Today is the last day of Christmas. To prove it, I am holding in my hand the last poinsettia of
Christmas.The time for poinsettias is over. The same goes for Christmas trees. If you’ve been secretly holding onto
your Christmas tree in a corner of your house until
now, please let it go. Before the Fire Department has to deal with it in
another way. Seriously, though, the Church has been holding onto Christmas
for three full weeks now. Not in any
secret way, but in a quite deliberate and public fashion no matter what anyone
thinks.
Because Christmas is a season. A time whose power and beauty are so immense
that we cannot unwrap it, unpack it , and admire it all in a single day. And then exchange it for something else on
the next. And we dare not do so. Instead, we stretch out our Christmas
to make it last as long as we can. Right
from the birthday of Jesus through the feasts of the Holy Family, Mary the
Mother of God (aka New Years Day), the Epiphany, and today.
Today, we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. A baptism is a bath. A ritual bath
started by the cousin of Jesus, John the Baptizer, as a public gesture of a
personal decision to ask for forgiveness and to change one’s life. In today’s Gospel from Chapter 3 of
Matthew, we encounter Jesus standing in line with everyone else to accept a
ritual cleansing, or baptism, from John.
John is both famous and feared. He is acknowledged— even by his enemies—as a
genuine prophet. The first authentic
prophet to be raised up among the Jewish
people in centuries. His mission and
ministry were credible because he walked the talk. His
ascetic and prayer-filled lifestyle matched his words. John
surprised, intrigued, and fascinated
people. He did not seek to raise up an army or declare any sort of violent
insurrection. Rather, he preached a life
of repentance and of conversion. So people, hungry for authentic change in
their lives, came to John. Even to the
boondocks beyond the capital, Jerusalem.
Hungry for change, they lined up to make a public acknowledgment of
their sins and to accept baptism at his hands.
Now I can imagine that there were two lines for this
baptism. The first line was the “IN”
line: with a great number of people
looking quite nervous and tentative.
Sheepish, even. These were the obvious sinners-- the people
about to receive their baptism from John. The other line was the “OUT” line: of people were those who had just been
baptized. They were all grins as they
were handed towels, dried off, and got ready to celebrate with their friends.
Jesus decided to get into line with everyone else. But He got into the “IN” line instead of the
“OUT” line. Why in the world did Jesus
get into the wrong group?
After all, Jesus was not a sinner. He did not need to be
baptized. So, why did He get into the
wrong line? This is where the Scriptures start to stutter. Members of the early Christian community
certainly found the presence of Jesus in this scenario both embarrassing and
disconcerting.
Matthew tells us there was a discussion between John and
Jesus. John was reluctant. You bet he was. And Jesus was insistent. Stubbornly so. In
the only way that one cousin can be with another. People were waiting, fidgeting. And they were at a stalemate.
Then Jesus said he had to be baptized so that ‘all
righteousness might be fulfilled.’
What does that mean? He was talking in code. A ‘righteous’ person was one who was completely
open to God’s will. More than that. A person who makes the decision to surrender
completely to God’s Presence and Power
in his life.
Jesus, in the 30th year of His life, had finally
attained the status of full adulthood as a Jewish male. With His baptism, He proclaims for the first
time His complete openness to God’s will—to the will of His Father—in His life. Finally,
John relents and baptizes Jesus. And then, something radically new and
extraordinary happens.
In this ritual breaking through from death to life, Jesus
breaks through to heaven. The barrier
between heaven and earth is pierced. And
God, in the presence of the Spirit, acknowledges His Son. And by extension, God
acknowledges and blesses us.
The baptism of Jesus changed absolutely everything. He didn’t get into the wrong line on purpose
for His own sake. He did it for ours. He
wanted to show that His greatest desire was to be right down here among us,
close to us, as one of us. And that
changes everything. It means our own baptism
as Christians can never be the ritual, symbolic baptism of John. Ours is the baptism of Jesus. In Jesus. And
through Jesus. So, when we are baptized—once and for all—the heavens open for
us as God claims us as His own. Once and
for all. Once and for always.
Our baptism is the beginning of our special life with God in
the community of faith, the community of the friends of Jesus. It is not just a single, historical
event. It’s more like a time-release
capsule. It’s power is so strong and
enduring that, like the prolonged Christmas season itself, it releases itself throughout our lives. Not just in a single spiritual photo op.
It is the power of identity.
Of being and belonging. To God and to His People. Of knowing who we really are and whose we are,
no matter what we do or say or what happens to us in our lives. It is so powerful that it transcends the petty
differences that separate one group of Christians from another. After all,
there is only one baptism in the Lord.
It’s so powerful we can’t even take it away from ourselves.
We are first, last, most and always children of God, members
of a family of faith. Baptism is our
birthright as Christians and no one can ever take it away from us.
So that what the Father says to and about Jesus, the Father
says to us and about us: “This is my
beloved son. This is my beloved daughter. You are my beloved son. You are my beloved daughter. In whom I am well pleased.” And He IS pleased
with us. Very pleased indeed. So pleased that he sent His Son as our
Shepherd. To be in our midst. Jesus was
baptized and the heavens opened. But after
that, Jesus stuck around and is still with us. It is our lasting Christmas gift on this last Christmas Day.
