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1 Epiphany: Baptism of Our Lord St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Canton OH Isaiah 43:1-7, Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22

January 10, 2010 The Rev. Barbara L Bond The Baptism of Brenden Lee Sutek

Identified as God’s own “I have redeemed you.  I have called you by name.  You are mine.” What wonderfully comforting words Isaiah speaks to the Jewish people.  They needed comfort, because they were in exile, far from home, in another kind of slavery.  God had rescued them 700 years previously, bringing them out of Egypt; now they hoped for another rescue, this time from captivity in Babylon.  The scariest part of being in Babylon was that it was tempting to stay there, and melt into the environment, and just become like their captors.  They were only there 50 years, but in two generations, their identity could be lost.  They could be swallowed up, and there would be no one left to go home.  But then come these wonderful words from God through the prophet Isaiah:  “Don’t worry.  Don’t be afraid.  I redeemed you before, and I will redeem you again.  I have called you by name and you are mine.” “I have called you by name.  You are mine.”  Given courage through prophecy, the Jewish people retained their identity, and defined it more stringently.  They were called by God and they have retained their identity through the next 2500 years.  Everything Isaiah mentioned happened to them – through fire and torture and suffering, they retained their identity as God’s own.  They came home from Babylon, and they were dispersed throughout the world, but they still know that they are God’s own. Five hundred years after the Babylon event, a 30-year-old Jewish man found his own identity.  He walked humbly into the Jordan River to receive baptism, the heaven’s opened up, and God said, “You are my Son, the Beloved.  With you I am well pleased.” Is that when Jesus found out?  According to the Gospel of Luke, there had been some strong hints before that – angels sang at his birth, prophets in the Temple recognized him when he was 40 days old; and when he was 12 years old, he was teaching at the Temple himself.  Obviously there was something special about this man Jesus.  But on the day he was baptized, he received his call, his commission, as the Savior of the World, and as a sign, the Holy Spirit descended upon him, Luke says, like a dove.  If Jesus hadn’t known before, now he really knew his identity, and his work, and what his life what likely to be like.  So anointed, he left for the desert to think about it.  He had experienced an Epiphany.  Jesus’ baptism was a powerful event, a life-changing event, for him and for the world.  His found his identity as the Son of God, the Savior of the World. When we witness a baptism here in the church, we are following that ancient tradition, claiming an identity as God’s children.  In older times, church baptism became the occasion of official naming:  we still hear the term “Christian name,” as opposed to “family name.”  My Christian name is Barbara Lynn.  My other names indicate the name of my father or my husband, but my first names are the ones God gave me, or, in my case, God affirmed, since I was baptized at age 13.  God called me by name at baptism, and I was told, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever. “  Forever!  All of you who have been baptized are likewise marked as Christ’s own, forever.  When we are baptized, we join a great communion of Christians, which has been swelling in size for 2000 years.  We hear God’s word through Isaiah, we hear God’s word to Jesus, and we hear God’s word through liturgy and sacrament.  We join a long, long tradition of claiming our identity as God’s own. Today we bring Brenden Lee into this fellowship of Christians. We trust that the same event will happen, as it always does:  the Holy Spirit will come upon Brenden, as water is poured upon him in the name of the Trinity.  He will receive a cross upon his forehead, traced in holy oil, marking him as Christ’s own forever.  God will call him by name, today, and for the rest of his life.  Like the rest of this community, and the community of Christians world-wide, Brenden will never have to fear.  No matter what he goes through in the future, he will wear this cross on his forehead, and it will lead him forward, marked for all eternity, beginning this morning.    Bring forth this baby boy.