Delivered by Rev. Ellen Brantley

Sunday, January 13, 2008

SERMON:  Divine Affirmation

TEXT:        Matthew 3:13-17

          “Why was Jesus baptized?”  I’ve heard people ask this question before, and it’s a good question.  After all, if Jesus was perfect and sinless already, why would he need to be cleansed of his sins in the waters of baptism?  And having been born the Son of God, why would he have to be born again?  Even though we don’t know much about his life up to this point, I have no doubt that he was obedient and committed to following the path God had for him, so there was no reason for a re-commitment of any sort.  So why would he go to John and ask to be baptized?

          Well, John wondered the same thing, and put the question to Jesus himself:  “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  Jesus answered, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”

          Okay.  In Jesus’ time it was “proper” for a priest to undergo ritual washing or baptism in preparation for offering sacrifice.  Also, visitors were not to enter the inner courts of the Temple without washing their hands and feet. These rituals were followed for reasons of religious and sometimes moral purity.  And when John the Baptist was baptizing people it was symbolic of their acceptance of his prophetic call to repentance and forgiveness of sins.

          Jesus, of course, would himself be offered as a sacrifice.  Perhaps this was his own washing in preparation for that event.  Still, he had three years of ministry ahead of him before then.  As he prepared to begin his earthly ministry, perhaps he found it necessary to mark the occasion with an act of obedience and recommitment.  Perhaps it was an act of humility, showing that he would not ask his followers to do anything that he had not done himself.  Perhaps it was an opportunity for Jesus to be revealed as God’s Son.  But I think it was also an opportunity for Jesus himself to be reminded that he was God’s Son.

          Don’t we all need a good pep talk when we’re about to embark on something new or a particularly difficult task?  Coaches give pep talks to their teams before every game.  Graduates get motivational speeches and diplomas and Pomp and Circumstance before entering the working world or the next level of education.  Military outfits have send-off events before going to war.  And Jesus, in his humanness, perhaps needed that DIVINE AFFIRMATION from his Father God, saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

          He hadn’t even begun his ministry yet, but God was pleased with him nonetheless.  It’s like your Dad giving you a pat on the back and saying,
“I’m proud of you” for no apparent reason except to encourage you and to remind you that you are loved.        

          Today, we ordain and install those who have answered the call to the office of elder, and who are embarking (or continuing) on a special journey, something new, and potentially difficult.  It is appropriate that we do this on the day when we remember Jesus’ baptism, for we, too – all of us in the family of faith – are preparing to begin a new ministry and a new phase in our life of faith.  In ordination, when you feel the heaviness of all those hands laid upon your head and shoulders, you realize the heaviness and the seriousness of the task to which you are called.  It is a call, not just upon your time, your talent, your treasure, but it is a call upon your whole life.  And you begin to wonder whether you’re up to the task.

Not only are the hands heavy like the task, but then we hear as we did in the Call to Worship from Psalm 29 about how powerful is the One who calls us.  “The voice of the Lord is over the water; the God of glory thunders, the Lord over mighty waters.  The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare.”  Then we begin to ask questions similar to Psalm 8:  What would such a powerful God need or want with us mere mortals? 

So, this is a good time for a little pep talk, a little pat on the back, a little encouragement, a little DIVINE AFFIRMATION.

          Did you know that children need to hear ten positive messages to balance out one negative message?  As adults, I don’t think we’re much different.  Most people I know would rather hear about how much God loves us than how sinful we are.  And I believe that God is pleased, not only with his son, Jesus, but with all who love and serve him.

          Listen to these words of affirmation from Isaiah 43:  “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  When you pass through the water, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.  I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.  Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.  Do not fear, for I am with you.”

          Here’s another that’s not a quote from the Bible, but it’s certainly an affirmation.  “If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.  If God had a wallet, your photo would be in it.  God sends you a sunrise every morning.  He sends you flowers every spring.  God could live anywhere in the universe and He chose your heart.  When you want to talk, God will listen.  And that Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem?...  Face it friend, God is crazy about you!”

          Now that’s a pep talk!  Knowing how much God loves us, how can we do anything but say, “Here I Am, Lord,” when God calls?  Knowing how much God believes in us, how can we not step out in faith?  Knowing how much Jesus sacrificed for us, how can we not sacrifice for him?

          May we all hear the call of God to love and to serve one another and may we all respond… to the glory of God!

          AMEN.