Posted on Sunday, January 11, 2009
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THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD

First Sunday after the Epiphany

11 January Anno + Domini 2009

"Baptized Into True Christianity”

Matthew 3:13-17 (Josh. 3:1-3, 7-8, 13-17; 1 Cor. 1:26-31)

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8)  Jesus asks that question not long before He enters Jerusalem to accomplish the world's salvation.  He doesn't ask that question seeking an answer, but rather to prophesy to His Church.  There will always be true faith found on earth, right up to the Day of His Coming, for the Lord will always keep His remnant, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against His Church.  But, the nearer we get to the Coming of our Lord, the harder it will be to find true faith on earth.  We are told that there will be a great apostasy - a great falling away from the faith - prior to our Lord's glorious return.  Satan will be loosed for a little season to deceive the nations and assault Christ's Church, the result being that true Christianity will be difficult to find.  False Christianity led by false prophets will rule the day, and many will be led away from Christ's Kingdom and into the kingdom of the devil. 

We know not when our Lord will return, for we know not how bad things will actually get before He does.  But, we are called to be watchful.  And, if we are truly being watchful, if our eyes are truly opened, we must conclude that things are already pretty bad.  The denominationalism which arose in the wake of the Reformation has poisoned Christendom these last few centuries.  False teachers have arisen in increasing numbers within every generation since.  This morning, there will be thousands upon thousands of people who gather together in places of worship all around the world, but will hear nothing about Jesus Christ and what He has done, and continues to do, for their salvation.  Instead, they will hear motivational messages uttered by false prophets and the so-called "worship” in which they participate will be nothing more than an hour or so of entertainment.  But, those places will be packed and those false prophets will be well loved and well fed by the masses. 

And, what of those places where true Christianity can still be found?  Those places where the worship is reverent and holy, as it should be - as it is throughout Holy Scripture?  Those places where sin is taken seriously and Christ is proclaimed as the answer to sin's curse?  Most of those places will not be packed today.  Most of those places struggle to even keep their doors open for worship.  But, there, dear friends, the faithful still gathers, fewer and fewer in number, but strong as ever in faith.  And the Lord of the harvest, He knows where His faithful ones are. 

Dear friends, we live in trying times, in an age when Christ-less, man-centered "Christianity” rules the day.  Even in those Christ-centered, Cross-focused congregations our Lord preserves among us, how many of the people who belong to them actually take their faith seriously?  How many of them actually heed the call to repentance?  How many of them actually view their support of the Lord's work among them as the top priority in their lives?  How many of them seek to give the firstfruits of their time, talents, and treasures in service to the Lord, and not just their leftovers?  How many of them have a healthy, faith-filled fear of the Lord, which leads them to His House not to fulfill some weekly obligation, but to plead for His mercy and long for His Word of forgiveness?  The better way to phrase these questions is not "How many of them?” but rather, "How many of us?” 

This morning, as we focus on the Baptism of our Lord, we hear the voice of John the Baptist saying to His cousin and Lord, "I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”  You see, John had been preaching a baptism of repentance.  John said to those who were coming out to him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruits worthy of repentance."  Certainly not a very popular message, but one that needed to be spoken nonetheless.  For only through true repentance would the people be made ready to receive the Messiah who would soon be revealed.  They needed to come to terms with the reality that they were a brood of snakes, children of the serpent of Eden, with the venom of sin coursing through their beings.  They were full of self-righteousness and worldliness and corruption and false penitence.  They needed to be brought to their knees through John's preaching of the Law and wrath so that they might be lifted up through the preaching of the Gospel of the Messiah and the baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

John's message is still applicable today; the spiritual condition of mankind hasn't changed.  But, it is John's message that is not welcomed by most people today, even by those who claim to be Christian.  They don't want to be told to repent.  They don't want to be called a "brood of vipers,” for they don't think they're really all that bad, and surely, they believe, they're better than most.  If John's message wasn't popular two thousand years ago, it is even less popular today, especially in 21^st century, "have it your way, I am god myself.” America.  Far better today to make people feel good about themselves, to keep things positive.  That's what fills pews (or, stadium seats).  Not this exhortation to repentance.  Be that as it may, John's message, dear friends, remains as the only message worthy of preparing sinners to meet their Savior, for it is only have they have been led to repentance by the Law that they can be shown the salvation they have in Jesus Christ in the Gospel.

So, St. John the Baptist says to you again this day:  Repent!  Stop thinking you're good enough on your own.  Stop treating your Lord and His Gifts so flippantly, as if they weren't the most important things in your life.  Stop believing that having your name on a congregation's membership roster, showing up once in a while and throwing a few bucks in the offering plate guarantees your place in heaven.  It doesn't!  Unless you repent, unless you realize how desperately you need the Lord and His mercy, unless you put your trust in Christ and Him alone, there is no hope for you. 

That was John's message then, and it's his message to you now.  But, this message of John's doesn't apply to the Christ.  That's why John balks when Jesus stands before Him in the Jordan River.  He knows that Jesus is the One Person who does not need the forgiveness baptism offers.  He's the One Person who does not need to be called to repentance.  And, he is right.  Jesus has no need to repent and receive forgiveness.  He is sinless.  Nevertheless, Jesus answers John, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” 

Jesus doesn't submit to John's baptism for Himself, but for you.  He steps into the Jordan River not to be washed clean, but to be infected with our sins.  That is how all righteousness will be fulfilled, for Jesus begins His public ministry by placing Himself under God's wrath and Law, by taking upon Himself the sins of the whole world, including all of your sins, so that He might take those sins with Him throughout His public ministry and finally to the cross and pay their price in full with His precious Blood.  Jesus enters the Jordan and subsumes all of its filth of sin, so that He might leave that water crystal clean and able to wash all sinners clean of their sins. 

So it is that the Sacrament of Holy Baptism has been sanctified, made Holy, by Jesus Himself.  "God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.  He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” 

Is that the message that fills Christendom today?  Unfortunately, not.  The Sacrament of Holy Baptism is seen by most as not even being a Sacrament, but a mere ceremony by which one makes the pledge to be a Christian.  Dear friends, God chose the lowly things of this world to shame the wise.  He chooses simple water to miraculously bring you, and all His faithful ones, into His Kingdom; to gift you with faith, to forgive you of all your sins, and to make you an heir of the Kingdom to come.  He uses the miracle of Holy Baptism, which is no less a miracle than Joshua and the Israelites walking through the Jordan on dry ground, no less a miracle than all the Israelites being led through the Red Sea by Moses on dry ground - He uses that miracle to bring you into His Kingdom.  And that, dear friends, cannot be despised; that cannot be looked down upon, treated as though it were nothing, for, indeed, it is something - the greatest something.

And so it also in the Breaking of the Bread - in the Holy Eucharist.  Most today in Christendom believe that it is nothing more than bread and wine, a mere memorial meal, symbolizing Christ's Body and Blood.  But, we know better.  For Christ says, "This Is My Body; This Is My Blood.”  And He uses the lowly things of simple bread and wine to bring about His greatest miracle - to bring about the strengthening and preservation of your faith; to bring about your forgiveness, that you may be kept in the Kingdom to which He brought you in Holy Baptism until He finally brings you home when He calls you on the Last Day.

This, dear friends, is the essence of true Christianity.  Christ, the One who stands in the Jordan River, continues to stand in your midst - He continues to stand here in His Holy House to give you the gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation.  And, having received this gift, you don't leave here unchanged.  God forbid!  You leave here filled and strengthened with the Word and Sacrament, that you might go out and live lives worthy of being called a Christian; that you might go out and love God, serve Him, and love your neighbors, serving them. 

That, dear friends, is what Christianity is all about, and Christ, your Lord and Savior, has brought this to you.  May you praise His Name always.  In His Name.  Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.