Threshold Moments, Baptism of Our Lord, Jan. 8, 2017

Baptism of Our Lord (Year A)

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017

Theme:  Threshold Moments

Reflection: There are times when our lives rise up to claim us, occasions when that which we were born to be leaps up to envelope us. Something calls our name. Reminds us we are blessed and beloved. Baptizes us. Sends us forth. When we are graced (and challenged) with moments when the work ahead of us is clear, when we know what it is we are to do, sometimes there is preparation still to be done. Jesus knew this, knew he needed the ritual that John had to offer, knew he needed that baptism and blessing.

 – Jan Richardson, The Painted Prayerbook

Imagine the scene at the Jordan River. John, waist deep in the river, sees his cousin headed for the water. Three decades earlier, John literally leaped in his mother Elizabeth’s womb when Mary arrived, pregnant with Jesus. Now John must have leaped out of the water in disbelief. Jesus joining him in the Jordan to be baptized? But why?

Perhaps in his humanness, Jesus felt called to this ceremony of washing and renewing. Or just maybe Jesus needed the connection to the Source and Spirit that marked this moment. Whatever was on his mind, Jesus was going through with it, and he wasn’t about to let John dissuade him. So John agreed.

But John wasn’t prepared for this at all … this threshold moment.

Thresholds – crossover points. From one room to another. From one time to another. And in Jesus’ case, from one identity to another, dying to one life and rising to another. As he went into the water and emerged, Spirit descended and God christened Jesus, naming him Beloved, incomparable, a Father’s delight.

Still the earthly carpenter’s son from Nazareth. But now uniquely claimed as the Son of God, with a new calling.

John witnessed the intersection of matter and mystery, conventional and supernal. Eyes blinking, ears ringing, overwhelmed and speechless, John was drenched with water and wonder.  

John’s and Jesus’ paths had crossed for a second time. Soon, Jesus would start a three-year journey that would end at the cross. John’s testimony would land him in jail, eventually beheaded.

Jesus wasn’t in need of a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. He already was one with God and Spirit. Rather it was an announcement, a revealing, a threshold moment.

So, too, are our baptisms. The Holy Spirit sometimes begins working on us before we are drizzled, doused or dunked … sometimes much later. The amount of water or the timing matters not, nor the hands that support and splash. God knows us as beloved before we are born, and forgiveness comes from believing, not bathing.

The ceremony serves as an announcement, a revealing and a threshold. A moment to name this child beloved, call the family and family of faith to supporting roles, to reintroduce the Lover and the Beloved. If we could see God’s face at that moment, I do believe we would catch Abba enamored, gazing lovingly into the sparkling face of a child.

Faith App: Some days, it is a person in your life who finds it hard to believe the name “Beloved, Precious Child of God” applies to him or her. Other times, you are the one who needs assurance. Keep reminding them, no matter what.

HYMN/SONG SUGGESTIONS

Traditional

Christ, When for Us You Were Baptized, ELW 304

When Jesus Came to Jordan, ELW 305

Come, Beloved of the Maker, ELW 306

Songs of Thankfulness and Praise, ELW 310

Oh Love, How Deep, ELW 322

Loving Spirit, ELW 397

O Living Breath of God, ELW 407

Crashing Waters at Creation, ELW 455

One Bread, One Body, ELW 496

God, Whose Almighty Word, ELW 673

Contemporary

The River, Jordan Feliz

I know a place where we can go

To lay the troubles down eating your soul

I know a place where mercy flows

Take the stains make you whiter than snow

Like a tide, it is rising up deep inside

A current that moves and makes it come alive

Living water that brings the dead to life, oh-oh-oh-oh

We're going down to the river

Down to the river, down to the river to pray

Let's get washed by the water

Washed by the water and rise up in amazing grace

Let's go down, down, down to the river (You will leave changed)

Let's go down, down, down to the river (Never the same)

I've seen it move in my own life

Took me from dusty roads into paradise

All of my dirt, all of my shame

Drowned in the streams that've made me born again

Like a tide, it is rising up deep inside a

Current that moves and makes it come alive

Living water that brings the dead to life, oh-oh-oh-oh

We're going down to the river

Down to the river, down to the river to pray

Let's get washed by the water

Washed by the water and rise up in amazing grace

Let's go down, down, down to the river (You will leave changed)

Let's go down, down, down to the river (Never the same)

Let's go down

We're going down to the river

Down to the river, down to the river to pray

Let's get washed by the water

Washed by the water and rise up in amazing grace

Let's go down, down, down to the river (You will leave changed)

Let's go down, down, down to the river (Never the same)

Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go down in amazing grace

Waterfall, Chris Tomlin

Beloved, Jordan Feliz

Made New, Lincoln Brewster

Changed, Rascal Flatts

You Found Me, Big Daddy Weave

LESSONS

Isaiah 42:1-9 The first servant song in Isaiah: My chosen, in whom my soul delights.

Psalm 29 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders.

Acts 10:34-43 Everyone who believes in Christ receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

Matthew 3:13-17 Jesus came to John at the Jordan River, to be baptized by him.

Summary of the Lessons: Baptism doesn’t signify becoming part of the family of God, since God claimed all of us before we were born and never relinquishes that claim. It doesn’t signify forgiveness, because everyone, Jew or Gentile, baptized or not, who believes in God receives forgiveness. Baptism is a moment of crossing over, coming into a new life, and receiving a title and a calling for life.

OPENING LITANY based on Psalm 29

L:  Praise God, you angels, cherubim and seraphim –

C:  Give thanks to our Lord, full of power and wonder;

L:  Even a whisper of the Almighty’s name is glorious;

C:  Throw yourself into worship – let your heart be moved!

L:  Grasp the majesty in a raging thunderstorm –

C:  Hear God’s voice rumble and echo from the seas;

L:  Let the power of wind and lightning leave you in awe;

C:  How bold and dynamic the potential of our Lord!

L:  God speaks – and Lebanon’s cedars shatter –

C:  Another word and mountains erupt in flames;

L:  One more time – and Kadesh’s wilderness quakes;

C:  Fierce and fascinating – we are stunned to silence.

L:  Praise be that God is sovereign over the waters –

C:  Over everything on the earth and in the heavens;

L:  We trust the Lord to keep us faithful and strong,

C:  To guide our lives and bring humanity to peace.

CONFESSION

L:  We confess, Lord, how we can be an insider club,

C:  More welcoming if you sound and look just right.

L:  Holy Spirit, come, and begin a new thing in us –

C:  Help us embrace everyone with the love of God.

L:  We confess, Lord, how easy it is to judge others,

C:  Quick to assess and suggest how they can change.

L:  Holy Spirit, come, and begin a new thing in us –

C:  Help us celebrate God’s delight in all people.

L:  We confess, Lord, we see some as damaged goods,

C:  The dimly burning wicks the church should discard.

L:  Holy Spirit, come, and begin a new thing in us –

C:  Dare us to ignite each person’s passion for you.

(Silent reflection)

L:  In our confession, we pray together,

C:  Most Merciful God … forgive us, we pray, for quenching your Spirit in our congregation. We see the church as a destination, rather than a family of faith that welcomes, builds up, equips, and seeks justice in our community. Send your Spirit to remind and refresh us to be your love and compassion in this world.

Hear this Good News: The former things have passed away, and God is doing new things. Listen – God is starting something new in us if we are ready to arise to our calling. Come up out of the waters of your baptism and hear God name you – Beloved, in whom God is well-pleased. Everyone who believes in God receives forgiveness of sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

L:  We pray together, 

C: God of New Beginnings … as your Son came to be baptized to announce a new calling in his life, stir up the Spirit in us today, awakening us to our vocations and ministry gifts, and to the new things you envision springing forth from us. Assure us with your presence that we also are your beloved sons and daughters, with whom you are well pleased.  Amen.

COMMUNION BLESSING

L:  We pray together,

C:  We give thanks, most gracious God, for coming to us in this meal, reminding us we are your beloved ones, and we are pleasing to you – even when the world surrounds us with other messages. Let your Spirit transform us into people who seek your calling for us. Send us out, sprinkled with joy, bathed in your grace, and ready to splash your love all around us. Amen. 

SENDING

L:  Up out of the waters of our baptisms,

C:  Chosen and named children of God,

L:  Look at the new thing God is doing,

C:  As the Spirit calls the Church to life.

L:  Go now, beloved and blessed, to love and to serve the Lord.

C:  Thanks be to God!

First Reading Isaiah 42:1-9 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: This is the first of four Songs of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah. Some of Judah was in exile in Babylonia, and Isaiah described both the leader Judah needed, and his vision for all of Israel. But the passages also foretell the Servant to come, Jesus the Christ.

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

    my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

    he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice,

    or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break,

    and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

    he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed

    until he has established justice in the earth;

    and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the LORD,

    who created the heavens and stretched them out,

    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people upon it

    and spirit to those who walk in it:

I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,

    I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

    a light to the nations,

   to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

    from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the LORD, that is my name;

    my glory I give to no other,

    nor my praise to idols.

See, the former things have come to pass,

    and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth,

    I tell you of them.

Second Reading Acts 10:34-43 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: God arranged this encounter between Peter and a Roman officer, Cornelius. Peter expected to enlighten this Gentile household with his testimony of the life of Jesus. But God had another goal.

Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Gospel Matthew 3:13-17 (NRSV)

Setting the Scene: Fast-forwarding through most of Jesus’ youth, Matthew’s next episode after the Holy Family’s arrival in Nazareth introduces Jesus as a young adult, preparing to start his ministry.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”