First Epiphany, 2006: 

     A would-be burglar broke into a restaurant in the dark, after hours, and went straight to the safe.  A voice called out, “God is watching you.”  He shined the flashlight all around and didn’t see anything.  He returned to his efforts of trying to open the safe.  Again, the voice says, “God is watching you.”  The burglar looked around again and finally saw a parrot in a cage.  He said, “Oh, Hi Polly.  You startled me there for a minute.”  The parrot said, “Hey, my name is not Polly.  My name is John the Baptist.”  The robber snorted, “Who in the world named you John the Baptist?”  The parrot said, “The same guy who named that Rottweiler over there GOD!”

     It is a matter of historical fact that the Franks of the sixth century, after their king, Clovis, had been baptized a Christian, would themselves undergo baptism with their right hands held high up out of the water.  That way they could, and did, continue swinging their swords in battle and say, “This hand has never been baptized.”

     The modern-day equivalent to that are those who have undergone baptism into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ with their pocketbooks and billfolds held high up out of the water, as if to say, “This has never been under water and is therefore all mine.”

     The First Sunday after the Epiphany is traditionally the Sunday to remember the Lord’s baptism and thereby be reminded of the binding nature of our own initiation into the reality we call the church, the continuing incarnation of Christ in the world.  It is a time to think again about how seriously we take our own baptism.

     It is a safe bet to say that the degree of seriousness one attaches to one’s baptism is directly proportionate to the success of one’s Christian living.  I’m not talking about something that has some magical quality about it, but something that contains great potential for good.

     Many in history, and even today, have given little evidence that baptism had any effect on the way they lived their lives.  Adolph Hitler was baptized a Roman Catholic; as was Al Capone.  Stalin studied in seminary and baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church.  More than half those on death row were baptized in a Christian denomination.  Constantine, on the other hand, was so afraid that he couldn’t live up to his Christian baptism that he waited until his death-bed to have it done.  Somewhere in between those extremes the church needs to minister.

     I want to suggest that the challenge facing the church today is to restore some of the lost luster and meaning to the ancient and crucial rite and be as clear as possible about what it means.  First of all, baptism is a beginning.  The Lord’s baptism marked a beginning for the public ministry he would conduct.  No sermon is preached, no person is healed, no disciple is called, no rebuke to the religiously righteous is pronounced, and no kind word is offered a repentant sinner until he has been baptized.  The same thing is true for each one of us.  Our baptism indicates a beginning and not, as is sadly the case for many, an end.

     It is one of the disturbing things clergy face in the course of balancing pastoral concerns.  A young couple, and even some not-so-young who should know better, come to ask that their child be baptized and then we never see them again; or we see them when the wedding is being planned.  It is as if they think some invisible barrier has been placed around their child and nothing more is required.  Still others think of baptism as a social event, kind of like being taken into membership at the country club.  I want to be clear that the Christian life is not created “ex nihilo,” that is, “out of nothing.”  It must be shaped, nurtured, exercised, and allowed to grow.  That happens most effectively in a church that takes seriously its responsibility to teach and witness about the power of Christ in everyday living.

     Baptism is also a call.  Every person baptized into Christ is to be called a “Christ person,” a Christian.  It is a fulltime call to service and not just when one feels like it or has nothing better to do.  It is a call to be reminded that in baptism everything about us has gone under the water with Christ and everything has been raised to new life in him.  It is up to each one of us to act like it.  We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.  In other words, we have been “stigmatized.”  He has put his mark upon us.  It is a symbol of divine favor and that we are called to a radical discipleship in his name.

     Baptism is about a ministry.  It is a sacrament that says we have a job to do in his name.  It is never ourselves we proclaim, but Christ Jesus as Lord.  We are the chosen ones to share this reconciling, renewing Word with all those whom God puts in our path.

     I would want to be clear that the ministry we are called to fulfill is probably not a vocation granted by entering holy orders, but a ministry we conduct where we are; in homes, schools, businesses, industries, relationships, neighborhoods, and in our friendships.  We cannot spend six days denying Jesus the Christ by words and actions and think that an occasional nod of the head on a Sunday will suffice.  Our ministry grows out of our baptisms and we learn that trade by faithful attendance with other struggling Christian in a community of faith.

     We celebrate the Lord’s baptism today and we remember our own.  It is a good way to begin 2006.  Taking our baptisms more seriously, making a resolution to faithful living, and joining with others because we have made that commitment will go a long way toward making 2006 a good year.  It can be for us the beginning of a journey, a call to fulltime service in his name, and a ministry that leads others to proclaim him as Lord.

     The great Advent figure of John the Baptist now gets connected to Epiphany and points us to the world.  That’s where we will live out the tenets of our faith and the importance of our baptisms. 

     We must remember that all we have, all the time, all that we are, and all that we may become has gone under the water of baptism.  We are loved enough to decide what difference that makes in our lives.  Amen.