Who knows your name? Who calls you by name? When we leave the security of our friends and family we often have to prove who we are. This is the case when staying in a hotel or boarding a plane.
Isaiah reminds us that God is the one who calls us by name and claims us. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus is claimed as " Beloved son of God, before He has healed anyone or performed any miracles. This naming comes as a gift to Jesus. For us, too, before we do anything, before we can be faithful, God lays claim on our lives. In a world where no one knows your name, the church is the one place where everyone knows everyone's name, for we are all children of God, marked by the cross of Christ forever, even without a proper I.D. TO PROVE IT. But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: " fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. (Is. 43:1-7).
TEXT: The people were full of anticipation, wondering in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. This popular conception concerning John the baptizer, closely resembles that in John (1, 20,25). "And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ). And they asked him, and said unto him, Why are you baptizing then, if thou be not the Christ.Are you Elijah? I am baptizing with water, but there is one who is mightier than I. I am not fit to loosen His sandal strap. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and in Fire. When all the people were baptized, and Jesus was at prayer, after likewise Jesus being Baptized, the skies opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in visible form like a dove. A voice from Heaven was heard to say:" You are my beloved Son. On you my favor rests. Remember, Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus to Adam in order to identify Jesus with all humanity, and Matthew (1-16) traces it to Abraham to identify Jesus with Israel.
The Baptism of our Lord cannot help but recall our own and all baptismal blessings. we recall and celebrate our adoption as daughters and sons, the Gift of the "Holy Spirit" and the promise of almighty God when we "pass through the waters"... the rivers... fire. On this day the heavens will open again, for this assembly, and we receive the gift of the beloved Son of God in bread and wine.
The servant of the Lord is a person like Jonah.
For many years this Pastor needed someone to Identify to sustain and inspire him. For many years he identified with a man by the name of Jonah. The word of the Lord came to Jonah and ask that He go to Nineveh, which was the capital of the Assyrian empire. He was to go and proclaim the word of the Lord at this place. Jonah went down to Joppa where he found a ship which was about to depart for Tarshish, which was located in the opposite direction. Out in the Mediterranean Sea a storm came upon them. The crew believed that someone was responsible for this tragedy. They cast lots and it fell upon Jonah. The sailors asked him, " who are you"? He replied, " I am a Hebrew and I Fear the Lord who created the heavens and the earth." Then the sailors asked a further question: " What shall we do with you?" Jonah suggested that they cast him into the sea. This they did and the storm began to subside. A monster devoured Jonah and from its belly he cried unto the Lord, for he had been in the belly for three days,
He experienced deliverance when the monster spewed forth Jonah at the place from which they had departed. The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. ( You bet he listen). Jonah went to Nineveh and proclaimed the message about impending judgment. The King and people of
Nineveh covered themselves with with sackcloth and sat in ashes. God repented and the dramatic judgment did not take place. Jonah was disappointed, He did not like the people of Nineveh, He wanted them destroyed. He did his work, and now He was kicking against the purpose of God which expressed itself as "Grace rather than Judgment."
In his despondency, Jonah sat near Nineveh in a booth, and a plant grew up which shaded him. In this comfort, Jonah's spirits were revived. Then a worm destroyed the plant, and Jonah began to feel sorry for himself; he wanted to die. The Lord spoke this word of rebuke to him: " You feel sorry for the plant; ought not I the Lord, have have mercy on Nineveh."
Jonah had taught the word of the Lord correctly and it had worked. At the same time he grumbled and kicked against the purpose of God. This was a contradiction in his existence, and this is why this "Pastor" found it easy to identify with Jonah. This pastor seek to do the Lord's work, and at the same time seek to rebel against him. In this gospel text, we meet John the Baptist, Jesus and the author Luke. John the Baptist was the last of the prophets. He stood at the end of one age and was involved in one kind of time. We might call it B.C. time, It is the kind of time which which began with Adam in his rebellion and is continued by this "Pastor" caught up in his rebellion. John the Baptist spoke to a man caught up in B.C. time This kind of time is still with us. We are all caught up in it. John sensed the mystery of the person in whose presence he stood. He went so far as to say he didn't feel worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. This means that he did not feel worthy to receive Jesus as his guest.
John had a intuition that this Jesus would initiate a new kind of time called A.D. (year of our Lord).
Luke believed that something new was at hand in the person of Jesus and was breaking in upon them. Luke also believed that there was something ultimate about this new reality. John the Baptist expressed this conviction in terms of fire and winnowing fork. The farmers in Palestine would toss the broken strands of wheat in the air with his fork. The heavier grain would fall to the ground and the wind would blow the chaff to the edge of the threshing area. The chaff would be gathered and burned by fire. There is something about these expressions which suggests that our whole self must be involved with this new reality. Our Lord is the speaker in Luke 12:49 and 50 with the selection of these words: "I came to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it were already kindled." I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed. Luke relates this new reality to a fire which is cast upon the earth and to the "Baptism of Jesus".Upon the end of the age.
We might ask when and how did Jesus identify himself with his mission and his servant from Isaiah.
At his baptism, there was a theophany ( divine revelation) and disclosure to the people who were struggling to understand what was happening. A dove descended from heaven as a sign and symbol of the Holy Spirit, and a voice was heard from heaven. The words of this voice are a quotation from the book of Isaiah (43:1-7). The Hebrew phrase in whom " my soul delights is translated in Greek by the words in whom " I am well please." This is my beloved Son is a quotation from "Psalm 2" and also reflects Isaiah, at the moment, the new and struggling community did not know what was happening. It was not until after the resurrection that the significance of these events became clear.
At His baptism, our Lord identified himself with the servant people of God. Jesus believed that He must die now as this servant, to become part of this servant people. Because the Lord identified himself openly and fully at His baptism, we can become part of the community which formed around the risen Lord. This is confirmed from the book of (Acts 10). It is a portion of a sermon which Peter spoke in the home of Cornelius at Caesarea. God's work in Christ began at His baptism. This is why our "Baptism" is so important. It is God's act of incorporation into into this new reality. It becomes the basis for the exhortation which is abundant in the "New Testament." This exhortation which is rooted in the act of God. This act and new reality when we put on "Christ". The Lord wants your full commitment full time and will take nothing less!
We began with Jonah. He was very human. He did the Lords work and at the same time kicked against God's purpose. The Lord never settled for this. He engaged Jonah in an endless struggle. This is what Christ's baptism did for him. Edmund Schlink in his book," the doctrine of Baptism, points out, that the Baptism of Jesus led to the cross and the resurrection. This is what your baptism is intended to do for you. When God called you it was His act of incorporation into the new reality which has come upon us, in striving to become what we are already in Christ". But He will not let us remain as we are, like Jonah, we like to feel sorry for ourselves and have our own way. As we live out our baptism, we must die to self and be raised with "Christ" in newness of life. He did not let Jonah remain as he was. He will not let us remain as we are.
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