Baptism of the Lord
Today is a unique day in the life of the Church: the day we traditionally celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. If you’ve ever been here on the Sunday where we’ve talked about the baptism of the Lord, you already know my take on it. I say the same thing every year: Baptism of the Lord Sunday is never about the Baptism of the Lord. Remembering that Jesus went to the Jordan to be baptized by John is never really about Jesus actually going to the Jordan; it is always about us. Sure, the baptism itself was also about Jesus: as Peter reminds us today, it was at the baptism that the power of the Holy Spirit was displayed in Jesus. It’s just that when we celebrate the baptism of Jesus, it becomes about us.
And I know that sounds a little egotistical, but the fact is, it’s the opposite. Jesus didn’t get baptized because he had anything to repent from; he did it to show us how it’s done. He began his ministry in the way he intended us to begin ours: through baptism.
You see, baptism is like everything else Jesus does: he goes first; Jesus always goes first. As his disciples, his followers, our call is to go where he leads us. That is certainly what we remember at his baptism, but we certainly don’t merely follow him into baptism. All that we do and all that we are is meant to follow where Jesus leads. Someday, he will lead us to eternity; that is also part of what we remember in our baptisms. But until then, it means being faithful to the one who leads us there.
Our Scripture reading today is a sermon of sorts: it’s one of those times in Acts where Peter steps up to explain what God is doing. It’s not a very long sermon and he barely quotes from the Bible, but as it is a proclamation of the Word of God, I think we can call this a sermon.
Now, this is not the first of Peter’s sermons in the Book of Acts, but it is the first time he preaches to us. As far as I know, all of us are at least partly Gentile; and Peter’s never preached to “those people” before. In fact, two days earlier would have found a Peter who would have never even dreamed of associating with or proclaiming the gospel to gentiles like us; but a dream is exactly what he gets.
Acts tells us that, the day before this sermon, Peter had a dream; a nightmare, actually. In this dream, God lays out a banquette for Peter completely made up of un-kosher food; all of the foods that his Hebrew Scriptures had told him never to even touch is laid out before him, and the voice from heaven says, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” It was like if someone told me when I was eight that someday I would purchase and consume spinach: he was disgusted and horrified by the command. And then the voice tells him, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”
It’s in that moment some visitors arrive. You see, Peter isn’t the only one receiving visions from God. There’s a devout Gentile named Cornelius who has also received a vision from God telling him to send for Peter. So when Peter’s vision is confirmed by Cornelius’ vision, he then sees what God is doing. He preaches to Cornelius and to all gathered there, “I truly understand.” God gave him an epiphany that God does not show partiality; that anyone can be accepted by Jesus, even icky Gentiles like us.
This is a new thing for Peter and a turning point in the proclamation of the gospel. But the beautiful thing about this is that the message is still the same. Sure, the audience has expanded, but the good news he proclaimed was the same good news. I don’t know, maybe Peter had forgotten what Jesus had told him: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” Maybe he didn’t realize that Jesus meant it literally. Maybe he was frozen by how overwhelming and scary the command was. Whatever else happened between the command and what we read today, today he truly understands.
So Peter preaches a sermon. And like most sermons you’ll ever hear, it isn’t really about anything you haven’t heard before. Peter basically says as much in verse 36: “You know the message,” he says, “sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ.” And then, beginning with his baptism – probably why this is a lectionary reading for today – Peter then continues to tell the story of Jesus. He tells the story of what Jesus did, but more than that, he tells the story of who he is. He tells the story that proclaims Jesus as “Lord of all”; which is why I was drawn to this passage today.
Jesus commands us, as he did Peter, to go and make disciples. But we don’t always take the time to unpack what that might actually mean. And so today, as we remember that disciples are called to follow, we first consider who it is we follow. We follow Jesus, of course, who as Peter reminds us today, is Lord of all. As Peter reminds us today, by the work of Jesus – his death and resurrection – we have received the forgiveness of our sins. We follow Jesus because he alone deserves to be followed. The discipleship lesson for today is that we follow Jesus, who we confess to be Lord of all.
The “all” in that title has for us a double-meaning. For Peter, it reflected the new revelation that Jesus wasn’t just he Lord of the Hebrew people. But for us it means “everything”. To call Jesus our Lord, as we each do at our baptisms, is to confess that we are no longer in charge. Jesus is Lord and he is Lord on his terms not ours. Leo Tolstoy once said that each of us have a choice between two Gods; and most of us choose “the God who is here to serve me.” Unfortunately, that is not what it means to call Jesus “Lord”. The possessions, pleasures, and power that are so-greatly valued by our society have absolutely no worth to Jesus. His priorities are wholly-other than the culture we live in and he will not compromise.
The sub-point of this discipleship message is that discipleship is a process and not a destination. Jesus calls us to follow; by definition, a journey. I for one am greatly-relieved by this: that by the Spirit’s help, discipleship is about – day by day – closing the gap between who I am and who Jesus is. Discipleship means following Jesus as Lord without compromise; but we’ll get there when we get there.
Let me close by putting it a different way: by way of a story that I read recently. It’s about a man named Bill Rittinghouse; I don’t know Bill, but considering the story was told to me using first and last names, I have to believe the story to be true. So Bill was driving a lonely road through Kansas when a heavily-loaded station wagon passed him. As it passed he noticed that one of the suitcases that were strapped to the roof was starting to work itself loose. Sure enough: it soon fell off the back, bounced to the highway, and off of the road. Bill tried to signal the driver of the station wagon, but to no avail. So Bill, a follower of Jesus, did the most good-Samaritan thing he could think of: he went back for the suitcase in the hope of somehow getting it back to its true owner.
So he went back, retrieved the bag, and looked through it for some clues to finding the owner. Although there was nothing handy like an address and phone number, there were clothes, some generic personal-items, and a small box with a rubber band around it. He opened the box and found a cotton-cushioned $20 gold piece. On one side it said, “Twenty years loyal and faithful service.” On the other side it read, “Presented to Otis Sampson by the Northwestern States Portland Cement Company.” Finally a clue! How hard could it be to find Otis Sampson, formerly of the Northwestern States Portland Cement Company?
Well as it turned out, it wasn’t so easy. After contacting seventy-five different cities in Pacific Northwest, bill finally found Otis’ former employer. And after convincing them to give him Otis’ forwarding number, Bill was finally able to make contact.
Otis, of course, was surprised and thrilled to hear that his suitcase was found and told Bill, “You can keep everything else in the suitcase, but please send me the $20 gold piece. It is,” he said, “my most precious possession.”
As Mr. Rittinghouse boxed up the coin to send it back to Mr. Sampson, he decided to include a personal note; how often does God bring people in our lives in such unusual ways? He wrote of an experience during World War II, when he escaped from a Romanian prison and of his calling out to God for help. He wrote of how his family had become Christians and exactly what it meant to know Jesus. “In fact,” he wrote, “I can truthfully say that my relationship with Jesus is my most prized possession.” And with that, he mailed it off.
Bill never expected to hear from Otis again, but around Christmas, more than a year later, Bill received a small box in the mail. In that box was that same small $20 gold coin… and another note. Otis wrote, “Last Sunday my wife and I were baptized in a little church here in Colorado. We are two old people. I am seventy-four years old and she’s seventy-two. We want you to have the gold piece to carry with you at all times. You were the first one to tell us of Jesus Christ. Now he is our most precious possession.”
Discipleship begins with a question: the same question we’re asked at our baptism; who is your Lord; what is your most prized possession? As we learn to be his disciples, may “Jesus” always be the answer to that question.
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