Before each chapel service, my seminary president, Dr. Leonard Sweet, would greet us from the pulpit with these words, “Good morning, church!” I always thought that was a great way to begin a worship service. Reminding all of us of who we are.
We are the church of Jesus Christ. And this must mean something to us, otherwise we wouldn’t be here this morning. This is who we are. It’s what we do.
After the birth story and the story of the wisemen in Matthew’s Gospel, we don’t hear from Jesus again until he comes to John to be baptized.
Baptism. We read this scripture passage, and we wonder why on earth, Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, would need to be baptized.
Even John has problems with this because he tells Jesus, “I think we might have this backwards. Aren’t you supposed to baptize me?” And then Jesus tells John why he was right the first time. Jesus wants to be baptized so that he will be able to fulfill all righteousness.
Baptism, for Jesus, isn’t primarily about getting cleansed from sin, since he was totally sinless. For Jesus, it was more about fulfilling all righteousness. But what does that mean? The word, “righteousness” has a heaviness to it. What does it mean to fulfill all righteousness?
The word, “righteousness” isn’t so much about you and me being moral and nice people who do good things for others, although that is an important dimension of it.
Righteousness, according to the Bible has a far richer meaning. It means to live in a covenant relationship with God in which we participate in God’s kingdom of love, justice, equality, and healing for our broken and hurting world. God’s righteousness is about making this world new again the way it was always meant to be. That idea of God’s righteousness is so much larger than our more individualist understanding of that word.
So, when Jesus offers us his personal life mission statement at his baptism by saying that he has come to fulfill all righteousness, he is saying that he has come to launch this massive Kingdom of God mission in our world. That’s the larger meaning of what it means to be baptized.
A lot is at stake when we are baptized. Baptism is the beginning of allowing God to have his way with us. Baptism is a sign of how God wants you and me to let go of our white knuckled grip on our world views, our biases, our assumptions, and allow God to have his way with us.
In other words, baptism is not for the faint of heart. If we feel a little hesitation about being baptized, that’s actually OK because it is a big deal.
The most memorable baptism I have ever conducted was early on in my pastoral ministry. I was to baptize a six-year-old child. I remember meeting earlier that week with the parents and their child in the sanctuary to explain the meaning of baptism. This six-year-old was just old enough to understand some basic thoughts about baptism, and so I tried my best.
I have found that it always helps to actually show the child the baptismal font and show them the water so that they know a little of what is going to happen. And so, I had this six-year-old boy come up to see the water, and I explained that I would put some water on his head. He actually seemed very excited about this whole baptism thing.
Now, as a pastor, I have faced challenges here and there. Budget deficits. Controversial issues. Relational conflicts. But nothing had prepared me for what I was about to encounter that morning in worship.
The first indication that I knew something might go wrong was when the six-year-old didn’t want to come forward with his parents when it was time for the baptism. He had his arms turn into spaghetti, you know what I mean? He made his arm really loose making it really difficult for his mom to lead him to the front of the church.
So, she had to pick him up. Miraculously, they made it to the baptism font but he was squirming and crying for dear life.
Knowing that I was working with very limited time, I buzzed through the baptismal questions as if I was an auctioneer at a sale. “Brothers and sisters in Christ: Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are initiated into Christ’s holy church. We are incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit. All this is God’s gift, offered to us without price.”
Buzzed through the baptismal questions at world record speed. As I began to dip my hand into the water, the six-year-old managed to make his escape by running back to the pew where they had been seated for the service.
With my hand still dipped in the water, I looked at the mother and she looked at me. And I quietly asked her if we should maybe try this later, maybe we could sing a hymn or something.
I just want you to know that I have never seen a more determined look on the face of a mother in my life. She calmly walked down the chancel steps and headed to the end of their pew where her little boy was now seated.
As she reached her hand toward his hand, the six-year-old made his way toward the other end of the pew toward his grandparents who were seated in that same pew.
Before the mom could make it to the other side of the pew, this little boy wiggled away from grandma and grandpa and darted down the long middle aisle toward the back of the sanctuary.
Did I mention how determined this mother was? God bless her. This mother runs at full speed down the middle aisle and catches up to him just before he was about to leave the sanctuary. She scoops him up in her arms with such gracefulness that we could all tell she had probably done this many times before, and brings her six-year-old boy back to me and to the father.
She looked at me and said, “Go on.” And I proceeded to baptize this six-year-old boy in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
This is why I believe in infant baptism. It’s so much easier.
That memorable baptism has given me a deeper understanding of what is involved when we let go of our white knuckled grasp on the old to make room for the new thing that God wants to do in us.
To be baptized is to take on Jesus’ personal mission statement which is to fulfill all righteousness. To care about the things that Jesus cares about. To do what Jesus wants us to do. To be open to God’s transformative grace in our day to day living.
I often wonder if that six-year-old little boy has any memory of his baptism that day. It sure has left an impression on me, reminding me again and again, to let go of my white-knuckle grip and allow God to continue to shape and mold me into the person he is calling me to be.
Fulfilling all righteousness by being part of Jesus’ mission in offering God’s healing, restorative, and redeeming gift of grace in our broken and hurting world is not for the faint of heart. Our baptism will remind us of this mission again and again.
It will challenge us to let got of our white knuckled grip on the things that keep us from being faithful to Christ. It will prompt us to respond to God’s calling to leave our comfort zones and step out in faith in ways we never imagined all for the sake of God’s kingdom and the fulfilling of all righteousness.
It will force us to rethink our long-held beliefs because we are now marching to the beat of a different drummer. The kind of righteousness Jesus’ has in mind will always challenge and transform us.
There is a famous tapestry from the 11th century which depicts the invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Bishop Odo, who was William’s brother is portrayed in this scene as prodding the troops forward with a large spear. The Latin inscription on this tapestry says, “This is Bishop Odo comforting his troops.”
The old English word, “comfort” is from the Latin phrase, “with strength.” It has the meaning of putting courage into someone. I have never associated the word, “comfort” with being prodded by a spear until I came across this tapestry.
I wonder if this use of the word, “comfort,” is some of the meaning of what it means to be baptized. In our baptism, God “comforts us” [Insert Air Quotes] by putting a little courage into us to live out the world changing mission God has given us.
No wonder there are times when we want to dart out of the sanctuary because deep down, we know that change doesn’t come easily. We wonder what this new life in Christ will mean for us. We want to be part of this wonderful mission of Jesus, but our our white knuckles won’t seem to let go of the safe and familiar.
I was told that I cried at my baptism when I was just a few months old. Baptism isn’t for the faint of heart. And yes, there are times when I don’t want to let go of my tight grip and be open to the new way that God wants to work in and through me.
Today, we are invited to renew our baptism. To let go so that we can be part of Jesus’ mission of bringing transformation to our community and world. To let go and be intentional in allowing God to guide, lead, encourage, and prod us to live out our faith.
As we sing hymns together, come as you feel led by Jesus and remember your baptism. Come up the middle aisle. You are invited to touch the water in the bowl as a way to remember your baptism. And you are invited to take one of the small stones in that bowl of water as a reminder of this day of renewal.
This is a day to let go of our white-knuckle grip and step out in faith in being part of God’s in-breaking kingdom of love, justice, and redemption.
As we sing together, come as you feel led and remember your baptism.
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