|
|
The
Baptism of Our Lord
13 January AD 2008
Romans 6:1-11
There is a group that meets at Prince of Peace at the end of each
month, they are people whose avocation is model railroading. They
love to document the history of railroading in the USA. They meet
faithfully to pool their knowledge, share their photos, tell their
stories; sometimes traveling to museums and events. They get excited
by sound of steam engines, the sight of trestles and antique lanterns,
and the smell of old oil and steel! They love anything having
to do with railroads.
Gardening
is also a common avocation in these parts. Come Mother's Day week-end
many will be flocking to garden centers in the county to purchase
seedlings. The avocation of a gardener is watching and helping
things grow. An avocation is a hobby, an interest, something that
gives enjoyment, satisfaction and even some meaning to life. At
a local railroad show I asked one lady if she ever got tired of
seeing railroad stuff all around her house. "Not at all,"
was her answer; because she knew where her husband and boys were
and what they were up to. She was grateful for such a wonderful
pastime.
On the other
hand there is vocation, what we are called to do in life-do with
our life. Vocation comes from the Latin term vocatio, "to
call." And, while we would normally want to distinguish between
who we are and what we do for a living, vocations often blur those
boundaries. The rescue workers and firemen who rushed to the World
Trade Centers when they were in trouble, even though they weren't
on duty, were responding to their vocation. When Patrick returned
to Ireland as a priest bringing the gospel to the very people
who had once held him captive, he was listening to the Spirit
of God, and answering his vocation. It is in the religious context
that we most often hear and use the word, vocation.
The late
A. J. Conyers, a theologian at Baylor University, noted that the
idea of vocation today is distorted by two misunderstandings.
The first is that vocation has been downgraded, so that it is
used synonymously to mean a career or a job: it is more than that.
The second misunderstanding, vocation is used very narrowly to
mean a commitment to a religious or monastic life. Both are less
than the biblical idea of vocation. Conyers said, "Vocation
is about being raised from the dead, made alive to the reality
that we do not merely exist, but are 'called forth' to a divine
purpose" -God's purposes!
Conyers was
speaking about a Christian's calling to live out the meaning of
his or
her baptism into Christ. As with vocation, baptism too has been
misunderstood. Some see it merely as a symbolic act, or a public
declaration of your personal allegiance to Jesus Christ. For some
it is Christian initiation; others see it as a magic ticket to
heaven; and some see it as a mere formality.
God takes
your baptism more seriously than you do. The Bible tells us that
bap-tism is a calling, a vocation from God. Baptism is an encounter
with God and by it we experience his love-"grace." Moreover,
in baptism God calls us his own, he lays claims us. In baptism
the Holy Spirit mystically unites us to Jesus Christ, he hides
our lives in the Savior's so that we die and rise with him. In
Romans 6:3, Paul writes, "Do you not know that all of us
who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death?" The conclusion is that we who share in Jesus' death
share also in his resurrection (6:5). Our vocation is to trust
God, to live in his mercy. Our life's work is have faith in him
and to follow our Lord Jesus.
Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe
in him whom
he has sent." John 6:29 (ESV)
St. Paul taught us that when even a small part of something was
holy, all of it was holy; "a little leavening leavens the
whole batch of dough." (1 Corinthians 5:6) When we say that
Christians have a vocation from God, we mean that all of their
lives they are holy and dedicated to God. In his book Christianity
in An Age of Terrorism, Gene Veith discusses the importance of
Christian vocation. By it, he says, God is present in the world,
working through the lives of individuals. This gives you and me,
and millions of other Christians an almost sacramental status.
God is present through you and me to others-to our neighbor! And
through them, Jesus is present to us.
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave
me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and
you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison....'
[For]'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of
these my brothers, you did it to me.' (Matthew 25:35-40)
The purpose
of vocation, says Vieth, "is to love and serve one's neighbor
in the various ways that are needed." This understanding
is one of the Reformation's gifts to Christianity. By it Dr. Luther
lifted up and restored dignity to baker, the trash man, the police
officer. St. Paul even says that the Roman emperor serves God
in his vocation, Romans 13. Each of us is called to do, and to
be, and to serve, using what God has given him. Yes, even mothers
and fathers have a calling to be parents.
In and with
Jesus Christ YOU are raised from the dead, and made alive to the
reality that you do not merely exist; you are 'called forth' for
a divine purpose, God's purposes. Whether you are keeping the
peace, baking bread and rolls, changing a diaper or teaching children
to read and write, you Christian-united to Jesus Christ who died
and rose again-you are doing the will of God.
When Jesus comes from Galilee to be baptized in the Jordan River
by John, John's first impulse is to say "no, this is all
wrong, cousin." Jesus is the greater one, Jesus should be
the one to baptize him, not vice-versa. John doesn't yet understand,
that for Jesus to be the greater One means that he must now, in
this moment, submit as the Least. "Let it be so for now,"
our Lord says...
We will hear
and see it repeatedly as a core part of Jesus teaching: "the
last shall be first, the least greatest, the humble exalted."
In his baptism, we don't just hear Jesus preach this message;
we see him embody it. Jesus' gift is the gift of sub-mission to
God's will-for you! Hidden in Christ by faith and in the water
we too meet God: one of our hymns says, "how great a mystery..."
In the waters
of baptism "we undertake the great exchange..." the
hymn continues, "he the servant I the Lord." (LSB 389)
With and in Christ we "fulfill all righteous-ness" as
we pick up the mantle of servanthood and become little Christs
to each other. In baptism, you too emerge from the water as God's
own daughters and sons-"beloved," CALLED, to live a
new life, after the pattern of Christ; crucified, risen. This
is not an avocation, not a pastime, not a hobby. This is vocation,
your life's work, a holy calling. May God give us strength, and
may his will be done in us always.
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Hamburg, NJ 07419
|
