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THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD, January 11, 2004 |
Eugene H. Peterson (in Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Explanation in Vocational Holiness, Eerdmans, 1992, p. 46) tells the story of hearing a talk by the distinguished novelist Chaim Potok. He wanted to be a writer from an early age, but when he went to college, his mother took him aside and said, "Chaim, I know you want to be a writer, but I have a better idea. Why don't you be a brain surgeon. You'll keep a lot of people from dying, and you'll make a lot of money." Chaim replied, "No mama, I want to be a writer." He returned home from vacation. His mother pulled him off alone and said, "Chaim, I know you want to be a writer, but listen to your mama. Be a brain surgeon, they keep a lot of people from dying, and you will make a lot of money." Chaim replied, "I want to be a writer." Thus the conversation went on throughout his college years until, at the end, his mother in desperation again said, "Chaim, you're wasting your time. Be a brain surgeon. You'll keep a lot of people from dying, you'll make a lot of money." Finally, he exploded, "Mama, I don't want to keep people from dying. I want to show them how to live! I want to be a writer." Do you know what you want to be? What you are to be? What you have been called by God to be? That last statement may be too much for many of you. Many people have not heard God's call, have literally no idea what life is for, and think they want to live somehow with some purpose, but really don't know either what it is or how to achieve purpose in life. As he prays after his baptism, Jesus is given purpose, mission, orders for his life. There is the voice of God, the Spirit of God descends on him bodily in the form of a dove, and the words become his mission. He is "God's Son", a King. That is what the words, "You are my beloved Son" mean. These words are from Psalm 2:7--a Psalm used for royal occasions. But the voice also says: "with you I am well pleased." These words are words directed at the person who is a servant and are taken from isaiah 42:l. Who is Jesus to be? He is the King who serves his people. He has associated himself with his people in being baptized. Now he is to be God's servant above all others to serve God. He is the servant that is to serve his Parent, the heavenly Father. He is going to serve by showing people with whom he is united in his humanity and in his baptism how to live and how to be saved from death itself. He receives the Spirit and the passion, the fire, the zeal of the Lord to carry out that mission. Remember that Jesus' mission was and is always to serve his Father loyally. You can see this passion to serve his Father only, in his temptations, refusing to give in to the natural desires that have led people into destructive ways of living. We see that passion to serve his father, when he literally disappears when people, his people wanted to make him into a wholesale bread store. He came to show people how to live, and then how to escape from death. He marches as a man on a mission to Jerusalem, to sure confrontation with both religious and secular powers, to take on himself the burden of mankind. You and I want always to be "king of the hill." Jesus takes all the suffering we cause ourselves and others by always playing that deadly game, on himself and then goes willingly (is any one of us willing to die?) into the valley of shadows and death so that on a third day for all of us, he might show us how to escape death and begin to live free from death, free from the slavery to death, free to live with the joy of salvation every day. He is the perfect, beloved servant of God. We, every one of us have been, disobedient children of God, wanting to be lord of all and servant to none. We want others to serve us and are angry, insulted, we pout when we think we might have to do one lick more of service that others are doing. Well, at least we should get more pay, more reward for all we have done, shouldn't we? Our baptism incorporates us into the body of Christ. The Spirit of God descends on us at that time. We are given the passion, the fire to be God's servants. If you have been baptized, what has become of that fire to be a servant to others? What does it mean for us to be servants of God because of what Jesus has done for us in his work as a servant of God for us men and our salvation? First of all, to be a servant is to be what you originally were to be, and what, by the undeserved gift of God to you, you are restored to. God gave us life, not to have fun, not to enjoy the "games' of life, but to serve others. We have found that quite loathsome, even to think about. We act like benevolent dictators. We expect to be nice to others so we can get what we want from them. We were having a meal of some sort in the Fellowship Hall of the church. Tables and chairs needed to be set up--all the other stuff as well that make a "fellowship meal" a good experience. A couple going down the long hallway to the Fellowship Hall were heard to say: "Go slow. Then we won't have to help with the set up." I really felt somewhere along the line that the spirit was not there, at least not the Spirit which creates passion for the work and mission of Jesus. Perhaps not wanting to set up tables and arrange chairs is not such a big deal. Perhaps other things are more important. If you heard you husband say, "I'll come home late, then I won't have to help with getting the kids to bed," I do believe you would find something lacking. If a child, baptized, of course, would always have the other siblings pick up the toys after play, the parents would be remiss in showing the spirit of service to that child. I suppose that what I find in churches today is a lack of passion, or if there is passion, it is for the wrong cause. The passion to bring the life-changing news of God who loves all people is at best lukewarm. You know what you do with lukewarm coffee. You either hit it up in the microwave or throw it out. The passion to love others and care for them is simply absent. We pay attention to our own. We help as little as possible. Others not in our group are ignored, while we forget that at one time we were the strangers, the outcasts, the lonely. My wife and I had a rather long distance romance. After falling madly in love with that woman, wanting to be with her always, I had to leave for a year to return to the Seminary to finish the final course of studies to become a pastor. We were both poor, could only call on the phone for a short time once a week. We got to see each other at Thanksgiving, at Christmas, and then at graduation from the Seminary, and then a few days before we got married. I thought about this woman all the time. I could not wait to touch her, hold her in my arms, have her near me. I still have that passion for her. I sometimes wonder if I love her or Jesus more. Jesus is said to have a passion for his people, the church, like that. No, my passion is just a fraction of what his is for the church. More than just the church, he wants all people to know his love, his care, his desire for them. He has given to those in his family the care of others. Can you see yourself not caring for a family member? Can you see yourself ignoring a member of your family? Can you see yourself wanting only to make money? Can you see yourself as having the one and only way truly to be alive, and keeping the formula to yourself? Lord, you told Jesus he was your beloved Child. You have told us the same. Let the Spirit of passion and of peace descend again on us, renew us, remove the wrapper of our love so we may share now and eternally the salvation you have given us in Christ Jesus. Make me a servant. Amen. You know you really can get an eyeful, can't you--during this Epiphany season? Walter W. Harms, retired pastor
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