Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
My brother and sister-in-law and niece and nephew got a dog a few years ago. Rex is an Irish Setter-Golden Retriever mix. They got him when he was a few weeks old, and I remember meeting Rex as a cute little puppy. About a month went by until I saw him again, and I was amazed that by then he looked like a full grown dog. In what seemed like no time at all, this little guy became a giant. He still had a lot more growing to do and was still a puppy at heart. But I was simply amazed at how quickly that baby dog grew up!
In this morning’s Gospel reading, I think Luke wants us to be amazed with how Jesus is all grown up. This is our first encounter Jesus since his childhood. And Luke wants us to be impressed by who this boy has become. Luke wants us to remember the baby in the manger, the twelve year old boy in the temple, and to be happy seeing that this child has now grown up into someone very special.
If we can think of the church year as a journey in itself, this season after Epiphany, which we’re in now, is meant to be a time of getting to know the adult Jesus. As Rev Ryan said last week it is a season of learning how God is manifested in the world through Jesus. This season is a time we hear about the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry. A time when our Gospel lessons focus on some of the firsts of Jesus’ ministry. There’s his baptism today, and coming up his first miracle, his first sermon, and some of his core teachings from Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount. These weeks set the tone for Jesus’ ministry, introduce us to the grown-up Jesus, who he is, and what his life is about.
In this passage we hear loud and clear the voice of God declaring who Jesus is: “You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” Jesus is the Son of God, the Beloved One, the one John said was coming after him. Scholars point out that in this scene the entire Trinity is present. We have God the Father speaking from heaven. We have, of course, Jesus the Son of God, praying after his baptism. And we have God the Holy Spirit descending in bodily form like a dove. This scene not only shows us something about the importance of Jesus, but also reveals something important about who God is as Trinity, God as three in one.
Theologians often point out that God’s activity in the world involves creation, redemption, and sanctification. In the beginning God created the universe. Two thousand years ago Jesus died and rose again in order to redeem the world. And today the Holy Spirit descends upon us and works to purify us, heal us, and make us holy. This is known as God’s work of sanctification. Sometimes Christians associate the Father with creation, Jesus with redemption, and the Holy Spirit with sanctification. But really all three persons of the Trinity are involved in all three activities on behalf of the world.
And when we look at today’s text and consider what it reveals about the life and mission of Jesus, I think it really highlights God’s work of sanctification in us. As we get to know Jesus in this season after Epiphany, we come to see that his mission has to do with purification and healing and transformation. Right off the bat here in Jesus’ adult life, John the Baptist reveals to us the purpose of Jesus’ ministry. Before he even baptizes Jesus, John says that he baptizes with water, but that the Coming Messiah will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Now baptism existed as an ancient Jewish purification ritual. It had different meanings to different groups. Human beings have always used water to physically clean ourselves, and water cleaning rituals were common in the ancient world. Some water purification rituals that involve spiritual cleaning that are sometimes considered precursors to baptism existed as far back as ancient Egypt. Now John the Baptist understood his baptism as being one of repentance and forgiveness of sins. His baptism was more than physical cleaning with water, it was spiritual cleaning with water. But he tells his listeners that one is coming who will baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire! This Coming One will cleanse them not only with simple water, but will cleanse the people so thoroughly that it will be like a farmer burning chaff with unquenchable fire.
This image of fire brings us back to the idea of sanctification that’s so important to Jesus’ mission. In modern times fire is seen as a destructive force, especially now as we witness the terrible California wildfires and hold in prayer all those affected. In ancient times fire was seen as potentially destructive, but also understood as potentially purifying. A few weeks ago during Advent, we considered John’s words and I shared about the work of ancient metallurgy and the refining process of purifying precious metals. John uses this image of fire to demonstrate that Jesus’ mission is not to merely brush off some spiritual dirt, but to thoroughly and completely cleanse us from all sin and impurity. It’s like the difference between rinsing some dirt off a stone and purifying it of all impurities in the fire of metalworker’s furnace. John is preparing the way for is One who will truly purify the people.
This purification is fundamental to Jesus’ mission in the world. Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom is the alignment of heaven and earth, a new reality manifesting in the world. A reality fully present in Jesus himself, which he invites his disciples to live into as well, and which the church is called to embody in the world today. And in order to manifest the Kingdom of God, in order for the divine presence to flow in and through us, we need to be cleansed, sanctified, purified of all the separates us from God. And it’s true that sometimes this process of sanctification can feel like being thrown into the fire. The medieval mystic St. John of the Cross wrote about the “dark night of the soul” and saints and mystics throughout the ages have understood that this purification can be a painful process.
Martin Luther wrote a lot about sanctification. He taught that it is not our being holy or sanctified that saves us, but that being saved by Christ will bring about the process of sanctification. The process of being made holy. We don’t have to be pure and holy to be in relationship with God; rather, our relationship with God comes first and will itself make us pure and holy. Luther described life as a journey of growth, healing, and transformation saying:
This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness; not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is going on, this is not the end but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.[1]
The prophet Isaiah also understood this process of purification, what sometimes feel like being thrown into the fire. In one of my favorite verses of the Bible God spoke these words through Isaiah: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
So we know that though the process may be painful, God is with us. Though the dark night of the soul may seem confusing, chaotic, and scary, God is with us. Though this life may be full of challenges, God is with us. Though it may feel like we’ve been thrown into the fire, it is only our chaff that is burned, our sin and selfishness, so that our grain- that Christ in each of us- may be harvested. Though we may be baptized with fire, through it all God is with us.
This baptism of Holy Spirit and of fire that John preached about can be painful. But we are not in it alone. And it’s not up to us to make it through by ourselves. It is clear that the work of sanctification is God’s work: our journey of God at work in us.
That is why Jesus was born. That is why Jesus was baptized. And that is why God calls each of us as beloved daughters and sons of God in the sacrament of Holy Baptism. We are redeemed and called as children of God. And we are sanctified, healed and made holy through the Holy Spirit’s work in us. As we live this life, and as we move through this season of the church year, let us keep in mind the work God is doing to heal us, purify us, and mature us into the grown-up children of God we were created to be.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pastor Brian | Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 | Baptism of Our Lord
[1] Luther, M. (1958). Luther's works, Volume 32: Career of the reformer II. (H. T. Lehmann, Trans., G. W. Forell, Ed.). Fortress Press. (Original work published 1520).
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