Who We Are

By Pastor Tracey Leslie
A sermon celebrating Baptism of the Lord Sunday
Scripture:  Mark 1:4-11

Some of you are aware that I am participating in a clergywomen’s program through Benedict Inn called Women Touched by Grace.  As part of the program, each participant (and participants from prior groups) is lifted in pray one day each quarter (or four times a year).  We define it as being lifted into the Circle of Grace.  To help us get to better know one another, we were invited, at our first retreat, to choose three words to describe ourselves.  They could be words descriptive of our character, our talents, our interests… whatever.  They were to be words WE, not others, would use to describe ourselves.  I want to invite you, right now, to pause this video and take a moment to do that exercise for yourself.  What are three words you would use to describe yourself?  Don’t think about what others would say or what you wish they would say about you.  Don’t place value judgments on the words.  It’s entirely up to you.  Pause this video and take a moment to jot down three words you would use to describe yourself.  ​

​Today is a special day in the life of the church.  It is Baptism of the Lord Sunday.  It is part of the church's season of Epiphany.  The word "epiphany" means "manifestation" or "revelation."  And so, during the season of Epiphany, we read and study bible stories that reveal or make manifest Jesus’ identity as God’s Son and our Lord.  And, that’s what occurs in the story of Jesus’ baptism.  As Jesus is baptized, a voice from heaven declares: “You are my Son, the Beloved.”  Likewise, the heavens open and God’s Spirit, in the form of a dove, descends upon Jesus.  The story of Jesus’ baptism is an epiphany for the readers of Mark's gospel – a moment of revelation and realization about who and whose Jesus is.  Jesus is God’s Son, the object of the heavenly Father’s love and delight.  He is the bearer of God’s Holy Spirit.  And, in the power of that Spirit, he will go about the Father’s work – he will demonstrate his heavenly Father’s will and purpose.  Jesus’ baptism makes clear WHO he is and WHOSE he is.  
In Mark’s gospel, the story of Jesus’ baptism is very close to the beginning of the gospel.  In fact, it almost serves as a sort of introduction.  And, although we didn’t read any subsequent verses this morning, the story of Jesus’ baptism is immediately followed by the story of his temptation in the wilderness.  That account of Jesus’ temptation or testing, in Mark’s gospel, is only 2 verses long. 
Let me read it to you: 
(Mark 1:12-13 NRSV)  And the Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. {13} He was in the wilderness forty days, tested by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him.
Mark certainly didn’t waste words.  He was no long-winded evangelist.  He tells us that the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness.  Satan tested Jesus in the wilderness.  And angels ministered to Jesus in the wilderness. 
This brief account is followed by the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry, a ministry of ushering in the kingdom of God, a ministry that brings good news to God’s people.  Jesus calls his first four disciples:  Simon and Andrew, James and John.  Then, Jesus performs his first miracle, an exorcism, the driving out of an unclean spirit. 
So, within a few short verses, Mark has told us quite a lot about who Jesus is – who he is, whose he is and what he does.  And, at the center of it all, is the story of Jesus’ baptism.  By Mark’s account, there is no conversation between Jesus and John.  There is little description of John’s actions.  Because John’s actions are not what the gospel writer wants us to focus on.   
When Mark relates the story of Jesus’ baptism, he tells us who Jesus is.  Mark's good news is a story about who Jesus is and whose he is.  He is God’s beloved Son who brings God great pleasure.  This baptism story is, primarily, an identity story.  For the writer of Mark’s gospel, Jesus’ baptism is that poignant moment when we – the readers of the gospel – come to know the reason for and the meaning of what will follow.  This is not just the story of any man.  This is the story of God’s Son – the bearer of God’s Spirit – filled with God’s power and grace.
 
It has long been the custom of the church to perform baptisms and to remember and renew our baptismal vows on Baptism of the Lord Sunday.  But this year, thanks to COVID, we are unable to come together in one place, in our sanctuary, drawing common water from our baptismal font. 
This Sunday is a day that means a great deal to me.  I dip a finger in the water of the font and make the sign of the cross on your foreheads.  It is interesting.  You may not realize it, but the water reacts slightly differently to various skin types; and some of you are easily accessible – no bangs, no glasses and tightly trimmed eyebrows.  Others require a more precise spatter, maneuvering my way through bangs and brows.  Some of you are so accustomed to this holy tradition that you part your own bangs and bow your head to accommodate my vertical deficiency.  For some of you, this practice is not so common and I can read your uncertainty as I raise my dripping finger to your face.  The water comes from one common font, uniformly blessed through the invocation of God’s Spirit.  Yet, it is received by each of you in a somewhat unique way.  And as that water touches you, I hope you can hear the Spirit whisper to you as Jesus did on that day so long ago, “You are my child, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”
 
But, whether you hear it or not, that voice does speak for baptism is a sacrament about our identity: who we are and whose we are.  In baptism, God names and claims us as God’s beloved sons and daughters. 
Friends, I will miss you this year.  I will miss tracing my water-logged finger in the shape of a cross across your brow.  But you do not need me to tell you who you are, and you do not need me to remind you to remember; for I pray you already stand firm in the knowledge and remembrance of who you and whose you are.    
So this is the moment, I invite you to dip your finger into that glass of water I asked you to get.  Dip your finger in the water and raise it to your forehead.  Then, on that paper where you previously wrote your three words, add this phrase, the most important description of all:  “I am God’s beloved child.”
You’ll notice I didn’t ask you to cross out your other three words.  You are still unique… as unique as your forehead and your fingerprint.  Yet none of those words can surpass or excel the description God has given you.  Nothing that happens in 2021 can add to or detract from your holy status:  YOU are a beloved child of God with whom God is well-pleased.
Look down at that sheet of paper one more time and receive this, my prayer for you:
Loving heavenly Parent, at the opening of 2021, I pray your blessing on each one hearing this message.  Pour out your Spirit over them.  Open the windows of heaven.  May they hear your voice.  And may their New Year be filled with epiphanies, moments of revelation and realization in which they more deeply comprehend that they are your beloved sons and daughters through Christ our Lord.  Amen.