Baptism of our Lord

Summary

As a kid in school I didn’t get into too much trouble.  I listened to my teachers, usually finished my work, and with most teachers was very respectful.  The one thing that they did get after me for though, was talking.  Now you would thing it was because I was talking too much that a teacher might get after me, but that was not the case.  I heard, “Joel.  This is not the time for talking.  Please return to your work.’ because my voice has always been low, loud and thus easy to single out.  So, you teachers out there don’t get after kids whose voices are lower and easier to hear.  The other kids are probably the ones doing most of the talking!

My teachers were not the only ones whom singled out my voice.  My older brother’s friends wanted me to talk, just so they could hear this manly voice come out this little kid’s mouth.

In High School I could stop fights from the down the hallway by shouting, “Okay boys, cut it out!”  Everyone thought I was a teacher shouting.

I can yell across a sports field and shout above a crowd.  Just ask my sons!  They tell me when I come to their football matches that I must keep quiet, my loud voice is too embarrassing.

God has given me a voice, and I have learned it has power.

So…you must be asking yourselves, why do we care that pastor has a powerful voice?

Well, let me tell you.  When I read the gospel scripture for today, the Sunday of our Lord’s baptism, I was reminded of whom truly has a powerful voice.

At Christ’s baptism God’s powerful voice was heard to speak.  “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

With a few simple words God made the baptism about much more than repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  With these words God made baptism about inclusion into God’s love and into his family.  God made baptism about acceptance into him.  The baptism of Jesus was the work and action of God.  John the baptizer did not do anything, rather the power emanated from heaven as God spoke.

The power of God’ voice was also in evidence right at the beginning too.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light…”

“God said.”

God spoke.

God spoke, and something happened.  The world was created.

Now I don’t know if God’s voice is deep.  I don’t know if God’s voice is loud, but I do know it is powerful.  “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light…”

That is power.  To speak something into being is power.  No matter what kind of voices we might have, none of us can speak with the kind of power that God can.

God the Son also had this power of voice.

When the disciples, seasoned sailors I might add, were in fear of their boat capsizing in the midst of a storm, Jesus quieted the raging waves and winds of the sea with a word.

When the leper said to Jesus, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” His simple but powerful response, “I am willing. Be clean,” changed the life of the leper.

With the four words, “My child, get up,” Jesus called the daughter of Jairus out of death into life.

In the gospels, we hear Jesus, God’s Son speak powerfully to the people, again and again.  In numerous ways, and to a great variety of individuals and crowds, Jesus speaks, and shows, God’s truth, forgiveness, and love to the world.  It is in humanity’s response to Jesus’ words, that we understand the power of God’s voice.

This morning we hear that power in God’s words, words that change a symbolic washing, into a holy action.

As I said earlier, God made baptism about acceptance into him.  The baptism of Jesus was the work and action of God and it is the same for all of us who still to this day are baptized.  Baptism is the work of God in our lives.  As the water is poured over our heads we are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  All the power rests with God in this holy act.  Baptism is about God reaching out in love to his beloved, created people, you and me.  It is all about God saying, “I want you, because I love you.”

Baptism has nothing to do with whether we think we are ready or can understand or have proven our faith or love for God.  It is all about God saying to us, “You are mine.  Listen to my promises of love and walk in faith.  I’ll always be with you.”

This is important for us to understand because it reveals the truth about how God views our relationship with him.  God is the one who acts, again and again, to show us that we are loved and wanted.  God is the ultimate parent.  God is the one showering us with love and attention.  God is the parent each of us tries to be.  As parents we seek to emulate him, we strive to treat our children like he treats us.

As God’s children we must have faith that we are at the center of God’s heart.  As the children of the Lord we must know that God only wants the best for us.  As God’s child each of us must listen for his powerful voice in our lives, for his words of love are spoken to us every day.

We must listen with the ear of our hearts for what God has to say to us.  God will speak stillness into the storms of our lives.  God will speak healing into the hurts of our lives.  God will speak new life to the death that sin leaves in our souls.  Into our lives, God will speak.  God will speak into all of our needs.

As importantly, through our lives God will speak into the lives of others.  Because God’s voice is powerful, when our voices are speaking his words of love for the world, our voices will resonate with his power.  Our voices, in those moments, will be God’s voice.  God the Holy Spirit will take our words, add power to them, and implant them in the minds and hearts of the hearer.

We must listen for God’s voice in our lives and we must be ready to hear.  And I promise to you, what you hear will be powerful and full of life.  For God said, let there be life, and there was life.  Life abundantly.

Live in the abundance that only God can give, an abundance of love and hope, an abundance found in faith.  Listen.  God speaks in wonders!

Amen.

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