon Himself, and away from us, the filth of our sin. When you were baptized, you were joined to Him. Your sin was washed away, and you were brought forth a new and clean child of God. God became your Redeemer in your baptism! 

3)    Finally, Baptism is a naming event. Jesus’ baptism shows this, as the Father speaks, proclaiming Him to be His beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit comes down upon Him visibly and fills Him. What you see in His baptism is also what took place in your baptism, for remember, Jesus had the same baptism as everyone else. “You are My beloved child,” God said to you in your baptism. His Holy Spirit came down upon you to fill you and remain with you.

It is in your baptism that God has said, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” No matter what this year brings, then – no matter what waters we must pass through or fire we must walk through – “they shall not overwhelm you,” God promises. “For I am the Lord, the Holy One, your Savior.”

 

A happy and blessed New Year to you, then, in Christ, our Lord and Savior!