Called You By Name (Epiphany 1C)

Baptism of Christ, by David Bonnell

Called You by Name
Homily delivered for the First Sunday after Epiphany (Year C)
13 January 2019

8:00 a.m. Said and 10:00 a.m. Sung Eucharist
Trinity Episcopal Church

Ashland, Oregon

The Very Rev. Anthony Hutchinson, SCP, Ph.D., homilist

Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

God, take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. Amen.

Today is Baptism of Christ Sunday.  In a few minutes, we will be renewing our baptismal vows.  In this, we reaffirm our commitments made in baptism.  As we do so, God is also renewing his commitments in our baptism.  Remember the loving and affirming words of blessing said as the newly baptized are anointed with oil:  “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever” (BCP 308).   Today’s lesson from the Hebrew Scriptures expresses this promise from God this way: 

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you…

…[Y]ou are precious in my sight, … I love you.” (Isa 43:1b-2a, 4)

Today’s Psalm also expresses God’s love in the face of scary waters:

“Yahweh’s voice sounds over the waters,

The God of glory thunders;

Yahweh is greater than roaring waters…

Yahweh’s voice is powerful,

Yahweh’s voice is exquisite…

Yahweh will strengthen his people,

Yahweh will give them the blessing of peace.”  (Psalm 29:3-4, 11)

This linkage of scary roaring waters with God’s love and protection is implicit in our baptismal theology.  In order to have new life, we must, in a sense die.  Paul said it this way: “Therefore we are buried with [Christ] by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). 

Those waters are scary, and we risk being drowned in them!  But coming through them, like Moses and the Israelites and the Red Sea, brings us to joy and peace.  The Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP 845-62) says, “The inward and spiritual grace in Baptism is union with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into God’s family the Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit.”

The story of Jesus being baptized by John clearly embarrassed early Christians, who balked at the image of our Lord being under the tutelage of someone else and at the idea that he somehow needed the “baptism of repentance” offered by John.  Mark, the earliest Gospel, says John preached a “baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Jesus of Nazareth comes and John baptizes him. But when Jesus comes up out of the water, “immediately he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven.”

Matthew changes the story in several crucial ways.  He deletes the fact that John’s baptism was “for repentance” and adds the exchange where John says “I need to be baptized by you, Jesus, not you from me.”   Luke, today’s reading, leaves in John’s baptism for repentance but adds a lengthy description of the Baptist’s preaching and then he avoids mentioning that it was John who actually baptized Jesus. Here, the opening of heaven, the descent of the dove, and the hearing of God’s voice occurs only after the arrest of John, “when all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying.” 

In contrast to Matthew and Luke, who in their separate ways say that Jesus’ getting baptized was not for the remission of sin or a sign of his subordination to the Baptist, the Gospel of John simply deletes Jesus’ getting baptized altogether.  In the prologue of John, the Baptist appears purely as a witness to Light, the word made flesh. John bears witness of the one who is to follow, and identifies him as Jesus. Later, Jesus goes out to Jordan to baptize rather than be baptized (John 3:22-4:3). Though the Baptist is quoted as bearing witness that he saw the spirit descend on Jesus, there is no scene in John’s Gospel of the baptism itself. 

The early Church preserved these stories despite the discomfort it felt about the idea of Jesus receiving John’s baptism.  Their embarrassment is convincing evidence that the historical Jesus was, in fact, baptized by John, drawn to the Baptist’s message of a firm faith in a living God who would soon set things right in the world.

Key here is what the word “repentance” actually means:  the Greek metanoeo used here literally means “a change in heart.”  The historical Jesus clearly had a change of heart at this time, since it was his baptism and then John’s arrest that seem to have sent him into the 40 day fast in the wilderness from which he comes ready to abandon his family and commence his ministry.    He died to his old life, and came to newness of life. 

And that is what we are called to, though our change of heart often will entail turning from specific misdoings and ways of expressing brokenness.  It is why we are baptized as the way entering into Christ’s life, of becoming part of his body and regular guests at his table.  And since the fear of the raging waters can come back at times, and we can relapse into old ways, it is why we occasionally renew our baptismal covenant. 

We live in a scary world, one in which it is easy to lose hope and our bearings.  Dying to our old selves, coming through the raging waters, brings us to God’s promise of love, support, and peace.  Note in the baptism story in Mark and Matthew, when Jesus shows his solidarity with us in this concrete act of dying to his old way of life, God reveals himself.  The dove of peace, the Holy Spirit descends.  The voice of God, a voice of splendor and power louder than raging waters, says, “You are my child. I love you.  You make me happy.”  

And so it is for us.

Let us let God work this mighty change of hearts in us, so that we might hear the voice of God, be bathed in God’s light, and know that we are, and have always been, beloved. 

In the Name of God, Amen.

 

The Renewal of Baptismal Vows (BCP) 

Celebrant  Do you reaffirm your renunciation of evil and
                  renew your commitment to Jesus Christ?
People       I do.

Celebrant  Do you believe in God the Father?
People       I believe in God, the Father almighty,
                  creator of heaven and earth.

  

Celebrant  Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
People       I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
                  He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
                     and born of the Virgin Mary.
                  He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
                     was crucified, died, and was buried.
                  He descended to the dead.
                  On the third day he rose again.
                  He ascended into heaven,
                     and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
                  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Celebrant  Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
People       I believe in the Holy Spirit,
                  the holy catholic Church,
                  the communion of saints,
                  the forgiveness of sins,
                  the resurrection of the body,
                  and the life everlasting.

Celebrant  Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and
                  fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the
                  prayers?
People       I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant  Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever
                  you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
People       I will, with God's help.

Celebrant  Will you proclaim by word and example the Good
                  News of God in Christ?
People       I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant  Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving
                  your neighbor as yourself?
People       I will, with God’s help.

  

Celebrant  Will you strive for justice and peace among all people,
                  and respect the dignity of every human being?
People       I will, with God's help.

Celebrant

May Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and bestowed upon us the forgiveness of sins, keep us in eternal life by his grace, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.