The Baptism Of Our Lord
Father Dale Matson
San Joaquin River
This is a special week
for me. I will be celebrating two anniversaries. On the 10th of
January, I will be marking the 35th anniversary of my quitting smoking. It was
God who provided the reasons, the will and the self-control to quit smoking. No
less important, also on the 10th I will be celebrating my 10th
year in holy orders. I was ordained by Bishop Schofield on the Feast Day of
William Laude, Archbishop of Canterbury. Fr. Carlos was my sponsor. I do
believe there is an important relationship in giving up an addiction and
spiritual development. Additionally, our bishop, Eric Menees was baptized on
this day at age 14.
There are parallels with
both our Lord’s baptism and His transfiguration. Unlike miracles that Jesus
performed they are miracles that happened to Him. There is the miracle that
happened to Him following his baptism where God the Father also said, “You are my
Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22). There is another
parallel. The Baptism of Jesus is celebrated on the first Sunday after Epiphany
and it is at the beginning of his ministry.
The Transfiguration account is part of the lectionary for the last
Sunday after Epiphany and it is near the end of his ministry. God identified
Jesus as His son at the beginning of his ministry and as His son at the end of
his ministry. Both His baptism and transfiguration were supernatural
manifestations by which God the Father authenticated Jesus as His Son.
As I reviewed our lectionary readings in
preparing to write my homily today, it was obvious what two key words continually
appeared in our readings, Baptism and the Holy Spirit. The words Baptism and
Holy Spirit are in our opening collect, and in our Epistle and Gospel lessons.
Baptism is not new to the New Testament and was symbolized also in the Old
Testament. Peter referred to this in his comments about the earth being purged
of sin by the flood in Noah’s time. (1 Peter 3:20-21). St. Paul speaks of a
type of Baptism for the Israelites when they crossed the Red Sea. (1 Cor.
10:2). Both the nation of Israel and Jesus were baptized in the River Jordan. Our
Collect for purity is a type of Baptismal prayer where we ask God the Holy
Spirit to cleanse our hearts at the beginning of our service in Rites I and II
(pages 323 and 355) Before celebrating the Eucharist, as the priest washes his
hands, he says to himself "Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from
my sin.” – Psalm 51:2. It's symbolic of the cleansing water of baptism and when
the priest recalls his own need to be cleansed interiorly and that he shares in
the need for forgiveness and redemption with the congregation. In the Old
Testament circumcision of the heart, not the flesh prefigured baptism in
the New Testament.
When Peter preached his
Pentecostal sermon, he had in view this promised regeneration, the circumcision of the heart, the new birth, promised to Israel throughout
the Old Testament. Acts 2:37-39 37 “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to
Peter and the rest of the apostles,
"Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you
be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins; and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the
promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will
call."
Here Peter states what
Anglicans have embraced as doctrine. When we are baptized, we receive the Holy
Spirit and our sins are forgiven. Specifically, our original sin is forgiven.
We are at birth contaminated with the original sin of Adam and Eve.
Additionally, in baptism we are incorporated into the body of Christ, the
church. That is why the baptismal font is usually located just inside the doors
of the church. Baptism is necessary before communion and we announce this every
Sunday, before communion. Unbaptized individuals would be taking communion to
their own detriment. They could be harming themselves.
I was not baptized until
mid-life. I had recommitted my life to Christ and soon after that; I felt the urging of the Holy Spirit to be
baptized. When I was about to go down the center isle of the church to be baptized,
a thought came to me. “You are throwing away your life for this Jesus” Only Satan could turn the truth into a lie. Yes, I was
throwing my life away but the life I had been living was worthless anyway. I
was about to be drowned in the waters of baptism that the new man could come
forth. I knew that I would be considered an enemy by Satan from that point on
and every time we have a baptism and we say that we reject the devil and all
his works, I think back to that time.
I said at the beginning
of my homily that there were two key words in our readings and they were
Baptism and the Holy Spirit. I have been
discussing Baptism, its benefits and as a means of entry into the body of
Christ, His church. I will now discuss the Holy Spirit. From our Gospel lesson,
we have the following.
“When all the people were
being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was
opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And
a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well
pleased.’” (Luke 3:21) From our Epistle lesson, we have this. “You yourselves
know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the
baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy
Spirit and with power. He went about
doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
(Acts 10:37-38)
John Wesley notes, “It is
worthy to remark, that frequently when the Holy Ghost is mentioned there is
added a word particularly adapted to the present circumstance. So, the deacons
were to be full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, Acts
6:3. Barnabas was full of the Holy Ghost and faith, Acts 11:24. The disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost, Acts
13:52. And here, where His mighty works are mentioned, Christ Himself is said
to be anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power.”
The Holy Ghost is always associated
with Baptism. God the Holy Ghost is also associated with the gifts of the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit. The gifts of the
Spirit are intended to equip Christ’s church to carry out her mission. Her
mission is to do good works and proclaim the Gospel message. The fruits of the
Spirit include love which motivates our actions. It is love that grows
compassion within us toward others. We cannot stand idly by and watch someone
destroy themselves both now and for eternity. It overrides our fear of getting
involved or entangled in the lives of others. The other fruits of the Spirit
make us contagious to others. They make us Christ like. God the Holy Spirit
grows the fruits of the Spirit in us as we mature as Christians. “He is able to
do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power
at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)
What power is Paul talking about here?
He is talking about the indwelling Holy Spirit. I believe this empowerment from the Holy Spirit is based on need. This
is similar to a security classification I had in the Army. I had a “secret”
security clearance. I was not cleared to “top secret” because I did not need to
access information at that level so my security clearance remained only
“secret”. I believe it is also the case the God the Holy Spirit. The mission
God has called us to and we consent to
determines how much we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Someone in Holy Orders has been granted
additional power through the laying on of hands by the Bishop during
ordination. This does not mean that a lay person could not be empowered by God
the Holy Spirit with more power than a bishop IF that lay person was called to
an extraordinary life of service to the church. I would remind you that the
Gifts of the Holy Spirit are not the trained talents of a profession. “Now to
each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To
one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to
another gifts of healing by that
one Spirit, to another miraculous
powers, to another prophecy, to
another distinguishing between spirits, to
another speaking in different kinds of
tongues, and to still another the interpretation
of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and
he distributes them to each one, just as He determines.” (1 Corinthians
12:7-11) You know what modern stories remind me of this. This reminds me of
stories like, “The Magnificent Seven”, “X-Men” and “The Avengers”. Every
character has a specific super power that when united with a team allows them to
overcome evil. In the case of the Christian, the ‘team’ is the Body of Christ,
the church.
The final evidence of the indwelling
Holy Spirit for me is both the “blessed assurance” and the counsel I receive.
Sometimes the counsel is a question. “What makes you better than him?”
Sometimes the counsel is a caution. “Look at your speedometer.” Sometimes I am
convicted. “That is a rather prideful remark.” Sometimes it is a compassionate
prompting. “Tell them they are loved and appreciated.” Sometimes it sounds a
lot like Sharon’s voice. “Wipe the snot off your nose.” Oh, in that case it is
Sharon’s voice. Well, marriage is a sacrament too.
In this first Sunday after the
Epiphany, we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. In our celebration let us consider
our own baptism and the benefits procured unto us by it. Let us also consider
our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit and what that means for the mission of
God. It is also a caution to be good stewards of the body given to us.
During Epiphany, I would encourage you
to reflect on the meaning of your baptism, the Person and work of our Savior
Jesus The Christ, God’s indwelling presence and the good works you have been
called to do. Amen.
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