“Forgiven, Beloved” (Matthew 3:13-17)

Humility

The other day Esther (5 years old) entered into conversation with her older sister Grace (7 years old). She asked, “How can I meet God?” Without any hesitation, Grace replied, “There are four steps you need to take to meet God. First, you need to find a quiet place to meet God without any distraction. Second, you need to pray peacefully. Third, you need to be humble. And lastly, you need to answer the following two questions: (1) Do you believe that Christ died for you? (2) Do you want to serve God?” Esther asked, “What does it mean to be humble?” Grace said, “If you think you need God, you are humble. But if you don’t think you need God, then you are not humble.”

John’s Baptism

I don’t know where Grace learned all these four steps from. But I think she made a good point – especially about humility. I shared Grace’s story because it has to do with John’s ministry. His calling from God is basically to prepare the way of the Lord and to make his paths straight. In other words, his life mission as a messenger is to help people prepare their hearts to receive their Messiah who is coming very soon. And humility is a key element of heart preparation. That’s why John used baptism as the central means of his ministry.

In John’s time baptism was used for the Gentiles who would want to convert to Judaism. So if you are a gentile and want to believe in the God of Israel, you need to be baptized in order to demonstrate that you sincerely repent and are willing to follow the Law of Moses in public. Baptism was for the “unclean” Gentiles. But now, John used baptism for Jews as well as Gentiles! This was unheard of because the Jews were the “children” of Abraham. They felt they were already right with God. But John turned that notion upside down and taught that everyone needed to repent, confess their sins in pubic, and be baptized, saying, “You brood of vipers… do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor.’” Humility is the way to meet God.

Two or three days ago Hannah was sick. She had a fever and couldn’t sleep. Joyce gave her a lukewarm bath to bring down her fever. That reminded Joyce and me of water baptism. There was no intrinsic power in water itself. But as we were giving her a bath, we humbly prayed that somehow God would have mercy on her and heal her. I believe that’s what John the Baptist was doing it for God’s people. There is no intrinsic value or power in Jordan river. But as he was baptizing the people, he would humbly pray that God may cleanse them of their sins and prepare their hearts to receive the Christ. John the Baptist said, “I baptize you with water for repentance… but the one who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt 3:11). 

Jesus’ Baptism

What is the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire? I like the way the Message Bible interprets this verse:

"I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama--compared to him I'm a mere stagehand--will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.”

Our God is able to give us new life, new heart in Christ, changing us from the inside out permanently. But before that, Jesus comes to John to be baptized first. John the Baptist must be puzzled, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus said to him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Here in this context “righteousness” is a relational term – being right with God, having peace with God. But how does Jesus make this happen? By receiving the baptism of repentance, by taking away the sins of the world as the Lamb of God. That is God’s way of salvation.

Gordon MacDonald is well known as President Bill Clinton’s pastor with a past. He himself committed adultery and publicly repented. He experienced forgiveness of sin in a very personal way. In one of his books Pastor Gordon asks us to imagine the scene of Jesus’ baptism if it took place in the twenty-first century. Imagine John’s baptism occurs in our lifetimes, so we go out to be baptized by John. Imagine someone decided to get organized, so they set up a registration table, handing out nametags for each person who wants to be baptized by John. When a person registered for baptism, the person working the registration would ask, "What’s your name? And what sins do you need to repent of?" You’d say, "My name is Gordon and I’m an adulterer." So each person to be baptized would have a nametag with their name and their sin written on it. What would you and I have on our nametags? Perhaps it would be words like “unforgiving spirit” or “pride” or “guilt of abortion” or “hypocrisy.” Then comes Jesus who doesn’t need a nametag, and he asks each of us to take off our nametags. As Jesus prepares for his baptism, he puts all our nametags on himself, mine and yours, my name and your name, my sins and your sins. And then Jesus goes into the waters of baptism, identifying himself with our sins. That’s the reason why Jesus was baptized by John. 

Remember Your Baptism

Whatever we have on our nametags, Jesus takes off ours and gives us a new nametag, on which is written, “Beloved child of God.” That’s what happens when we are baptized. We are forgiven and adopted into God’s family. By baptism, God promises to give us new life, new identity, new name in Christ. Our part is to humbly believe this promise and receive baptism with thanksgiving.

Baptism is needed only one time in a person’s life. But from time to time we can renew our faith and our covenant with God. For instance, we can remember our baptism every morning when we wash our face or take a shower. I learned this spiritual practice from Adam Hamilton. We may offer a very simple prayer something like this:

“Lord, as I enter the water to bathe, I remember my baptism. Cleanse me anew. Let me hear you say, ‘You are my beloved.’ Help me to live as your child today and honor you in all that I do. Amen.”

We can also remember our baptism and renew our commitment to God as a church. Every New Year’s Eve John Wesley and the early Methodists had a special service called a Watch Night Service. The heart of the service was to commit themselves to God by reciting the covenant prayer. Today we as a church will take a moment to renew our baptismal covenant with God. The covenant prayer card will be given as a reminder. May we keep it always. May we write this covenant prayer deep within our hearts.

“I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things

to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”