The Baptism of the Lord : What is your Baptismal Identity?

Focus Statement: We are all connected through baptism to each other and to Jesus (GOD) through the Holy Spirit. We are God’s creation. That is our baptismal identity.

Function Statement: God calls us each by name and loves us.

“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”[1] AMEN.

I have moved the furniture around again. Yes, it is to get your attention. Today is the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Baptismal Font is now front and center. ON PURPOSE! It is to remind us of our own baptismal vows and our own journey from baptism to the cross. What do you have in common with Jesus? It is the same thing that we all have in common here. We ALL have a baptismal identity in common. Jesus did not have to be baptized. It was not necessary for Him to be baptized since there was no sin in His life for which to repent. I wonder why He did it. Maybe He did it to identify with us, our sins, and our desire to be closer to God. By Jesus being baptized, “it establishes the way we Christians publicly declare our repentance and dependence on God’s grace.”[2] We ALL are adopted in the waters of baptism as children of God. It is that simple.

Do you acknowledge your Baptismal Identity? Have you ever had an identity crisis? I mean a REAL Identity Crisis. Where you called the Real Identity Crisis Hotline. 1-800-WHO AM I 4? “An identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself.”[3] I can tell you I had a real-life Identity Crisis when I was just 5 years old. I am an identical Twin – monozygotic Twin. What that means is we have the same DNA. You can look that up. We look a lot alike. Identical Twins are very close, so close sometimes that they can develop their own language if not stopped in early development. My twin brother’s name is Greg.

One day when we were 5 years old and outside playing with some older girls in our front yard, one of the girls started to call me Greg. I corrected her; no, I am Jim. She said, “no you are not, I am older than you and I say you are Greg.” Well, I got confused. Twins know each other so well that I knew Greg as well as I knew Jim and I truthfully did not know which twin I was? “What would you do if you were me, to prove that you were you?” I ran in the house crying and rather upset, lucky my mom realized what was happening, wrapped her arms around me and told me I was Jim! And I have kept that identity ever since. Twin Brother Greg was there at our baptism, but I don’t remember it. Jesus was baptized and so are we.

All three of the synoptic Gospels have the story of Jesus being baptized but they are not exactly the same. In both Matthew and Mark, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. But here in Luke it does not exactly say that. Furthermore, in Luke we do not have anyone in particular who sees the heavens opening up and hears Jesus being proclaimed the Messiah. Nonetheless, let’s look at when the Spirit descended upon Jesus in each of these accounts.

As written in Matthew, “And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from Heaven said, “this is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”[4]

Then as it is written in Mark, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from Heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”[5]

In Luke, it starts out “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 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.”[6]

In each of these accounts, Jesus is identified, and the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus in the form of a dove. Not only were doves symbols of meekness and peace, but doves were also the minimum sacrifice that a poor person could bring to the temple to be sacrificed for their sins.[7] Then a voice from Heaven identifies Jesus as God’s Son. This is what we have in common with Jesus – in baptism ---God puts God’s name on each of us. In all of us --- the Holy Spirit is engaged. We become the Children of God. We are for GOD! And WE ARE GOD’S.

In Luke Jesus is praying when the Holy Spirit descends upon him. That is how we stay connected to God by praying. Jesus prayed. We have that in common with Him.

“The bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble.”[8] That’s it. That is all that is required. Once you are baptized you are baptized. You have a baptismal identity connection to all baptized Christians, everywhere in the WORLD!

Look at the old testament lesson, Isaiah 43 for today. “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.”[9] I have called you by name, you are mine. This is why we put such an emphasis on knowing each other by name in our mission statement. It is on the front of your bulletin. Names are very important. This is the only place in the Gospels where these words are used, “Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.” GOD LOVES YOU.

It is very comforting to me to know that God calls each of us on a first name basis. God calls us because we are God’s creation. God forms us, redeems us, and calls us by name to remind us that we are God’s. And through our baptismal vows we promise to live God’s way. We are to have the mind of Christ. That is why we look for what we have in common with Jesus. Our Vows help us to do just that. I wonder what the world would be like if we all lived fully into our baptismal vows?

And now we are going to renew our baptismal promise to God. AMEN.

The Renewal of Baptismal Vows

Celebrant Do you reaffirm your renunciation of evil and renew your commitment to

Jesus Christ?

People I do.

Celebrant Do you believe in God the Father?

People I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Celebrant Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

People I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the

power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under

Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the

dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is

seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the

living and the dead.

Celebrant Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?

People I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of

saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the

life everlasting.

Celebrant Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking

of bread, and in the prayers?