Sermon: January 7, 2024

“Well Pleased”
Matthew 2:1-12 (Epiphany Lesson), Mark 1:4-11 (Gospel Lesson)

This is one of those rare Sunday’s when we celebrate two Christian holiday’s on the same Sunday. Don’t ask me if it has ever happened before or will ever happen again, not to say that it hasn’t happened and can’t happen again, I quite simply don’t know. If it’s imperative that you know then you can Google it for yourself.

As I’ve already said, we are celebrating the Epiphany this morning, which actually happened yesterday, the 12th day of Christmas, and Baptism of the Lord Sunday. In a little while you will be given the opportunity to come forward and touch the baptismal water and take with you a little reminder that you are indeed a child of God and part of His family. But first, I’d like to speak a little to the visit of the Wise Men.

It was mentioned at the Youth Christmas Party that someone was blown away by the fact that the Wise Men were not a part of the Nativity Scene the night Jesus was born. Well, let me throw another one at you. They were not kings as in the song we’ve sung this morning, We Three Kings.

They were probably astrologers, hence the following of the star that rose in the east the night Jesus was born. Most scholars believe that it was two years later by the time they found Jesus. And of course, the old joke goes that if they had been women they would have stopped for directions, arrived much earlier, and brought more appropriate gifts like bottles, diapers, baby wipes, and probably a casserole or two.

We also don’t know for sure how many were in their little caravan. It is believed by scholars that there could have been more than just the three we recognize but we only recognize three because of the three gifts. And someone asked if we know their names; we do: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar.

The word Epiphany means the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi or Wise Men as we think of them. An epiphany is a sudden revelation or insight. It can be triggered by an object or occurrence and in the case of our Wise Men, it was the rising of the star in the east that pointed them on their way.

I guess our takeaway is the fact that these men made a long trip through unfamiliar territory, strangers in a strange land; to pay homage to a baby, born to be King. They left their home and their comfort zone to worship Jesus. They were wise to King Herod’s plot to eliminate Jesus; and I’m quite sure they did some testifying to their friends and relatives when they got back to where they came from.

Now, on to baptism. There’s a ridiculous story about a priest who was about to baptize a young child. He approached the father of the child and said solemnly, “Baptism is a serious step. Are you prepared for it?”
“I think so,” the young father replied. “My wife has made appetizers, and we have a caterer coming to provide plenty of cookies and cakes for all our guests.”
“I don’t mean that,” the priest responded. “I mean, are you prepared spiritually?” “Oh sure,” came the reply. “I’ve got a keg of beer and a case of whiskey.” Probably not the spirits that the priest had in mind.

Sam Houston was the first president of the Republic of Texas. It’s said he was a rather nasty fellow with a checkered past. Later in life Houston made a commitment to Christ and was baptized in a river. The preacher said to him, “Sam, your sins are washed away.” Houston replied, “God help the fish.”

Every time I read this Scripture, I can’t help but think of the movie, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and the scene where Delmar gets baptized. Maybe you’ve seen it. He comes up out of the water bolding proclaiming, “The preacher says I’m warshed of all my sins.” One of the other convicts, Pete, says, “What about the Piggly Wiggly you knocked off?” And Delmar responds, “Well, the preacher says I’m warshed of that too!”

I’m sure you’ve heard me say that Mark was a man of action—he was brief—and he wrote and told stories of urgency. One of his favorite words was: “immediately.” In Mark’s gospel you will find no birth stories—nothing about Joseph or Mary—and no genealogy of Jesus. Mark chose to begin his story with the appearance of John the Baptist.

In John’s ministry, baptism was a visible sign that a person had decided to change his or her life, giving up a sinful and selfish way of living and turning to God. John took a known custom and gave it new meaning.

Baptism is a ritual of submission and surrender. It’s an example of self-sacrifice that leads to resurrection. It’s us trusting in God and submitting to His will for our lives.

John said that he would baptize with water, but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit, sending the Holy Spirit to live within each believer. John’s baptism prepared folks to receive Christ’s message. It demonstrated the person’s repentance, humility, and willingness to turn from sin.

But, if John’s baptism was for repentance from sin, why was Jesus baptized? While even some of our greatest prophets had to confess their sinfulness and need for repentance, Jesus didn’t need to admit sin—he was sinless. Which is one of the reasons why John Wesley considered infants to be the perfect candidates for baptism as we have celebrated this morning. Even though we are born into a world of sin, an infant, like Jesus, is without sin.

Jesus was baptized for the following reasons: (1) to mark the beginning of His public ministry and His mission to bring the message of salvation to all people; (2) to demonstrate that He truly was God’s Son and that God approved and endorsed His mission; (3) to show support for John’s ministry; (4) to identify with our humanness and sin; and (5) to give us an example to follow.

When Jesus came up out of the water that day, Mark writes: “He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven” Here, for the first time, we see all three members of the Trinity together—God the Father (voice), God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit (the dove). And this scene also points us forward to the heavens being torn open at the Jesus’ Crucifixion.

In closing, Sarah Jo Sarchet is a Presbyterian pastor in Chicago. A ten-year-old boy in her congregation named Cameron walked into her office and said he needed to talk to her. Fresh from soccer practice, and wearing his Cincinnati Reds baseball cap, he had a request for her. “I’d like to be baptized,” he said. “We were learning about Jesus’ baptism in Sunday School. The teacher asked the class who was baptized, and all the other kids raised their hands. I want to be baptized too.”

Using her best pastoral care tone of voice, she said, “Cameron, do you really want to be baptized because everyone else is?” His freckles winked up at her and he replied, “No, I want to be baptized because it means I belong to God.”

She was touched by his understanding. “Well, then,” she said, “How about this Sunday?” His smile turned to concern, and he asked, “Do I have to be baptized in front of all those people in church? Can’t I just have a friend baptize me in a river?” She asked where he came up with that idea. “Well, Jesus was baptized by his cousin in a river, wasn’t he?”

Caught off guard, she conceded, “You have a point. But, if a friend baptized you in the river, how would the church recognize it?” Realizing this was a teachable moment, she climbed up on her foot stool to reach for her Presbyterian Book of Order that was located on the highest shelf. But before she placed her hand on the book, he responded. “I guess by my new way of living.”

Sarah Jo nearly fell off the foot stool and left the Book of Order on the shelf. Cameron’s understanding was neither childish nor simple. It was profound. Baptism calls us to a new way of living.

“And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son (or daughter), whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’”

Thanks be to God!