Mark 1:4-11
There are a few passages from scripture that are so well known and loved that they almost become etched on our hearts. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” is one of them. “For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son,” is another. These are special; no one should mess with these. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” is also one of these, I think. But when I read this story of the baptism of Jesus in the Common English Bible translation, it had me in a whole new way.
“You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.” What beautiful language. Maybe not poetic in the way that the King James Bible is poetic, but clear and direct and beautiful in its message to us. You are my Son, whom I dearly love. In you I find happiness.
You are my Son. Whom I dearly love. In you I find happiness. The words are spoken directly to Jesus. The word “love” – it is not a noun here, an object or a concept; it is a verb, an action word: You are my son whom I love; I love you.
One of my favorite bands, the Avett Brothers, wrote a song that says, “Three words that became hard to say: I and Love and You.” This is so true; how often do we dare to say these three words together? I Love You. And these are the words God says.
But that’s not all. The voice from heaven goes on to say: In you I find happiness.
You make me happy. You are my happiness – just you being you. You don’t have to do anything: perform tricks, master a skill, stroke my ego or provide for my amusement. Just know that I find happiness in you being you.
I don’t know if there are any more beautiful words in the whole world. You are my son, my daughter. I love you. In you I find happiness.
And this all happened at the river. At his baptism. All this love and happiness, right here at the place of baptism. Jesus was baptized out of love. You and I, all of us, are baptized out of love.
The love that God has for us. The love that your parents or grandparents had for you when they carried you to the baptismal font as an infant or young child; the love a pastor had for you when he or she shared with you the good news of God’s unbounded love for you, and showed you the way to baptism as a youth or adult. The love the church has for you when they promise to be there for you always, when they welcome you into the fold of God’s beloved community.
I don’t know what could give us more happiness than knowing that.
We are talking about baptism today because today we will baptize four new members of the family of God – Joy and Michelle and their two children. And we are also welcoming six others into the congregation today, six who have previously been baptized, but today as they make the decision to become a part of us, we remember their baptism. And as we say what we believe, as we make our promises, as we welcome our new members, we each remember our own baptism, remembering that we, too, have been baptized. Do you remember your baptism?
I don’t remember my baptism because I was two months old, but I remember the stories. And I have seen the pictures of my Aunt Violet holding me on her lap with my Uncle Helmuth beside her, and my older brother, Brian, looking over her shoulder. I was baptized because I was loved.
You were baptized because you were loved. Someone found happiness in you.
Today this family will be baptized because they are loved. They are loved by this congregation, they are loved by God. These children are loved by their parents who made the decision to bring them to the font today. There is a lot of love and happiness going around here today. All the way around.
When Joy and Michelle and their children are baptized today they become a part of us and we become a part of them. When Jim and Kim and Caryn and Bruce and Rita and Eric profess their faith before everyone today they become a part of us and we become a part of them. They reaffirm their baptism and all that it means for them. All the power that is in it.
There is a story about Martin Luther; that whenever he found himself tempted or tormented by evil, he would say loudly and clearly, “I have been baptized!” because he found strength in it. Our baptism makes us stronger. Do you know why? Because in our baptism we have the strength of the saints surrounding us – all those who have lived and gone before us, who have inspired us and made a path for us – as well as all our brothers and sisters in Christ who are present with us. We have the strength of this great big family of faith that we are adopted into.
Baptism is about our claim on one another in love when God claims each one of us in love. And there is nothing stronger than love. The power of baptism is enduring power that sees us through all our life; your baptism will not fail you. The power is renewed every time we gather at the table to share the bread and the cup; every time we proclaim that we have been baptized; every time we remember. Remember your baptism; in whatever ways you can, remember the power of God’s love.
Remember you are lovable, you are loved, and you make someone happy.
Remember you belong here, by virtue of your baptism. God has claimed you.
Remember we are all in this together, as we share the common memory of water. Memory is a powerful thing – collective memory, especially. It is a teacher, a liberator, a meaning-maker. Today in our worship let us remember our baptism. Let us remember because in these things we know how much we are loved.
And that makes me – and I hope you – deeply happy.
