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January 11,  2004;  The First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, Year C
    The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector

In most of the early churches that were built during the fourth century it was a common practice to place the baptistery just inside the main entrance to the church.   This was to emphasize the importance of baptism as the initiation into the Body of Christ.  Hanging above the baptistery was a painting or mosaic of the baptism of Jesus nearby.   The picture depicted Jesus standing attentively in the Jordan River while John the Baptist poured water on him.  Above Jesus’ head was a descending dove and there was the cloud of heaven at the top of the picture.

I suspect that most of us at one time or another have wondered why Jesus, who we believe was without sin, asked John the Baptist to baptize him.  Certainly Jesus did not “need” to be baptized with John’s baptism, which was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  The only explanation that makes any sense to me is that Jesus was baptized in order to identify with us.  As the waters of the Jordan River swirled around him, Jesus was one with us human beings in our weakness and need of repentance.

Yet I also believe that the baptism of Jesus assures us that Jesus was not simply just like us.  He is both like us and greater than we are.  The Gospels[i] of Matthew, Mark, and Luke record that a voice from heaven spoke immediately after Jesus was baptized, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”[ii]

The Right Reverend Maurice Benitez (Ban ee tez), former bishop of the Diocese of Texas, stated in an article that appeared in The Living Church[iii] several years ago, “It has been well said that the two most important days of your life are, first, the day that you were born and, second, the day that you discover why you were born.” 

If Jesus had had any doubts as to who he was before his baptism, they were certainly erased when that voice spoke from heaven.  In that moment Jesus had to have experienced an overwhelming awareness of who he was.  He was the chosen of God, the Messiah of the world.  “You are my Son, the Beloved.”  There is power in that affirmation, as God claimed and sealed the identity of his Son.

Bishop Benitez goes on to state in his article, “It is my conviction that the church, in the sacrament of Holy Baptism, proclaims to the world why you were born.  Implicit in our baptism is our reason for being, our purpose in life, and our ultimate destiny.”

In our baptism a claim is placed upon us.  God looked down from heaven on the day that we were baptized and declared each of us his beloved sons and daughters.  God claimed and sealed us as his.  Armed with this affirmation we go out into the wilderness – that hostile place – the world – to face the same temptations that Jesus faced.  It is only in us remembering who we are and whose we are through our baptism, that we will be able to resist temptations when they come our way.  In the face of temptation and the opportunity to sin we can say firmly, “No, I am the beloved son or daughter of my heavenly Father, I know who I am.”

Even as the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism, so at our baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon us.  It is that Holy Spirit who dwells in us now and gives us the power to overcome temptation and walk as a child of God.  A walk that leads us to eternal life.

Several people commented on the appropriateness of placing Helen Collard’s ashes on the baptismal font for her funeral service a couple of weeks ago.  It is appropriate because Helen, like the rest of us, became an inheritor of the kingdom of God upon her baptism.  It seems only fitting that the baptismal font, a symbol of our baptism, is the pedestal on which we are placed upon our death to remind us that we have gathered for a celebration of resurrection.   Unfortunately we cannot place a casket on the baptismal font, but from now on the font will be up front and close to everyone’s casket.

I must admit that this is not an original idea.  The genesis of this practice comes from Ian Schlotterbeck around 20 years ago when the idea of a memorial garden was first introduced at St. Philip’s.  Some of you have seen the sketch and notes before.  It shows the baptismal font just inside the doors to the nave of the church.  Baptism is the sacrament by which we enter into the Body of Christ. Baptism celebrates our adoption as one of God’s children and becoming inheritors of the kingdom of God.  Our journey through this life is represented by the space between the baptismal font and the altar.  It is from this area, where the pews are, that we hear the Word of God and learn what it means to follow Jesus Christ.  We receive nourishment for our journey from the altar in the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  And upon our death our mortal body is laid to rest in the Memorial Garden while our spirit ascends to the kingdom of God.

Even though we may not be buried in the Memorial Garden outside the windows behind the altar, the relationship between our baptism and our death is real.  As Paul states in his Letter to the Colossians in baptism we are buried with Christ and raised to a new life with him through faith in the power of God.[iv]

As The Rev. Dr. Patricia Wilson-Kastner stated, when we grow weak, discouraged, or unsure of who we are; all we have to do is remember Jesus standing in the water of the Jordan River.  We have followed his example; we are baptized into his life, death, and resurrection.  And through our baptism in him we are made children of God to live and proclaim the Good News of the Gospel in the world.  We are assured by the voice of God from heaven and the presence of the Holy Spirit that the grace of God given to us through our baptism in Jesus Christ will be with us always, now and forever.[v]

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