Christ’s
Baptism
Discipleship
Questions for Sunday January 13, 2008
Scripture
Readings:
First Reading:
Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm:
29
Second
Reading: Acts 10:34-38
Gospel:
Matthew 3:13-17
Is. 42:1
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my
chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him
and
he will bring justice to the nations.
Is.
42:2
He
will not shout or cry out,
or
raise his voice in the streets.
Is.
42:3
A
bruised reed he will not break,
and
a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth
justice;
4 he
will not falter or be discouraged
till he
establishes justice on earth.
In his law the islands will
put their hope.”
Is.
42:5
This
is what God the LORD says—
he who
created the heavens and stretched them out,
who
spread out the earth and all that comes out of it,
who gives
breath to its people,
and
life to those who walk on it:
Is.
42:6
“I,
the LORD, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your
hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to
be a covenant for the people
and
a light for the Gentiles,
7 to
open eyes that are blind,
to
free captives from prison
and
to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
Is.
42:8
“I
am the LORD; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to
another
or
my praise to idols.
Is.
42:9
See,
the former things have taken place,
and
new things I declare;
before they
spring into being
I
announce them to you.”
Psa. 29:0
A psalm of David.
Psa.
29:1
Ascribe
to the LORD, O mighty ones,
ascribe
to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe
to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship
the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
Psa.
29:3
The
voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the
God of glory thunders,
the
LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
4 The
voice of the LORD is powerful;
the
voice of the LORD is majestic.
5 The
voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the
LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He
makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The
voice of the LORD strikes
with
flashes of lightning.
8 The
voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
the
LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The
voice of the LORD twists the oaks
and
strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”
Psa.
29:10
The
LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the
LORD is enthroned as King forever.
11 The
LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.
Acts
10:34
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize
how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts men from
every nation who fear him and do what is right.
36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling
the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened
throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John
preached— 38 how God anointed
Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing
good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was
with him.
Matt.
3:13
Then
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him,
saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Matt.
3:15
Jesus
replied, “Let it
be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
Matt.
3:16
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up
out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting on him.
17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased.”
Now what did I mean when I said that Jesus’ baptism foreshadowed
our own?
This act of emptying – this humble act was much much more than just a bit of religious formality!
In this sacrament Jesus was showing that He was to fulfill His
Messianic and Kingly role not through the exercise of power and domination in
the conventional way of rulers throughout the world, but through His drawing
close to the sinful, the suffering, and the burdened mass of humanity. Submission to baptism is the first gesture He
makes in that direction! It sets the
pattern and direction for the ministry which He is now about to begin!
It’s the very sign and seal of who He is and what He’s about and
the way He’s going to go about it!
His Baptism said it all for anyone watching and listening
at the time!
He humbled Himself – He allowed
Himself to be baptized Phil. 2:8
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
He humbled Himself and died on the cross – His Baptism whispered
that this was coming!
Now I need to remind us that this was not only an act of sublime
humility but it was the most sublime act of utter surrender and commitment to
us – His Brothers and Sisters!
Ah Humble Commitment! This
is to become the defining reality in our living out of our baptisms!
Now we need to
focus on us and our living out of our baptisms!
The two virtues of humility and utter commitment – how do we apprehend
them?
Let me offer a
modern day parable to help us apprehend what I think our Lord is getting at
here.
In 1972 the then
young Michael Cane played opposite Sir Lawrence Olivier in the now classic
thriller Sleuth.
Years later James Lipton host of the television show “Inside the Actor’s
Studio” was interviewing Sir Michael Cane and asking him questions about his
extensive and illustrious acting career.
I remember only one segment of this show – Lipton was commenting that up
until the movie “Sleuth” Michael’s career was primarily that of an action hero
which required little acting skill. But
Lipton went on the note that it seems that Michael’s career turned a corner
with the making of this movie and it was after this one movie that Michael
began to really branch out and do more and more challenging parts all of which
lead to his being Knighted by the Queen of England in the year 2000 as Sir
Michael Cane.
Lipton asked his if anything happened in that movie with Sir Lawrence
which he attributes this transformation.
Sir Michael smiled and made this comment and I’m not quoting
exactly but this was the gist of what I believe I heard, “Yes, I learnt the
difference between acting and acting.
Sir Lawrence was so generous that when I acted beside him he became the
scary sociopathic murdered he was cast to be and when he did this I didn’t need
to act – he scared the living daylights out of me and I was just along for the
ride!”
Lipton probed for more and what came out of this fascinating
interview was the insight that when an actor is conscious of acting – following
the script dutifully – he or she is acting but – and this a huge but – but when
he allows a great Director to draw him into becoming the part – the character –
he forgets the script and becomes – fully embraces the character. He’s no longer acting – He has become the
character.
And so when Michael learn this one very very important skill he was on his way to becoming Sir
Michael!
Now, you ask – what does that have to do with our Baptism?
Let me tell you!
Most of us, I fear, live out of lives as amateur actors on the
stage of life frantically following the script that someone has given to us . .
. but our Director – our God – has given
us all that we need in our Baptism to enter fully into our characters – ones
that were made to fit us perfectly. In
our Baptism we have been given our character and the Spirit that will enable us
to “BE” – to BE . . COME”
that character. The challenge for us is
either to remain safe and sound amateur actors always able to go home to our
own little self-made homes or to enter with total abandonment into the part
that our Baptism has empowered us to become and live brave and full lives in
the parts that our God has called us to become!
Jesus did this and the world knows who he is! May we become worthy of the characters we
have been called to become – here and now!
Amen and Amen!”