Albert Schweitzer casually walked into a library one day and sat down at a table to study. He picked up a magazine that someone had failed to return to the rack. It was a publication of the London Missionary Society. As he thumbed through it, an article about African missions caught his eye. That article changed the direction of his life. He could have been a great organist performing in the world’s most renowned concert halls, or a medical doctor working in the great research centers of the world. But because of that article, he spent the rest of his life in Africa as a Christian missionary.
Experiences have the effect of changing the direction of our lives. They are critical experiences because they affect where we are going in our lives, and how we live our lives.
Somehow that is what I can picture in my mind the baptism of Jesus–a life-changing experience.
John the Baptist may have been a rather strange figure. Can you imagine what it would be like if John the Baptizer were the pastor of Silliman University Church today? I wonder who would run away first, John or all the rest of us.
Just meeting him will be a life-changing experience. The way the scriptures describe him, it sounds as if he would have been very hard to get along with. The man could never have come to your home for dinner, for instance, because he ate only locusts and wild honey. He was loud and probably obnoxious. He looked like a weirdo, going around in a coat of camel’s fur. Worst of all, he was always talking about sin, harping at people, preaching repentance over and over again.
While John may not sound very attractive by description, nevertheless, there was something about him that drew people to him. Mark tells us that all of Judea, and all the people in Jerusalem came out to see him. And that included Jesus.
John and Jesus were cousins. They must have heard about each other before. But on the day they met, John stepped aside, leaving Jesus clearly set apart as he baptized him.
Some of you may have watched the play Godspell which was shown at the Luce Auditorium last month. We have some Church members who were part of the cast.
John the Baptizer is the first character on stage. The play begins with John on stage dressed like a circus ringmaster. One gets the message that his job was to “get the show going.” As Godspell begins, there is a beautiful song which John sings. The melody is haunting and the words repeat over and over again, “Prepare, ye, the way of the Lord….”
In Mark’s account, we are told that Jesus came to see his cousin, and submitted himself for baptism. As Jesus was coming out from the water, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit like a dove descended on him. And a voice came from heaven, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
I could just imagine the clouds parting slowly and letting one strategic shaft of golden light zero in on Jesus’ head. And then a voice: that must have made the people who were there marvel.
There is evidence that the father of Jesus died when he was a young man. As the eldest son, he cared for the family, and took over the family business, and ran the carpenter shop in Nazareth. There is some thought that he was a skilled craftsman like his father. One New Testament scholar has suggested there might have been a sign over his carpenter shop which read “My Yoke is Easy” indicating that his yokes were so skillfully-crafted that they fit perfectly over the shoulders of the oxen, causing no chafing and making heavy burdens light.
But then at the age of around 30, he decided to go and listen to his cousin. There must have been something going in him that made him look for his cousin. When Jesus met his cousin, John had the feeling that he was the One whom they had been waiting for.
And when Jesus was baptized, it totally changed the direction of his life. His baptism became the moment he was waiting for.
From a carpenter, he became the One who went around changing the lives of others. From then on, Jesus entered into all areas of life, accepting the hospitality of those whom the religious leaders regarded as contaminated and unfit. He was accused of being the friend of the publicans and sinners. He deliberately went to them, and offered God’s forgiveness and the chance for a new life. This complete identification with sinners continued all the way to the cross.
Our baptism today can be a life-changing experience as well, for we are baptized into Christ and into his ministry. Through our baptism, we are called to bring the might and the power of the Gospel to bear on every aspect of human life.
The pattern of our life must be one of involvement in the world. and identification with people in need. We cannot escape the hard fact that this will be a costly experience, and could lead to suffering. As we watch those who are suffering, we, too, suffer.
We are also called to the dangers, and often costly ministry. For some, it may mean the loss of friendship. For others, it may mean sharing your time, talent, and money–putting more time to do ministry or making your job as a ministry.
For a few, it may mean imprisonment, and even death.
For many of us, we may not be imprisoned, but when we stand for the truth, sometimes we are ostracized by the community, or we may be out of our job. If we speak out what is right, others may look down on us. We sometimes hear, “Oh, he may be right, but that is not how we do things.”
On the other hand, God also promises us power as we go about doing our ministry. And that power comes to us through our baptism when we open ourselves to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Baptism is never merely a human act, either of the pastor who administers it or the one who receives it. It is a divine act, the act of him who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. “By one Spirit,” says Paul, “we are all baptized into one body.
The important thing is not whether we were baptized as children or as adults, but to realize that baptism encompasses our whole life from beginning to end.
Several years ago in an old big church in New York, a new organ had been installed. At that time, it was a rare and costly instrument. The first Sunday it was used, the electric current that was required to operate it went off at a point early in the service. A hurried call for help brought a mechanic. Soon, a note was sent up, and handed to the organist. The note said, “After the baptism, the power will be on.” That mechanic did not realize what depths and heights or truth were in those simple words.
After our baptism God has given us power.
If we just submit ourselves wholly to God, even with our shortcomings, the Holy Spirit’s power will lift us up, and sustain us as we do our tasks that God has given us. As what St. Paul wrote, “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” (Phil. 4:13)
As I look back and watch the children I baptized and joined the Confirmation Class, I see changes in their lives. Some of them decided to become pastors. Many of them have done well in their profession living a life reflecting God’s presence. And it makes me marvel at the power of God.
Today, our Lord says to us, as he once said to his first disciples, “With the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized” (Mark 10:39). Today, may we see the heavens open and as the dove, the Spirit of God will settle upon us, may we, too, hear in our hearts the voice that says, “My child, my beloved.”
