Baptism of our Lord. Year B. January 8, 2012. 

Texts: Genesis 1:1-5; Mark 1:4-11

Do you remember the great tsunami of 2004?

Giant forces that had been building up deep in the Earth for hundreds of years were released suddenly on December 26, shaking the ground violently and unleashing a series of killer waves that sped across the Indian Ocean at the speed of a jet airliner. By the end of the day more than 150,000 people were dead or missing and millions more were homeless in 11 countries, making it perhaps the most destructive tsunami in history.

Do we remember the ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded that slammed Japan's eastern coast in March of 2011, killing hundreds of people as it swept away boats, cars and homes while widespread fires burned out of contro?  Hours later, the tsunami hit Hawaii and warnings blanketed the Pacific, putting areas on alert as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West Coast. In Japan, the area around a nuclear power plant in the northeast was evacuated after the reactor's cooling system failed.

Water can do incalculable harm if it is not checked. The ancient Hebrews regarded the waters of the seas as chaos. They suggested the presence of evil in the world even before God began to create the heavens and the earth. In fact, the purpose of God's creation was to bring order out of chaos. The waters had to be restrained, and they were restrained by the power of God's Word and harnessed by the force of God's Spirit. The breath or wind or spirit of God blew across the waters of the pre-created world and by his Word God divided the waters by creating the dome of the sky.

The waters, dammed up, can be a tremendous power for good. But the chaos is always threatening to break out of its harness. The psalmist knew that the voice of the Lord that restrains the waters must be a voice powerful enough to keep the waters in check.

Water can provide hydroelectric power. It can clean out sewers. It can nourish crops. Used in Holy Baptism water can convey the Spirit, forgive sin, and give new life.

"How can water do such great things?" asked Martin Luther in his Catechism. "Indeed," he answered, "the water does not do it, but the Word of God, which is with and alongside the water, and faith, which trusts this Word of God in the water. For without the Word of God the water is plain water and not a baptism, but with the Word of God it is a baptism, that is, a grace-filled water of life and a ‘bath of the new birth in the Holy Spirit'".

That is how Martin Luther tried to explain what happens in the sacrament of holy baptism. He was writing this in his Small Catechism, penned almost 500 years ago, because he had seen first hand the confusion and lack of knowledge of the most basic teachings of the Christian faith. He not only feared that people despised Baptism; he feared that most Christians lacked the most basic understandings of it.

On this Sunday, when we celebrate the baptism that Jesus received at the hands of John at the river Jordan, and began his earthly ministry by identifying with us, we remind ourselves of the power of God that is poured out upon us and all who, obeying Jesus' command, receive the gift of baptism. It is good to review just what it is that we are celebrating.

Baptism is neither a magic act, nor is it only a nice ceremony. Instead, it is how God links his saving promise with a common earthly element to bring about forgiveness of sin, redemption from death and the devil, and gives the promise of eternal salvation to all who trust that God indeed does just what he says.

And so we have the first verses of Genesis, with the reminder that this God creates by means of his word. This word shatters silence and forever banishes darkness. This word defeats chaos and brings about the order that sustains life. In fact, the Word of God makes life possible. The power of God's word to speak light and life into situations that seem to lie beyond any human ability to control them is not taken for granted by us as we see over and over again how lies and deception tear apart many lives.

The power of God ‘s word to bring forgiveness and healing even as it does battle with the forces of death and evil, yes, even with the devil, is not a power to take lightly. I wonder if the greater miracle of God's word at work in our world is shown not in the story of creation, but rather in the places of ongoing evil and human want that is the reality in so much of our world today.

Remember what happened to Jesus immediately after his baptism. He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. He took on the forces of evil in their natural habitat, as it were, and experienced hunger and want during forty days of fasting.

You and I don't experience repressive evil regimes or deep human hunger. It is important for us to be aware of the blessings that have been given to us in this country, lest we take them for granted. We have been given great resources that we can use for the good of others who don't have the things we assume as being basic human necessities. But that awareness doesn't take away our own need to be covered by God's Spirit moving over the chaos that may exist in our own lives.

Now I am well aware that many here today may not be in a place of physical, mental or spiritual chaos and confusion. In fact, feeling a desperate need for the power of God's saving presence may be foreign to you. I would ask you to bear with me, then. God's power in your life is no less important, no less soul shaping, just because your situation is one of peace and order. In fact, the very existence of such stability and calm is, I believe, a gift of God that is to be cherished and celebrated.

But when situations come about that shake us to our core; when we find ourselves dealing with events that are unfolding rapidly, beyond our control; when we find ourselves fearful of the next day, maybe even the next hour, and unable to stop the pounding heartbeat, the hyperventilating, the feeling of sheer panic that threatens to sweep us away: then we need to be most fully reassured that, in spite of all appearances to the contrary, we are held firmly by God who has claimed us as his beloved child in the waters of baptism.

We can bank on his promise to forgive us and raise us up again and again to live in his Spirit. We can trust that his presence in our lives continually works to remake and remold us into the image of Jesus, even as God accepts us for the sake of his son who died for us. The most ordinary act of washing with water can serve to remind us of the cleansing power of God at work in our lives and in our world, even as in a few minutes the eating and drinking together of bread and wine reminds us of God's attention to our daily needs of both body and spirit.

Forgiveness of sins, redemption from death and the devil, and the promise of salvation to all who cling in trust to the promises of God: The Holy Spirit brings these to us every day, binding us into the one body of Jesus Christ, marking us with the cross and claiming us for our Father in heaven. As we celebrate these gifts given freely and overflowing, and pray today that Rosemary Katherine may also receive the gifts of the Spirit in her life, may we be assured of the power of God's word spoken into our lives and into this world, a power that creates and makes new and cannot fail. Amen.

- Frank C. Senn, STS, Pastor, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Evanston, IL