Baptism of Christ

1/13/13

Luke 3: 15-17. 21-22

Nobody is born a Christian. You can be born into a Christian culture, just like you can be born into a Jewish culture. But one can be an atheist in still be Jewish. You cannot say that about Christianity. You must choose it, at some point.

It may feel like you can; some of you were born into Christian families, and have been attending church since you were brought in a baby-carrier. But there was some point at which you made some sort of a decision, either in small portions, or all at once, to become a follower of Jesus Christ.

I was in and out of Methodist and Episcopalian churches my whole life, wherever my father was hired as a singer or a choir conductor. But I did not become a Christian in either of those denominations; instead, I became a Christian at 26 years old in a non-denominational church. I remember the day well, and am still friends with one of the people who were also baptized that day. It was a time when I needed help, and I saw in God the strength to do what I needed to do, but that I could not do myself.
Those of us who were baptized as infants do not remember the day. You were brought to the church by your family or friends, and the congregation (if it was Methodist) pledged to bring you up in the ways of the faith, until such time as when you were able to be confirmed, and at that time, you took responsibility for your own salvation.
For each of us, there has been a time when we were not Christian. Whether it be for a few weeks, a month or two, or a year, or whether it was much longer, like me, there was a time when we were not marked as God’s own. Baptism was the sign that we all participated in to mark us as Christ’s own.

Today is the baptism of Christ. Today is the day we acknowledge that even someone who had the connection with God that Jesus did; access to the bandwidth that Jesus did, had to start with a very mundane procedure to mark the acceptance of God’s grace in his life; his “repentance”.

John, in another account of the story, sees Jesus coming and, since they’re cousins, and since John knows who Jesus is, since his birth, says, “I should be baptized by you!” Jesus tells him “let it be so for now.”

No one is worthy of being the person who performs baptism, but it still has to happen. Baptism is for us the “outward and visible sign of an inward movement and change.” Someone’s got to do it, but we all know that we are not anything more than just the vessel through which the Spirit works.

There are some churches, as well, who believe that you must be baptized again each time you change churches, but we in the United Methodist traditions do not. We do not “rebaptize”, whether you come from Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, whatever. If you were baptized in any church that believes in the Trinity, that Jesus was the Son of God, and that he was resurrected; if the church claims that doctrine, even if you personally have issues with it, you are still not rebaptized.

But I do know that it can be hard to find meaning in baptism, or in being baptized, if you don’t remember. For others, our baptism is a memory that needs to be claimed and cherished.

So this morning, we do a re-affirmation of our baptisms.

Nativity Scenes

Matthew 2: 1-18


It’s an important thing to remember; the lectionary reading for today ends at verse 12, but it’s important to remember what happens after Jesus’ birth, in Matthew. The coming of the Messiah, the coming of Jesus, even as a human baby, meant a threat to people in power.

You read this whole periscope, therefore, so we are reminded that the coming of the messiah does indeed bring a sword; that Herod was so threatened by the appearance of three wise foreigners to his land looking for a king foretold in the heavens, that on their word, he sends soldiers to kill every child under two years old in the district the wise men mentioned they were headed toward, as a way of ensuring that that one child would also be eliminated.

It is important to remember that these things happen. Power is jealous. That which is good in this world is often opposed by those for whom the world will change.

It is important to remember, but it is not my main point today.

Many churches these days will display nativity scenes in their sanctuaries, or outside in their yards. Many folks will also have them in their homes.

Do you know where the tradition of nativity scenes comes from? The inventor of the idea is generally understood to be none other than St. Francis of Assisi himself! That makes nativity scenes a tradition some 800 years old.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_scene

From his invention, we see Polish woodcarvings that depict the steeples of one town’s churches surrounding the holy family; we see Veggietales characters as Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men and Jesus; and scenes that are on the lawns of courthouses, private residences. We see live ones, static ones, rubber ones, stone ones, ones dressed in traditional first century middle eastern garb, and ones that reflect the regular dress of the people who created it.

My son has a self contained one that holds only the Holy family, that as created out of a gourd, and the people inside are dressed in traditional Bolivian garb, with Mary wearing that distinctive fedora women wear there.

If you have a crèche, you probably have a story about where it came from.

The birth of Christ, and his childhood, are universal touchstones. Many of us know what it means to care for a newborn and infant. We may not know what were used for diapers on Jesus; Procter and Gamble didn't exist back then. But sleepless nights from colicky babies is something Mary may have known as well as us. The wondering when the proper time is to transfer the baby to more solid food; the worry if the baby will get enough to eat if Mary’s milk dried up too early. Just as we have these worries now, Mary may have had them then.

Because Jesus came as a human being, we all understand what his life was like, to a certain degree.

This is what Francis wanted to see, I think. He invented the practice after having gone to the traditional site of the birthplace, to the church built over the site, and the reality of such an occasion was what he wanted to highlight; this is why he invented the practice. That’s real straw, those are real donkeys and goats, these are the smells and the sights that greeted the Christ child when he drew his first breath on earth.

I think he also would have loved that these scenes have taken on the colors and the clothing and the styles of the cultures that create them-it highlights to me anyway, the universality of the gift of the messiah. I think he would have loved that these scenes can be made into toys, even LEGOs and Veggie Tales!

This story is for everyone; so everyone is allowed to dress their characters as they want to. Masai tribes-people can put Kente cloth on their figures-Japanese can put kimonos on theirs.

“Unto us a son is given”, we sing in the Messiah. This means the whole world, no exceptions. For some, that is a blessing. For others, as we read at the end of the passage, it is a threat.

Which is it for you?