Feast of the Baptism of Jesus 'B'

Sunday January 11, 2009

The Baptism of Jesus… and our Baptism

As often as I have celebrated this feast as a preacher and searched the commentaries for an adequate explanation of this primordial event at the outset of Jesus’ public ministry, I have never found an explanation that completely satisfies my thirst for understanding. Why would Jesus need to be baptized, especially with John’s baptism—a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin? Jesus was not a sinner — he came to free us from sin and save us from its effects and yet he “The Holy One of Israel” lines up with sinners — liars, con-artists, thieves and cheats, adulterers and perhaps even a few murderers.

Though Mark was an evangelist he was also a catechist. Although his gospel contains some theological content, it was not Mark’s task to explain the biological technology of Christ’s appearance or analyze his mission and ministry as a biographer. He was writing through the lens of Jesus’ resurrected life and but still had to find a way to introduce him to non-believers and he gets right down to brass tacks and introduces Jesus with his baptism by John who, in the words of prophet Isaiah was “a voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’”

It was his intention as an evangelist to get right into the mission and ministry of Jesus as the Christ. The evangelist is a witness who testifies to what he has seen and heard in Christ or at least to what he had experienced vicariously from other primary witnesses.

If you were Mark or one of the other evangelists, what would you have written?

Having reflected on all the words that Jesus had spoken and all the works that he had performed, what more dramatic introduction to Jesus’ public life than this: “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.’”

In the words of the Nicene Creed that we recite every Sunday, he was “God from God; light from light; true God from true God; begotten, not made, one in Being with the father… For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

I realize this is a bit antiseptic but it is a succinct expression of the biblical description of Jesus’ relationship with the God he calls “Father.”

This feast offers one more opportunity for us who call ourselves “Christians,” followers of the Christ, to reflect on our baptismal call which is nothing more or less than the invitation to continue the mission and ministry of Christ in our time and place. Our baptism was not merely a baptism of conversion but the incorporation into the fullness of Christ’s life. The accent in Christian baptism is no longer on the removal of sin but on the life of grace that energizes our partnership with God in Christ.
The dramatic intervention of God into humanity is repeated with the pouring of the water and the invocation of the Holy Spirit over infant or adult. St. Thomas insisted that this sacramental ritual effects an ontological—existential and real — change in the baptized individual. In the words of Paul, “I have put on Christ so that I live now, no longer I, but Christ lives in me.” Beyond this, together we become the body of Christ —his mind and heart, his hands and feet.

Baptism is the primordial sacrament. Its effects can never be erased and therefore it can never be repeated. It should not be taken lightly nor taken for granted.

Here are some implications and applications for all who are baptized in Christ:

1.No word or deed of ours can be indifferent to God’s empowering grace or to its effect on others. There can be no such person as a ‘neutral Christian.’ Our words and deeds either enhance life or diminish life.

2.We act in the Church and for the Church not as individuals but collectively as the Body of Christ. No matter the need or the occasion for service, we act not at the behest of Pope, bishop or priest but as partners of God in Christ.

3.We share a common “priesthood” in Christ, which makes us all “official worshippers” at the Eucharist table. Yes, the ordained priest presides but all of us “act” together in offering our lives in praise of God and in service to humanity. There are no walls around the sanctuary and no fences around the community of God’s people. We are called to live Christ’s inclusive love for all humanity—no exclusions!

4.We take seriously our responsibility for the Church. It is not the pastor’s Church! It is our Church. We ARE the Church, the people of God, the body of Christ, consecrated in truth, sanctified by the Spirit, priests, pastors, and congregants—witnesses who collaborate in reflecting the light of Christ to the world. We are not the light, as John the Baptist insisted, but we are to give testimony to the Light.

5.As responsible members of the Church, it is our responsibility not only to listen to the Church but also to speak to the Church. The Spirit of God speaks through our leaders but our leaders must discern the voice of the Spirit speaking in the assembly. The revised Code of Canon Law contains a summary of the responsibilities of Church members. It also includes a ‘bill of rights’ for all members of the Church, one of which is to make known to our leaders our expectations and our entitlement to hear the Word of God preached with integrity and the sacraments celebrated with faith and enthusiasm.

In recent years the crisis of vocations makes it clear that the faithful must not take the future of our Church for granted. Baptized into Christ, we are co-heirs with Christ, adopted daughters and sons of God, partners with God in Christ for glory of God, the good of the Church and the salvation of the world. Amen!

In the words of St. Teresa of Avila:

Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion is to look out to the world.
Yours are the feet with which Christ is to go about doing good.
Yours are the hands with which Christ is to bless all people now.

Amen.

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