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“God's Story”
Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17
Rev. Sandy Nuernberg
Oakland-Cambridge Presbyterian Church, Cambridge, WI
Baptism of the Lord - 1st Sunday
after Epiphany
January 13, 2008
Please pray with me, O
God who cares for us from above, we ask that you speak to us now as we
discern your Word. As your Spirit descends upon us from heaven like the dove
alighting on your Son, Jesus Christ, help us to receive your power and grace
to listen and in our actions to become your mighty servants. AMEN.
Last Wednesday our youth group met
after being away from each other for the holidays. It seemed like a long time to
me, because I’ve grown to look forward to them being here mid-week at the
church! We had a great time with the four areas we share together; recreation,
hospitality in eating, learning worship skills, and telling Bible stories.
Ironically, and perhaps because of today’s texts, yes, we talked of one of our
church’s two sacraments, baptism. I asked them if they remembered their own
baptism and what they felt the word ‘baptism’ meant for them? Without
hesitation, they responded, ‘it means we become a part of the church.’ I liked
that and learned volumes of their life’s story in our talks together, as we
gathered around the baptismal font.
Actually, I was struggling with
how to explain baptism to these young people; can these kids grasp the
sacredness of the meaning in water, cleansing from sin, the dove from heaven as
the Holy Spirit? Did I capture the strangeness of it all when I was their age?
For many of us, we may think of our sacraments as something we participate in, a
‘liturgical practice,’ but ‘where lies their meaning?’ I kept reminding myself
of baptism as an outward symbolism of an inward sign of Christ, of god’s grace
in our midst. For me, I like to think of these scriptures, our baptism, as part
of God’s story; yet, aren’t they truly our own story?
Wally Lamb, a fiction writer and
novelist in today’s world, has written often about being in another person’s
character. They get into the ‘skin’ of someone else–that’s what fiction writers
do!! But he also provides writing workshops for female prison mates out in
Connecticut, and I read recently that he has a passion for these women to
express themselves in writing about their own life story. They are persons with
backgrounds of armed robbery, shootings, homicide, gang-related assaults, to
name a few. He says he may have reasons to be frightened of them, but he doesn’t
because in their honesty and pain, they write of safe places and uncomfortable
memories. They come to grow in the therapeutic value of relating their own story
of life, to help them pick up the pieces to begin again; their humanity and
life’s circumstances.
Lamb advises that if we want to
(we don’t have to be in prison) we can write or journal our life by using three
things; write of what our voice speaks, revise and revise some more ( I call it
editing!!) and use these errors as education to ‘make things right’, and then to
expect surprises along the way. His point is that of identifying ourselves; in a
fully lived life, yes, expect the unexpected, take the side trips, and enjoy
risks as you live your life. (“Life
Sentences”, Oprah, February 2008, p. 163-4).
I can’t help but think that this
is what was coming upon Jesus’ life as he was baptized in their midst then, and
in our new life in Christ in our baptism. Our texts tell us of Jesus’ identity,
then and now. Jesus’ ethnic heritage, his neighborhood, his education in the
synagogue brought him to where he was in God’s image–in God’s revealing Christ
to us. Christ came into the flesh to save the world from sin in God being God’s
Self. His person, his voice calming the storm that was prominent in God’s will
and Christ’ ways, not anyone else. He did want no one to tell of his teachings,
his miraculous healing, his suffering and pain. But this was Christ’ life! His
life was revised continuously and took him to places in the wilderness to be
alone in private and prayer, accepting surprises of ‘not getting it’ kind of
disciples as his closest friends, and a public crucifixion and death not
experienced by anyone before or since. His life took him to his death; to his
resurrection in bringing new life to us in Christ’ Name and image. In God’s
purpose and promise for us, this is our story, isn’t it? Aren’t we a ‘child of
God’ as is God’s Son, Jesus Christ?
Yes, Jesus’ story in baptism is
the story about our baptism; our becoming part of the church. God created
humanity in God’s divine image where God’s grace and love abound for all; no
favorites! We need only check back to Genesis in knowing of our being a ‘child
of God.’ God creates, gives breath and brings the spirit upon many kinds of
people. God promised after the floods never to destroy Israel or its people, but
to covenant with them in God’s steadfast love forever and ever. Like Jesus, our
safe ground is in our heritage, our neighborhood, our education, our church
activities, even in our writing our life’s experiences that give us the
potential to become our best selves, as Christ lives in us. What is your story?
(Share parts of my own story; English, German mostly Norwegian; mid-westerner
with job and family security, education was important, ‘lifer’ as a
Presbyterian–mission, polity of church in reformed tradition).
We might ask ourselves, ‘why did
God, well, why do good things, like doves and the Holy Spirit come from ‘above’?
Why did John (from God, ‘not-worthy’) have
to baptize Jesus (power) and not God?’
Perhaps it’s all ‘in the flesh’ where Jesus is among us. Yes, these strange
texts also tell us that ‘from above’ is where we encounter God’s revelation.
“I
am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other...” Isaiah 42:8
Last week’s Epiphany recognizes
the Light of God’s world for all nations in the nature of Christ. This week’s
baptism identifies Jesus’ nature in the Holy Spirit alighting on Christ. As the
‘gospel’ of Isaiah enlightens us Christians of God’s revelation and
righteousness, the prophet Isaiah is identifying for Christians in the form of
the Trinity; the servant of Christ whom God places his Spirit
bringing justice to all nations (42:1–1st Servant
Song ). Our good news is that every gospel message of Jesus’ baptism (not
present in John’s Gospel) is faithful to God’s will and fulfillment of justice;
where God brings the Holy Spirit to Christ and to us. You see, it’s God’s story
isn’t it? Let it be our story as well.
Thanks be to
God. AMEN.
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