Matthew 3:13-17<\/p>\n\n\n\n
January 12, 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Christmas, we celebrated when the Word became flesh and dwelled among us, full of grace and truth. Jesus comes home to be with us as we proclaimed last Sunday. Today we mark Christ\u2019s baptism. Jesus is baptized by John in the River Jordan not for the forgiveness of sins but to fulfill all righteousness. God\u2019s spirit descending like a dove and a voice proclaiming, \u201cThis is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Jesus\u2019 baptism, it was the moment of his commissioning to bring God\u2019s kingdom near. Jesus as Love Incarnate is intensified and empowered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, Jesus isn\u2019t the only baptized one who is here today. You, too, are baptized. You, too, have been marked and purposed to participate in God\u2019s kingdom project of incarnating love in this world and in the world to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our baptism, we repent and seek forgiveness and we, too, receive our identity as God\u2019s beloved in Christ. Other voices in this world want to define us, praise us, and call us worthwhile. But we all know so very well that just one criticism can reduce us to worry and to tears. But our identity as God\u2019s beloved is different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jesus was baptized, he had no accomplishments to warrant the words of praise, love, and identity that God spoke about him. Those words came from grace, and that grace, once given, is never taken back, either from him or from us. Remember when we used to use quality stationary that has a \u201cwater-marked\u201d like a seal embedded on the paper that cannot be removed? We are like that. We have this \u201cwater-marked\u201d on us when we were born and we can see it when we are baptized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a story of a woman struggling with mental illness and lupus who finally got enough courage to move from sitting on the steps outside the church to coming inside for worship. She joined a new members\u2019 class. When the pastor described baptism as the time in which God names her and tells her that she is \u201ca beloved and precious child of God, and beautiful to behold,\u201d she accepted the invitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two months later the pastor visited her in the hospital. She had been beaten up on the streets. Her face was so bruised he hardly recognized her. When she looked at her beaten face in a mirror, she turned to the pastor and said, \u201cGod is still working on me. If you come back tomorrow I\u2019ll be so beautiful it will take your breath away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baptism is a call from God to know who we are and to see others as God does, \u201cbeloved children of God, water-marked people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning of Baptism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a Baptist church, we probably know more about baptism than perhaps others in the larger Christian family. We practiced believers\u2019 baptism that emphasizes the requirement for each person to confess his or her sins and declare their belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in some churches that practice baptizing infants, most parents see the ritual as a cute thing we do to new babies. Some send invitations out. The baby is dressed up with ribbons and bows for a girl and even a little tie for a boy. After the child is baptized, everyone is smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But they don\u2019t realize that they have just killed off the child. They have taken a new life and ended that life so a better one can be lived. Basically, we are saying, \u201cLord, make this child dead to everything else but you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The smiling parents may have been dreaming that this baby might be in law school or in medical school. But at baptism, their dream in the Lord may be that if this child is to be a teacher in a poor school district or social worker helping homeless people or perhaps a pastor who is not as nearly treated as nice as I am, then they say to the Lord, let nothing stop that from happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We say to God, \u201cKill off anything in this child\u2019s future that is going to prevent him or her from being exactly who you created him or her to be. Preempt any family scripting, social conditioning, Chinese cultural expectations, household agenda, or outcome that stands in the way of this, your child from being anything\u2014anyone\u2014but yours alone.\u201d Most smiling parents don\u2019t know this when they bring their children to be baptized or dedicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the history of the church, there\u2019s been a saying, \u201cRemember your baptism and be thankful.\u201d If you were baptized as an infant, you probably have no memory of your baptism. Even when I was baptized as a high school student, I can hardly remember my baptism as well. We often say, \u201cDo you remember where you were when 9\/11 happened or when JFK was assassinated?\u201d When we do we also remember all of the emotions and meaning of what those events have on our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think that\u2019s what the church also means when it tells us to remember our baptism and be thankful. There is no greater comfort to the Christian, in times of testing and difficulty, than to remember your baptism and be thankful. Why? A major reason is that baptism is a sign that the Christian life isn\u2019t dependent upon what you do but is rather dependent upon what God has done for you in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice that in the story of Jesus\u2019 baptism that Jesus shows up on the banks of the Jordan River as a passive recipient of John\u2019s baptism. This is the first time in the gospel that we have seen Jesus in action and notice that he is not really in action, not preaching or healing, but only receiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n John the Baptist who seems to know who Jesus really is; is troubled by Jesus coming to him for baptism. Is this any way for a Messiah to act? Coming out here in the desert and subjecting himself to the baptism of this wild desert preacher?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus said that he does this to \u201cfulfill all righteousness.\u201d What is \u201crighteousness?\u201d In this instance, to be righteous means to submit to the will of God, to align oneself with God\u2019s intentions. And remember, this is what happened in your baptism. This was a public sign, just as Jesus\u2019 baptism was a public sign, of an intention to submit your life to God\u2019s desires and intentions for your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, the life you live is not your own. Remember, your life has been commandeered by the God who gave you life. Remember, God not only wants to give you life but also wants to give you meaning in your life. God wants to give you a vocation, a sense of direction, a part to play in the grand panorama of God\u2019s work in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is one of the reasons why we offer weekly worship of God because it is so easy, in your life in the world, to forget what really matters, to lose sight of who you really are and who you are meant to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You Are Valuable<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the beginning of this New Year, we confess that most people are like zombies\u2014the living dead. Zombies go around in an inward stupor, living only for themselves, wasting their lives on dead ends\u2014Gotta get the big house, the big title, the most things. Gotta get the most for me. Gotta squeeze all of the toothpaste that I can from this tube call life for me. Then they die. Or rather, their ultimate end becomes their final end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But not for us who have been called by God as the beloved children. If you have been claimed by God, then you are free. You are one of the truly alive people among a world of zombies. You don\u2019t have to waste your time existing for yourself. You are free to give yourself away in love. That is the only reason we are here and that is the only way we truly live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a TV show called, Antique Roadshow. People bring all sorts of things that they have found in their attics or picked up at yard sales hoping that these odds and ends might reap lots of money. They bring old jewelry, furniture, baseball cards, pictures and paintings, antique toys to these appraisers to see if these \u201cvaluables\u201d are worth anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is sad, but many people do this for most of their lives with their lives. They wait in line to be told what they are worth according to the values assigned by others. And the world loves to assign its value to us: Are you good looking? Do you measure up to that standard of value? Are you young or old? Are you smart? What is the size of your income or the size of your house or the location of your home or the type of occupation you have, and on and on and on. The values of the world are pointless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All those values imposed and cherished by the world don\u2019t matter one ounce with God. What matters with God is generosity, not acquisition; sharing, not consumption; service, not status. Lifting up those who are at the bottom of the ladder, not being on top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t need to waste your life straining and struggling in vain to increase your value. In your baptism, you have been claimed as God\u2019s own beloved child and as such you have infinite value\u2014not due to your own vain strivings, but by grace. The King has transformed you from pauper to prince or princess. You now have status in the Kingdom. You have a place in God\u2019s home. You are loved by God and no value assigned by any other entity in this world comes even close to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Baptist church historian, Bill Leonard, Dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School tells of his daughter Stephanie, a teenager \u201cwith special needs, learning and motor skill disabilities.\u201d One day she told her parents she wanted to be baptized. They took her to the pastor, confident he would know what to do. The pastor talked to Stephanie, but asked her no theological or biblical questions. He only wanted to know one thing: \u201cIf you receive baptism you are saying that you want to be a follower of Jesus. Do you want that?\u201d Stephanie did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bill Leonard said that we are all special needs persons, none of whom can \u201cconceptualize enough to make us worthy of God\u2019s grace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By your baptism thanks to grace, you can give up wasting your energy pursuing all of the world\u2019s false symbols of success. You may think that you are too young or have too many wrinkles; God loves you for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may think that you are not wealthy; but you are already infinitely rich in God\u2019s blessings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You might think that you haven\u2019t gotten very high on that success ladder but why would you need to climb that ladder when you are free to be redeemed, forgiven, loved by God sharing God\u2019s love with you and others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what does it look like to live that perfectly human life? Jesus shows us how to live that life\u2014a life of love lived in full fidelity to God and in full humility before others. What was Jesus\u2019 rank in society? He was from an unimportant town and a carpenter. Who did he hang out with? Jesus preferred the company of those who were least: the folks without money or standing; people who were shunned by proper society; sick beggars and bleeding women. He was willing to give his life for those social outcasts and downcasts. Jesus is willing to give his life for you and me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dangers of Baptism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our baptisms are no longer sentimental ceremonies with babies or simple faith statements of adults. It\u2019s not known for just wearing white robes and getting immersed. Baptism is not receiving the right hand of fellowship and a certificate. It\u2019s not even getting a beautiful calligraphy from Dr. Chuck regardless of how pretty it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead baptism is a dangerous and subversive thing, initiating us into the community who follows its Lord and Savior to death and the cross, first and foremost, before proceeding to new life, new covenant, and a new relationship with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baptism whether it\u2019s Jesus or ours anticipates a future that is still in process. Just as Jesus\u2019 baptism called him into struggle what was and what is to come, so ours calls us to struggle between the death that is and the life that is to come. We enter that struggle with confidence and hope, not in our ability to win that battle, but rather hoping in the one who fought that battle ahead of us and beckons us to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the cross, this symbol right here, the baptistery, tells us who we are; whose side we\u2019re on; what we are to stand for; what we are to oppose; and tells us who will finally win the battle at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember your baptism and be thankful that we belong to God. In every act and choice, word and moment, we are to live for God; we are to act selflessly and courageously so that others may live. We are to oppose any principality or power that obscures God\u2019s reign by hurting others or diminishing them. We are to do so confidently that in the end, God\u2019s way will prevail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No power\u2014not even death itself\u2014can stop God. It can\u2019t stop us either. By grace through baptism, we belong to God, and therefore we are free. So, remember your baptism and be thankful. Claim you freedom, share your love, and begin living your new life in the New Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Almighty God, we give thanks that in Jesus Christ, you called each of us to be part of your family, to witness to your work in our world, and to submit to your way for the righteous. Bring to mind the vows of our baptism and then give us a good portion of the Holy Spirit to enable us to keep those vows, courageously to follow you where you lead us, and obediently to serve you all our days. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matthew 3:13-17 January 12, 2014 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. At Christmas, we celebrated when the Word became flesh and