Baptism of Christ - Making yourself one

Sermon preached at 11am Choral Mattins at Mary the Virgin, Lapworth on Sunday 9th January 2011. Shorter versions of this sermon were preached at the 8.30am Said Eucharist at Mary’s and at 3pm Evensong at St Michael’s Baddesley Clinton.

Baptism of Christ – Year A

Readings: Isaiah 42: 1-9, Matthew 3: 13-17



My grandfather, when he was getting married, rather boldly assumed that he would not need a ticket to get into the church for his wedding. It turned out that this rather bold assumption was wrong. He was marrying the daughter of an archbishop, and the cathedral had all its “big event” procedures in place, including ticket only entrance. My grandfather and the best man finally entered the cathedral by climbing over some railings at the back. He ripped his trousers in the process so had to cope with torn trousers all day, but then he dined out on the story for the rest of his life!
In one way it seems quite reasonable that my grandfather should not need a ticket to attend his own wedding. If he really had been unable to get in, they would presumably have noticed! People would have gone to find him.
But Jesus, when he entered this world, which he created, seemed to seek none of the special privileges which, as Son of God or Messiah, he might reasonably have expected. This lack of special treatment is especially clear in the Christmas/Epiphany season. On 1st January the church marks the “Circumcision of Christ”. Just like any other new born baby boy in Judaism, Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day. In three weeks time we shall remember the “Presentation of Christ in the Temple”. Just like any other newborn, Jesus is taken to the Temple with his mother on the 40th day for the rites of purification. And in our gospel reading today, we see Jesus, just like any repent Jew at that time, coming to John the Baptist for Baptism so as to prepare for the coming Messiah.
Well, as we heard in the gospel reading, John the Baptist could see that it would be more appropriate if he, John, was baptised by Jesus. But Jesus persuades him to go along with the baptism, at least for the time being. And this obedience of Jesus, and his parents, to the normal religious rules for normal people shows us something of the great humility of the God who became human. It shows us how Jesus is completely and fully human.
And this is very important. Because somehow it is the way that Jesus, who is God, becomes like us, fully human, that opens up the possibility of us to become like him; of us coming to share in God’s own divine life.
The Baptism of Christ shows us this especially. At the baptism the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and came to rest upon Jesus. This was a sure sign that Jesus had received the Spirit. It was a reminded of the prophecy of Isaiah that we read earlier, “I have put my spirit upon him”. It reveals Jesus to be the Messiah, the anointed one of God, the one who has received God’s own Spirit. This is something very special and specific to Jesus, but ultimately we all come to share in its benefits. So, for example, at our own Baptism we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and we are strengthened in the Holy Spirit at our confirmation.
Also at the Baptism of Christ, God’s voice declares “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” This voice reveals Jesus to be Son of God. Again it echo the Isaiah prophecy, “Here is my servant…the chosen one, in whom my soul delights.” Again this is something very special and specific to Jesus, about being Son of God, but also once again it is something in which ultimately we come to share. Through our Baptism we become a new creation, like an adopted son of God, a co-heir with Christ.
So it is strange and interesting that at the Baptism of Christ, when the Holy Spirit descends and reveals Jesus to be Messiah, and the voice of the Father reveals him to be Son of God, Jesus, by the humility of his own actions is revealing himself to be completely and fully human, Son of Man as much as he is Son of God.
And this humility of Jesus, losing all the privileges of being God, in order to be fully human like us, demonstrates a very typical characteristic of Christian love, a characteristic which we are all called to practice and grow into. This is the practice being ready to let go of our own identity and our own ideas in order to fully share in the life of the person in front of us. So, for example, we put to one side what we think about a particular situation in order to hear properly what another person has to say about it. I had an experience of this recently when someone was upset about a funeral service I had conducted at the crematorium. I felt defensive and rather than listen properly I wanted to explain why the service was the way it was. I have to admit that I did do that a bit, but to the extent that I did listen properly what emerged was much more upset about the person lost than about the service. Listening properly would have helped the truth to emerge and heeling to take place.
This characteristic Christian way of loving has been described as “making yourself one” with the person beside you. It is involves temporarily setting aside our own thoughts and agendas in order to fully appreciate the thoughts and agendas of another person. It involves placing ourselves in their shoes, as though we are living their lives, with their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows. It is not an action of weakness, or about allowing others to dominate us, but it is about seeking and valuing the experience and attitudes of Jesus in a different person. It is a practice in line with St Paul, who became Jewish to the Jews, Greek to the Greeks and even weak to the weak (cf 1 Corinthians 9: 19ff) in order to love in this way. And it is a very powerful way of loving that builds shared understanding, appreciation of difference, unity and communion; real shared life. I commend it to you, but the ultimate example must always be Jesus, who put aside being God in order to be completely human.