Introduction: Long, long ago and far, far away, Christians heard the story of the Baptism of Jesus every year on January 6. Way back then astronomers thought January 6 was the winter solstice, the day when nights start getting shorter and days start getting longer. And that was a big deal for people who lived in a candle lighted world. Christians celebrated on January 6, too, and they connected the day to the Light of the world. They called the day Epiphany—shine on us—and they focused their attention on the beginning of Jesus’ministry with his baptism in the Jordan River. Even after scientists discoveredthat the winter solstice was actually December 21, Epiphany remained a big day for Christians and Jesus baptism was a pinnacle event right next to Easter. Afew hundred years passed, somebody decided to celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25, and the powers that were in those days placed the story of the wise men on Epiphany—and that’s where Magi have been ever since. Jesus’ baptism was consigned to Sunday School; we never heard about it in church. So when Christian churches brought the baptism of Jesus back to Sunday worship about fifty years ago, there were no prayers about Jesus’ baptism and no hymns about it. Nowadays wecelebrate Jesus’ baptism every year and there are lots of hymns to choose. The Christian Church has come to realize that Jesus’ baptism is a baptism to remember.
My guess is that most of us here this morning were baptized when we were babies. That means we don’t remember anything about our baptism.My baptismal certificate, signed by my father, is in my files along with my birth certificate. When I was little my mom would sometimes remind me on January 21 that this was my baptism date, but she stopped after a while. I have a color picture of me in a white baptism robe being held my mother with my dad and my sponsors looking down at me. My mom told me they had a pig roast for my baptism dinner—spanferkel. After that, nothing. I remember nothing. Unless you were baptized as an adult, I’m sure you’re in the same boat.
One of the real benefits of remembering Jesus’ baptism today is that it helps us to remember our baptism, not the pictures or the pig roast,but the real meaning of our baptism. When we were baptized way back when we became members of God’s family. When a pastor poured water over our heads and said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit,” at that instant we were covered with the righteousness of Christ. St.Paul wrote to Titus that God saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. So for us baptism is like winning the Super Bowl or the lottery. For us, our baptism is a baptism to remember.
In the Second Reading for this morning from Romans chapter 6, St. Paul reminds us that our baptism is more than just history, it’s more than just there and then. Even though 40 or 50 or 60 or more years have passed since we were baptized, baptism for us is all about here and now. Baptism works miracles in our lives everyday and it affects how we think and speak and act in a mostp ractical way. So Paul connects Jesus’ baptism to our baptism today and says to us:
This Is a Baptism to Remember
1. Some people knew what Jesus was about long before he was baptized. Zachariah and Elizabeth knew that their little son John would be the preparing prophet. Mary and Joseph certainly knew. They knew whose son Jesus really was and why he never was naughty. Jesus amazed the teachers in the temple already at age 12. As he grew up, people noticed that he was filled with wisdom and that the grace of God was on him. But he stayed in Nazareth with his parents and worked in his dad’s carpentry shop.
Sometime before Jesus turned 30, John the Baptizer started preaching around the Jordan River. We heard about that in the Gospel for today. John never pointed to himself; he always pointed to Jesus. You know the famous passage, Look, John said one day when Jesus showed up, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John was doing the same thing in today’s Gospel: I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. John could see the day when Jesus work would be finished and the Holy Spirit would lead people all over the world to follow Jesus.
And then the day came. Jesus walked into the water with John and John baptized him. You heard Mark in the Gospel: Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son,whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” The day of his baptism was Inauguration Day for Jesus. This is the one I promised to send,God said, and Jesus officially began his work to save us. For us, this is a baptism to remember.
When St. Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Rome he spent five chapters summarizing everything Jesus did to save us. He ends on a high note: Where sin increased, grace increased all the more. And then at the beginning of chapter 6, Paul asked a critical question: What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? If God is going to be gracious to us, let’s go out and sin and have some fun.
Sin always seems like so much fun. You tell off your neighbor and you feel pretty good about it. You cheat on your income taxes and you smile at how smart you are. You tell a dirty joke and you laugh. Hahaha. But God doesn’t laugh. God doesn’t think sin is funny. The sins we commit every day come from a disease far worse than cancer or Covid, and there’s no treatment and no vaccine. Trouble is, we’re born with it. Think about this: God doesn’t consider sinful babies cute. He sees them with the same ugly disease their parents have and the disease always kills and is always terminal.
God heals this disease in the miracle called baptism. Water (tap water) and Word: I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. With that miracle of water and Word God connects us to the work of Jesus. The word christening is exactly the right word for baptism: Christ-ening. Don’t you know, Paul wrote, that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? From God’s point of view, the sinner in us died at the same time that Jesus, the sinner for us, died. And really died: dead and buried: We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death. When Jesus said, It is finished on the cross, it was also finished for us. And Paul wrote more: And if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. Jesus death and life, my death and life and your death and life. Everything God had prepared, everything Jesus had planned, began on the day of his baptism. And everything Jesus did over the next three years became yours on the day of your baptism. Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia: All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. I know you don’t remember much about it; well, you don’t remember anything about it. But the day of your baptism? This is a baptism to remember.
2. So back to the original question: Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? No, No, No! Paul says. Our baptism wasn’t a one-time thing; it’s an everyday thing. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. We all know the sinful nature, that little voice inside our brain that wants us to keep on sinning. Our baptism shut down that little voice. We don’t have to listen to it anymore. It’s like when you’re tired of the dog whining: you put him outside. Or you’re tried of the neighbor’s lawn mower, so you turn on the AC and close the doors. The trouble is, we kind of like the dog so we let him back in and we like the fresh air so we turn off the AC and open the doors. That’s what we do with the sinful nature: we open the door and let him in! We all know exactly how that works because it happens to us every single day.
Paul had the same problem; he admits it in the next chapter of his letter to the Romans. But he knew how to treat it in himself and he knows how to treat it in us. He takes us back to our baptism. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. Just as Jesus died once, so we died once. Just as Jesus lives forever, so we live forever. Our connection to Jesus lasts longer than a pig roast and longer than a baptismal robe. Your baptism is still working. You’re connected to Jesus right now; you’re attached to his death and you’re fastened to his resurrection. And so, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. This is why we need to remember our baptism. We remember our baptism and then count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Martin Luther wrote in the catechism: Baptism means that the sinful nature in us should be drowned by daily sorrow and repentance, and that all its evil deeds and desires be put to death. It also means that a new person should daily arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
You walk into church on a Sunday morning. The first thing you see is the baptismal font. The first thing you hear is the baptismal formula: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And then you lift your eyes to he person of Christ and you believe that the one who began his ministry at his baptism made your baptism a power to save you and empower you every day. And these are baptisms to remember!
