Epiphany 1 B, January 8, 2006

Text: Mark 1:4-11; The Baptism of Our Lord

…And God Smiled (Mark 1:11)

Have you ever pictured God smiling at you? That God is pleased with you? Now, this is a daring concept—that we can actually know with any kind of certainty how God feels about us. I hope that today you will have an encounter with God who is smiling and well pleased. Come and join me on a life-transforming encounter with our Creator.

Last Friday was Epiphany, the day the church celebrates the visit of the wise men to Jesus in Bethlehem. The season of Epiphany lasts about eight weeks until Lent begins. At one time Epiphany was more important than even Christmas. It was second only to the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection at Easter. That was because Epiphany has to do with God revealing Himself to the world. That is what the word “Epiphany” means: To reveal and make known. On Epiphany God was made known to the world as the wise men came to worship Jesus from far away Persia. This was the reason God sent Jesus: That all peoples of the world might come to know Him. Epiphany is therefore at the heart of God’s purpose for the people of the world, of God’s mission for me and for you. Today’s message will help us to understand how Jesus’ Baptism figures importantly into God’s mission for the world.

The visit of the wise men from the East testifies to the universal significance of God’s mission in Christ. That God enters the world in a specific country and place on earth in the body of an Aramaic speaking Jew does not automatically mean that God favours such people above others. Rather, by being willing to squeeze Himself into the form of a person of a particular ethnic make-up shows us that God values and respects all that is good in all human cultures and heritages. The various races and cultures are equally important to God. He created them. As God comes to live within our world He brings hope and meaning to our various cultures. Jesus did not come to impose a Jewish culture on the world but to bless each culture with His presence. It is this culture affirming nature of God’s mission that finally dawned upon Peter when we heard him say in our Epistle reading: “I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right” (10:34).

The Epiphany of Jesus began with the visit of the wise men from distant a nation. Today we experience another Epiphany of Jesus: One which happened at His Baptism. There at His Baptism Jesus was revealed to Israel as heaven was “torn open” and the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove and the Father’s voice declared from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Can you imagine heaven “torn open?” There is one other place that Mark uses this term in his Gospel. It is in his description of how the temple curtain, which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple, was torn apart as Jesus died on the cross (15:38). Perhaps this is no coincidence. These two events are connected. In Jesus’ Baptism God reveals His pleasure as His Son begins His journey to the cross. In Jesus’ death God reveals His pleasure to us as the temple curtain is torn apart. The curtain symbolized the barrier that once separated sinful mankind from His holy presence.

Heaven torn open, together with the voice and the dove affirmed that the mission Jesus was about to undertake was also God’s mission including each person of the Holy Trinity. Here the Spirit and the Father commissioned Jesus and sent Him on His way. But before this happened Jesus was Baptized by John. This itself was a peculiar event that even John was not comfortable with. Why was Jesus subjecting Himself to Baptism? Wasn’t He the one who would baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire? Wasn’t He the Holy One of God? How could He have anything to do with a Baptism of repentance? A Baptism for sinners like us?

To understand why Jesus was baptised we need to know what Baptism signifies. It signifies death, a dying to sin. In Baptism we admit that we are sinners who need forgiveness; that there is something wrong with us, something we cannot make right by our own efforts. In Baptism we die to our own way to righteousness and goodness and we receive the goodness and righteousness of Jesus as a gift from God.

In convincing John to Baptise Him, Jesus tells him: “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15). Jesus is righteous and there is no need for Him to be baptised for the sake of His own righteousness. Instead, the Apostle Paul explains that “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was Baptized not for Himself but for our sakes. He was baptised so that He might give us His righteousness and so He fulfills our righteousness.

The water of Baptism is where God shows us His face, a face that no longer frowns but beams brightly and smiles, for He no longer sees in us our rebellious sinful state, but the righteousness of His beloved Son, Jesus our Lord. When Jesus was baptised it was as if He had poured out His righteousness into the water so that when we were Baptised, we receive it from Him. In submitting Himself to Baptism Jesus also identifies with our weakness and takes our sins upon Himself. The mission He receives from His Father will take Him to the cross where He pays for our sins in order to release us from their bondage. Why does Jesus do this? Because the pleasure the Father has in seeing us approach Him as His beloved children.

So is Baptism a mere ritual? Just something we do as an act of obedience? Far from it! Jesus’ Baptism is the reason our Baptism is a powerful and life-changing experience. In it our sins are removed and we receive a new identity as the children of God. Therefore Baptism can be the most powerful life-changing experience known to mankind. For as we are baptised into Christ we also hear the words of our heavenly Father: “Today you have become my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Do you agree with this statement? Is that how you hear God addressing you, saying, “With you I am well-pleased?” This may be hard for us to believe, for we are constantly reminded of our personal shortcomings and failures. But if you believe that this statement is true of Jesus, then as a person baptised into Jesus, it must also be true for you. “With you I am well pleased.”

As you come to the Lord’s Supper today, remember that here you receive the holy body and precious blood of Christ that was offered for you on the cross and which purifies you from all sin. If you firmly believe that, then you can be certain of God’s word for you: “With you I am well pleased.”

God sent Jesus so He can now address us as His own beloved children who have been purified from all evil and with whom He is well-pleased. As Jesus stepped out of the Jordan, this was the mission the Father and the Holy Spirit sent Him to accomplish. This is the mission He completed on the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the whole world.
Just as Jesus was commissioned on this day when the Father smiled upon Him as heaven was torn open, so are we, upon whom God smiles, sent out on a mission. As God’s beloved children in this world, we too are sent out on a mission by the same Holy Spirit which had commissioned Jesus. This Spirit testifies that God is our heavenly Father who is pleased with us. This is a relationship for us to enjoy as we bask in this divine favour. And then, by God’s grace, we are also given a task to do. We are privileged to allow His love to be reflected to all He directs across our path. In this our joy is made complete as we see God working in and through us to achieve His wonderful purpose for which He created all people: So they all might come to an intimate experience of His love for them.

As you leave these doors you are being sent by the Spirit to live as the children of your heavenly Father who rejoices over you and smiles upon you. As such you are invited to bless each other and give an affirming smile to your neighbour. May we as a congregation also continue to be faithful in demonstrating God’s pleasure to our neighbours. I would like to express my gratitude to you for your willing partnership in sharing this place where you come to see the gracious face of our Lord with our neighbours here in this community so they too might come to know God’s love. For we know that God’s heart yearns for all who live here to hear Him say, “With you I am well pleased” and to see His gracious smile rest upon them. This is the wonderful task God has entrusted to us and which is our mission to live and rejoice in. So smile, for Go is well pleased with you!