1st Epiphany - Luke 3:7-17, 21-22
Jan. 10, 2010
We were in New Ulm, Minnesota on vacation after Christmas. I knew we were in trouble when I got up on Saturday morning and the weather channel said it was a minus 32 degrees. This was not the wind chill, but the temperature. I waited until it warmed up to a -17 before trying to start the car. But it was a no go.
The next morning it was minus 26 when I got up. This time I waited until it was -11 before trying to start the car. But after a couple of cranks the battery was officially dead. Fortunately my insurance has a help line which I had never used before. I dialed the 800 number and answered all the questions some of which seemed kind of ridiculous. Like "Will you be at the vehicle when assistance arrives?" I felt like saying: "Well, I won't just stand out in the cold until help arrives. But on the other hand, you can bet I won't be too far away either!" I held my tongue though.
A man in a SUV arrived within the hour and hooked up the cables. I cranked several times, but no go. "Here, let me try," said the man with a heavy Minnesotan Norwegian accent. But he didn't have any luck either. "I've only had to leave one car that I couldn't start. I'd hate to leave you like this."
Me: "I would hate it too."
Man: "I didn't bring my tow truck because there isn't any place to tow you. Everything's closed on Sunday."
Me: I started to pray.
Most of us have been in a spot like this and know how helpless it makes you feel and angry too. You fear the worst. Is there enough antifreeze? I should have checked it before leaving home. What if everything is froze? That could mean a new engine. Maybe even another car. Lord, could you help me out here?
Well, I doubt the Lord makes house calls for car troubles. But on the other hand when Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended upon him. The Holy Spirit is like an anointing and an empowerment. The Spirit commissions Jesus for a ministry of compassion. And when you think about it his compassion was all about jump starting people's lives. It was the number one reason people flocked to him. The paralyzed man carried by his four friends. The woman with the chronic hemorrhage. The blind man Bartimaeus. The woman caught in the act of adultery. And Mary and Martha who brought word that their brother Lazarus has died. Jesus jump started the lives of all of these and many others by restoring them to health and wholeness.
Baptism was the start of the ministry of Jesus who is made known to us as 'the Son of God with whom God is well pleased.' This is the one we are called to follow, emulate, worship and praise. As baptism has come down to us through the Christian tradition this also confirms, commissions, anoints and empowers us for a ministry of service and compassion too.
Jesus didn't have to answer any vows before his baptism, but we do. In the order of service we are asked:
1) 'Do you renounce wickedness, reject evil and repent of your sin?'
2) 'Do you accept the power God gives you to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they are manifest?'
3) 'Do you confess Jesus as your Savior and promise to serve him as your Lord?'
4) 'Will you be a faithful member of Christ's holy church and serve Christ in the world?'
These are the vows we make when we are baptized and again when we become a member of the church. Like Jesus we are commissioned for service to the one to whom we belong. Baptism is God's seal that we belong to him.
Each year on Christmas Eve as the candle lighting ceremony begins I feel goose bumps when the words from John's gospel are read about the Word that becomes flesh and blood in Jesus. The Word that was in the beginning before anything was created, this Word becomes known to the world in the person of Jesus and in everything he says and does. 'No one has ever seen God,' John says. 'It the only Son who makes him known.'
God uses the flesh and blood of Jesus to bring salvation into the world. And by extension God calls us to use our flesh and blood to pass along this most holy of gifts to others.
Imagine what life would be like then if there was no helpline made of flesh and blood. I'm sure thankful in a new way for my insurance company now and the man with a heavy Minnesotan Norwegian accent and his SUV. I'm thankful for those plow snow who clear parking lots so we can park for worship and streets and driveways. For the Kids Place workers this week and our custodian cleaning and reorganizing some storage areas in the church. For doctors, nurses, lawyers, public servants, musicians, choirs, ushers, greeters, prayers, moms, dads, families and friends all of whom in some way or another help to jump start life with love, with mercy, with hope.
All of us here this morning either need a jump start in life or we know someone else who does. For various reasons we all experience turning points where you can't go back to what was, but are nervous about what may come next. We call out to God's helpline and wait for help to arrive and restore life as Jesus did long ago. The good news is that our help has already arrived in the person of Jesus and those who follow him.
As we receive bread and cup today may we be filled with the life of Jesus Christ. In whatever circumstance we face may seek to know him as "the way, the truth and the life" that we may live as fully as God created us to live. May the anointing of the Holy Spirit empower us to be part of the helpline of compassion at work in all who call upon Jesus as their Savior and Lord through their prayers, their presence, their gifts, their service and their witness that the world will see the Word of God become flesh and blood in us, full of grace and full of truth.