Throughout scripture, there are certain moments that I call “goosebump moments.” They’re those places where the imagery used is so powerful – the language so descriptive – that when recited well, the listener can almost find themselves witnessing these events in their own mind much like those who were actually present. Some of these scenes in scripture are pretty obvious – the parting of the Red Sea, David defeating Goliath, the Nativity, the Passion, and I would place today’s gospel in the same general category. When read well – hopefully I did an okay job – I believe this text can place us in the action, and we can witness in our own minds the Spirit descending like a dove upon Jesus. We can feel the tingle in our fingers and toes – much like a really good subwoofer system – when God’s voice (for some reason I always imagine God’s voice like James Earl Jones in these passages) speaks aloud, “You are my son, the beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
And we have a sense that this thing is THE thing, right? Maybe it’s because most of us in this room have at least some sense of the events to come – Jesus’s ministry, death, and resurrection, but we have a sense that this is a moment of change, of something new and wonderful breaking in to our world, kind of like the excitement that happens when your favorite sports team finally breaks through into a genuine playoff contender, or there’s a significant scientific revelation that increases our knowledge of the cosmos or gives us hope to defeat some practical issue in our own lives. We may not be directly involved in the moment, but because we are so invested in what happens next, we feel as if we are indeed right there.
But what if I told you that we are directly involved in this moment in the Bible? What if I told you that as Jesus is baptized, all who are baptized throughout history are intimately involved in this moment? This is the promise of baptism – that in the waters of baptism we are indeed joined together with Christ. So as Christ is baptized in these waters, the claims made upon Jesus are made upon us as well.
And this is the thing that should put tingles in our fingers and our toes. Because that James Earl Jones moment I spoke about a minute ago? That moment where God claims Jesus as the beloved son, with whom God is well pleased? The promise of baptism is a promise that what is spoken to Jesus that day, through Jesus, is also spoken to us. Perhaps we didn’t hear Darth Vader’s voice audibly telling us we were beloved, but when we hear God speak to Jesus today, it is a reminder that those same words are for us as well. These words are meant for all the baptized, those with us here today and those who have gone before who now have experienced this promise fulfilled.
So maybe it’s appropriate for us, as we pay attention to this text again, to hear the words that God speaks to us, and realize they aren’t meant just for Jesus. Maybe we need to hear the words spoken today, and – let’s use a better father figure this time – hear the voice of Mufasa say to us, “You are my child, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Let’s try that again. I would like you – yes, you – to close your eyes. Now hear these words, and know that they come from God: “You are my child. You are beloved. With you I am well pleased.”
How does that feel? Did that give you a little bit of the tingles? I hope so, because God’s claim on your life is the most incredible thing. It’s incredible because it can’t possibly be earned, and yet, it’s yours. And I’ll be honest, in the day to day life that we all live, it’s hard to sometimes feel as if that claim is true. It’s hard to trust it, because even though we know we’re baptized in Christ, we don’t always see the evidence moment to moment. Life gets hard. We sin, we make mistakes, and we feel as if the claim of God in our lives is cheapened just a bit. Maybe the eternal gift of our baptism in Christ isn’t as eternal as we want it to be, because deep down we’ve bought into this idea of rugged individualism, where we determine our own destiny. Maybe you’re listening to this sermon online, and you haven’t been to church in years, and you’re wondering if that tenuous connection to the faith held by baptism can outlast years of absence from presence in God’s community. Deep down, I think a lot of us wonder, is God’s claim in baptism really enough? Is it really eternal?
A few months ago, in response to the increasing vandalism of three small children existing in our cars, my wife and I decided to join one of those unlimited car wash programs. You know the ones, where you pay a monthly fee, and you can go to the car wash as many times as you want. This particular program was through an automatic car wash that then gives you the option to park afterward and use provided cloths to wipe out all the leftover water spots and vacuum out your car. I promise the vacuum was a chief draw of joining this car wash. One of the problems, however, is our car has a lot of crevices where water tends to hide. Never mind the fact that in these automatic car washes your car never spends enough time in the automated blower section that is supposed to blow the excess water off your car, but whenever I park the car and begin to wipe off the excess water that remains, there’s always water left behind no matter how hard I try. So I use the little air compressor that blows out the water from cracks and side view mirrors that they provide, then wipe off the water that is blown out. Then I work on more of the car, and I come back to the side view mirrors and blow out more water, wipe it down, and repeat. I usually do this no less than three times, and still when I leave the car wash, there is still water that drips down from the side view mirrors as I drive off, leaving evidence that no matter how hard I tried, there was still water within the joints of my car.
Family, believe it or not, baptism is kind of like that. No matter how hard we might think we’ve tried in our sinfulness to remove the evidence of God’s claim in our baptism, there’s no way we can completely eliminate the waters of baptism in our lives. No matter how much the world tells us we’re unworthy of love, no matter how much the adversary might try to tell us we can never prove our worth, God’s baptism always sticks around. There’s always grace that seeps its way into our lives. And that grace leaves traces. It leaves traces when we choose kindness instead of aggression. It leaves traces when we choose mercy over disdain. It leaves traces when we hope in the impossible dream of the resurrection when the world tells us death is the end. This is the promise of grace found in baptism today. Grace cannot be denied. Grace is truly irresistible. Because God has claimed us. God has claimed you.
So today, if you’re feeling just a little bit worn down by the state of the world or your own life, I want you to remember, God calls you beloved. If you’re feeling just a little less beloved because you’re holding on to something you did or something that was done to you, know that the signs of God’s love don’t disappear. I’m going to give you all some instructions, both for you in person and you online. If you’re in person, I’ll try to repeat them later. For those of you online, feel free to do this now; find a little bit of (hopefully clean) water – no, your morning coffee doesn’t count – and dip your fingers into it, and make the sign of the cross on your forehead. Remind yourself in this moment that in baptism God has claimed and loved you, and will never let you go. Feel free to do this as often as you need to. If you’re here in person, I’m going to invite you, as you come up to receive communion, dip your fingers into the baptismal font and make the same sign of the cross on your forehead. Through these waters of baptism, know that you are claimed and loved, no matter what. And as we go forth from this place, I invite you all to remember these words, because they are true. You are God’s child. You are beloved. With you, God is well pleased.