Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on January 13, 2008
(First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 89:1-29 or 89:20-29
Acts 10:34-38
Matthew 3:13-17

Do you know what an audible is? If you follow football, you’ll know that an audible is when the quarterback gets up to the line behind the center and quickly discerns that the way the defense is lining up will prevent him from properly executing the play that he has called in the huddle. So when he is calling out the signals before the snap, he inserts a predetermined code word, which tells his team that he is changing to an alternative play, to which they need to respond accordingly.

Do you know what an ad lib is? Ad lib is short for the Latin, ad libitum, which means "at will." In music this is a direction to the performer that he or she may modify the time or the expression of a passage to whatever they wish. On stage or in theatre, it means to improvise or do something spontaneously without using the script.

Now an audible is not quite the same as an ad lib. Although there is spontaneity involved, an audible is provisional whereas an ad lib is not expected.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses both an audible and an ad lib and both of them cause John the Baptist to wonder if he’s using the same playbook or script if you will allow me to mix metaphors because things are working out in a totally different way than he has expected.

Now just prior to today’s passage was the Gospel we heard on 2nd Sunday in Advent where everyone is coming out to the wilderness to hear John’s message of repentance. Now remember, before John, baptism was used expressly for the initiation of a Gentile into Judaism for ritual purification purposes but he is now saying that it is for the thorough removal of sin and that it is for both Jews and Gentile alike. He further exhorts that even though he baptizes with water there is One who is to come who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire; someone with far greater power than he has; someone who will be able to look into the hearts of all people and pass judgment and mete out justice.

So to continue mixing metaphors a bit, the play has been called and the stage has been properly set. John looks up from the people forming a line into the Jordan and almost as if on cue, all the way from Galilee, appears Jesus! The One who is to come has arrived …and …and ...he gets in line with the rest of the people to be baptized by John. You see, that’s the ad lib. Jesus doesn’t do what John expects him to do. He’s not following the script according to John. He’s improvising and John doesn’t know how to react.

"Wait a minute! That’s not how it’s supposed to be! What are you doing? According to the revelation that I received, I expected you to come strutting over the hill like you owned the joint. I just finished prepping the crowd and telling them how great you are and then you just get in line like you’re one of them? You’re supposed to come right down to the water’s edge and tell me to get on my knees and submit to you. In fact, if anything, you’re supposed to baptize me, not me you.

Then Jesus gives the audible. He has scanned the horizon and sees that the way John has things set up would go contrary to God’s plan so he says, "Relax John; this is the way it’s going to be. This is the proper thing to do. By doing it this way, we will both be doing God’s will." And although John was not privy to the "alternate" plan, he yielded to Jesus’ authority and baptized him. And when Jesus came up from the water, the heavens were opened and Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. And then a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

Now this passage has confused more people than John the Baptist down through the ages. Why would Jesus even need to be baptized by John? He didn’t need to repent of his sins because he was without sin. He didn’t need adoption because he was born as the Son of God. And the Holy Spirit miraculously conceived him in the womb of a virgin so he didn't need the gift of the Spirit. So why did he do it?

First of all, Jesus submits to John’s baptism because it is God’s will. Scripture tells us that Jesus came from Galilee to be baptized by John. Jesus has already discerned that this is what God wants him to do so he obeys. But when he arrives on the scene, John tries to prevent it from happening.

Now John’s attempt at preventing Jesus’ baptism is a foreshadowing of when Peter rebukes Jesus and attempts to prevent him from going up to Jerusalem to be killed by the chief priests and scribes, and Jesus says, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." The idea of John baptizing one as great as Jesus and Jesus willingly going to Jerusalem is foreign to John and Peter’s way of thinking. If anything Jesus should be baptizing John. Jesus should be going to Jerusalem to wrest control from the chief priests and scribes, and Herod himself.

But Jesus says that being baptized by John is the proper way for both of them to fulfill all righteousness. Now what is righteousness? Righteousness is the state of being in a right relationship with God and the only way to be in a right relationship with God is to obey His will. So Jesus is saying to John, "Yes, I know you saw the baptism with Spirit and fire in your revelation, and what you saw is true. I will bring judgment and justice to all people. But now is not the time for the baptism of Spirit and fire; that will come in the proper time. Now is the time for me to be baptized by you because it is God’s will, and He is in charge." Obedience to God is the only way to gain righteousness.

Secondly, Jesus’ baptism provides us with the model for Christian baptism. Not only does Christian baptism wash away accumulated sin through repentance but also it provides us with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and proclaims our relationship to God as a child to a parent. And just as baptism marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, for us it marks the beginning of the fixing of our brokenness with God’s will. It is the beginning of our becoming healed and whole and returning to the standard which the Father intended for us from the beginning. The repair of this brokenness is the same as obedience.

And finally, Jesus’ baptism identifies him with us. Remember in the Nativity story, in Joseph’s dream the angel said that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be Emmanuel, which means God with us. Jesus meets us in baptism not because he has sinned but because we have sinned and that is where we are. Jesus as the Son of God always meets us where we are and further promises to be with us always to the end of the ages. Jesus could not completely fulfill his mission without being completely one of us, and by being baptized he has been humbly stripped of any majesty and glory that he had before his birth. All of Jesus’ life; his birth, his baptism, his ministry, his passion, his death and resurrection, and ascension provide a model for us of complete obedience to the Father.

Jesus didn’t submit to John’s baptism in order to become the Son of God but through his baptism he was given the audible assurance that he was indeed God’s Son. Jesus didn’t submit to John’s baptism in order to receive the Holy Spirit but through his baptism he was given the visible assurance that he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, our baptisms give us the audible and visible assurance that God has washed away our sin and claimed us as His children and empowered us with the Spirit to go out and do all that He requires. Do you see what a wonderful gift that is? It’s like an epiphany!

You see, on that particular day on the River Jordan, John had an epiphany. Up until that moment he had been partially correct because he only had a partial script or playbook. Up until that moment, John, like all the rest of us, thought he was the quarterback or the director of the play. But not until Jesus came directly into his life and illuminated his mind did he realize that what he saw as ad libs and heard as audibles were nothing more than the will of God. And at that point, John, like the rest of us, had to choose whether or not to obey. Like John, when we hear the Word and will of God, we need to respond accordingly. Gloria Patri