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3 Advent
December 11, 2005
Sermon by Rev. Peggy Tuttle, Interim Rector
Readings
I love being an Episcopalian! But sometimes it does put us out of step with the rest of the world! For example, beginning with Halloween, everywhere we go there are Christmas decorations and Bing Crosby wailing away about wanting a white Christmas. But leading up to Christmas, we Episcopalians observe Advent and sing Advent hymns not Christmas carols. And just as the liturgy of the Episcopal Church is getting into Christmas, it is over almost everywhere else. And we are “out of step” with society. By the time we get around to singing Christmas carols most of you are sick of Christmas.
Every year I watch for the annual Christmas letter from my friend Mary Beth. She always has a wise nugget to share from one of her sons, both mentally challenged and both now in their late 30s. These young men have always been out of step with society but they always have something to teach me.
In her letter from Christmas of 2002 Mary Beth writes:
Aren’t we glad that the election is over? Whew. The weekend before the election, Jack told me that he saw a debate between the candidates for governor of Oklahoma on TV. He didn’t catch their names. I asked him who won, and he answered, “The other guy.”
My sentiments exactly.
Living in a world that seems to be marching to a different drum can be difficult at best. At times, it wears me down, but I must admit that at times it energizes me.
In John’s gospel for today, we hear the story of John baptizing many people at Aenon because water was abundant there. John is clearly a man out of step with society. He wears those strange clothes, has a strange diet, and predicts that another is coming whose shoes he is not worthy to untie. And then He comes. Jesus, that is. Jesus comes right down from Nazareth. John baptizes Jesus and it changes their lives forever. And Jesus is forever out of step with the rest of the world.
When John baptizes Jesus, a voice from heaven declares him the beloved. Although not in our reading today we know what happened next. “And immediately the spirit drove him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.”
Next Sunday Elizabeth Anne Hartlieb will be baptized here and on Christmas morning, twins, Chase Walter and David Eaton Baumgarten are to be baptized. These children are being presented by their parents for baptism. These baptisms will forever change the lives of all involved. For the parents and sponsors it means they are committing themselves to a lifetime of shaping the world around the one being baptized. It means they are devoted to creating a spiritual cocoon around the one being baptized.
Let me be clear about this. This is not a task to be taken lightly! It puts us out of step with the rest of the world. It means that financial security is not as important as spiritual security. It means that professional success is not as important as learning how to pray. Not easy tasks. I don’t know about you but I’m not so eager to give up my financial security nor my professional success! But then God knows that. In the midst of temptations in the wilderness there were angels ministering to Jesus.
Temptations await us at every turn of the road. It’s not easy to march to the beat of a different drummer.
The difference for us, and the rest of the world, is that we have those same angels ministering to us. It is a time of decision making for us. We can decide to go it alone and hope for the best or we can call on those angels to help us.
Times of decision can be very difficult, particularly when the choices we have to make may affect our lives for years to come, or even for as long as we live. Such choices are the cause of much stress and anxiety.
When Jesus was baptized by John he was probably thirty years old. He was at an age when many of us wrestle with life changing decisions, personal and professional. Jesus was feeling called to do something. We can assume that developing in his mind was the vision he would later call the kingdom of God. This vision, perhaps the ultimate vision that has taken shape in human consciousness, would mean pursuing something tantalizing and elusive. Probably there were times of great frustration for Jesus, and the immensity of the vision refused to be pinned down in neat categories. Being human, he needed time for the vision to become clear.
He knew that John the Baptizer was addressing crowds and baptizing many. It wasn’t easy for Jesus to decide to go and listen to John and seek baptism from him. What if John’s vision of the coming society was flawed? Could Jesus risk a false start to his own career? Any approach to John, particularly accepting baptism at his hands, would have to be taken in full public view. Jesus must have spent much time in prayer for guidance, taken many walks in the hills surrounding Nazareth, and perhaps talked with a few trusted friends.
John was calling people to commit themselves to his vision. Like everyone trying to probe the future, he could not be specific. He could not point to a certain kind of society and say, “That’s what I want to build.” All he could say was if people want a transformed society, they have to commit themselves to lives of integrity. We know that John addressed various kinds of people and called them to lives of integrity and self-discipline. This must have made sense to Jesus for he makes the decision to go and offer himself for baptism. Following his baptism Jesus experiences a deep sense of guidance and inner peace. He chose to be baptized and it changed his life forever.
For us, too, there is something highly significant about making a visible commitment to Christ. Baptism signifies that fence sitting has ended. The freedom of being uncommitted is over. Wondering where you stand, and confusion about who you are and who directs your life, are ambiguities that are no longer lurking in the shadows. Whereas, before, there has been only smoke, now there is also fire. Allegiance is made public, and solidarity with others who profess Christ Jesus is made manifest. Our baptism is our epiphany—our showing forth—in response to God’s showing forth in Christ.
The word “religion” comes from the same Latin root as the word “ligament,” which means, “to bind.” In baptism, we are bound to Christ and to our sisters and brothers in Christ. It is the “baptismal bond” that occupies the core of our Christian identity and ministry. We are marked as one of Christ’s own forever.
As in any relationship, if this bond is not nurtured, it
atrophies. The way it is awakened and nourished is by hearing the voice
from above, “You are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased,” echoed
within the community below. That is our call. We are to be the hands,
the heart and the presence of God with the baptized echoing God’s words
as we welcome the newly baptized into the household of God and say to
them, “You are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased.” Amen.