Washed, Fed, & Headed to Work

Baptism of the Lord/Installation of New Elders & Deacons

Isaiah 42:1-9

Matthew 3:13-17

  

Isaiah gives us in the ancient language of prophecy a vision of God’s faithful servant.  This servant will bring light into darkenss, sight to the blind, freedom to those in prison, release for those in captivity.

God says of this servant, “I will put my Spirit on him.”  And this is of course what we see happening in the scene of Jesus’ baptism.

 

God says of this servant, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”  And this is a wonderfully poetic way of describing the way Jesus loves and heals hurting people.  When Jesus meets people whose lives have been bent sideways, he strengthens and straightens them.  When Jesus meets people whose flame is faltering, he cups his hands around them and brings the candle back to its brightly burning glow.

When Jesus makes his way to the Jordan river for baptism by John, we should be confused, or at least surprised.  John has been preaching about repentance and the urgent need to turn from our sins.  He has been baptizing sinners.  So when Jesus comes for baptism, John rightly objects.  “We need the baptism, Jesus, not you!”

Jesus’ response is a little obscure or cloudy to me.  “Let it be so now,” he tells John; “it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”  I take it he means that submitting to a sinner’s baptism is part of his path; it’s a fitting way for him to announce the arrival of God’s kingdom.

As Jesus emerges from the water, he saw the heavens open and God’s Spirit descending upon him like a dove.  And then God’s voice from heaven speaks, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  These two realities – the gently descending but powerful Spirit, and the confidence that God the Father takes delight and pleasure in him – these motivate and energize Jesus’ ministry.

These same two realities are what make possible our new lives together.  From our baptism we walk forward into the rest of our lives accompanied by God’s powerful Spirit, basking in our status as God’s beloved sons and daughters.

Today is a special day for us.  We are living out our particular and peculiar way of being Presbyterian Christians.  There are a whole variety of ways of being Christian.  Being Presbyterian is just one of those ways.  But it is a rich and vibrant tradition of faith.  And one of the hallmarks of Presbyterian life is shared ministry and shared leadership.  Each year we elect and affirm a new class of elders and deacons to serve out a three year term of leadership for the congregation.  We are also installing new officers for the Presbyterian Women today.

So for those elders and deacons and PW officers who just ended their terms - we say a heartfelt “thank you.”  For your prayer and study, your committee work, your mentoring of other leaders, your willingness to take responsibility for the continued vibrance of our patterns of ministry, we say thank you. 

And to our continuing and new leaders we say, “Lead us forward boldly.  Include us in the work of ministry.  Expect hard work and genuine sacrifice from us.  Help us grow and deepen into our work.  Keep us warm-hearted and prayerful.  Remind us to celebrate and rejoice.  And show us how to rest.”

These leaders are not some special superheroes.  They’re regular baptized people who have agreed to take on special roles for a period of time for the good of the congregation’s life.  In just a few moments we will all together renew our baptismal promises to love and serve Christ together.

And then after that we will celebrate the feast given to God’s beloved people.  In this meal we receive again the gift of Christ’s own body, given to us, the most radical kind of gift imaginable. 

We will leave here today washed in baptism, fed by the Lord’s Supper, and headed out to do the work of being God’s faithful people.  Amen.