Baptism of our Lord

One of the things that I like to joke about is that in seminary I had to take remedial church music.   I didn’t really,  but  it’s a funny way to help people understand that I don’t have a musical bone in my body.   Even though I didn’t take remedial church music, but I did get tutored every Wednesday afternoon by the music professor. You see one of the course requirements for Church Music was that you had sing the Sursum Corda for a grade.  That’s the part at the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer that goes—“the Lord be with you and also with you.  Lift up…"

Anyway for a whole year I met on Wednesday afternoons with the music professor for voice lessons  as she tried to get me ready for singing the sursum corda.   We didn’t get very far, I tried and finally at the end of the year she said, “Sean—I’m going to give you an A on the sursum corda because you have tried so hard.”

There was one day that really stuck out. I showed up at her office  for my lesson I found the door was slightly ajar when I knocked—she was talking on the phone when she waved me in.  As I was standing there waiting for her to finish up her conversation I looked at the certificates and diplomas hanging on her wall— up on the wall were her  masters degree, her ph.d. and several other certificates were all hung in nice frames on here and there in the midst of all her diplomas was this small framed certificate—it was old and yellowing and a  little tattered. 

As I leaned in to get a closer look—I realized framed among all of her profession accomplishments was her baptismal certificate.   When she got off the phone I asked about it. I was floored by what she said ---that is what gives me the authority to do what I do.    I thought what about the PH.D, what about all of those certificates in Sacred music.

  

I may not have learned a lot of church music—but that day-- I learned a lot of sacramental theology.  As I’ve reflected on that experience again and again over the last 10 years—I’ve come to learn that baptism is –it’s the place where we get our start—place where we get our divine commission—where we get the authority  to be disciples.

Today we’ve stumbled across the baptism of Jesus and I am sure that many of  us may wonder like John does—why does Jesus need  to be baptized.

 Isn’t he God? Yes. 

But he’s also human— and sometimes I like to think that maybe Jesus just didn’t have his act together--- what was it—thirty when he began -  stumbled around trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing--maybe he need that moment to commit his life  to God.

Of course the story tells us he gets more than he bargained for--- in this incredible moment the Heaven are split open the spirit descends and God declares “This is my beloved—with him I am well pleased.”  It is where God commits  Jesus in that moment.  

This story helps me to see that Baptism—and in some way all the  sacraments are these divine containers where the holy resides and gets poured out into our lives—that baptism that sacraments remind us that God is committed to us 100 percent. 

I wonder what it’d be like  for us to see all of the sacraments -the water of baptism—the bread and wine of Eucharist as divine container where God breaks into our lives--- to see that when we get down on our knees right there we have our own Jordan river experiences where we are reminded that  we are beloved—where we are told thing like I am committed to you and I am going to change the world through you. 

To think that God invests in us like he invested in Jesus that day on his baptism—is pretty powerful- it’s pretty special to think that we have a divine commission—to join God in his healing of the world—to join God in his work— it’s pretty special to think that the spirit that was imparted that day— is imparted to us comes and is part of our lives—giving us the same strength that Jesus has been given—to do the holy work we are called, to face all the difficulties of life—to share the love we have been given. 

God is present to us today—God will step into our lives right down there at that rail—I wonder what he will say— Maybe God will say you are my beloved, Maybe I am committed to you, maybe I will change the world through you—maybe you are forgiven.  

Open your hearts—God is speaking –I’m pretty sure the roof will not come off this place—but God may just whisper something into our lives.  

AMEN