The Baptism of the Lord, Cycle C
Let us pray:
Almighty, eternal God,
when the Spirit descended upon Jesus
at his baptism in the Jordan,
you revealed him as your own beloved Son.
Keep us, your children, born of water and the Spirit,
faithful to our calling.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen
1st Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
This reading from second Isaiah announces the end of the Babylonian exile and the return of
the Israelites to their homeland. Those out in the desert are being called back (Faley,
Footprints on the Mountain, p. 21). God makes it very clear that he wants every obstacle
between God and God’s people to be taken away so that nothing keeps us apart. God wants to
be fully in relationship with us. God wants to be with us in our journey, as hard as it may be.
The path is paved with love. Richard Rohr says…
Only when we are eager to love can we see love and goodness in the world around us. We
must ourselves remain in peace, and then we will find peace over there. Remain in beauty, and
we will honor beauty everywhere. This concept of remaining or abiding moves all religion out of
any esoteric realms of doctrinal outer space where it has for too long been lost. There is no
secret moral command for knowing or pleasing God, or what some call "salvation," beyond
becoming a loving person in mind, heart, body, and soul. Then you will see what you need to
see.
2nd Reading: Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7
In Jesus we get to see God’s power and mercy in action in our history at close range. And we
need God close, because salvation that is far away can be hard to believe in. We suffer the
ache of the particular, being born with this nose, these parents, this ethnicity and address, and
no other. We’ve got to make do with certain talents and limitations. We’re stuck with the
present generation, and can never return to the past nor fast-forward to the age to come.
Hunkered down in time and place can be a terrible poverty when it comes to opportunity. And
Jesus reveals to us that God is willing to share our poverty in order to save us from it. No
other proof would do but to be here. What are some of the particulars of your life that are
especially difficult? How does the revelation of Jesus speak to those? (Exploring the Sunday
Readings, Jan. 2004)
Gospel: Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
We might wonder why it was necessary for Jesus to receive baptism. We know that John
certainly considered himself unworthy to perform the act, but Jesus insisted that he be baptized
along with the rest of the people on the banks of the Jordan River. Through this baptism Jesus
was able to link his ministry with John’s proclamation. Jesus is no longer just the carpenter’s
son in Nazareth (The Word into Life, cycle C, p.22)
This is a moment of Trinity. Jesus being baptized with the
Holy Spirit descending and the Father speaking His words
of love…all come together to transform this moment of
baptism as sacred.
What kind of human experience was this in which Jesus
hears a voice from heaven speaking to him? Scholars note
that it is an experience in an altered state of consciousness
or an experience of alternate reality. On average, 90% of
the world’s cultures regularly have such experiences and
find them useful and meaningful in their cultural context (Pilch, The Cultural World of Jesus,
cycle C, p. 20).
It is interesting to note that right after this section of Luke is a genealogy of Jesus. Right after
the Father proclaims that Jesus is His Son, this genealogy cites one “son of” after another until
it ends as Jesus being identified as son of Adam, son of God (Pilch, 20).
But all of this speaks to the heart. “God looking into the dripping face of Jesus and seeing the
whole big picture of creation and life and heavenly hosts and the throne of heaven. God
looking at Jesus and seeing it all – glory and honor and power and might. God watching as
Jesus came up from his knees and seeing justice and kindness and compassion breaking forth
like the dawn. God seeing in Jesus the very plan of salvation radiant in its entire splendor. God
wrapping the soaking wet Jesus in the warmth of the Holy Spirit, knowing that the magnificence
of God’s own mercy is shining back at that moment, glistening in the water of baptism,”
(Hungry, and You Fed Me, Rev. Dr. David A. Davis, p. 45). What speaks to you?
Let us pray these baptismal promises as we ask the Lord to help us live what we proclaim:
Do you reject evil and sin wishing to be open to God’s gift of grace?
Do you reject pride, arrogance and self-sufficiency wanting to be dependent on God as your
source of life and strength?
Do you reject injustice, discrimination, apathy as you reach out to others in love and friendship?
Do you believe in God, who creates, parents, redeems, forgives, guides and provides?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, savior and brother in whose name you are being saved?
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, ever present to empower, sancify and teach the church?
Do you believe in the church, the sacrament of Christ among humankind?
The response is “I DO!”.