Luke 3:15-17    NT p. 57 or 1259

[15] As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,

[16] John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

[17] His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." [NRSV]

Luke 3:21-22

[21] Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,

[22] 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."

[NRSV]

INTRODUCTION:

On one of his visits home, a traveling salesman volunteered to take care of their 12 kids so his wife could take a much needed night out. At the appropriate time and with all the usual stalling and objections, he sent all the kids upstairs to bed and settled down in his easy-chair to read. One child, though, kept coming back downstairs. Dad would send him upstairs only to have him bounce back down in just a few minutes, like a yo-yo. It was starting to get old and Dad was starting to get irritated.

About 9:30, the next-door neighbor rang the doorbell and wanted to know if her son was still there.

Dad promptly told her, "No!"

Just about that time, a little head popped up over the banister and shouted, "I'm here, Mom, but he won't let me go home!" (1)

Talk about a case of mistaken identity? How would you like to have so many children that you couldn't tell your own from the neighbor's? A case of mistaken identity isn't all that unusual. Haven't you ever been mistaken for somebody else? I was in boot camp with a guy named Bill Posey. It was really kind of spooky, we looked so much alike that it was like looking in a mirror. People used to get us mixed up all the time. At least until our shaved heads started growing out and his hair was curly and mine straight.

In this passage from Luke, there's a similar case of mistaken identity. John the Baptist had been down at the Jordan preaching repentance and baptizing people by the thousands. He had done such a good job of preaching and preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah, that "the people were in expectation." They were waiting for it all to unfold right before their very eyes.

Maybe there was an old shepherd or two from Bethlehem who remembered the night of the Angelic annunciation and wondered if this wasn't the baby all grown up. People were asking. In their expectation, people were questioning whether John himself might not be the long awaited Messiah.

Quickly and adamantly, John tells them it's a case of mistaken identity. He's just a forerunner; a messenger; the public service announcement and early warning system for the true Messiah. At first, the people didn't want to believe him, but just about that time, his cousin, Jesus came onto the scene. And John says, "Ahh! There He is now. There's the one we've all been waiting for." There was no mistake this time. It was a time for the Faith Odyssey to begin.

Jesus knew it was time for his Faith Odyssey to begin. He went to the Jordan because John's introductory work had paved the way. There at the Jordan river, Jesus began His Faith Odyssey and was baptized. But that raises a question. If John's baptism was for repentance of sins, then why did Jesus need to be baptized? Wasn't Jesus sinless?

There is an interesting folk tale that the Early Church completely discounted that says, Jesus, who didn't need to be baptized, did it just to please Mary, his mother. She wanted him to be baptized like everybody else, so he was. Now, I don't know about you, but I really can't picture Mary as the stereotypical Jewish mother hounding her son to get baptized. I just can't picture Mary saying something like, "Oy vey! You're going to break your mother's heart. I'm the only mother in the family whose son hasn't been baptized by your cousin John. Oy!"

No matter how I stretch my imagination, I just can't buy that answer. I personally need a better answer, the church needs and deserves a better answer. If Jesus was the Son of God and sinless, and I affirm that He was, Then why did he submit to John's baptism? Or any baptism, for that matter. That's what I want us to look at today because it's significant to our own Faith Odysseys. Scholars and commentaries give a whole number of different ideas and reasons. And I think they can all be boiled down to three basic reasons.

I. NEW COMMITMENT AND CONFESSION OF FAITH:

A. JESUS: The FIRST reason Jesus submitted to baptism is that He was making a new commitment. A commitment to His own Faith Odyssey. And He was confessing His deep faith in God to see Him through His ministry and His future death and resurrection. It was a sort of a commissioning service. In publicly submitting to baptism Jesus was saying to the crowd, "Now is the time. Prophecy and expectations are fulfilled. Now begins my ministry! Rejoice, the Kingdom of God is at hand!"

I'll never forget the night I was ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church. It was at First United Methodist Church in Fort Worth. Bishop Russell was our presiding Bishop, Dr. Albert Outler was the preacher and it was during the bicentennial of Methodism in America, in 1984. Bishop Russell, Dr. Outler, and three sponsoring Elders all placed their hands on my head as I knelt in front of the congregation that night.

I've forgotten what Dr. Outler said that night, though I know it was inspiring. I've forgotten all the things that people said afterwards. I've forgotten what I was wearing or who sat next to me. But I'll never forget the weight of those hands as the Bishop said, "Take thou authority." And I'll never forget the almost overpowering sense of new commitment and direction in my life.

I think Jesus must have felt some of the very same thing after His baptism. Because it was sort of a commissioning or ordination for him. It was a sign of new direction in His Faith Odyssey.

B. US: If we look at our baptism, it too, is a sign of our new commitment, our new direction in life, our confession of faith in God to see us through to the end, as well. In a sense, it too, is a sort of commissioning for service to God. It doesn't make any difference whether that commissioning takes place shortly after birth with infant baptism or with your profession of faith as an adult. They are both a commissioning. They both are giant steps in our Faith Odyssey that set us apart as belonging to God. When we are baptized, we're marked with a water mark, the invisible seal of the Kingdom of God. Our lives take a new direction. We are set aside to serve and glorify God.

1st PETER 2:9 says: "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

And that has great significance for our Faith Odysseys; for the Church and for the future of the church. We are ministers together in the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And baptism is a time of commissioning into the ministry of all believers.

II. TIME OF CONFIRMATION:

A. JESUS: Second, For Jesus, the baptism by John was also a time of divine confirmation. It was confirmation of Him, of His work and His purpose. It was God's way of saying: "Yep, this here's the one. This is the one y'all been waitin' for. So you better sit up an' take notice of what He says and what He does and then ya'll better follow suit."

Now God said it a little more eloquently and with a few more special-effects. Jesus was baptized. the heavens opened up. The Holy Spirit descended. And God spoke, for the whole world to hear, God said: "You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life." [Msg] I can't think of any better confirmation, or any better affirmation of Jesus as the awaited Savior. John heard it and the crowd heard it. It began to spread like wildfire and it's still spreading today.

And that's the Good News, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, our Savior.

B. US: Now, in relation to us, baptism is a time of confirming our faith too. It's a time of commissioning and a time of public proclamation. It's a time when God confirms our decision or the decision made for us by our parents. And it's a time when the congregation affirms our belonging with them and to them and they to us.

There was a little boy named Richie. Two special events had taken place in his life and both had impressed him very much. First, he had recently been baptized, and second, he was the proud brother of a baby boy named Stevie. One Sunday his father asked if he wanted to go to church. Richie's answer was an enthusiastic, "Yes. And let's take Stevie and get him advertised, too!"

Richie wasn't too far off the mark. You see baptism is never really a private affair. The inner changes and convictions, the inner workings of the spirit leading an individual to Christ are personal and private. BUT, the declaration of that faith can never be a private thing, for it is a time of advertising faith and grace. It's a time to celebrate a new direction in our Faith Odyssey through our faith in Jesus Christ. It's a time of public proclamation and the demonstration of God's grace through the forgiveness of sins.

Through the commissioning, affirming and joining that takes place in baptism, the church and the individual take responsibility for one another. Our faith is a very personal thing, but our faithfulness is corporate. We need the Church, the congregation of fellow believers and the support which they give and which we give them. We live out our faith together in the activities and service of the Church.

We hear and learn what it means to be Christ-like. We journey together, we struggle together, squabble together and grow together in love and faith and discipleship through the grace of God. It's that grace working in our lives and in the lives of others that keeps us on this Faith Odyssey, just as it did Jesus.

III. REPENTANCE:

A. WE NEED: The Third Point is, we may not like to admit it to ourselves or to anyone else but John the Baptist was correct, we need repentance, we need forgiveness. The scripture is clear, we all suffer from sinfulness. We don't like the terminology but we're all sinners. ROMANS 3:23 says: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

In my dictionary, ALL is pretty much inclusive. It doesn't leave anybody out. We all fail to live up to our commitments and the expectations of God. We even fail to live up to our own expectations. How many of you have kept all of your New Year's Resolutions so far?

There was a very overweight man who got on the scales like you see at the mall, where you put in a penny. After reading the weight he turned to his friend and said, "Dad-gum-it! I started this diet a week ago, but the scale says I'm heavier. Here, Norm, hold my coat, maybe that's it. Oh, no! It still says I'm heavier. Here, hold my Twinkies." (2)

If we're honest with ourselves, we're all like the guy on the scale, even though we don't like to admit it. We say one thing and do another, with the best of intentions. We aren't able to help ourselves or stop ourselves. We don't seem to be able to change. And we need to be able to change. We need an advocate, someone to help.

B. JESUS IDENTIFIES WITH US: For this reason and this purpose, Jesus was baptized. Being free of sin, being sinless, He didn't need to repent and be baptized. But we need help, we need salvation, so the Son of God was baptized into our need.

Jesus identified himself with us completely. Jesus saw within us, he saw our emptiness, he saw our need. He saw the nerve endings of our lives dulled and frayed and tender. He saw the vestiges of the Image of God in which we were created, the Image that we had tarnished, cracked, or broken, in our sinfulness. He saw it all and entered into it with caring, healing, compassion, grace and forgiveness. He brought what we needed most of all. He entered into our need with love. The Son of God brought what we needed most, the living water of forgiveness and new life.

CONCLUSION:

Jesus was baptized as a vital part of His Faith Odyssey. He was baptized in order to enter into our need, to proclaim a new commitment and direction for his life and as an act of commissioning and confirmation of His ministry.

We are baptized because we need the grace which God offers through Christ. Our baptism points to and is a symbolic act of our new commitment in our Faith Odyssey. In that commitment we are connected to others and to something greater than ourselves. Through God's grace acting in that commitment, like Christ, we are affirmed. As a part of your 2001 Faith Odyssey, remember your baptism and be thankful.

1. Bible Illustrator For Windows

2. Parables, Etc. (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), October 1988

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