This was yesterday's sermon. I left all of it even the parts that were more just for that particular congregation. Also, I tend go ad-lib a lot so it's missing a little here and there and probably has some that I chose to leave out when the time came. The scriptures were Isaiah 43:1-7, Acts 8:14-17 and Luke 3:15-17, 21-22.
Connected
So, I was thinking this week, we finished our service last
week almost 30 minutes early, so… How
about I just add that time on this week?
I don’t want you all to feel cheated.
Just kidding. You have
no worries. I’ve never had a sermon last
longer than 20 minutes and honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever had one last that
long. Besides, this week’s message has
really had me stumped. I think it’s
because this is my third January preaching and so I’ve written a sermon on the
topic for today, the Baptism of our Lord Sunday. The scriptures are a little different of
course but I’ve really struggled this week in preparing for today but hopefully,
this is it, hopefully, this is the message I’ve been praying for God to give me
to share with you.
Would you please pray with me? May the words of my mouth and the meditations
of all of our hearts and minds be acceptable you, O Lord, our rock and our
redeemer. Amen.
Our reading from Luke this morning tells us of John the Baptist
telling the people of the one who would come and be mightier than him, the one
who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. And then we get to hear about Jesus’
baptism. I want to read that part to you
again if you don’t mind.
“Now when all the people were baptized, and when
Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,
and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in
bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son,
the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
Now, a couple of things stood
out for me. One was that he wasn’t
baptized alone. Others were baptized
there with him. Another was that Luke’s
version of the story says, “and he was praying…” In both and Matthew and Mark, it says as
Jesus came out of the water the Holy Spirit came upon him. But here in Luke, he says after he was
baptized and was praying the Holy Spirit came down. I think that is
interesting. Now, many people think that
his baptism marks the beginning of his ministry so I have to wonder, if in his
knowing that if he wasn’t praying for his Father’s help, for God’s guidance,
his blessing, even his approval as he was starting out on his journey of
ministry. Then at that moment, the
heavens open and the Holy Spirit descended on him as a dove and a voice came
from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Could that be an answer to his
prayer? The Holy Spirit comes upon him so
that he would not be alone on this journey, so the he would have guidance and
help on his way and then he receives his father’s blessing and approval. You are precious to me son, I believe in
you. You’ve got this.
This actually kind of reminded
me our reading from Acts. If we go back
a few chapters to chapter 2, we read of the Holy Spirit coming and filling the
disciples as they begin their ministries.
Then in our reading from today, we read of Philip preaching in Samaria
and they were receiving the Word of God.
So John and Peter go and pray for them and come and lay their hands on
them and the Holy Spirit comes to them.
They are not alone. They are
loved.
Now in our Baptism and
Confirmation services it says that Baptism is the starting point of our a life
of discipleship. It could be said it’s
the starting point of our ministries. I
know, some of you are probably thinking you aren’t in ministry but if you have
heard me preach before you know that we are all ministers, we all have the
ministry of loving each other, of nurturing each other, of sharing God’s love
and message to everyone we meet. So,
yes, we can think of our Baptism and confirmation as the starting point of our
ministry just as it was for Jesus. This
can all be pretty scary at times.
Our reading in Isaiah today
tells us some really comforting things.
It says that God has called us by name and that we are his, just as he
called Jesus son, he calls us sons and daughters. It says that he will be with us and that he
IS with us. It says that we are precious
in his sight and that he loves us.
Again, just like he told Jesus he was beloved, we too are loved and
precious to him. And just like Jesus,
through baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit so that we are not alone, so that
we have guidance, and help in our lives and ministries. Which, well, as Christians, our lives are ministries.
I think this is a great time for us to remember and focus
again on our Baptism or Confirmation.
Our baptism or confirmation is the starting point of a life of
discipleship, a life of ministry. It’s a
reminder of the connectedness of all Christians. It is by water and the spirit. We are connected
to Jesus, to the apostles, and to all those who have gone before us.
Now, at our baptism or at our confirmation we renounce
evilness, we reject evil and repent. We promise to put our whole trust in him, and
we profess faith in Christ. We promise to be faithful and to represent Christ
in the world. There’s our ministry. We
promise to nurture one another in Christian faith and life and we receive the
Holy Spirit..
I think we often think on these promises when we are witnessing
a baptism or someone joining the church but we don’t really think on them on a
regular basis and I really think we should.
We should take time to think on these promises to reflect on
how we are doing in keeping them and then work on doing just that. Let’s take a moment and close our eyes and
think back on your baptism, or if you were an infant or can’t remember your
baptism, think of your confirmation or a baptism you have witnessed. Be present there, remember the water, can you
hear it as it was poured into the font? Or
as it dripped from the hand of the minister as he scooped some up? Feel the water and the hands of the minister
on your head or your shoulder. Think of
the words that were said. Hear them. I must mentioned some of them. Feel
the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God wash over, and fill you. Now think about how Jesus experienced this
very same thing, as did all the saints before us. (PAUSE)
Honestly, until I was writing this, I had never thought about it like
that. We are all connected through the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God with
us, and in us. Take time often to listen
carefully and you’ll hear quiet whispers of love and guidance every day of your
lives. You’ll feel his tiny nudges to
spend time with a sick friend or a grieving neighbor instead of worrying about the
messy house or the work that needs to be done.
You’ll hear him in the voice of a child begging for one more story. When you are fearful of the unknown, of the
world and all it’s confusion, know that he is with you and that he loves you,
remember that he said, Do Not Be Afraid.
Do Not Fear. Remember to put your
whole trust in him, to rely fully on him in all things. Remember that you are not alone and that we
are all connected in ministry through baptism and the Holy Spirit.
First, my DD was accepted as an apprentice in a dance company nearby which is very exciting! It will be a lot driving and sitting for me for a bit while I make sure she is ready to drive on the interstate and in downtown traffic but it's worth it for her to get the experience. I did find a little coffee shop near the studio so I maybe spending some time there for a few weeks. Hey! Maybe it will get me writing again. :)
Storytelling. I find it very interesting and could see myself possibly doing this outside of the course.
