Sunday, January 12, 2025

Baptism of the Lord
Isaiah 43:1-7
Psalm 29
Romans 6:1-11
Luke 3:15-22

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.

I needed a new desk a few years ago but had trouble finding one I liked. I needed a large workspace so that I could spread out all my resources when I was in the middle of a study. I also needed more storage space for my many notebooks filled with years’ worth of research. The space was a little unusual, too, with a window in an awkward place. A regular desk, whether big or small, would never work. We had to think outside the box. When I stopped looking for a standard desk, we found the perfect solution.

We set our minds on one idea, and we refuse to look beyond that for other possibilities. We can be the same way about God. Oswald Chambers once said, “It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specifically designed mold, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.” God is far more than we can imagine. By His Word, the world exists. By His Word, we have life. His Word gives us all we need to live and to serve Him to His glory. Yet, with our words we still try to make Him fit into a box that suits our needs and desires. The psalmist in this week’s Psalm knows that God is far bigger than human reason and understanding can imagine. He praises God by singing of the awesome power of His Word. We should do the same, never using God’s Word to put down others, but rather as a way to lift them out of their tiny box into a greater understanding of His love.

It is a new year, and we are in a state of mind to make ourselves new. We are thinking about our past mistakes and considering changes we want to make. How can I be healthier? How can I be more responsible with my money? How can I have a better relationship with my spouse, children, family, and friends? We will make some good decisions. We will also make some bad ones. I saw an interview this morning that talked about many of the groups and organizations that are inundating our media with advertisements for the next best solution to our problems. They claim, “If you download our app…” or “If you buy our supplement…” or “If you join our program…” you will make money, lose weight, and enhance your love life. I know I’ve seen too many ads trying to convince me that these products are miraculous. It doesn’t help that the algorithms know what you want to see; they feed on your deepest needs and promise that they will make all things right.

The reality, however, is that none of those apps or drugs or programs are miraculous, and many of them are scams. The advertisers are modern day snake oil salesmen. The person being interviewed told the listeners to think twice before jumping into the products, cautioning us to realize that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. He warned that it is nearly impossible to get our money back, or to get out of the contract, so we should be careful before we say “Yes.” Sadly, no matter what we do, we are likely to fall back into old habits when the product doesn’t work and never accomplish what we set out to do anyway.

John the Baptist was out there in the wilderness baptizing folk. He was a charismatic leader with many followers. The crowds began to believe that perhaps John was something more than he claimed. Some even wondered if John was the Messiah for whom they were waiting. They willingly went to him for baptism, a cleansing that would make them new and prepare them for the coming of God’s kingdom. They thought that the baptism would make a difference in their lives. It was a chance for a new beginning. John insisted that he was not the Messiah, but that One would come who would baptize with more than water. The true Messiah would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit.

Yet, many of those followers were not ready for the Messiah. They did not recognize Him. They did not see the kingdom of God when it was right before their noses. Some of them fell for the false Messiahs (like Barabbas) that claimed they had the answer to Israel’s problem with Rome. They even misunderstood the purpose of John’s ministry: to prepare them for the coming of Jesus. They did not repent but continued to do many of the same things that they had been doing before they were baptized. They might have tried to change, but they fell short.

We all fall short.

Jesus appeared before John in the River Jordan and asked to be baptized. In other versions of this story John argued with Jesus saying that he was unworthy to do the baptism. “You should baptize me,” he said. Jesus insisted that John should do it because it would fulfill all righteousness. In Luke’s version, we simply hear that Jesus was baptized with the others. While Jesus was praying, something miraculous happened: the heavens opened up and the Spirit in the form of a dove came upon Jesus. Then the voice of God said, “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”

Jesus went on from that moment to do miraculous things and to preach with authority. Was anything changed on that day? Did Jesus’ baptism make anything new? No, Jesus was, is, and will always be the Holy One of God, but it was a beginning. It was the start of His purpose. He had much to do, and this was the first step to the cross. He did not become the Son of God at that moment, but God touched Him with the encouragement to go do all that He was sent into the world to do.

The Baptism of Jesus is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the Epiphany. It is a chance for us to remember our own baptisms, when we were cleansed, made clean, and renew as children of God. Yet, like our new year’s resolution, we fail. We still make mistakes. We still sin. We still seem so far from God. This difference is that when we are baptized, we begin a new thing. We begin a new journey, and it is a journey that lasts a lifetime. We are changed, but we are also being changed every day. Sometimes we manage to overcome our failings. Sometimes we are able to keep our resolutions. Sometimes we are able to stop doing the sins that hurt our neighbor and dishonor our Father in heaven.

We will do our best, at least for a time, to live according to our resolutions. We may even take advantage of some of the products we see advertised. We’ll probably fail, but we can’t let that stop us from trying to work toward better health, financial responsibility, and relationships. We just have to try again.

Through our baptism we are made new, but we are still sinners who continue to need a Savior. We are very human, and we can’t do what we want to do. We know, however, that we are forgiven and that we can make a new start again and again and again because Jesus went to the cross for our sake. His baptism was the first step of a journey, just as our baptism is the first step of a journey. In Him we are made new, and we continue to be made new every day.

The scriptures tell us about the ways God speaks to His people. He spoke out of a burning bush to Moses, but to Elijah His voice was like a whisper. He came to Mary and Joseph in words from an angel. He even spoke to Balaam out of the mouth of a donkey. The psalm for this week describes God’s voice as thunderous and powerful. It is not God who breaks the cedars, but God’s voice. His voice strikes like flashes of lightning. It shakes the desert, twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.

This aren’t sure about this image of God. We prefer God’s still, sweet voice, the quiet calling of a Father to a child. Thunder and lightning bring fear to our hearts. We tremble at the thought of God’s voice shaking the desert, twisting the oaks, and stripping the forests bare. If He can do that to something as strong as a tree or as vast as a desert, what will His voice do to us? Instead of expressing awe, many people are offended by an image of God that might denote an iron fist. We are willing to ascribe to Him the glory we know He deserves, but we’d much rather keep Him confined to a softer image. We like the idea of the shepherd king or the mother hen protecting her chicks. We like the image of a loving father or a brotherly friend. There is little room for strength, power, and wrath in our perception of God.

We struggle with passages like today’s Old Testament lesson from Isaiah. Isaiah spoke about the destruction of others. God’s people would return home, but He gave the people of Egypt, Cush, and Seba as a ransom for Israel. Persia conquered those places, and it was the Persians who allowed the Jews to go home. The wrath was necessary for God’s grace to His people to be complete.

Isaiah spoke to people who were far from home. They were exiles in Babylon, sent there by God so that they would be brought to their knees and remember that He is the LORD their God. They were separated from everything they loved, seemingly abandoned by their God. It was heartbreaking, but necessary.

The text from Isaiah is an oracle of promise for the exiles who have been away from home for so long. It is a promise that they would return soon to Jerusalem. Yet life in exile was not nearly as bad as we would suppose. As a matter of fact, the Jews who were taken to Babylon were often the educated and gifted. They were well respected, given decent jobs and wages. Many had accumulated wealth and property. Some even married. They were in exile for so long that many of the Jews who had been taken captive were dead and it was their children who received this promise. Would they really want to leave the good life they had created to return to a desolate and barren place?

Isaiah reminds those wondering if they should go that the Lord God Almighty loves His people. He is their Creator and Redeemer. They are His chosen people, called by His name and created for His glory. He dwells amongst them, and they are His. It might seem foolish to leave a good life to go back to the unknown, but that unknown is the life to which they have been called and for which they have been created.

This has been an interesting week weather-wise. Many Americans are dealing with extreme winter conditions. It has been very cold, and they’ve had blizzards that have dropped inches of snow. Our own weathermen have warned us that we could face extreme conditions here in Texas. Some reports even claimed we would see several inches of snow. That report has changed, and we are expecting rain all day tomorrow. We are in the midst of a drought, so we are looking forward to some rain. However, after months without significant rainfall, our conditions can be almost as bad as if we were having winter weather. The roads will be slippery because they are covered with auto fluids that have not been washed away by the rain. Sudden downbursts or long periods of heavy rain can cause flash flooding.

We have this phrase that is heard constantly in our area when the rain threatens to become dangerous: turn around, don’t drown. See, there are many dry creek beds around the state of Texas. These are creeks that don’t run with water constantly but get filled with runoff during times of heavy rain. These creeks often cross roadways, but it isn’t worthwhile to build a bridge because the water rarely causes a problem. Sometimes those creeks look mild; people think that they can easily drive through the running water. They don’t realize that it only takes a few inches of rushing water to carry away a car. Too many people die because they don’t turn around.

There are usually barriers that hinder a driver from going into the rushing creek, although there always some people who think they can handle it. They go around the barrier, get into the water and suddenly realize they have no control. It is almost impossible to save yourself at that point. Sadly, some people are found dead in their car miles downstream. Those barriers are there for a reason: it might cause you to drive well out of your way and make you late for your appointment, but turn around, don’t drown.

Unfortunately, these dry creek beds are not easy to predict. It might not even be raining where you are, but as the water gathers in the creek upstream, it races down, catching people off guard. Those dry creek beds can go from dry to overflowing in seconds and you don’t want to get hit with a foot of water rushing at you. It is foolish to try to cross a raging creek, especially when there is a barrier in place for your protection, but sometimes we can’t avoid the danger because we simply don’t know when it will come.

The same is true with other severe weather. We can’t predict a lightning strike or a tornado. We might be able to give warning, but even a large storm like a hurricane can be unpredictable. Wildfires can seem to be under control until the wind turns and then they can suddenly burst to new life. We can be careful, we can prepare, we can even do whatever we can in expectation of the worst, but we can’t know exactly what will happen.

The Bible uses the physical world to help us see and understand God. Many of the stories revolve around water. In the beginning the earth was a formless void and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. A river watered the Garden of Eden. At God’s command, Noah built an ark to survive the flood. Drought and famine sent the patriarchs on journeys to new places. Jacob sent his wives and all their possessions across the stream and was left alone to wrestle with God. Moses took the Israelites through the Red Sea, and they later crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. During the Exodus they found water in the most unexpected places. Elijah covered the altar of Baal with water, and yet God still burned it all.

Fire is another subject of so many stories. The altar of Baal was destroyed by fire, as was Sodom and Gomorrah. The bush Moses encountered was on fire but did not burn. God led the people out of Egypt with a pillar of fire. These elements are so often identified with God, perhaps because they are so unpredictable. No human could have made the Red Sea part or burnt the stone altar, but God can. He then uses those same elements to bring faith and hope to His people.

Water and fire. During Israel’s history some of the most important moments were when God led His people through one or the other. Noah was protected through the flood. Lot was saved from the fire at Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses was guided through the waters of the Red Sea. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego lived through the fiery furnace. Water and fire were elements that brought death, but also cleansing. Only by God’s power could His people overcome the destruction of either water or fire. And He always promised to be with His people in the midst of it all.

Just as God was quiet during the exile, He was also silent in the days before the coming of the Messiah. The people knew the prophecies, they knew that God would fulfill His promises to His people, but they did not know what to expect. They thought they understood, and they were watching and waiting for the deliverer. They expected a powerful man, one who would become king and save them from the Romans. When John the Baptist began preaching about the Kingdom of God, it was easy to assume that he was the one for whom they were waiting.

In today’s Gospel lesson, John answered their questions. “I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Jesus approached John for baptism. John was just a minor figure in Luke’s version of this story; he does not even talk to Jesus.

We don’t know whether anyone but Jesus heard God’s voice that day or what it sounded like but we know from that God’s voice is powerful. And though we may not hear the audible voice of God, He still speaks to us today. He speaks to us through the scriptures. He speaks to us through those who have shared the Gospel message and raised us in faith. He even speaks to us through people that warn us to be careful about buying the wrong products or going around the barriers meant to keep us safe.

His voice speaks to us in our baptism, bringing us through water and fire, making us one of His own. In baptism, we take on His name and become children of God. There are times when it is difficult to notice God’s presence in this world, particularly in times of pain and confusion. We doubt that we can even hear Him amid the noise of the world. Yet, in faith we can hear God’s voice calling to us, reminding us that He is always near. His voice is heard in the thunder, it rattles the deserts, and it changes us into new creation.

He is the Lord, the one who reigns over the water and the fire, who gives strength to his people; He blesses us with peace. He calls us to worship Him, the only one worthy of being praised. He is bigger than we can imagine; His majesty is sometimes frightening, but we need not fear. God’s voice can level a forest, but He uses His voice to call His people to hope and peace. We are called to a life that glorifies God. The journey might not be easy. We may have to walk through the waters of a flood or face the fire, but God is with us. He called us by name. We can rest assured that God is with us through it all.

We will fail. We will sin. We have been made new, but we are still very imperfect humans. When we are faced by temptation, we usually claim our own strength, “I can avoid this” or “I can make it go away.” Despite God’s saving grace we are still sinners, and we have no power over sin by our own will. But by His grace we can answer every temptation with the reminder, “I am baptized.” The devil has no power over us when we are covered by the grace of God. God was with us through the water and the fire, and He will stay with us as we continue to face the world.

We are sinners, there is no doubt about that, and unfortunately, we all continue to make foolish mistakes. Like those who buy the products thinking they are miraculous solutions for their problems, or those who think they will get through the raging waters of a rising creek, we do what we know we should not do and get caught up in the consequences of our sinfulness. We justify our actions by the mantra that God loves us anyway, and while that is true, we need to know that God is disappointed when we reject the transforming power of His grace.

Paul wrote, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” No, God has cleansed us with the water and fire of baptism to be something better, to be like Christ. We will fail, but we should never go about our life purposely acting against the Word of God. We died to sin. We were made new. The old desires no longer have the power to keep us enslaved. We are freed from those sinful desires and made part of the body of Christ, raised to new life in Him.

It is interesting that we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus so close to the New Year. How many of you made resolutions? How many have you already failed? Did you forget to say that daily prayer or read that devotion? Did you skip the gym this morning or eat that extra cookie? Did you turn on that television show even though you promised yourself you would spend more time with the kids? It is only January 8th, so there is plenty of time to work on our resolutions. There is plenty of time to be transformed from what we were into what we can be. By our baptism and the faith we received by grace, we have died to sin so that we will be made alive unto God in Christ Jesus.

The key is to remember that we don't have to go about it alone. We don't have to try to avoid our temptations with our own strength or make things go away by our own willpower. We can say, “I am baptized” and trust that God will be with us through the cleansing that we need to undergo. Whether it comes by water or fire does not matter; we simply rest in the knowledge that God is doing good things in and through us. Let us beware of those who make promises they can’t keep and pay heed to the barriers that block our way to sin because the warnings might be God’s way of stopping us from falling to the temptations that can destroy us. He is there with us, even when we get overwhelmed by the realities of life, but He will continue to work in our lives so that we will be forgiven, healed, cleansed, made whole, and transformed into the people He has created and redeemed us to be. By His promises and in His faithfulness, He will bring us through the waters and fires of life and into His presence for eternity.