that sends me down to the river tonight

down to the river / my baby & i

A sermon on the Lord's superfluous baptism

Welcome, Isaiah Alejandro!

You know, I was baptized at about the age you are now, too. And I can’t help but wonder what’s in store for you, Isaiah. Perhaps you, too, will be called to the church. 

I must say, in my own experience, it has been an honor. The pastorate is a good calling. And it provides a good life, too. I pray you will consider it as the years go on, Isaiah. 

No matter what, though, I beseech you, Isaiah, keep the church as a part of your life. You will need the church as the years go on. You will need to hear over and over again that God, in Jesus Christ, has opened the future to you by his grace, mercy, and love. 

Plus, it’s good to know people in the church. The folks who sit next to you in the pew week-in and week-out may be potential life-long friends. Or they might be the person who helps you get your foot in the door at that job where you discover a calling. Or they might be the person who lends a hand when you move into your first apartment. Or they might just be the person who gives you a crackerjack casserole recipe. Or they might be just that person who brings you a casserole when life rolls you. 

Now, we all pray you never have such an experience, Isaiah. But that’s not the nature of life on this side of Eden. Thus, it is good to know your way around the church. 

You know what else, though, Isaiah? The church needs you, too! You, by your very presence, will help the church in our witness! Isaiah, the story of this day, helps us better tell the story of this God who is constantly reaching out and bringing all into this new people called Christian!

What’s more, Isaiah, you will make the church a more faithful place simply by being yourself. That heart of yours is a gift, Isaiah. And so is your spirit. And so are all those questions you have and will ask. Thank you.

So, you understand, this a mutually edifying relationship we have here! Life in the church will help you grasp the breadth and the length and the height and the depth of God’s unfathomable love! And, you, by your presence here, help us grasp more fully the fullness of God’s love in turn!

And that’s merely the prelude! Isaiah, so much more than all that has taken place here today! In all truth, nothing less than a miracle has just occurred! Heaven itself has opened! The Holy Spirit showed up and showed out! And God thyself has spoken, too!

That’s a lot, I know! But don’t worry. I also know that’s not how it looked. Quite the contrary, in fact. To all appearances, all that happened was some awkward standing around while some stilted words were said. But, as usual, God loves to hide God’s greatest work under mere words and humble acts.

This is how God always works, Isaiah! And faith is a life of throwing what little trust we can muster into that promise. The life of faith is a lifetime of plucking our eyes out and placing them in our ears.

If you want to know what God is up to, Isaiah, you must close your eyes and open your ears. We are told seeing is believing. But ask anyone with a little life experience, and they’ll tell you our eyes regularly fool us. Moreover, most of life is defined not by what we see but by what we hear.

The old schoolyard limerick is all wrong, Isaiah. Words do hurt. But words heal, too. And in Jesus Christ, GOD’S Word made flesh, GOD chooses to heal over and over again, Isaiah.

So yes, on the one hand, all it looks like is some obscure ritual has just taken place. And yes, it has. But on the other hand, Isaiah, you’ve been carried ACROSS that invisible THRESHOLD that MAKES all the difference in this ritual that the Holy Spirit has just made more than a ritual!

Isaiah, now heaven is opened to you! The Holy Spirit has alighted herself indelibly upon you! And God Thyself has definitively spoken to you!

Yes, it doesn’t LOOK like it. But attend to the words, Isaiah. Or, if you want to get a peek at what just happened, look to Jesus’ baptism!

Jesus isn’t just the safe Sunday School answer, Isaiah. Jesus is the answer. In him, you get a glimpse of what it means to really live. And in him, you get a glimpse of what God is really up to, too!

That’s why Jesus was baptized, Isaiah! Not for himself, but for you and for me. And for everyone else here today, too!

John is right to protest Jesus’ baptism! Jesus had no need to be baptized. Yes, he is human like the rest of us. BUT, unlike the rest of us, he has no sin. Jesus already stood on the other side of baptism.

Jesus choose to undergo this baptism, to fill baptism with himself and his work! And then, for good measure, Christ peels back the curtain in his baptism! Christ did this so that we might catch sight of what happens when we are baptized into HIS Spirit-filled baptism!

And the first thing that we observe is that heaven is opened. 

Isaiah, in this life, you will encounter no shortage of closed doors or doors you must open yourself. This is part of life, Isaiah. It’s part of the viciousness and the vocation of life.

Those doors that don’t open to you, be it due to a bad shake or this bad old world, are where the church comes in handy. The church is a lovely place to pick yourself up and dust yourself off. And the consolation of the saints is an excellent source of encouragement in those tough times, too. 

But best of all is the Savior who reigns over his church! Hearing that Christ has already gone ahead and opened the door of heaven to you will give you the pluck to get back up and go back out there! And this makes all the difference in a person’s life, Isaiah! 

And it makes all the difference in the life of your loved ones, too! And even in the life of the rest of the world itself! The vocations God will give you in the course of a lifetime are how God sees fit to run the world, Isaiah! 

And always remember, a good rule of thumb when it comes to discerning your callings is to notice who stands to benefit. Isaiah, God has promised to look after you. That means you’re FREE to apply yourself to the well-being of others. 

But don’t worry. Looking out for others is one of the surest ways to stumble upon purpose and joy in your own life, too.

So if you’re not sure how to apply those God-given gifts of yours, Isaiah, just look around! See where your capabilities and interest do good for those around you. And then, keep an open mind. Attend the opportunities that come your way. Listen to the observations of those you live, learn, and work alongside.

Discovering the doors you have the unique skills and passion for opening is part of discerning your calling, Isaiah. And these callings you will pick up from here are how you actually go about living. Life is not found primarily in pleasure. It’s found in purpose, Isaiah. And on account of your baptism, you are assured that God has a purpose for you.

But HERE’S the part that matters most, Isaiah: the door that really matters is already opened to you! And it’s been opened once and for all! Isaiah, heaven stands wide open to you! Come what may.

On this side of Eden, we will all fall short of living up to our callings. Don’t we? And the truth is, that may close a door or two to us. But listen carefully; God is not about to close heaven to you, Isaiah.

You can fall short in your callings. You can even fall short in your walk of faith. GOD, however, will not come up short with you, Isaiah. Heaven and earth themselves can move, but God will stand steadfast for you forever, Isaiah. 

And this makes all the difference in life on this side of heaven! Understand, Isaiah, you are free! This life is no longer a test for you! God has already given you the gold ring! 

So get out there and try! And fail! And succeed! And fail. And sort of succeed and sort of fail. 

None of that has the power to define you or your worth, Isaiah! God has already opened the gate to the finish line to you. The rest is just the icing on the cake.

But that’s not all that happens in Jesus’ baptism. Is it? No, the Holy Spirit also descends upon Jesus.

In your baptism, you have not been left to your own devices, Isaiah! Now, there is more to you than you! Now, you have Christ’s spirit alive and well in you!

Yes, this will makes some things more difficult. Now the old you and the new you will be locked in constant warfare, Isaiah. Luther called it a battle. And he was right.
This battle will define much of your inner life, Isaiah. But here’s the not-so-secret secret: it’s the new you that has a future! That old you that will want to wrestle with the new you has already lost! So, while it can be unpleasant at times, you can always rest assured the new you will emerge the victor.

Moreover, it’s that new you that has access to Christ’s Holy Spirit! When, not it, when the battle gets intense and the warfare hard, you can always throw yourself at Christ’s feet! You can ask him to stand in place for you! You can ask him to still the storm for you.

Yes, Christ loves to answer these prayers in unexpected and unlikely ways. And yes, that can be difficult. BUT, more often than not, we all look back and realize it was all a part of this great exploit of faith working itself out in the minutia of our very lives!

Isaiah, by your baptism today, you’ve been washed away into this work of God! Now your life is part of God’s great story! You, Isaiah, are one more way God gets things done on this side of heaven!

This is enough to choke on, I know. But there’s still more, Isaiah! Because more happens in Jesus’ baptism. Doesn’t it? Heaven doesn’t just open and the Holy Spirit doesn’t just step on the scene. No, God also speaks.

The God we have, Isaiah, is a God who is vociferous. In other words, God loves to speak. And just like that first day of creation, when GOD speaks, things happen!

Isaiah, God has made a NEW you out of you TODAY! God has broken the silence when it comes to you, Isaiah! God has said just what God thinks of you! And God says you are God’s child. And God says you are beloved. And God says God is well-pleased with you, Isaiah!

In baptism, Christ has inalterably attached himself to you, Isaiah! From now on, when God looks at you, all God sees is Christ! In your baptism, Christ has wrapped himself up on you, Isaiah!

Now, all that belongs to Christ is yours! What’s more, in turn, Christ takes all that belongs to you upon himself! 

Luther called this the joyous EXCHANGE! And what he meant is that, in this baptismal swap, Christ has given YOU all HIS righteousness! Along with the eternity it always entails. And in exchange, Christ takes every moment you will shrink from all this upon himself!

Now, anything that would separate you from the love of God has been put to death on the cross. And all that’s left is a fate as wide open as Christ’s Easter tomb!

This is too much, I know. But Christ is like that. Luther once said baptism takes a couple minutes to perform. But it takes a lifetime to complete. And in Christ, you have all the time in the world, Isaiah! 

So don’t worry about the fact that all this news is overwhelming. That’s the nature of God’s prodigal love in Jesus Christ. And anyway, you don’t have to come to terms with it all today. Now, on account of your baptism, you have eternity.

This is truly a life-altering miracle that has taken place today, Isaiah. Your life can no longer be the same. You’ve been utterly changed.

And all because, when it comes to you, God, in Christ, has determined not to change! God has made up God’s mind about you, Isaiah. You are a beloved child of God in whom God is well-please, Isaiah. Come what may. 

The rest is a blank check. And we all pray you have the adventure of a lifetime cashing it, Isaiah.

Isaiah Alejandro, in your baptism, the Lord has called you by name. The Lord has called you by name so that you might call upon the name of the Lord! And as Scripture attests, all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!

And Isaiah, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in whom you have been baptized, you—NOT have been, and NOT will be, either. No, Isaiah, in the name of the Lord, you are saved! 

You are saved from the foundation of eternity! You are saved from the day of your birth! You are saved from the day of your rebirth, TODAY, your baptism! You are saved from the last day of your birth. And you are saved from the last day of creation itself when a new heaven and a new earth will dawn forever and ever. Amen!

The only question, I suppose, is why in the world God would choose to do it like this. To which the answer is scandalously straightforward; because GOD wanted you to be a part of it all, Isaiah. 

And so, welcome to it! May nothing ever be the same ever again. Amen!

What can you say to that? Nothing! Accordingly, let’s do what the baptized always do in such circumstances. Let’s sing!

Christ, when for Us You were Baptized; ELW 304