BAPTISM OF CHRIST(A) 2008
Isaiah 42:1-9; Ps 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17 The commercial comes onto the TV screen for the latest so-called “hit” show called “Parking Meter Wars”. It is a reality show apparently all about people who get parking tickets and those who hand them out and the altercations that ensue. Not only can you watch one episode but, this week there are special back to back episodes! It can be found on the Arts and Entertainment Network – of all places – before or after the other gripping reality series called “Intervention”. Personally incredulous, it begs the question “who watches these kind of shows?” The answer must surely be “a lot of people” or sponsors would not get behind such a project. Is there something wrong with the minority of people who find such things exploitive and offensive? Similarly, is there some kind of unfortunate delusion in those few who refuse to support known exploiters of human rights by shopping at certain stores or buying certain products? Judging by the overcrowded parking lots on most weekends and shopping holidays like Christmas, the majority of people obviously have no problem with getting bargains at the expense of invisible workers on the other side of the world. Why should anyone bother? Why not join in with everybody else and reap the benefits? The pursuit of such a lone road as that of justice is exhausting and discouraging. If it hadn’t been for recent frightening climate change statistics and graphic images brought to us by the likes of Al Gore and David Suzuki that have made it popular and chic, many of us would likely happily abandon the hard work of blue box and other recycling activities or the expenses of energy efficient changes in our homes and public buildings. Matthew’s Gospel – or at least the English translation of it – leaves it unclear in the context, to whom the voice of the Divine is directed at the time of Jesus’ baptism by John. “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’” Are these words for those gathered around him given as proof of holiness? Or are these words meant to be heard by Jesus himself, perhaps as a gift of identity? Perhaps the answer lies in what we, having the advantage of the rest of the story, know to be the outcome of the life and ministry that unfolds from this point for Jesus. Those who are around him at the time of baptism will have abandoned Jesus and the whole project by the time Jesus stands before the judgment of the Roman governor. Jesus, on the other hand consistently continues his path all the way to Calvary – the place of crucifixion. Jesus seems to have come to that place of self-identity that in some modern circles might be called “the healed ego”. That is, Jesus’ sense of himself was no longer a comparison to or a competition with others, or dependent upon the judgment of others. It rested solely on a sense of his personal worth and unique place in the Cosmos. This is different from the egocentric personality that thinks itself above or better than others. That is still a wounded ego. In Jesus, the sense of self brings him to his ministry or purpose in life that is connected to and for others because of his own wholeness and strength. Such a healed ego could only come from a grounded relationship with the greater Love and Unity of the Cosmos. That is the story of this Baptism of identity at the River Jordan. It is the story that is present in the waters of all baptism. In his life, that external powers held the authority of life or death over Jesus did not ultimately matter. It mattered little that many would think him misguided or sadly deluded. What mattered was that his life with others was lived with integrity, justice and mercy. Jesus carried about with him in that most fundamental place of being the words of the Divine that became clearly spoken as he entered the waters of repentance and renewal with John’s help: “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Obviously, as John identifies, this should not be necessary for one such as Jesus. It should not be necessary for any of the children of God. But Jesus’ vocation makes this moment a gift for all of us. Jesus submits to this baptism so that others may find their way baptized into the path he will walk in this world. We live in a world that seems radically pitted against the wholeness of the ego. It seems bent either on withering the ego by a sense of shame or personal powerlessness, or on perverting the ego into a self-serving self-absorbed parasite by isolation and attachment to material things. With such wounded egos we spend much of our human lives as if the world is somehow pitted against us or is there to serve us. We become sad and passive victims in life or we become aggressive and violent warriors for the self. The story of faith presents us with an alternative. It presents us with a relationship and, therefore, with an identity and a way which is particularly unique to the healed ego. This story is given words by the prophet Isaiah, echoed in the event of Jesus’ baptism: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations…He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth…I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations…” To enter the baptism of Jesus is to enter this relationship, this identity. It matters little that the whole world may be flocking to get all the stuff they want at big box stores and think we are crazy to do otherwise. It matters little that our efforts to be an inclusive community are considered scandalous by more powerful and richer religious powerhouses when Christ Jesus points the way for us. It matters little that we may be viewed unpatriotic by our government and its supporters because we stand for peace and non-violent solutions to political issues. It matters little to be labeled altruistic, liberal or scandalously Christian in a secular society. It matters little that we are a minority of little fish in a sea of great need and huge problems. We carry with us in a fundamental place of being, words that were spoken clearly in baptismal waters. These words cannot be erased and ground us in a wholeness that endures, persists and resists the discouragement of long journeys and the temptation to give over the purpose of our lives. They are spoken by the voice much greater than the crowds, much stronger than criticism and judgment and shame; much richer than all the material things of personal power and success; much stronger than the Cross: “This is my child, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” |
