The Reverend John E. McGinn, Rector
Saint John’s Episcopal Church
Sandwich,
Massachusetts 02563
January 13, 2008 First
Sunday after Epiphany
Today is the first Sunday
after Epiphany, also known as the Baptism of Jesus. The sermon is taken from the Gospel of
Matthew, chapter 3, verses 13-17.
Yesterday morning at 11:00
a.m. we had a funeral service here at St. John’s where we had over one hundred
people. You might think that maybe the
theme would be different than today‘s, but really it was about a man who had
been baptized, a man who had lived his life to the fullest, and in the end
physically had died but yet now is with God.
Today, as we look at the
baptism of Jesus, and we look at baptism in more detail (at the 10:00 o’clock
service I am going to baptize a youngster who is just a couple of months old),
we think about the importance of baptism in our life. I want to speak this morning about
baptism.
Now when it comes to the
subject of baptism, our Baptist friends seem to have all the fun. That is, the very nature of baptism of adults
by immersion lends itself to loads of good humor. For example, there is the story of the
seven-year-old son of a Baptist minister who decided to baptize his two
cats. He chose the bathtub for this
rite. One of the cats was a tiny
kitten. It was dunked before it realized
what had happened, but the older tomcat wanted no part of this strange
ceremony. As the boy brought the cat down
toward the water, it hissed and clawed his arms ferociously until finally the
boy let go. The liberated cat scampered
across the bathroom with only the back of his head getting a little wet. As the cat left room, the boy called after
him in disgust, “Fine, be an Episcopalian if you want to. A little bit of water on the top of the head
certainly will not make you a Baptist.”
And there’s the story of an
old fashioned Baptist preacher who was writing an advice column, sort of like Dear
Abby. One letter said, “Dear
Preacher: Do you worry about pond scum in the baptismal font? Signed:
Wondering.”
The pastor decided to have
fun with this, and he wrote this reply:
“Dear Wondering: No, I’ll baptize
anybody.”
Last week in my sermon I
tried to deal with the idea of a new vision, and this week I want to talk about
a new beginning. For a number of reasons
some of us need to be set free from our old lives. Some of us are unhappy with where we are in
our faith’s journey. Some of us have
made grievous mistakes along the way.
The waters of Christian baptism symbolize the opportunity that every
child of God has to make a new beginning to be set free.
Now Jesus came from Galilee
to the River Jordan to be baptized by John the Baptist. And remember, John’s baptism was a baptism of
repentance. John knew that Jesus, who
was John’s cousin, didn’t need to repent.
John doesn’t know at this point that Jesus is the Messiah, but he knows
that Jesus is special. He feels so
strongly about this that he tries to keep Jesus out of the water. He says to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by
you, and do you come to me?”
That’s beautiful to me. What would your cousin say about you, or
perhaps your brothers and sisters, the people you golf with, or work with, or
just have fun with, the people who know you best - how would they react if they
knew you were coming for a baptism of repentance? Would they say, “Boy, it’s about time!” And more than likely, they would say, “Wonder
what she’s hiding!” Would any of them
try to keep you out of the water because they thought you were so sinless that
you didn’t need to repent.
Jesus obviously didn’t need
to make a new beginning, but many of us do.
However, the rite of baptism did mark a new phase in Jesus’ life. He used it to prepare for his public ministry. No longer would Jesus be building furniture
in his father’s carpenter shop. Now he
would be building a future for all of humanity.
No matter who we are or where
we are on our faith journey, this is a message of hope. New beginnings are possible. Today really is the first day of the rest of
our lives. We can chart out a new
direction, set new goals, renew our relationship with God to give us the
support we need to be what God has called us to be.
What does it take to make a
new beginning? First of all, I think we
must be willing to change. Now that may
sound obvious, but this is the biggest obstacle for many people. They are in a routine - you might even call
it a rut - they really do not want to change.
Now I’ve got for you - I know
it’s early and I know the Patriots were on late last night - but I’ve got for
you this morning a light bulb joke that appeals to me. It comes from a fellow Episcopal priest:
How many Christians does it
take to change of a light bulb?
Well,
if you are a Charismatic, only one. Your
hands are already in the air.
And
if you are a Baptist, at least fifteen.
One to change the light bulb and three committees to approve the change
and decide who brings the potato salad.
And
if you are a Catholic, none. Candles,
only candles.
If
you are a Congregationalist, you need eight.
One to call the electrician and seven to say how much better they liked
the old one.
If
you are a Methodist, undetermined.
Whether your light is bright, dull or completely out, you are
loved. You can be a light bulb, a tulip
bulb or a turnip bulb, you are loved.
If
you are a Nazareen, six. One woman to
change the bulb, while five men review church lighting policy.
If
you are an Evangelist, you need just one.
For the message of light to continue, pick up your phone and pledge your
support today.
If
you are a member of the Amish sect, what’s a light bulb?
And
finally, an Episcopalian: Change? My grandmother gave that light bulb!
But we Episcopalians are not
the only ones who resist change. In
fact, this is the condition that vexes many of us, if not most of us. Physicists speak of inertia, the tendency of
a body at rest to remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Most churches suffer from inertia, as do most
of their congregates. And what is it
that counselors say to us? Most people
change only when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of
change.
Those of you who are nature
lovers may have observed a mother bird coaxing her offspring from the nest for
the first time. She starts with a simple
nudge. If it doesn’t work, she begins to
peck at the feet of her tiny chicks, and she continues to peck at their feet
and their talons until the pain of holding onto the branch of the tree is more
painful than the anticipation of letting go.
She knows that her offspring have been destined to fly. There is more security in the sky than on the
ground, and there is freedom. If only
they were not afraid. A whole new world
awaits them if they would only let go.
God must look at us in the
same way. We are so afraid of change, so
slow to accept new possibilities, so reluctant to embrace new
opportunities. That’s true of
individuals. That’s true of
churches. And first of all, we must be
willing to change. We must also be
willing to confront issues that we’ve avoided in the past. If we are going to make a new beginning, we
cannot avoid looking at old problems.
This may include personal habits.
It may include how we relate to our spouse, or our friends or our
children. Repentance is not just feeling
bad about our shortcomings - it is taking stock of our situation - personal
attitudes and habits and relationships, the direction of our lives - and then
taking action to remedy those areas that need improvement. Only you know what needs to be changed in
your life, and are you willing to change?
Are you willing to face up to issues that you’ve ignored in the
past?
And finally, we must be
willing to live out the meaning of our baptism.
This isn’t a self-help seminar here this morning. You know, of course, that it is a worship
service; and we are those who have been baptized. We have a challenge to live up to and the
resource upon which to draw: our faith
in Jesus.
Now, I read a story recently
about a woman who was shopping at Wal-Mart.
Probably most of you are familiar with going into Wal-Mart - it is quite
the place because you’ve got all kinds of people, it’s crowded, everyone feels
like they are getting a really good deal….there’s all kinds of things happening
at Wal-Mart.
Now, this girl who was about
six years old with beautiful red hair and a freckled face, and she accompanied
her mother. It was pouring rain outside,
and the mother and daughter stood with other Wal-Mart shoppers under the awning
just inside the door of Wal-Mart. They
waited for the rain to stop so that they could make their way to their
cars. Then a little voice spoke up - it
was the little girl. “Mom,” she said, “
Let’s run through the rain!” “What?” mom
asked. “Let’s run through the rain!” she
repeated. “No, honey. We’ll wait until it slows down a bit,” mom
replied. The child waited about another
minute and repeated, “Mom, let’s run through the rain!” “We’ll get soaked,” mom said. “No we won’t, mom. That’s not what you said this morning!” the
young girl said as she tugged at her mother’s arm. “This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain
and not get wet?” “Don’t you remember?”
said the persistent child, “When you
were talking to daddy about his cancer, you said, ‘If God can get us through
this, He can get us through anything.’”
The entire crowd stopped dead
silent. You couldn’t hear anything but
the rain. They all stood silently. Mom paused and thought for a moment about
what she would say. Now some would laugh
it off and scoff the child for being silly.
But this mother knew that this was an important moment in this little
girl’s life. “Honey, you are absolutely
right,” she said. “Let’s run through the
rain. If God lets us get wet, well maybe
we just needed washing.”
Then off they ran, and the
other shoppers stood watching and smiling and laughing as they darted past the
cars, and yes - right through the puddles.
They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case, and they
got soaked. But they were followed by a
few of the others who had been waiting for the rain to stop, who screamed and
laughed like children all the way to their cars. I guess they needed washing too.
Do you need washing? Have you been living up to your baptism? Jesus made a new beginning when he was
baptized by John in the River Jordan.
There was no cause on his part for repentance, but he was starting his
public ministry, and he wanted to set an example for us. And you know how the story ends. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out
of the water, and at that moment heaven was open, and he saw the spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting on him.
And a voice from heaven said, “This is my son, my beloved, whom I love
and with him I am well pleased.”
And deep down within each of
us, that is what we would like to hear God say about our lives. “This is my
son, this is my daughter whom I love, with whom I am well pleased.” If so, we need to make a new beginning today.
Amen