1 Epiphany Year C 1/12/2025
Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
Each year, the first Sunday after the Epiphany
(which is always on January 6th)
is the Feast Day of the Baptism of our Lord.
The familiar narrative of Jesus’ baptism is in all three synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
And it is alluded to in the Gospel of John.
The baptism of our Lord begins the public ministry of Jesus…
Jesus came down to the Jordan River where John was baptizing people from all over the region.
People came to John to receive a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus didn’t need the forgiveness of sins…
As he was and is sinless…
But he did get baptized by John in the water.
What he did receive was the baptism of the Holy Spirit
and the assurance and love of God the Father.
He was anointed for his ministry and work on earth.
In this very Trinitarian rich passage, we heard from Luke’s Gospel:
…the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven,
“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Here we recognize the love of God the Father toward his Son with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus receives the anointing to accomplish all that was before him.
The teachings…
The miracles…
The joys and disappointments…
The agony, the arrest, the passion…
Christ’s death on the cross…
All these moments in the life of Christ,
begin here with a step of obedience in the waters of baptism…
And in the loving assurance of God the Father manifested in the Spirit and in the voice of God.
Jesus responded to his mission with baptism…
And God responded with loving affirmation.
Baptism is the initiation and response to the call of God.
By faith we are also called to the baptism waters of God.
In some of Jesus final words before he ascended, he said:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:19-20)
The disciples of Jesus Christ are to go, make disciples, baptize people, and teach them the commands of God.
This is the mission of the church.
This is our mission.
This is what we do.
Just as Christ Jesus was baptized…
We too are to be baptized.
One by one…
Young and old alike…
We come by God’s grace through faith…
To the waters of baptism.
As it says in our Prayer Book:
We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism.
In it we are buried with Christ in his death.
By it we share in his resurrection.
Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore in joyful obedience to your Son,
we bring into his fellowship those who come to him in faith,
baptizing them in the Name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
(BCP, 306-307).
It’s here I want to make an important point regarding our baptism and our Lord’s baptism.
God the Father was pleased in God the Son because God is love.
Not because of what Jesus had accomplished or produced in his life up to this point.
In fact, the Bible says very little about the youth of Jesus.
Or about what Jesus was doing before he was baptized.
We have zero information on what happened just before or the decade before Jesus baptism.
But we do know, God the Father expresses his love for God the Son through his audible voice and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
And that is important to our baptism too.
We don’t get baptized because of something we have accomplished or because of our great productivity as a servant of the Lord.
If that was the case, why would we baptize infants and young children?
You see, baptism is a gift of God’s grace.
It is a sacramental act that is birthed by God’s grace and love toward us.
Baptism points to the fact that we are chosen by God.
Baptism points to the fact that he calls us to become his children.
Baptism points to the fact that we are worthy simply because we are loved by God.
It is not related to what we have done, produced, or accomplished.
It is grace.
It is God’s love.
And if we understand who we are…
Even just a smidge…
Even just the smallest morsel…
Understand who we are in Christ…
It changes the entire way we view our pains and struggles in this world.
It changes the way we view ourselves.
It changes the way we view other people.
God loves us not because of what we achieve…
But he loves us because he is love.
God is love.
And because of this…
There is nothing you can do to make God love you less…
There is nothing you can do to make God love you more…
Then he already does…
God loves you.
And once we really hear that…
When we get a glimpse of that…
Understanding that we are children of God…
We can hear once again the words of the prophet Isaiah from our first reading.
Where the prophet talks about the God who created us, formed us, and redeemed us.[1]
Listen once more to our first reading…
This time from The Message paraphrase.
The words of God through the prophet Isaiah:
But now, God’s Message,
the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
the One who got you started, Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you.
“So don’t be afraid: I’m with you.
I’ll round up all your scattered children,
pull them in from east and west.
I’ll send orders north and south:
‘Send them back.
Return my sons from distant lands,
my daughters from faraway places.
I want them back, every last one who bears my name,
every man, woman, and child
Whom I created for my glory,
yes, personally formed and made each one.’”
The way God feels about his people Israel…
God’s people…
Is the way he feels about you.
God is for you not against you.
God desires for you to be who he created you to be.
Knowing that this is what is best for you…
As the creator…
He became human to reconcile you to himself…
In his loving grace and mercy.
The message today from Isaiah…
The message today in the narrative of the baptism of our Lord…
is that you, Christian, God’s child…
are deeply, deeply loved.
God so loved the world that he sent his Son into the world…
He came as a baby…
Made in human weakness…
He came not in power, prestige, or fame…
He came in poverty, humility, to an unknown family.
God so loved the world that he sent his Son into the world…
Not so Jesus could serve himself…
Build a bank account, gather lots of goods, have a peaceful quiet life…
He came to be baptized by John…
He came to show the people the kingdom of God…
He came to sacrifice his life on the cross so that people may be saved by his grace and faith…
He came to be raised from the dead so that we too will rise from the dead.
Jesus, by his love, came to seek and save the lost…
And this includes you and me…
Jesus came to reconcile people to God.
God chose us…
He redeems us…
Not because of our bank account…
Not because of our talents or obedience…
He chose us because he loves us…
It’s his very nature to do so.
So, on this the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord…
May you truly know and believe…
That you are loved…
Deeply loved…
by our Father in heaven.
Just as God the Father loves his Son Jesus…
So, God loves you.
Amen.
[1] Marva Dawn, Keeping the Sabbath Wholly pp. 19-21
