January 12, 2025, Baptism of our Lord
“What It Means to be Baptized”
Psalm 29; Isaiah 43:1-7; Romans 6:1-11; Luke 3:15-22
Divine Service III, no Communion
Hymns: #405 “To Jordan’s River Came Our Lord”; #506 “Glory Be to God the Father”;
#344 “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry”; #394 “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise”
Dear Friends in Christ,
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen.
So, you were baptized? So what? What does that mean? What difference does it make? The pastor said a few words and poured a little water on your head; what did that change? Nothing outward happened that anyone could see; no halo, no wings, no holy glow. Is Baptism just a symbol? Just a sign and a ceremony? Or is it something more?
Do you know your “baptismal birthday?” Do you know the day you were baptized? I read about a family that has baptismal birthdays for their children. What a wonderful idea! On their baptismal birthday, each child get to choose what they want for dinner, gets a small gift, and a cupcake with one white baptismal candle on it; just to remind them of when they were baptized, and what their Baptism means.
So what is Baptism, what happened when we were baptized, and why should we treat is as a special and holy thing? God says in our reading from prophet Isaiah this morning, “This is what the Lord says - He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel.” Christian Baptism isn’t a man-made thing, but a gift from heaven. It’s God pouring down extraordinary grace. It’s a commandment from Jesus Christ Himself that everyone should come and be blessed. It’s not just a quaint little human ceremony to be taken lightly and then forgotten, but the power of God to put life and light in your soul. God creates us in the ordinary human way, then calls us to be “born again from above”, re-created, made brand new.
In Holy Baptism is your redemption, your buying back, from sin, death, and the devil. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; you are mine,” God says in Isaiah. To be redeemed means to be purchased or bought. You and I were wholly owned by death and the devil because of the sin we were born with, and because of the sins we’ve committed since. Sin has a price, and “the wages of sin is death.” Sin has left us with an unpayable debt; there was no price we could pay to God to redeem ourselves and escape the punishment that was rightfully ours. Christ redeemed us, bought us, purchased our lives, with His own precious life.
St. Paul tells us in Romans, “Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” In Baptism, Jesus is saying emphatically, “You don’t have to be afraid any longer of sin or death or the devil, because I have bought you, purchased you, and paid your price; from now on and forever, you belong to Me.”
The day of your Baptism was your adoption day. It was the day your Father in heaven gave you a new name, His family name; just as a child who’s adopted gets the name of his or her new family. I read a story about a family who had a young son, an only child, so they decided to adopt another boy the same age, so he’d have a brother. It turned out the boy they adopted was the spitting image of his new brother, so you could hardly tell them apart. A neighbor, commenting on how much the two boys looked alike, said, “They look so much alike; which one’s adopted?” And the mother answered, “I don’t remember!” When God says, “You are Mine,” He really means it. You’re a member of His family, His precious child, one of His own.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,” says God in Isaiah. “Passing through the water” is a euphemism for birth. We begins our lives in water, protected inside our mothers, and we “pass through the water” to be born into the world. And from the beginning, God is with us. “I knew you before you were knit together in your mother’s womb… All your days were written in God’s Book before one of them came to be.” Baptism is another and even greater “passing through the water.” It’s God speaking from Heaven, the heavens opening, and the Spirit descending to fill you with grace, as the water – along with the Word of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - is poured upon your head. It’s God with you and in you and beside you, right from the beginning.
Passing through the waters, making that good beginning, is one thing; but then you also have to live. “Passing through the rivers” is a metaphor for living your life. “When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you,” God says in Isaiah. Baptism is one of God’s wonderful ways of helping you live your life and be faithful. It’s not something just for your baptismal birthday; it’s help and grace and power to bring you through all the things life in this world might put you through. It’s being equipped for the fight, it’s your rock to stand on, every day of your life. It’s where you can always turn when the devil is tempting you and your faith is shaking and you’re feeling weak.
Martin Luther’s suggestion for fighting the devil’s temptation was to tell him. “Satan, you can’t do this to me, I’m a baptized child of God! You can’t touch me or do me any lasting harm. So in the name of Jesus Christ, be gone! Take a hike!” “Tell the devil to suck your toe!” Luther said, and the devil will have to flee. Baptized children of God that we are, we pass through the rivers, as we must; but the rivers don’t roll over us.
God promises in Isaiah, “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” “Walking through the fire” is another metaphor for walking through the world, and more specifically, it’s a metaphor for facing dying and death. All of us, sooner or later, or going to have to “walk through the fire” to get to where we’re going.
I’ve watched more than a few people die over the years. (Some people use the expression “passed away” for death; I much prefer the expression “passed on,” since it’s so much closer to the truth). And I’ve seen that there’s a whole world of difference between “passing on” knowing Jesus, and “passing on” apart from Him. Apart from Jesus, apart from His grace and the gift of faith and the comfort of Baptism, dying is full of terrible uncertainty at best, and sheer terror at the worst. Not knowing where you’re going, or what’s coming next, has precious little comfort in it.
But just as Baptism brought you safely through the waters, it will bring you through the fire as well, and you can leave this world in peace. “I KNOW that my Redeemer lives”… “Jesus loves me, this I know” … “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If anyone ever asks you that question, “Are you sure you’re going to heaven when you die?”, your answer should always be, “Yes! Absolutely! Jesus paid for all my sins on the cross. I’m a forgiven, baptized child of God. “Nothing can snatch me out of my Father’s hand.”
One of the questions are Catechism asks about Baptism is, “From where does Baptism get its power?” It’s only water, after all. Ah, but it’s the Word that makes the difference! It’s the Word added to the water that brings us the blessing. Again, it’s a gift of grace from a God who loves us, more than we can know.
What’s happening in our Gospel reading today is part of what is sometimes called “The Great Exchange.” God says in Isaiah, “For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.” Jesus, having no sin, gets into the water to be baptized for sinners like us, to give us the gift of a Baptism that has real and holy power. Jesus, the perfect Lamb, the perfect Son of God, dies on a cross for the sake of sinners like us. He dies on a cross that should have been mine, to pay for the things I in my sin have done. The Father gave Jesus as a ransom price, so that you and I could go free.
Why? Why would God do such an unfair, unjust thing? God says in Isaiah, “Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.” God loves us, that’s all.
There’s no use asking why, or how He could. Maybe it’s a simple as “a Father loves His children, imperfect though they may be.” Love is why Jesus got in the water to be baptized by John. Love is why Jesus died on a cross for sinful children like us. Love is why Jesus calls us to baptized. It is the Great Exchange: Into the water to die with Jesus, up from the water to live a new life with Him. Your Baptism should remind you that you ARE precious, and you ARE honored in God’s sight, and that He loves you. And THAT should certainly be affecting how you’re living your life today, and also how you interact with the people around you.
And Baptism, if you appreciate it and understand it and live in the every-day knowledge of it, should keep you free from fear. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you,” God says in Isaiah. That’s a phrase God repeats in Scripture over and over again. “I am with you.” I’m with you from the beginning, I’m with you today and always, and I’ll be with you when you die. “Do not let you hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid,” Jesus says. Once that Word-infused, grace-filled water is poured on your little head, you belong to the God of power, grace, and glory forever, and He’ll never let you go.
And in your Baptism, children of God, is hope for you and for your children. One of the beautiful things about Baptism is how very old it is. The ancient ritual, the water and the Word, has been passed down the generations since Jesus gave the command to “go and do it.” In different times and in different places, but at the heart of it, always the same. It’s been done in rivers and waters of every description, creeks and streams and ponds, in public baths and swimming pools. It’s been done in Christian homes, in great cathedrals, and in little churches like this one. It’s been done on battlefields, and in jails and prisons, and in hospitals and neonatal intensive care units – and always the blessed Sacrament is the same. It’s the water and the Word: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Nothing on earth or in hell can take away the hope and power that’s in it. The devil can’t stop it, and the governments of the world can’t ban it, although they continue to try.
God’s baptismal promise is right there in Isaiah: “I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."
John told the crowds that Jesus would come to baptize them “with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Lord, now fill us with that same fiery Spirit, the Spirit of faith and hope and love. As Heaven was opened when Jesus was baptized, Lord, now open Heaven for us. Good Holy Spirit, descend upon us in love. Father in Heaven, speak from Heaven and guide the steps of we Your baptized children, this day and always. The life we now live, O Lord, help us live it for You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.