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The Baptism of Our Lord Sunday, January 12, 2025 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto Our Opening Hymn is, “All Christians Who Have Been Baptized” Lutheran Service Book, 596 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M176e7UkbOk OPENING HYMNN: 601 “All Who Believe and Are Baptized” The Invocation Page 184 Confession and Absolution Page 184-185 Introit Psalm 2:7-11, 12c; antiphon: Isaiah 42:1a Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.” Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. Our Collect Prayer: Father in Heaven, At the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River You proclaimed Him Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. Make all who are baptized in His name faithful in their calling as Your children and inheritors with Him of everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our Bible Readings: Old Testament – Isaiah 43:1-7 Psalm 29 Epistle – Romans 6:1-11 Gospel – Luke 3:15-22 Our Hymn of the Day is: “O Love, How Deep” Lutheran Service Book, 544 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHASptbZB-A The Sermon – Today, on this “Baptism of Jour Lord” Sunday, we read about Christ’s Baptism and perhaps think about our own. We may ask what did Baptism mean for Jesus, and what does it mean and do for us in our lives? Lutherans often say that Baptism is like adoption. I’ve known quite a few adoptive parents, and when they bring a child into their new family they celebrate. And when that baby looks into their eyes for the first time and smiles, they take that child not only into their family, but into their hearts. Now we don’t wait until an infant becomes of age and then ask them whether or not they want to be part of a family. No. If we receive the child as a baby, we adopt them as a baby. So it is with God. God wants us to be baptized or adopted as infants; as ‘adults’ if that doesn’t happen in infancy. We don’t wait until the child is the “age of decision” to be adopted, nor does the Bible encourage us to wait until adulthood to be part of the family of God. And so, we baptize children, and for good Biblical reasons. Worldly adoption is the parent’s action. When my neighbours brought an adorable baby girl home from eastern Europe, the infant did nothing to be adopted, the parents did everything. It’s the same with our loving God. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them. (Matthew 19:14) Our Heavenly Father reaches out to us through the Holy Spirit, through the means of grace: His Word, the sacrament of Baptism, and the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. So Baptism in the Bible, isn’t a decision we make, despite what some TV evangelists will tell you, but a decision God has made to reach out to us and claim us as His own. Baptism is like a spiritual branding, where the mark of Christ is put on our forehead and we know that we belong to God. Baptism is a cleansing, yet not a physical washing, but a spiritual one. It is a cleansing of sins where the purity of Christ is given to us through the water, the Word, and again most importantly through the Holy Spirit. Now babies don’t wash themselves when they’re dirty. Parents do. And just as it’s an earthly parent’s decision to wash and cleanse their child, so it is the Fathers will for us to be made clean, and only He can do that. So, we come to Jesus’ Baptism, and we might be confused, even as John the Baptist was when Christ came to him. In Matthew 3:14 John at first resists Jesus’ request and says, "I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?" Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. John felt unworthy to baptize Christ, but Jesus insisted. As Christ came up out of the water, a voice from Heaven said, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. “ Today my sermon will have three points -- and the points are: Son, Spirit, and Servant. First, Son. In his baptism, Jesus was declared to be the “beloved Son” of God. The Bible teaches that Jesus was the only begotten Son, true God and true man. But in our Baptism, you and I become and are declared the adopted sons and daughters of God, and have a new relationship with Him, a new closeness. A friend of mine years ago worked in a small manufacturing company. His relationship with the owner was very formal, even distant. But when the owner’s daughter told her father that she wanted to marry my friend, the owner came and threw his arms around him and said, “my new son.” The relationship with his boss changed forever. Baptism is the fantastic invitation from God to know us so closely that we’re called son or daughter and become family. God looks down at you and me and says, ‘These are my beloved sons and daughters in whom I delight.’ The second point of today’s message as I said is: Spirit. When Jesus was Baptized, the Holy Spirit came down on Him. This was the same Spirit present in creation, when God created the universe. In the book of Genesis, it says, “The Spirit of God was hovering above the waters.” The Spirit was brooding above the waters, ready to create life. Later, that same creative Spirit described in Genesis came upon the prophets, who through the Spirit spoke with boldness and authority. When we find that same Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, coming down upon Jesus, who was already God in Human Flesh, we see the Spirit descend on Him as a recognition that He was the only Son. The Spirit set down on Him at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry which would end with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection. Through Baptism, a Sacrament commanded by Christ in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20), the same Spirit lives in us. The Holy Spirit uses God’s means of grace: His Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to work faith in Christ withing us. The Spirit regenerates us, giving us the ability to believe, and the desire to live a life conformed to Christ, whom we are united to through our Baptism. Now there is a third thing that happens in the Baptism of Jesus, and the third point of my sermon. The voice of God identified Jesus as being the Suffering Servant. The words of God recorded in Luke echo the words of God recorded by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 42, verse 1 says: “Behold 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.” Isaiah 42 is a chapter about the Suffering Servant, and Jesus is identified as the Servant of God. The servant who carries the sins of the whole world on His back. The Suffering Servant is like a packhorse whose load is sin. You and I were baptized to be cleansed of sin. That wasn’t true of Jesus. He had no sin. According to the Bible, Jesus was Baptized not to rid Himself of sin, but in order to carry our sins to the cross. And that’s important for us to understand and appreciate. When we’re baptized, it is guaranteed that Christ will exchange His righteousness for our sins, what Martin Luther called the glorious exchange. Christ has carried all your sins on the cross. We’re not weighed down by past sins, failures, imperfections, or guilt. All the wrongs we have or ever will commit have been placed on the back of Jesus, and He carries that weight, a load we couldn’t carry for a second. I remember reading a poem by Rudyard Kipling poem: “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you. … If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, and make allowances for their doubting too. … If you can wait and not be tired of waiting, and so on, and it concludes, “Yours is the earth and everything in it. And what is more, you will be a man, my son.” Yet, the question may be in our minds, “What if I can’t?” What if I can’t always be strong? What if a relationship with a loved one breaks down? What if a job is lost, or our health, or hope shattered? It’s then we can remind ourselves we have been Baptized – that we have a loving Father who adopted and claimed us. It’s then that we can take those loads of pain and worry, turn to Jesus in prayer, and hand Him the burdens we cannot bear, but He did. For you, for me. The all-powerful who became the suffering servant out of love invites us to remember we are His children through Baptism and the Holy Spirit. Baptism for some people isn’t important, it’s only a ritual, just the sprinkling of water on a baby’s head. For others unfortunately Baptism is like hell insurance they rely on to protect them from the fiery wrath of God. But Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Matthew: “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . . . . ” (Matt.28:19). And in in the last chapter of Mark, Christ says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved . . . . ”(Mark 16:16). Christ Himself tells us Baptism is not just a ritual, not simply a “nice to have.” What Baptism is truly about is being claimed as God’s child and protected by your loving Father for eternity. The Spirit of God came upon Jesus. He was declared to be the Son of God in whom the Heavenly Father delighted. The Spirit of God came upon us at the Baptismal font. There we were joined to the suffering servant Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There we were spiritually washed and joined to our Lord's perfect life, sacrificial death, and resurrection. There we were brought into the family of the Church as God's forgiven children for the sake of Jesus. May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. Amen. PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) Page 195 Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) Pages 198 (Our Communion Hymn is “I Bind Unto Myself Today”) Nunc Dimitis (Song of Simeon) Page 199 Post-Communion Collect (Right-hand column) Page 201 CLOSING HYMN: 590 “Baptized into Your Name Most Holy” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocxe4OLhagI&list=RDocxe4OLhagI&start_radio=1