Luke 3:15-17, 21-22Forgive me. I dislike this text. It's sorta weird. What can you do with it?
3:15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,
3:16 John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3:17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,
3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
I remember one of Forde's things was to talk about "doing the text" to the hearers of the sermon. For me this has become a method of distilling the text into one sentence. And it is generally a sentence of clear gospel or law. This Sunday's text can't be messed with too much; it seems like a good occasion to "do the text."
A text on Jesus' baptism gives us a good opportunity to talk about our regular-person baptism. Perhaps we could describe it in such a way that hits hard on the externality of it. It is something that happens to us. It is God's work. The Holy Spirit falls upon us (or whatever verb you think you would be more appropriate). God makes his decision about us publicly known.
This discussion of baptism could then lead to the doing of the text in the strong proclamation to the hearers: God says, "You are my child, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
Ramble away please.
3 comments:
I agree that this is an opportunity to talk about baptism. From my point of view, and taking into consideration the first lesson, it seems like the focus on baptism is our identity. Who am I? I get lots of messages about who I am. I am a consumer. I am a jerk. I am inadequate unless I do this or that. I am a success. I am a failure. etc. etc. It is easy to forget who I am, who I really am. Baptism establishes my identity as a child of God, and is the touchstone of that identity to which I can return again and again to remember who I am, when I forget.
I really like the focus on the question "who am I?"
- - WARNING: SELF AS PROJECT ALERT!!- -
As you say, Dr. Basement, this could be a time to hit on externality.
In the project of the self, who I am is somehow self-generated. Internal.
Amongst the many pitfalls here, is the danger of taking credit for one's own inadequacies - or much more rarely - one's sense of success and satisfaction.
Further, one need not be concerned with the neighbor in need. He or she should get with it, and do a better job of self-creating a better person.
Forde/Nestingen in "Free to Be"
"God has made a decision about you"
Does the baptism of Jesus give him an identity? in similar ways that we can find identity in God's decision about us?
I'm thinking about the word/action of newness. With a new year folks are starting new things (ie. for some..a new diet...for our President..a new approach/strategy in Iraq **yeah, right**...for others a new habit, etc.) But what happens when the newness wears off ? (like the new gift at Christmas) New resolves seem to vanish in a hurry. God meets us and speaks promise. God establishes the new identity. God promises the second exodus (Isaiah 43) God has a resolve to make new or "re-new" in each of us.
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