Sermon at West Dean, St. Mary’s Parish Church, - Baptism of Christ – Sunday 11th January 2026
Isaiah 42:1-9; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew
3:13-17
Today we
celebrate the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan; but as
well as being such a celebration we are still in the Season of Epiphany – that
time when we remember the coming of the wise men or “kings” bearing three
prophetic gifts to the infant Jesus – gold to represent his kingship,
frankincense to represent his holiness or divinity and myrrh, that perfume with
which the dead are anointed to represent the great sacrifice he would later
make for all.
The two New
Testament readings, one from Acts and one from Matthew’s Gospel, remind us that
Jesus, the King of Kings, came not just to establish a heavenly kingdom for the
Jews but for all humankind. Peter, in his speech to the household of Cornelius,
a Roman centurion, a leader of the forces occupying Judea, makes this point
that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, came not to remove those occupying forces and
re-establish Jewish sovereignty, but as the Son of God, establishing a
universal kingdom far more important and enduring.
Christianity
as a global phenomenon was being established and a desire for the whole world
to realise the importance of following Christ and being united. This is why the words of Peter, like John in
our second reading are so important in understanding this. Peter reminds his
listeners, and readers of Acts, that the message of the Gospel, the Good News
as it is sometimes described, starts at this point with Jesus’s baptism. It is
an outward illustration of God’s power and Jesus’s mission.
Like John
the Baptist, I found it difficult, at first, to understand why John should have
to baptise Jesus. In an earlier piece of
scripture John had remarked that “one would follow me whose sandals I am not
fit to carry” (Matt 3 v11). John was the forward messenger and although
people had been baptised as an act of showing repentance, or metanoia, a
turning back to God and cleansing themselves of their past sinful life. We do
this today in our churches and sometimes in rivers. Jesus, as the divine Son of God surely had no
reason to undertake this ritual and symbolic cleansing – after all he is God.
However,
with Jesus would come the Holy Spirit to all who wanted it – “He will
baptise you with the Holy Spirit and Fire”, had said John earlier – in
other words not only will you be changed through the cleansing of your body as
a symbol of washing away the old tainted ways, but you will also have something
brand new bestowed upon you.
John
therefore challenges Jesus as to why he should be baptised and at the end of
this passage we learn the reason in one of the most emotional pieces of
scripture –
“They saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him; and a voice from
heaven said “This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased”.
This passage
of scripture, this description of Jesus’s baptism is an affirmation of the
divinity of Jesus, yet born as a human and living amongst humans here on Earth.
It is also a positive sign to John that his ministry, as the one who comes
before, was a true one and that he has now himself observed the long-awaited
Messiah. It is also a reminder to us of God’s great love for us in sending his
Son to live, minister and die for us.
That is the same reminder and story which Peter is giving out in his
speech in our Second Reading.
None of
this, actually, should come as a surprise to anyone, then and now, as it was
foretold in the Old Testament. In our first reading from Isaiah we read:
“Thus
says the Lord, Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul
delights, I have put the Spirit upon him and he will bring forth justice to the
nations.”
I get really
excited when I read these passages – Isaiah foretelling the coming of Jesus,
the Christ, the Messiah; the actual biographical narrative in Matthew’s Gospel
and, finally, a reminder and a summary of what went on and why in Luke’s
account of Peter’s speech to the Gentiles.
When I
practised law, I used to get the same delightful feeling when a case hung
together nicely and tightly with no room for ambiguity. We called it the “stick
of rock” theory – simply described, the first lick at the beginning should have
“Cleethorpes” in it as should the last bit. If somewhere between the two you
suddenly come across “Brighton” or “Skegness” for example you do not have
something of integrity.
Another
lovely piece of connectivity is the description of a dove (the symbol of peace)
as the Holy Spirit descending on him. You will recall that after the
devastation of the Great Flood, it was a dove which came back to Noah’s Ark
with an olive branch in its beak to indicate that the cleansing of the world,
by the Great Flood, was now over and a new world can begin; it is also the dove
which for generations has been the symbol for peace and the messenger of peace
throughout the world; a symbol of new beginnings and of understanding between
all peoples. At this time of such
turmoil and uncertainty and, can I dare say it, the prospect of some global
conflict at our doorstep, we need to be messengers of peace and love, we need
to carry the light of Christ before us and into this ever-darkening world.
With the
Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus, he was able to share that spirit with all
who came to him and sought and followed his ministry and, as we know following
his death, resurrection and ascension, at Pentecost the Spirit descended upon
all who sought it. That is precisely
where we find ourselves today. The Wise
Men came bearing gifts to the infant Jesus, Jesus himself, through his
ministry, death and resurrection has bestowed the greatest gift of all, the
Holy Spirit, free and unconditionally to all who seek it. Actually, there is one condition, and that is
that having received it you do not grieve it – that is do not renounce it or
denigrate.
I believe
the world is, today, hungrier for the Holy Spirit than at any other time. Sometimes we get so caught up with our own
little worlds that we forget that we all live in one greater world; but it is
not all that great. We are all living on
a planet, a spaceship which is less than 8,000 miles in diameter in the
vastness of a cold and hostile universe, billions and billions of light years
across – if it has any boundaries. It is
the only home we have and really one which we can only ever have this side of
the grave. Jesus, we are told by John,
came into the world to save the world not to condemn it.
A few years
ago I watched the movie “Don’t Look Up” starring Jennifer Lawrence, Mark
Rylance and Leo DiCaprio. It is a little
wacky but the essence of it is that in today’s modern age we spend a lot of
time looking down at our devices and accepting what social media is saying, or
not saying, and not enough time looking up and around us and discovering
reality for ourselves. In the case of this film there is a large comet heading
straight for Earth which will destroy the planet in six months’ time. The politicians
and media people don’t seem to care, worrying more about mid-term elections and
the love lives of celebrities. In fact,
social media and politicians start a campaign doubting the existence of the
comet despite the scientists’ assurances.
Does that ring any bells?
In fact
since I watched that film in 2021, it seems that its relevance to what we saw
going on in 2025 and continuing in 2026 is greater than ever! People are listening and relying more and
more on the “15 – minutes of social media experts”, rather than any true
experts in their dedicated fields.
Jesus, we should remind ourselves is the Truth and the Light.
Sometimes, I
think that those of us who know the true nature of God’s love and compassion
for Humankind are crying in the wilderness just like John, but cry we must
otherwise we have no chance of being heard at all if we totally give in or give
up.
I am
reminded of a notice displayed at Auschwitz I Concentration camp in Poland
written by Pastor Martin Niemoller which reads
“First
they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out Because I was not a
Communist
Then they
came for the Socialists and I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists and I
did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they
came for the Jews and I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me and there was no one
left to speak out for me.”
John the
Baptist spoke out and encouraged those around him to repent – metanoia; to look
at things afresh. To wash away the old and tainted and to step out clean,
refreshed and into a new world with Jesus Christ as our king and saviour. As
true Christians we should honour the pledges he made on our behalf – to move
forward with the aid of the Holy Spirit, never grieving it but upholding it,
promoting it and its powers and making disciples of others and having no fear
for Jesus is with us, within us and around us.
God bless
you all in your continued fellowship and ministry here in West Dean over the
next twelve months and may you too have the courage to speak out and proclaim
the Good News of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit here within us now.
Amen MFB/230/07012026
(An updated version of Sermon 168 and
211 delivered in 2022 and 2025 respectively).
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