January 12, 2025 ~ Baptism of Jesus
Rev. Beckie Sweet
The young son of a Baptist pastor was in church one Sunday morning when he witnessed for the first time a baptism by immersion.
He was greatly interested in what had happened, and so the next morning he proceeded to baptize his three cats in the bathtub.
The youngest kitten bore it very well, and so did the younger cat. But the old family tom cat rebelled. The old feline struggled with the boy, clawed and tore his skin, and finally got away. With considerable effort the boy caught the old tom cat again and proceeded with the “ceremony.” But the cat acted worse than ever, clawing and spitting, and scratching the boy’s face.
Finally, after barely getting the cat splattered with water, he dropped him on the floor in disgust and said: “Fine, be a Methodist if you want to!”
The Baptism of Jesus Sunday is celebrated annually right after the Christmas Season and Epiphany, and it begins what is known as Jesus’ “public ministry.” Before Jesus began to preach and teach, according to our gospel writers, he first was baptized. The accounts of Jesus baptism have only a few differences, none of which are germane to our message today. Let me give you a quick summary of the highlights of Luke’s text. First, for Luke, it was important to differentiate between John and Jesus. The Jews had waited for centuries for God to fulfill the promise of sending a Messiah. Naturally, each time people met a gregarious prophet, they hoped that this would be the ONE. John seemed promising. Having heard the peoples’ speculations, he was sure to report that the Messiah would be One more powerful than he, and would continue the baptizing tradition, yet, indicative of his power, would baptize with the Spirit and with Fire, or Wind and Fire.
Considering the tragic fires burning in Los Angeles County, CA right now, it is important to distinguish between fire that destroys and fire that refines and cleanses. Putting this scripture reading into historical context, farmers in that day would choose a breezy day on which to toss their ripe wheat into the air with a fork or shovel so that the chaff, or husks, would blow away, leaving the grain clean. Then the chaff was burned to consume the chaff and dry the grain. The fire represented the judgement of God. Fred Craddock reminds us that when repentance and forgiveness are available, judgement is good news. So, the primary purpose of this part of the baptism is to save the proverbial wheat, not to burn the chaff. John’s baptism of repentance is intended to help us to turn away from what keeps us from God, so that we may turn toward the fruit of the Spirit with forgiveness, generosity, and kindness.
Then the text reports that Jesus and all the people are baptized. This is not a private affair, but rather one that builds up the community of faith. The Holy Spirit came while Jesus prayed after his baptism. And a voice from heaven says, “You are my own dear Child, and I am pleased with you.” Other texts report the voice saying, “You are my son, my beloved, with you I am well pleased.” Here, Jesus is named as God’s own Child, and described as Beloved. The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus before he begins his ministry, and he is presented as a Child of God, and a Child of humanity.
Relating this to our baptisms, the Water and the Spirit of Baptism are God’s action to save us and to name us as Beloved. So, you see, Baptism is not the end or culmination of a journey ~ it is the beginning of building a relationship with our Saving God, who calls us Beloved!
I want you to think about the baptisms you have witnessed. In the past six months we, as a family of faith have witnessed the baptisms of Carson James Dempsey-Mottl, Lydia Mae Streets, and Miles Stephen Hall. Miles, the Streets Family, and the Dempsey-Mottle Family, know and have shown us that Baptism is not a “one and done kind of thing.” Baptism is more than something that happens when one is standing in front of the baptismal font. Baptism is the beginning of the spiritual growth process which is best nurtured within the family of faith. That is because the waters of Baptism, like the presence of our Savior, are everywhere.
Within human relationships we find baptismal waters. In our work and vocation are baptismal waters. Within our passions, dreams, and creativity are the waters of Baptism. And, in our concerns and work for justice and human dignity are baptismal waters. Even in our pain, brokenness, sorrows, and losses are baptismal waters.
We are always going through the waters of baptism, even, and maybe especially, when it’s an experience we don’t want to have to endure, or a circumstance we don’t want to face. Baptism is ultimately the process of separating our life’s wheat from our life’s chaff, for we toss to the wind and fire that which does not nourish, and save that which nurtures us to become more fully and authentically ourselves. Baptism happens through our connection to “the ONE who is more powerful.”
So, here are some baptismal questions to consider today:
- Is your life growing, expanding, and engaging in ever more meaningful things? If so, in what ways? If not, where are you stuck, fearful, or avoiding discipleship?
- Are you living into the fullest possibility of who you can become?
- Are you discovering and trusting yourself to be God’s beloved child with whom God is well pleased?
- Are you showing up to and taking responsibility for your life?
- Are you living an authentic life for God?
- Whose voice are you listening to?
These questions and many others ask us to see and separate the wheat and the chaff in our lives. It is not as if some people are wheat and others are chaff. No, we all have both in our lives. The separation of wheat and chaff is not a judgment between good and bad. It’s the distinction and discernment between what feeds, nourishes, and grows a godly life, and what does not. Wheat, speaking proverbially, is edible and digestible. Chaff is not. Wheat nourishes and feeds life, chaff does not.
But here’s the reality of this: the wheat needs the chaff ~ until it doesn’t. The chaff is not inherently bad or wrong. It serves a purpose. It’s the outer husk or casing that protects the wheat as it matures. Without the chaff the wheat could not survive, but at some point, the chaff no longer serves a purpose. When the wheat is mature, the chaff restricts and the wheat and gets in the way.
Haven’t you experienced that in your life? Haven’t there been things ~ patterns, habits, behaviors, attitudes ~ that at one time in your life served, protected, or nurtured your life, but now they only diminish or constrict your life? They don’t work like they used to. They are no longer of use.
I remember a person who said his childhood modus operandi was to “be good, be quiet, and stay out of the way.” As a child, that was his chaff, his protective husk, and it worked. But as an adult that modus operandi kept him from eating of the Bread of Life ~ in his marriage, his parenting, his vocation, his hopes and dreams for who he might become. He needed the nourishing wheat of baptism, and a relationship with a loving, saving God, to continue to mature. And, I suspect that is true for most of us. We all have some chaff that gets in the way.
Baptism reminds us that our lives are defined and shaped as we discover whose we are, as God’s beloved children. We belong to God’s family, and baptism is a tangible sign of that.
May we focus on the wheat we have been lovingly given, and let go of the chaff so that it may blow away. You are worth all the love God has to give!