Feast
of the Baptism of Our Lord
Year A Reading: Mt. 3:13-17
January 9, 2005
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
"And when Jesus had been baptized the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." [Mt. 3]
Today is the feast day of the Baptism of Jesus. In the Episcopal Church, this feast day is always celebrated on the first Sunday of Epiphany, which is the liturgical season into which we are now entering. Epiphany means manifestation or revelation. The Scriptures (presented during this time) offer us images of Jesus being revealed, recognized, and intimately connected with God. In the person of Jesus, we have been promised that "all things are being made new." [Rev. 21:5] It is this theme of "all things being made new" that I would like to focus on for the rest of this year.
When we look out on the world today and see all of the strife, struggles, and pain, we wonder what has happened to this promise of "all things being made new." It seems like the same fearful stuff has been going on for centuries. Is there really hope and from where does this hope come? Today, I would like to connect the sacrament of baptism to the promise of hope- that through Christ, all things are being made new.
Our sacred story begins with God's vision for humankind.* God's vision for humankind was that we would be a perfect organism, one body consisting of many parts, fitting and working together in a free and harmonious fellowship of persons united in the love of God. "In such a perfect community, each individual would have the fullest and highest freedom-without which there can be no true fellowship." But they would not be individualistic in spirit. For if they were, their personalities would be starved and cramped, since the true self is always in close fellowship with others. True human nature is created in the image of God, which means a life of complete community with God and with all human beings. That is God's plan for us (i.e. to be one body)!
But something has obviously gone wrong. This organism called humanity, has somehow failed to function as one body. It has come to be divided into countless little bits of life, each person trying to be an independent cell, a self-sufficient island. It is as if humanity is filled with cancer cells, selfishly multiplying, at the expense of the health and well being of the whole body. Each person makes himself the center of the universe, caring little for the fellowship of the whole, but seeing things from his selfish point of view. We have put ourselves at the center of our universe where God ought to be. As a result, we have alienated ourselves from one another and from God. This is called original sin. It is into this context that every new child is born & receives the legacy of a wounded, alienated environment, filled with narcissism and misguided passions.
All of our actual sins are the working out of this heritage. This is what causes wars, poverty, terrorism, fear, abuse, breakdown of communication, and most of the suffering in the world. The very essence of sin is self-centeredness, the refusal of divine and human community, absorption in oneself, all of which kills true individuality and destroys the soul. No wonder so many people are unhappy and have a void at their center.
However, God, the source of life and the ground of all being, has never given up on humankind. Through prophets, dreams, laws of nature, and wisdom, God has continued to communicate God's purpose for us. But as a whole, people have not listened to God's word and have missed the opportunity of joining together in one body. We continue to divide and separate ourselves into factions; segregating ourselves into races, religions, nations, political affiliations, preferences, and colors, thus failing to become a universal community of God. What are we to do?
It seems impossible to change ourselves, from being mainly interested in our selves, to being concerned with God and our fellow human beings. The more we try, the more we concentrate on our selves. It is just too difficult to save ourselves from ourselves when we have made ourselves the center of the universe. That is why self-improvement, while helpful, can not save the world. How can we be drawn out of ourselves into the life of unselfish community?
2000 years ago, in the person of Jesus, God created a new nucleus for humanity. Living in the midst of a disintegrated sinful humanity, and subject to all of its temptations, Jesus lived the kind of life that God meant all people to live. "In him was life, and the life was the light of all people." [Jn. 1] Jesus was not interested in preserving his own life. He claimed nothing for himself. He was content to lose himself entirely in the life of God and the life of his fellow men, even at the cost of his own life. This is the path that he modeled for his disciples.
After his death on the cross, the darkness did not win out. In fact, his closest disciples continued to experience his presence in such a profound and powerful way, it drew them closer together in a new community of solidarity. They called this new community, this new nucleus, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The power and spirit of this new fellowship of love and respect, continued to draw other people in. It was a new kind of community, a society of forgiven sinners. With the cross as its badge, this community depended on the grace of God to heal what was broken and to make all things new. This new community is called the new Israel, the new people of God, the Body of Christ, the Church. And it is into this new community that we are baptized and given the possibility of new life.
Baptism is the first step for those who desire a new, world order. This new, world order does not happen automatically but requires true commitment and faithfulness on the part of those who join. In baptism, we are called to stand in a circle in solidarity, linked together with joined hands and loving hearts, facing towards the Light in the center, which is God. In this circle, the Light shines on all human beings such that we are able to see their faces through the lens of love. This Light beautifies their faces such that we can see the face of God in each of our brothers and sisters. As we genuflect in their presence, we long to strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being. We long to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as our selves. We long to proclaim by word and example, the good news of God in Christ. And through these acts of grace, we are transformed into the likeness of Christ and are made new.
I do not have a political solution to the international turmoil that has caused the death of so many innocent people. I do not have a financial solution that will solve the tremendous poverty in the world and the uneven distribution of goods. I do not have a psychological solution that will create peace in the hearts of individuals. But I do have a spiritual solution to a new world-order based on compassion and peace. And what exactly is that solution? In Christ, all things are being made new. Those who truly commit themselves to Christ, who put their whole trust in his grace and love, and who promise to remain faithful to their baptismal covenant, will be made new. And this new humanity, the Body of Christ, will leave a different kind of legacy to the generations to come. It will be a legacy of love, fellowship, and harmony for all of God's creatures.
Do you want to be part of the solution for a New World? If so, the decision is yours.
* Much of the material for this sermon was gleaned from D.M. Baille's book, God was in Christ, 1948, Scribner's Sons, NY
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